Bosu Balance Trainer for Core Strength Training ~ 1

The Bosu Balance Trainer is a tool for your body, mind and soul balance, if you dare to integrate the concepts into your physical strength workout!

‘Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.’ ~ Alfred Adler

In addition to balance training, the Bosu Ball is a fabulous tool for core strength training. Because your core and balance are sublimely intertwined, the Bosu aids you in achieving both when you work specifically on core exercises.

I love my Bosu Balance Trainer and use it a lot. I especially like it when the weather is cold and/or inclement and use it indoors to raise my endorphins.

What is Your 'Core?'

Most often when we think of the core, we think of the abdominal muscles. The abdominal muscles are just a small part of it. The muscles of the back are also included, and more importantly, the lower back.

Then, if you remember that the shoulder muscles and hips are attached to the back, the core actually includes the whole trunk of your body. So the core is your pectoral muscles, your abdominal muscles, and all the muscles of the back and lower neck.

Most physical therapists define the core as any muscle in the trunk of the body, or that which is attached to the trunk of the body! In actuality, the core then, is everything but the muscles in your arms, legs and head!

Why Your Core is so Important

You engage your core for each and every body movement that you do, no matter how small. So strengthening your core is vital for optimal body functioning. When you add balance training with the core strength training at the same time, you will work your whole body evenly. When you improve your core strength and your balance, you become more graceful and less injury prone. This is vital as you age because over time your muscles become weaker all by themselves.

An evenly strengthened and balanced core like you can achieve on your Bosu Balance Ball will help you protect your back. It is a much better approach to helping heal chronic back pain, than attempting to do endless crunches.

The Bosu Balance Trainer will help you create an overall fit body, through more natural movements that builds your balance automatically. The timing, alignment and poise needed to perform core strength training on your Bosu Ball will lead to beautiful, strong and developed abdominal muscles and other muscles of the trunk that will protect your back.

Core exercises on the Bosu Ball are more fun too, I think, than doing crunches. A little work on the bosu goes a long way! So to keep your body young and your body-mind-soul balanced, combine your core strength training with balance training exercises, to achieve fantastic results.

For further information on achieving total body-mind balance, you can refer to my articles, Body Balance and for my complete list of bosu balance exercises go to my Bosu Balance Trainer Index Page.

The Core of Your Being

Remember that your core is that very center of you, where all your movement and energy come from. Go deep into the core of your being, as you focus on your body-mind balance with these poses and movements. Find your Power at the core of your being!

If you trust yourself and your movement on the Bosu Ball, and go inward to find balance, you will improve your mental outlook and your mental balance as well. Your body's movements are where energy is created and available for all activities in your life.

Focus on your life balance when you work on your Bosu Balance Trainer. Your body-mind balance will improve and you can find healing of your body-mind-soul.

Core Strength Training on the Bosu Balance Trainer

Most of the core exercises that I will show you, my stepson, Alex and his friends just invented while they were playing around, having fun on the Bosu Ball. I only gave them limited suggestions as they created their own core strength training exercises. They had so much fun that it was infectious.

Core training on the Bosu Balance Trainer is about lying down, whether on your back, your belly or your side. The variations are limitless as you give it a try. Get comfortable on the Bosu Ball, and just start lying on it and seeing what you come up with.

Again, don’t worry if you don’t have perfect balance when you first try the exercises. Just keep on striving for balance, both in your body balance and your life balance!

The first core exercise I will show you is the classic abdominal strengthening exercise that is usually done on the ground ~ the front lying extension. Add the element of balance on the Bosu Ball and it is a whole different core strength training exercise. In yoga, this pose is called the Locust Pose.

Here are Chelsie (top) and I doing the front lying extension on the Bosu Ball. The farther you go up with your arms and legs, the harder it is and the more you strengthen your back. Hold the pose for several seconds or as long as you are able. You may want to try several shorter duration poses and add repetitions.

Chelsie really gets good extension on her pose. She has a very strong back. It's actually pretty difficult to hold this pose for more than a few seconds.

If you can’t do the full pose with arms and legs off the ground, try this modified front lying extension shown below. It will bring you great results as well, until you are able to work your way up to the full balancing extension.

The second core exercise is the back lying extension. Here is Chelsie doing it and then modifying it with a change in leg position. This one really strengthens your abdominal muscles! Chelsie was a real pro at this one. She has a very strong and balanced core.

Brett decided that he was going to try the back lying extension with no hands! I think he did well!

Alex was the pro at the side-lying extensions. He first tried it with his feet balanced on the ground. This is a more modified and easier version. Then when he got good, he balanced with his feet up and then did the same with an arm up too. Sort of like a balanced side crunch. Then Chelsie also joined in.

You may notice that no one does this pose hands free. I tried to do this side pose with my arms across my chest, not using hands/arms OR legs to help balance. This is really hard to do, which is why I don’t show any of us doing this pose. We couldn’t do it! I’ll keep you posted if I am able to improve my core enough to do it in the future.

My husband and I prefer crunches and other core strength training on the Bosu Ball for these reasons:

1. It is more supportive than the hard floor.
2. It is more cushioned than the floor and doesn't hurt your back at all when you do the movements.
3. You get much more extension for a wider range of motion.

Without the added pain from doing these core exercises on the floor, you are more inclined to do the core training and therefore get better results!

Here I am doing the classic crunch. The farther up you sit towards the top of the ball, the greater the extension of your back and the harder it is. I am shown somewhere in the middle.

Here is the side crunch version. I like to put my leg out in front to balance more. Make it harder by straightening your leg if you can. Or place your bent leg behind the other.

As a final exercise, we will expand on the front lying extension of Chelsie, from above, and add some flutter kick movements. These are Pilates-like movements on the Bosu Ball. First lie on your belly, then on your back on the Bosu Balance Trainer, when you perform these flutter kick movements. This core training exercise is harder than it looks.

Now that you are getting better on your Bosu Balance Trainer are you ready to go deeper with your core? The balance training in the next article will take you into harder core strength training exercises.

Focus, find your center and find your Power. See you in the Bosu Balance Trainer for Core Strength Training ~ 2.

The "Core" and more Balance Trainer Exercises:

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