Balance Disc And How To Use It

Jun 4, 2011 by Tatianna

 

A Balance Disc is a really amazing small piece of equipment. I use it almost daily in my workouts. What I’ve learned about working out is that you don’t have to keep using heavier and heavier weights, you just have to find a way to make an exercise harder to perform, and Balance Disc does just that.

Not only you can incorporate in into your workout, but it is perfect if you have a sitting job.
Sitting on the balance disc creates active and dynamic sitting. Place the disc directly onto the chair,  this provides a less stable sitting surface, which means that the body has to make continuous small movements to correct balance. These movements strengthen the deep core stability muscles which provide postural support to the body. Make sure to maintain a good posture at all times while sitting on the disc.

I use it in my workouts, since the disk creates unstable surface you are engaging more muscle groups.

For example:

If you are doing a regular Lunge on a flat surface you are only working a few muscle groups, but when you step onto the balance disc you automatically recruit more muscles since the surface is not flat.

The same goes for Squats, if you are standing on the disc the Squat Movement becomes a lot more challenging to perform, and if you got a pair of dumbbells in each hand it becomes even harder.

Push – ups is another example, you are recruiting more muscles by pushing off an unstable surface.

If more muscles are engaged into your workout, the faster your body will progress (If you have been working out for a while, but don’t see any changes you are not working out right ).

Always remember that you have to be able to do an exercise properly on a stable surface first, and then you can progress onto the balance disc ( you can still use it for sitting ).

The question you might ask is “Why not just use a Balance Ball alone?”  Because you can’t step onto the Balance Ball.  My suggestion is to have both.

What I really would love to invest in soon is a BOSU Ball, but they are so expensive about 150 dollars each. The Balance Disc is about 15-20 bucks and you can do most of the exercises on it that you do with BOSU.