6 Best Balance Training Equipment
Medically reviewed by: Dr. Ronald Mochizuki, MD
You put time, effort, and care into your physical health and fitness, incorporating strength and flexibility training into your daily routine. But have you put the same care into balance training?
When you have good balance, it’s easier to complete tasks in your daily life through enhanced coordination and core strength. Not only that, but strong balance also makes your other workouts more effective.
Discover the best balance training equipment to add to your routines so that you can hone your balance, improve your coordination, strengthen your core, and level up your entire fitness regimen.
An Introduction to Balance Training
Balance training is one of four broad categories of exercise:
- Strength
- Flexibility
- Endurance
- Balance
While people tend to overlook the importance of balance training, you can’t achieve peak physical health without it.
The Significance of Balance in Physical Fitness
The benefits that balance training can have on your overall health and physical performance can’t be overstated. As mentioned, balance training improves coordination by strengthening your core muscles. But balance training is also a major component of injury prevention, agility training, and cross training.
In fact, studies show that balance training can lower your risk of injury by over 40% by improving joint stability and reducing the risk of falls. This is especially important for older adults who are more prone to falls.
With the right balance exercise tools and training, you can also achieve:
- Increased agility and mobility
- Improved strength
How does balance training foster all of these benefits?
Understanding Balance Training
Let’s break down the principles of balance training. In a nutshell, balance keeps your center of gravity over its base of support no matter what activity you’re doing. The better your balance, the fewer falls you experience.
Even though most people have a natural degree of balance, balancing itself is complex. To maintain your balance, you rely on feedback from your visual, somatosensory, and vestibular networks. These networks give you sensory information about your body’s position in the world around it.
There are also three categories of balance: static, semi-dynamic, and dynamic. Static refers to balance while you’re still and dynamic refers to balance in motion, with semi-dynamic falling between the two. You use all three every day.
Through proper balance training, you achieve:
- Better static, dynamic, and semi-dynamic balance
- A reduced risk of falling
- Elimination of muscular asymmetries
- Improved spatial cognition
And the best part? Balance training can help you at any age.
Essential Balance Training Equipment
Now that you’re well-informed on the intricacies of balance and the benefits of balance training, let’s discuss the various types of balance training equipment you can add to your fitness regimen.
Ultimately, the best balance training equipment for you will depend on your current fitness level, as well as your health goals and needs.
1. Balance Boards
Balance boards are often associated with rehabilitation settings or conditioning programs for athletes, but they can benefit anyone. In fact, balance boards can help you:
- Strengthen the muscles around your ankles
- Improve your upper body stability
- Increase your core strength
Technically speaking, balance boards train your proprioceptive system—your body’s ability to sense its movements, location, and actions in space. Ankle proprioception, in particular, appears to play a huge role in balance, so the use of a balance board may reduce the risk of an ankle sprain.
As a bonus, learning how to use a balance board is simple. Just go through your usual bodyweight training exercises while standing, kneeling, sitting, or propping yourself up on the balance board.
2. Stability Balls
You’ve likely seen a stability ball before. These large, rubber balls are soft, pliable, and easy to incorporate into a balance-enhancing workout routine.
For example, you can use a stability ball to perform a balance push-up. Tuck the stability ball beneath your shins while in a high plank or push-up position. Then, bend your elbows and lower yourself to the ground. Then, push yourself back up.
Regardless of what type of exercise you do, stability balls can aid with:
- Core strength training
- Balance enhancement
If you prioritize lightweight and versatile tools, stability balls are a good pick.
3. Bosu Balls
A bosu ball is half stability ball, half platform—it has the curved top of a stability ball, but rather than having a curved bottom, it rests flat on the ground. When you stand on a bosu balance trainer during a workout, you engage extra muscles because your body must work harder to keep itself balanced and upright.
Not only does a bosu ball help with dynamic balance training, but you can also use it in full-body workouts to really break a sweat.
4. Vibration Plates
Vibration plates, like the ones you can find from Power Plate, are a unique tool in the world of balance training. While they also work to improve your balance, coordination, and muscle strength, they do so using the power of vibration.
Put simply, the vibration plate uses directional vibrations and frequencies to move the body at speeds of up to 40 or 50 micro-vibrations per second. The result is a gentle but effective vibration that stimulates blood flow, works knots from muscles, improves joint strength, and provides a gently unstable surface to work on.
You can use it like a balance board and stand, sit, or kneel on it while going through your usual exercises. If you’re new to vibration plate, read our extensive guide to answer your question: what is a vibration plate and what is it used for?
5. Agility Ladders
The exercises performed with an agility ladder improve your balance, as well as your coordination and speed. In fact, agility ladders are common in both SARQ and HIFT training, which focus on speed, agility, and reactivity. HIFT training also uses muscle-strengthening exercises and aerobics to improve multi-joint movements.
Other benefits include:
- Increased cognitive function
- Improved athletic performance
- Safer and easier-to-perform activities of daily living (ADL)
Agility ladders are also portable and don’t take up much space, making them perfect for people living in apartments or small, shared spaces.
6. Wobble Cushions
Wobble cushions are small, round, inflatable cushions that you can stand or sit on. They engage your lower back and core, which helps you develop stronger balance and stabilize your muscles.
They’re also effective tools for fighting lower back pain and aiding in injury recovery.
Incorporating Balance Training into Your Fitness Routine
Decreasing your surface stability with the fitness equipment listed above is one of the easiest ways to add balance training to your fitness routine. However, you can also incorporate balance training into your daily life and workouts with the following tips:
- Perform functional movements – These multi-joint movements can improve your balance by challenging your center of gravity. They can include lunges, squats, and deadlifts.
- Add balance components to other exercises – When doing your functional movements, you can add other balance exercises like arm rotations or knee lifts.
- Narrow your support – When doing standing exercises like shoulder raises or bicep curls, try narrowing your base support by balancing on one leg, bringing your feet together, or performing a tandem stand.
- Add general balance exercises – When at rest during your fitness routine, try standing on one leg or on an unstable surface like a vibration plate to put your core to work.
No matter what type of workouts you prefer or whether you’re in active recovery or not, incorporating balance training is easy and can be hugely beneficial to your overall physical health.
Power Plate’s Contribution to Balance Training
Have you been on the hunt for a vibration plate to add to your training regimen? Power Plate has what you need. Our products align with balance training goals with features like:
- A speed of 40 micro-vibrations per second
- Tri-Planar vibration, which moves in multiple directions
- Multi-directional vibrations at high frequency
Aside from improved balance, these vibrations deliver additional benefits like restored joint motion and muscle redevelopment. Such fast micro vibrations also help loosen up adhesions and move fluid between your cells. This helps relax tight, stiff muscles, adding to your overall flexibility.
Training your body to stand and maintain its balance on a vibrating surface goes a long way, too. Once your body knows how to adjust to an unstable surface, it makes standing on stable surfaces a breeze, reducing your chances of slipping and falling in daily life.
Together, this equals one great training tool that improves your balance, strength, flexibility, and endurance all at once.
Achieving Optimal Fitness with Balance Training
Balance is one of the four key components of physical strength training, and it’s not one to underestimate. With the right balance equipment and exercises, you can increase your flexibility and mobility, improve your muscle tone, and reduce your risk of injury.
Power Plate is changing the game with its whole body vibration machines. Made with cutting-edge technology, this WBV plate uses multi-directional vibration to move at 40 to 50 micro-vibrations per second. These pieces of low impact exercise equipment deliver deep muscle relaxation and tension release while improving your circulation. Use our boards in your daily fitness routine, and you’ll see how much they improve balance control and core strengthening, too.
Don’t wait to take your balance training to the next level—shop Power Plate today.
Sources:
Medical News Today. What are the best balance exercises for different ages and fitness levels? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/balance-exercises
Harvard Health. Balance Training Seems to Prevent Falls, Injuries in Seniors https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/balance-training-seems-to-prevent-falls-injuries-in-seniors-201310316825
Healthline. Not Just for Rehab: Using Balance Boards to Enhance Exercise. https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/balance-board-exercises
Trainer Academy. Chapter 21: Principles of Balance Training. https://traineracademy.org/cpt-textbook/principles-of-balance-training/
MasterClass. 6 Stability Ball Exercises: How to Use a Stability Ball. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/stability-ball-exercises
Healthline. 11 Exercises You Can Do with a Bosu Ball. https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/bosu-ball-moves-workout
VeryWell Fit. How to Use an Agility Ladder. https://www.verywellfit.com/how-to-use-an-agility-ladder-techniques-benefits-variations-4795800
ACE. Balancing Act: How to Incorporate Balance Work Into Your Training Sessions. https://www.acefitness.org/resources/pros/expert-articles/7156/balancing-act-how-to-incorporate-balance-work-into-your-training-sessions/
European Journal of Sport Science. The effect of vibration on active and passive range of motion in elite female synchronized swimmers. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/17461390802116682
