Balance Board Training & Fitness Exercises for Men & Women

"Balance, coordination and agility equals grace.."

Radu Teodorescu – Radu's Physical Culture

Do balance board training, strength & fitness exercises work for men and women?

The last of the baby boomers hit 40 in 2000. This generation is nothing like the generation before
it when it comes to physical activity, health and nutrition. They're staying more active, more fit and
they're doing it with strength, balance and cardio exercises, eating healthier and actively
participating in sports and recreational activities.

I'm going to tell how and why balance board training and fitness exercises work for men and
women over 40, as well as give you some basic balance board training and fitness exercises to get
you started. But first…

We need to touch on the aging process. The human body is an amazing piece of machinery. With
the slightest movement and even when sedentary, cells are continuously dying and reproducing
themselves. As we age, our body's ability to repair and rebuild not only slows, it just doesn't do as
good a job as it did before.

Unfortunately, there are parts of the aging process that you have no control over like genetics. But
there are some things that you can control, like your environment and your lifestyle. A few of the
most common lifestyle variables are diet, exercise and stress management.

What GOD gave you, Mother Nature slowly takes away. Sorry kiddo, but left unchecked, here's a
short list of what Mother Nature does to us over time.

• Muscle mass decreases and body fat percentage increases

• Strength, energy and reflexes decrease
• Eyesight and hearing capacity decreases
• Aerobic capacity decreases

Basically, your body loses its ability to turn oxygen into energy which slows activity and
metabolism, increases body fat and cannibalizes muscle tissue. Here's what you can do to stem the
tide and in some instances, like strength training, even reverse it.

• Get regular exercise, even if it's just walking

• At a minimum, exercises to strengthen the muscles you use for walking and lifting
• Eat a healthy anti-oxidant rich diet
• Minimize stress with lifestyle or activity changes if necessary

Since revolutionizing the balance training market in 1990 with the introduction of the World's first
patented multi-axis dynamic balance boards, the magic of balance training to heighten balance
recovery skills continues to grow and pave new roads.

Not only has the balance board grown from a sport-specific balance training tool, today's Vew-Do
balance boards are so versatile, they also provide capabilities for strength training, plyometrics,
aerobic and anaerobic fitness training, body weight exercises, rehab, physical therapy as well as
just plain fun and recreation.

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They are used at gyms, training centers, physical therapy centers, hospitals, the home, rehab
centers, in the military and more.

Users are comprised of almost every age, gender and physical capability including trainers,
coaches, professional and amateur athletes, persons with learning and physical disabilities, the
entertainment industry, action/extreme sports enthusiasts, recreational users and others.

How balance board training helps men and women over 40

The human balance system is design to transmit feedback for out of balance situations (balance
recovery feedback). As we age, decreased muscle mass, strength, agility and aerobic capacity all
contribute to naturally decreasing balance recovery skills. To regain some of the lost capacity to
recover balance through the aging process, incorporate a balance board training routine with an
overall strength and fitness program. Here's how a Vew-Do balance board will help.

When the rider activates the Vew-Do Balance Board with movement, the board continuously
disrupts your center of balance forcing the use of dynamic and multi-directional planes of motion.
This puts you in "balance recovery" mode and forces you to use and develop all three of your
body's balance systems in all three planes of motion (frontal, sagittal and transverse planes).

As you achieve a higher skill progression, you're body will store this information as muscle memory
and use the stored information in a balance recovery situation when it is recreated in another
environment. In reality, it's really an "unbalance" board for training balance recovery skills. That's
because the skill enhancement for balance recovery is gained by disrupting your balance or base of
support (BOS), and not by trying to maintain static states of balance. Balance training is training to
go from an unbalanced state back to a balanced state.

In addition to improving balance recovery skills, proprioception and other benefits, balance boards
also add physical conditioning, strengthening of muscles, tendons and ligaments, calorie burning
and enjoyment to your training routine.

Below, you'll find a short list of balance board exercises for men and women over 40.

Balance Board Strength, Balance and Fitness Exercises

Basic Balance Training - The key to balance training is to keep your center of balance (belly
button) over the rock at all times. Mount the board and center the rock underneath it. Keep both
knees slightly bent, your back straight and your head up to start. Set the board in motion by
straightening one leg and increasing the bend of the knee on the other leg, thus shifting your
weight over the board. As you reach the "stop ends" of the board, repeat the process with the
other leg.

Once you get the hang of this it will become sub-conscious. Then increase the progression by
drawing imaginary shapes, writing your name, tossing a tennis ball from hand to hand, having a
partner play catch with you etc. The more you progress, the less conscious you will be of your
balance recovery strategy.

Static Sea-Saw Squats - This exercise is safe when using a teeter rock. Position yourself on the
board in a downhill skier's racing tuck. In other words, squat down until your knee joint creates a
45 degree angle. You'll have one side of the board against the floor and the other side off the
ground spanning the teeter rock.

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Stay in your static squat, keep the rock centered and shift your weight slightly to the elevated side
of the board, then begin pushing into the board with downward pressure while maintaining a tuck
position. Repeat this motion with the opposite leg. This creates the sea-saw motion while
maintaining a static squat or tuck position. Increase the velocity of the sea-saw motion and you'll
start to feel the burn in your thighs.

Balance Board Negative Push-ups - In strength training the term negative means applying
more resistance to the gravity friendly portion of the lift. In our negative balance board push-up
exercise, you'll add more weight to the lowering portion of the push-up by shifting most of the
resistance to one arm.

The way to do this is to assume a push-up position on the board, hands flat on the board, slightly
outside of shoulder width, with the rock centered underneath. Perform a push-up, and then roll the
rock to one arm underneath the board by pushing the board towards the opposite arm. Then
transfer all your weight to the arm positioned over the rock (negative). Lower yourself to the
board.

While you are still lowered over the board, slide the board so the rock is repositioned in the center
of the board. Push up with your weight evenly distributed over both arms, and then repeat the
reloading sequence by moving to the opposite arm. You can enhance this exercise by performing a
full cycle one arm push-up (up and down using one arm).

By: Rick Contrata

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 Balance Training the Frontal Sagittal & Transverse Planes of Motion

As we continue talking about balance, we wanted to quickly touch on balance boards, balance
training and the three planes of motion. As we've repeated many times before, balance and
movement is a whole body event; not one joint or limb at a time. In the same vein, when we think
about the three planes of motion and the role of balance boards, we don't want to categorize them
as separate events. Most activities require simultaneous use of all three planes of motion.

There are three planes that divide the body into separate and distinct ranges of motion.

Frontal Plane - Also known as the coronal plane, divides the body from front to back. Frontal
plane motion would include bending forward and leaning back

Sagittal Plane - Divides the body from left to right. Sagittal plane motion would include leaning
from left to right.

Transverse Plane - Divides the body from top to bottom. Transverse plane motion would include
rotating the head or torso.

By: Brew Moscarello