How to Build Balance and Strength with a BOSU

Whether you call it a half dome, BOSU Balance Trainer, or just a BOSU, this fitness training device consists of an inflated rubber hemisphere attached to a rigid flat plastic platform. And because it looks like a stability ball that has been cut in half, you may even have heard it referred to as the "blue half-ball." But the name BOSU is actually an acronym for "BOth Sides Up" or “BOth Sides Utilized” because this versatile little fitness pillow can be used with either the dome side or the platform side facing up. 

The name BOSU is an acronym for 'BOth Sides Up' or 'BOth Sides Utilized.' Its half-dome half-platform can help improve your balance, stability, mobility, and strength, depending on how you use it.

The BOSU was originally developed to train balance because when the dome side is facing up, it provides the user with an unstable surface to stand on while the entire device itself remains completely still. And if the flat side is facing up, it provides a solid surface that has an unstable base. And it is this combination of still, flat and unstable that makes this device so versatile and useful. 

The BOSU’s half-dome half-platform can help improve your balance, stability, mobility, and strength, depending on how you use it. The BOSU’s unique shape can make it the perfect item for spicing up your home gym. 

BOSU and Balance

In a scientific study, researchers found that 12 weeks of proprioception training on a BOSU and Swiss Ball was effective in postural stability, static balance, and dynamic balance. They concluded that using a BOSU could lead to an improvement in gait and balance capacity and decrease the risk of falling in adults aged 65 years and older. 

A portion of these successful results was attributed to an increase in the participant’s core strength.

These results were seen after volunteers did various standing and sitting exercises, with their eyes open and closed, twice a week for 50 minutes each session. 

While balance is made up of many components, including the vestibular system (inner ear and the pathways to the brainstem), a portion of these successful results was attributed to an increase in the participant’s core strength. 

BOSU and core Strength

It’s easy to see how a device like this would benefit and build our balance, much in the same way that walking on uneven ground or doing an obstacle course would. But one of the most impressive features of the BOSU is how effective it is at...

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