Exercising With The Bosu
As an all round athlete, David Weck was always looking for a way to improve his balance. Like many cutting edge personal trainers, Weck believed that balance is the foundation upon which other athletic skills are built. For a while, his training tool of choice was the Swiss Ball. But as his skill progressed, he found that the more challenging Swiss Ball exercises imposed a safety hazard. According to Weck:
While the Swiss Ball is a marvelous training tool, its inherent shortcoming is that as you challenge yourself beyond your current capabilities, which you must do in order to progress, the risks very quickly begin to outweigh the rewards. The very exercises that will challenge you are, by the very nature of the ball, increasingly risky, and, ultimately, downright dangerous.
Indeed, there have been far too many incidences of ACL tears incurred by people who tried to stand on a Swiss Ball. Besides, if you participate in snow sports, you are more likely to encounter terrain that looks like the mogul shaped Bosu, than you are to be skiing down something that is ball-shaped. Weck created the Bosu in order to have a training tool that imposed unlimited challenges, while staying within the parameters of safety. The word “Bosu” means both sides up. It can be used with either the platform or the dome side facing up.
Professional athletic coaches quickly adapted the Bosu as a training tool. According to Andy Walshe, Director of Sport Science for the US Ski team:
The BOSU is an invaluable tool for U.S. Ski and Snowboard team members at
all levels. It’s a key tool for the United States Ski and Snowboard Department of Sport Science and Conditioning. The versatility and application of the BOSU is so great our teams travel with them year round.
Functional Form
Bosu exercise is based on what is currently called “Functional Training.”
For a training system to be called “functional, it must:
? Focus on integrated movement patterns that work many muscle groups simultaneously
? Present, dynamic, unpredictable movement challenges
-Involve multi joint movement that occurs is different planes of motion
-Develop the power to initiate movement from the deep core stabilizers
-Challenge the muscles and joints with movement patterns similar to those of your sport.
-Develop proprioception, which is the awareness of the body’s position in space
Traditional training methods focus on muscle isolations that are performed in a predictable manner, usually within one plane of motion. Often, seatbelts and other devices are used for stabilization, eliminating the need deep core stabilization. But do any of our mountain sports involve isolated, predictable movement? Do we snowboard with a seatbelt around our waist to keep us from falling? Do we ski from a seated position, extending our legs 180 degrees like we do on the leg extension machine?
I sure hope not!
Human movement is 3-dimensional, occurring within three planes of motion simultaneously
-The sagittal involves forward and backward motion.
-The frontal plane refers to side-to-side motion.
-The transverse plane refers to rotational motion.
When the Bosu is in its platform side up position, it can be used for fore/aft balance exercises; similar to movements you may do on skis or snowboards. It can also be used for Bode Miller style lateral exercises. When the dome side is up, bands and medicine balls can be used to practice rotary movement.
Movement Mechanics
For years, one dimensional, machine- based training was the primary method used for sports conditioning. But some studies have shown that this may not only be ineffective, it may lead to injury. Studies in motor learning suggest that the brain recognizes movement patterns better than it recognizes isolated muscle movement. The dynamic pattern perspective states that movements are learned as a result of interactions between the body’s systems, such as the nervous and the muscular/skeletal system. The memory of these patterns facilitates what movement scientists call “self organization.” The athlete remembers what is effective, and organizes movement accordingly. If an athlete has programmed his movement vocabulary with predictable motor sequences, he will be in for a rude surprise when he practices his sport!
Modern athletes are slowly moving away from machine -based training. Today, sport conditioning usually involves the use of free weight exercises, performed in different planes of motion. Balance devices such as the Bosu are often used with free weights. On the Bosu, it is possible to work many muscles simultaneously. Lunges can be performed with one foot one the dome, while weight training exercises can be performed with the upper body. This type of training is helpful in integrating strength and balance.
The Balanced Athlete
Old style training put its major emphasis on brute strength and force. But can you fire a canon from a canoe? There needs to be an underlying stability for any form of strength to be functional. In the old days, we thought that the rectus abdominus, which is the superficial abdominal muscle used in crunches, was a stabilizer. Research has told us otherwise. Physiotherapist Paul Hodges performed research at the University of Queensland in Australia. He was fascinated by the relationship between activation of the deep core muscles, the transverse abdominal muscle, the multifidus and the pelvic floor, and low back pain. Muscle tests performed by Hodges suggest that people without back pain activate their deep core muscles prior to moving other muscles, while people with low back pain activate their core muscles afterwards, thus compromising spinal stability.
The good news is that these deep core muscles work on a use it or lose it principle. Since their function is stabilization, exercises that challenge balance, equilibrium can improve their functionality. The Bosu is perfect for this!
The Bosu can also be used in junction with the Stability Ball and resistance bands to create workouts that are similar to what you would do on Pilates equipment. As most people know, core activation is a primary principle of Pilates exercise. The Bosu can give you feedback as to whether you are initiating your movements from you’re your deep core musculature. If you are ‘faking it” you will not be able to balance. Pregnant women, who have been advised against doing abdominal work from a supine position, can also use the Bosu to prop themselves up into an incline position, making core work a possibility.
Athlete, Where Art Thou?
Along with dynamic balance, proprioception training is an important element in any sports conditioning program. Anyone who has ever practiced his or her snow sliding in a white out can attest to this. Many factors might impede proprioception. Did you ever notice that if you are prone to ankle sprains, it usually happens on one side? Every time you sprain an ankle, you lose a bit more proprioception on that side. There are many exercises that can be done on the Bosu to retrain proprioception.
Proprioceptive training has also been shown to reduce the possibility of injury. A study done by Laskowski in 1997 showed that proprioception and balance training could significantly reduce the incidence of ACL tears in soccer players.
The Bosu is a great tool for skill enhancement, injury prevention, post rehab exercise, strength training plyometrics and aerobic training. The added benefit: Bosu workouts are fun!
