One of the best ways to avoid injury, sports related or not, is to have strong core muscles; and my wife reminds of this when I am doing an activity that might injury my back. “Hold your stomach muscles,” is the statement that she often repeats to me and she is right. Over the past year, strengthening those core muscles has become part of my workout routine and it has really helped. I have had less cycling related back injuries and I find that my back feels less ‘tweaked’ after a good day in the saddle.
There are many was to strengthen your core, from basic home exercises to specific Core Conditioning classes offered by some gyms. Along with these exercises or classes another device can be used will help you strengthen you core, improve your balance and is fun – a balance board. Vew-Do of Vermont has been designing and manufacturing balance boards for exercise, rehabilitation and just plan fun since 1990.
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Most of the balance boards that Vew-Do produces have a similar design – a board or wooden deck that is used to balance on top of a wooden cylinder. The board that you stand on, about the size of a skateboard deck, has a ridge along the length of the bottom that mates up with a groove in a wooden cylinder with ‘stops‘ at each end to keep the cylinder from completely slipping out from underneath the deck. Depending on the model, the length of the deck, shape of the cylinder or height of the deck is varied to make using the balance board easier or harder. As you improve your balance skills and strength, a more ‘advanced’ board can be purchased. The balance boards from Vew-Do appear simple in design, but riding it is much tougher.
At the SIA show this year in Denver, we stopped by the Vew-Do booth to give a few of the boards a whirl. Even though I am in fairly good shape, I almost ended up on the floor when first stepping on what turned out to be an intermediate model. One of the booth representatives gave me a quick lesson and that is all it took – the rest was up to me. After riding it for a few minutes, the balance board became much easier to use and was quite enjoyable. After about five minutes, we had to move on, but the ‘burn’ that I felt in my calves lasted for awhile.
httpv://youtu.be/-1Aj7pr_tXQ
Along with being able to improve core conditioning and strength training, some riders use their Vew-Do balance board for tricks. Since these boards have a limited travel of just a few feet in either direction, mostly ollies and board flips are the tricks that can be performed. But being able to do a board flip, land on the wooden cylinder in the grove and without hitting either the ‘tip’ or ‘tail’ of the deck on the ground is certainly excellent practice for anyone who skateboards and is trapped inside during bad weather.
For those who are turned off by the deck and cylinder models, Vew-Do also offers a number of stationary balance boards. These boards either use a half-sphere, half-cylinder rocker pivot (think of a playground seesaw) or aluminum frame with a rubber pivot on the bottom to still provide the core conditioning, strength training and balance improving properties of the other models; but reduce the chances of the board sliding out from underneath, a smaller footprint during use and not possibly damaging your floors.
Vew-Do boards can be purchased directly from their website, and they range in price from $80 to just under $200 and each board comes with a free JamDVD. The cold winter months do not have to keep you from maintaining your fitness or becoming stronger, a balance board may just be what you need to add to your fitness routine or break up the monotony. Each Vew-Do balance board is made in America, so not only will help you strengthen your core, but also strengthen our economy.
httpv://youtu.be/EqAehIsypbI