The Balance Board For Fitness And Health

We are learning more and more about the importance of developing and maintaining balance fitness and core strength, and the balance board or the wobble board may be a useful implementation to help to achieve these fitness goals.

A balance board is basically a plank atop a roller or a ball. The board could be rectangular or it could be round.

Not only is the balance fun, it can improve posture and increase range of motion of several important joints of the body.

Standing on the balance board requires the body to constantly keep adjusting its weight which uses many muscle groups, particularly the core muscles of the lower back and the abs. It also trains the brain to be more efficient at balancing. The balance board can help to:

• Strengthen the core muscles of the back and the abs
• Make working out or lifting more challenging
• Improves physical coordination and balance
• Keeps joint movement healthy, improves core strength and can therefore be useful for seniors
• It can also help to avoid sport related injuries

You can do exercises such as:

• No Motion, just balance
• Back and forth motion
• Squats
• Pushups

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The Best Wii Fit Games To Help Get You Going!

Opinions are vastly divergent on Wii fit games and their efficacy in terms of exercise aids. While many will say that they are just video games with a clever marketing strategy that helps them masquerade as exercise aids, while others claim that they provide an enjoyable and effective workout.

Perhaps the truth is somewhere in-between: some exercise is better than none!

There are several things that set apart the Wii Fit games from other video games; chief among them being the unique balance board. This is able to measure BMI based on the height and weight of the user.

There are 50 possible activities with the balance board, with categories such as aerobics, balance games, yoga and strength training. Some of the top games for Wii Fit are:

Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 includes motion based fitness activities such as monkey bars, ladder climbing, rowing etc and using the balance board is able to track personal fitness and progress. The aim of the program is strength training, weight loss hill climb etc.

Shaun White Snowboarding is as the name suggests, about a simulated snowboarding experience. The game claims to let you do everything you would at the mountain (but presumably were too scared to actually try because this game offers options such as doing different tricks on the ground in the air and on rail).

You can careen down slopes, create new paths in the back country and use the terrain park for yet more tricks. A generic Park city, Japan, Europe and Alaska are areas you can explore.

We Ski is also about the lure of snowy wherein up to 4 players can hit the slopes. You can choose from 14 set courses ranked according to the level of expertise.

Skate it, is again a self explanatory and skaters get to choose the kind of skate board they want and create a fantasy park of their choice to play around in. There are features such as benches, rails and ramps to keep things exciting.

Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party is another really popular Wii game that lets you use your rear end to play up to 65 games that have spoofs from TV, and other popular culture to keep you interested. Shaking, precision, dexterity and balance are some of the elements included in the game.

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