FitYaf's Fitness Friday BOSU workout

8/2/2013

We've all seen it at the gym - it looks like a stability ball that was cut in half. What is it and what do you do with it? It's called the BOSU Balance Trainer, or the BOSU ball. What is BOSU? It's an acroym for BOth Sides Up. Pretty creative, huh? According to Wikipedia, the BOSU ball was invented by David Weck in 1999. The great thing about a BOSU ball is that you can use it to do exercises that you're already doing to make them more challenging. Even better is that the side that is up determines the level of difficulty of the exercise. Putting the flat part of the BOSU ball on the floor makes an exercise a little more challenging, but putting the rounded side of the BOSU ball on the floor makes an exercise A LOT more challenging. Today's Fitness Friday workout is another 'Body Blitz'-style workout, where you'll alternate between cardio and strength training. I can't wait to hear what you think!

Notes about this workout:

This workout can be done at three levels:

BEGINNER: NO BOSU ball - perform all exercises on the floor
INTERMEDIATE: BOSU ball is flat side down
ADVANCED: BOSU ball is round side down

Some of the moves in this workout are high-impact. Please feel free to modify the workout to make them low-impact if necessary.
If you're unsure about any of the movements, check out the videos linked to the name of the exercise or google them before you start the workout. You don't want to lose momentum, stopping after every exercise to look up how to do them.
The warmup and cardio sections of this workout are designed to do in a set amount of time. This means that you'll work at your maximum level (as hard and as fast as you can) during this part of the workout.
The resistance training sections of this workout are designed to complete a set amount of reps. Be sure not to rush these movements and perform them in a controlled manner.
Rest in between sets if needed, but no more than 1 minute!
There are some great explanations of some of these moves in this article by Real Simple: 6 Quick BOSU-ball Exercises
Not every move uses the BOSU ball, regardless of the level you choose (the warm-up does not use the ball at all). Each description will specify when to use the ball.

Warmup

Do each for for one minute, as fast as you can:

Jumping jacks
Squat jumps (jump out into a squat, about halfway down, then jump back up to standing)
High knees
Jump rope side to side (use an imaginary rope, moving both feet together, jumping side to side about 1-2 feet)
Out & in (jump both feet out, then back in, knees slightly bent)

Resistance Training, SET 1

Body weight squats on the BOSU - 40 reps at a comfortable pace, then 10 more as fast as you can
Bicep curls, standing on the BOSU - 30 reps
One-legged bridge on BOSU - 20 reps each side
Chest press on BOSU - 30 reps

Cardio, SET 1

Do each for for one minute, as fast as you can:

www.realsimple.com

Resistance Training, SET 2

Lunges with back leg on the BOSU - 25 reps each side
Side arm plank on BOSU - 1 minute each side
Hamstring tilt on BOSU (this one has to be done with the BOSU round side down, do double leg hip bridges as an alternate) - 30 reps
Shoulder tap planks (hold yourself in plank position, either feet or hands on BOSU ball and tap your left shoulder with your right hand, then switch) - 40 reps total (20 on each side)