Both Sides Up

In this Workout of the Week, we use a piece of equipment we thought we were familiar with ... but it turns out we had no clue how many exercises you can do with a BOSU. For those of you who aren't familiar, that stands for "both sides up" and that's the beauty of it.

It looks like half of an exercise ball, but you’ll get a full workout with the Bosu ball – especially if you’re training with Doug Van Why of Gym FX in downtown Des Moines.

“A lot of people look at that and see people do crunches off of it and think that’s about all you can really do off of it,” says Doug.

Doug shows us there’s a lot more we can do with the Bosu. We begin with burpees. Throw in some split jumps and the heart rate soars.

Doug urges us to continually engage our core. In fact, he says that’s what the Bosu is all about.

“You’re incorporating stabilizing muscles… stability, but ultimately balance as well, which is a key aspect, especially for people as they age.”

Kettlebell squats on the Bosu when it’s right-side-up are hard enough. For the ultimate challenge, flip it over and throw in a weighted Romanian Deadlift on one foot! Simply getting on the Bosu when it’s wobbling on its top is a workout in itself.

The instability created by the Bosu, builds the stabilizing muscles in the body.

“It’s going to attack the weakest areas, where normally you would protect those or avoid those,” says Doug.

It also maximizes your workout time.

“Basically, you’re going to be able to work the stabilizer muscles, muscles you won’t be able to target when you’re doing traditional training.”

The traditional push-up gets a makeover with the Bosu too. The “push-up pop” involves lifting, or “popping” the Bosu off the ground after each push-up.

And then there’s the abdominal workout. Most of us have seen the Bosu crunch – it’s basically a crunch done on the Bosu. But performing it to perfection is an entirely new experience.

“You want to make sure your hips stay level,” explains Doug. “Envision a string attached to your sternum and you’re pulling straight up to the ceiling.”

In less than an hour on the Bosu ball, we’re tapped. And Doug says we’ve only sampled a fraction of what it has to offer.

“I think you got a good taste of the Bosu ball,” says Doug. “Anything you can do on the floor, you can do on the ball.”

Sonya and I were incredibly sore after this workout - especially through our abs and back. If you're looking for a new way to challenge yourself, the BOSU is great.

For information on Gym FX and the Bosu ball, contact Doug Van Wyk at 515-288-1111 or visit the gym. It’s located at 418 6th Ave. Ste 110 in downtown Des Moines.

Have a healthy week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com