Top 10 Bosu Ball Exercises for a Home Workout Glow Up
Want to take your home workout to the next level? All you need is a balance trainer to get an intense full body workout. One of the most well known balance trainers is the Bosu ball. Even if you don’t know it by name, you’ve probably seen one before. They look like half of an exercise ball on a platform. Adding this dome shaped balance tool to your workout is a great way to activate your core muscles while strengthening other body parts simultaneously.
Plus you have the added benefit of challenging your balance, coordination, and core stability. You can take any exercise you already do at home and easily adapt it for the Bosu ball. I love the fact that it's so versatile and instantly makes exercises more challenging. Another great benefit is that you’re activating more muscles at once, which also burns more calories.
Before I show you some exercises, I just want to explain the two different surfaces of the balance trainer. In general, the smaller and more dense the exercise ball is, the more challenging it will be. They come in a few different sizes and textures. Some also have exercise bands attached to them.
What’s awesome about the balance trainer is that you can use both the dome side and the flat bottom side. Standing on the dome surface is generally easier than standing on the flat/bottom side, but no matter what exercise you’re doing, the added challenge is obvious.
Here are some favorite exercises of mine. You can put them all together to get a full body workout. I’ve also commented on how to modify the exercise to make it more challenging.
Bird/dog
Place the ball under one knee. From there lift the opposite arm and leg, so they are in line with your body. Hold this position for a few seconds, before slowly lowering your arm and leg back to your starting position.(You can also choose to have one hand on the ball instead of the knee).
Challenge: Try holding bird-dog position for 10 sec. then slowly pulse 1 inch up and down 10 times. For an extra challenge add wrist or ankle weights.
2. Lunge
Place the ball under the front or back foot and drop down towards the floor into a lunge position while maintaining your foot/toes on the ball. You can also step onto the ball for a more dynamic lunge. You would step onto it lunging and push off the ball back to standing.
Challenge: Hold your lunge at the bottom and pulse up and down 1 in. For 10 seconds before extending knees back up. You can also try side lunges and back lunges as well.
3. Squat
Standing on the dome with feet hip width apart, squat down maintaining knees over the ankles and keeping your chest up. Hold the squat for a few seconds before coming up.
Challenge: Stand on the flat/bottom surface of the trainer for a wide squat. It’s more challenging to balance on the platform because of the movement of the ball underneath you. After a set of these squats your legs will feel like jello! If you’re feeling extra daring add hand-weights or try a mini single leg squat.
4. Bridge
Lay on a yoga mat with knees bent and feet hip width on the ball, slowly tuck your pelvis and lift your hips off the ground without extending your back. Give your gluts a squeeze at the top of the movement, then slowly lower yourself back to the ground.
Challenge: lower your pelvis halfway down and immediately squeeze back up to your bridge. You could also try a single leg bridge for increased difficulty. One foot remains on the ball while the other leg stays lifted with the knee bent at 90 degrees.
5. Mountain climbers
Assume a plank position with your hands on the sides of the platform. (Another option is to use hands or forearms on the dome side). Make sure the back remains straight throughout. A little lift of the hips can help with any back discomfort. From here you bring one knee towards your chest, then return the leg to start position. Alternate bringing your knees in.
Challenge: add a trunk twist to this motion, activating the obliques. Bring your knee towards your opposite elbow, allowing for the twist motion of your trunk. Keep alternating the movement.
6. Plank
Position your forearms or hands wide on the flat platform, extending the body in a straight line and staying on your toes. For more comfort, you can also try a forearm plank using the dome side.
Challenge: Try a side plank! One hand or forearm is placed on the dome, while the other arm extends to the ceiling. Feet can be parallel or stacked on top of one another. If you’re feeling really strong, you can add a twist by reaching underneath your trunk with your free arm, then untwisting back to your starting position.
7. Abdominal Crunch
Lay with the small of the back in contact with the dome of the ball and feet planted shoulder width apart. Slowly lower your upper body back (hands behind head if comfortable), while holding tension in the abdominal muscles before slowly lifting back up to starting position.
Challenge: Add a twist! Crunching up in a diagonal motion will activate the obliques. You can repeat one side at a time, or alternate the movement. By lifting the opposite knee as you crunch in a diagonal motion, you can turn it into an abdominal bicycle exercise.
8. Push-ups
Place hands on either side of the platform for an intense push up. Assume plank position with shoulder over the hands. Slowly lower your body, then press back up. The dome side works better for narrow pushups, such as tricep push ups.
Challenge: lift one leg and hold it for your push up. You can also try rocking the ball and creating a push up combination. Example: rock to the right>return to center>pushup etc.
9. Back extension
Laying on your stomach with your chest off of the dome (hands behind the head) and legs extended wide with toes on floor. Lift your chest extending your back to neutral spine, then slowly lower your upper body back to starting position.
Challenge: extend your arms straight forward while performing the movement. You can also hold the lifted position and “swim” straight arms in front of your body. As shown above, adding rotation to your lift will also increase difficulty.
10. Step Up
This is a great for cardio and getting your heart pumping. You basically use the balance trainer like an exercise step. Step onto the ball bringing the opposite knee up in a marching position, then step back down to the ground. You can alternate stepping up with right/left.
Challenge: Add some light hand or ankle weights. You also try sidestepping and back-stepping onto the ball, which further challenges coordination. If you’re feeling extra gutsy, add a hop! A little single leg hop adds major difficulty and coordination.
There is a vast amount of exercises you can do with a balance trainer. Just standing on the dome is a challenge in itself. Start with the exercises you know, then start getting creative. A few other ideas are using the ball for agility exercises. This could be alternating hops while tapping the dome with your foot. You can even use it for eccentric jumps, similar to box jumps. Some people incorporate it into their yoga poses. You can hold warrior pose with one foot on the ball, or even stand on the dome for single leg poses. There are some people who use them for burpees! (Clearly, these people love torturing themselves). But honestly, adding a balance trainer like the Bosu will have you sore for days!
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Do you struggle with side planks? Try a modified version on your forearm and knee. You can add different exercises in this position to work the side body while working towards a full side plank.