What balance equipment do I need at home?

If you walk into any given physical therapy or rehab clinic, you’d likely see a plethora of equipment around the gym designed for balance work: a BOSU stability ball, an Airex balance cushion, rocker boards, wobble boards, and barres anchored along the wall. You may even see a vibration plate. While all of these are excellent tools to challenge, and ultimately improve, one’s balance, which of them do I recommend my family and friends go out and purchase for their home? 

Here is my answer: None of them! 

In this post I will explain how you can reap all of the benefits of these different pieces of equipment at home, without having to buy a single one of them. 

Now, before we get into the details, let me preface by saying that if I have a patient that particularly LOVES the rocker board that we use in our PT sessions, I have nothing against them going out and buying one for their home use (by “going out,” I really mean going on Amazon and ordering it). If you are so inclined to buy all of the balance bells-and-whistles that are listed above, have at it! However, the point of this post is to demonstrate how you can just as effectively improve your balance at home WITHOUT dropping a single dime on any equipment. 

Here’s how:

Instead of installing a barre into a wall: stand at your sink. I usually recommend your kitchen sink, because you can hold onto the edge of it exactly like you would a barre on the wall. It’s very stable, which is what you want to be standing next to whenever you’re working on balance exercises. It’s also in a room of the house that most people frequent at least a few times a day, if not more. This is great because this way, it serves as a visual reminder throughout the day for you to take a few moments to balance!

Instead of a balance cushion or BOSU stability ball: use a pillow or a couch cushion. Place it on the ground with either carpet, a yoga mat, or a non-skid mat underneath for safety, and stand on it for your balance exercises. The purpose of a balance cushion or a BOSU ball is simply to decrease your stability- to make the surface you’re standing on less stable. There’s no significant benefit to getting a “special” foam pad - you can simply use a cushion or pillow that you already have at home and get the same effects. 

Instead of a vibration plate: focus on weightbearing and strength exercises. Vibration plates are marketed to improve balance and muscle strength. They also cost thousands of dollars! For no cost at all, you can improve your balance and muscle strength (and bone density too!) with weightbearing exercise such as stairs, squats, and lunges, just to name a few. Walking is also a wonderful low-impact, weightbearing exercise. If you want a more specific plan to help you get started with some weightbearing and strength exercises, specifically to improve your balance, check out my Top 3 Balance-Building Exercises by clicking here.

Instead of rocker boards or wobble boards: focus on sharpening your balance on level ground. I have so many patients that start out thinking that balance work has to be ultra-complex and that it has to feel like the most difficult exercise they’ve ever attempted. I always teach them to start with the basics: can you stand with one foot in front of the other without using your hands to hold onto something? Can you stand on one foot without using your hands to hold onto something? If not, you don’t need any fancy balance equipment- start with these tasks first. Get so good at standing on one foot that you can wash the dishes without setting your foot down. That you can have a full conversation with your best friend on the phone and not have to use your hands to steady yourself. At that point, then you can start adding more challenges in. As I said above, you could try adding a pillow or couch cushion. If you really want that rocker board, a less expensive option is a half foam roll- you can set it round-side-down, and work to balance as you stand on the flat side that faces up. This will give you a similar weight-shifting challenge as a rocker board would. 

A large benefit of NOT spending money on balance equipment (besides of course, not spending money!) is to give yourself a trial run. This means that if you utilize the items you already own, you can figure out what works (or doesn’t work) for you. You may install a fancy barre in your basement with great intentions of practicing your balance exercises next to it every day. But after 3 months, you realize that you haven’t even used it once, because you don’t go down into the basement for any other tasks, so you aren’t reminded to use it. Now you’ve wasted money, and likely feel a bit down on yourself for not sticking to your balance/fitness goals that you had set for yourself. Instead, I would encourage you to stand at your kitchen sink: Here you can hold onto the edge, just like you would a barre in a PT gym: It’s just as stable. Now you can practice a little balance each time you wash your hands at that sink, or each morning while you await your morning coffee to brew. Simple, free, and MORE effective than the basement barre that never got used.

On the flip side, maybe you’ve been using a couch cushion on the floor for some balance work, and although you like the challenge it provides, you are annoyed with having to take the pillow off the couch, take your shoes off, and then replace the cushion after you’re done each time. In this case, you may be thinking of purchasing a balance pad. By trialing the couch cushion first, you are creating that habit while also ensuring that these types of exercises are a good fit for you. At that point, investing in a balance pad or foam pad may be a great option, because you already know that you will use it and that it will be worth your money. 

So, I want to know: Do you have any balance equipment at home already? Do you use it and love it, or is it collecting dust in the closet? Are there any items that I didn’t mention in this post that you have questions about? Feel free to email me at [email protected] - I love hearing from you! 

If you are unsure where to start with a balance routine, and you want specific, step-by-step instructions for my Top 3 Balance-Building Exercises, click here and I’ll send them straight to your inbox. These are perfect for kickstarting a home routine, and they do not require any equipment. 

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We were watching the Olympic gymnastics competitions, and during the uneven bars, my 4 year old daughter said “I could do that, just not quite that fast.” May we all have that level of confidence in ourselves this week!