The 66fit Wooden Rocker Board (50cm) is designed to help you regain your sense of balance and coordination.
This high quality wooden rocker board has a 12º tilt. The difference between a rocker board and a wobble/balance board, is that a rocker board will only rock either forwards or backwards, or side to side (depending on how you position the board). The rocker board helps improve posture, strengthen abdominal muscles and tone the hamstrings and calf muscles.
The rocker board is helpful for anyone who has undergone knee surgery, cartilage and ligament operations as well as those with arthritic joints. It cleverly enables muscle strengthening exercises even from your armchair!
What are the benefits of a rocker board?
Nearly anyone can find a way to challenge themselves on a rocker board. A rocker board can help to develop:
- Balance and coordination
- Motor skills and reaction time
- Strength and steadiness that can contribute to injury prevention
Core strength that helps you keep moving at any age.
Something as simple as trying to stand still on a rocker board can do a lot for stability, coordination and spatial awareness.
Rocker board exercises:
If any of these exercises feel too easy for you, try them with your eyes shut. But make sure you’ve really mastered all of the below balance board exercises first, and try closing your eyes when you have a spotter, especially during your first attempt.
Move 1: Simple Starting Position
This challenges the visual system and proprioceptive system (spatial awareness).
- Stand with both feet hip-distance apart, feet pointing straight ahead. Steady yourself and maintain proper posture.
- Once you can balance and stand still, rotate your head side to side and move your eyes to look up, down, left and right.
You may not be able to squat as low as you do on solid ground, but this exercise will really develop lower-body and core strength.
- Plant your feet a little wider than hip-distance apart and practice squatting without losing balance.
- Slowly bend at the knees and drop into your hips, and then rise.
Move 3: Playing Catch
- From standing with feet hip-distance apart and pointing forward, toss a ball with either one or two hands to and from a partner.
- No partner? Toss the ball back and forth to yourself, either bouncing it off a wall or tossing up in the air from one hand to the other.
Move 4: Kneeling Spin
- Place your hands on your hips and kneel on the board.
- While focusing on your abdominal muscles, begin to slowly rotate your body.
- Once you’ve successfully finished a few rotations, slow down and then reverse so that you’re rotating in the opposite direction.
Work up to this slightly more advanced balance board exercise.
- Stand on top of the board with bare feet.
- Slowly lean back and forth, left and right, keeping your balance so that the side of the board touches the ground.
- Repeat this for 60 seconds.