In the array of new tools that fitness providers have rolled out for a public audience excited about getting and staying in shape, balance pods are some of the most unlikely, but for many, they’re also some of the most effective!  These plastic pieces are structurally different from other similar tools, like balance cushions: some of the same principles are at work, but the uses are a little different.

To use balance pods, you should have an imagination.  Here’s what I mean.  The versatile, neat little pods are meant to be laid out on the floor and stepped on.  Sounds simple, right?  Yes, but the key is in your own fitness design, how you want to use the pods for achieving your goals.

What the pods do is work your body’s muscle groups according to responses to stresses.  What kind of stresses?

Well, think of these pods as part of an “obstacle course” – or check out training videos where trainers with pods look like they’re playing hop-scotch.  With balance pods, you’ll be stepping from one pod to another.  As you do this, your body is being challenged and consistently righting itself, using everything from abs and ankle muscles to complex inner balance systems.  All of the body works together to respond and strengthen itself.

So what are balance pod strategies that work? 

You can be a “frog” hopping between a series of “lily pads” or an adventurer stepping on rocks to avoid hot lava…sound like kid stuff?  Yeah, but working with balance pods works best when you keep that glimmer of imagination in play, at least in your instincts.  Just ask a trainer who works with balance pods.  Good trainers know that although every person is different, motivation in whatever form it occurs plays a real role in how much and how well a person advances toward fitness goals.  And ‘props’ like balance pods can make a huge difference.

So your co-workers think you’re out of your mind when they see you hopping through your office?  Okay, but using balance pods anywhere works on your grace and poise, your range and quality of movement, which leads to improved confidence and agility, and often, to a better golf swing.  And that’s not kid stuff at all.

Ultimately, how you use these pods is up to you – and that’s the whole point.  You create the fitness routine for yourself, to challenge your body the way you think is best.  Otherwise, the pods are just lumps of plastic on a floor.  But if you think of them a different way, they are the keys to a better dexterity and balance.  It’s all in the mind – except for the actual exercise.  For that, you’re using a different part of your brain: reflexive response, as well as your muscle groups.  So start slow and steady, and work up to a good balance routine to get more swing in your step and maybe a little less inhibition in the way you pursue fitness!