The BOSU balance trainer has been a staple in the fitness industry for over 15 years. One of the reasons for this is the versatility of the product itself coupled with the functional benefits it has offered millions of people around the world. This year the new BOSU Elite by WeckMethod was released. It took over fourteen years to develop, testing several iterations of material compositions and thousands of hours of training with both high level athletes and everyday people to land on a final product.
The question that is asked most often is: What is the difference between the original BOSU balance trainer and the BOSU® Elite?
In order to properly address this question, let's first discuss the similarities between the Original and the BOSU® Elite. What makes a BOSU balance trainer ball so unique, whether it is the original BOSU balance trainer or the BOSU® Elite, is its material composition and dome-shaped design.
The material compensation allows you to seamlessly blend the stable with the unstable. The BOSU balance trainer's dome is unstable (pliable), yet the base sits fixed on the ground (stable). As for the dome-shaped design, it creates a stimulus which "upsets" balance and challenges your center of gravity over your base of support at a reflexive level.
These combined properties create an extremely functional training tool which promotes the marriage between balance, strength, and proprioceptive awareness. Strength without balance and proprioceptive awareness is not very functional.
Now for the differences. Although both BOSU's have universal similarities, the applications, feedback, and benefits are quite distinct.
The Original BOSU Balance Trainer
The original BOSU balance trainer's material composition provides various degrees of instability and balance challenges on the dome side (depending on how you position your feet). This is ideal for: fine-tuning the nervous system, reflexively correcting imbalances, and strengthening and stabilizing the feet and ankles. The original BOSU balance trainer is also very beneficial for strengthening and stabilizing deep muscles of the spine, enhancing proprioception and neuromuscular intelligence, activating the body's core, and integrating the entire body for better movement efficiency. Another unique benefit of the original BOSU balance trainer is when used for overall conditioning, agility, etc. many of the benefits listed above are intrinsically incorporated in the movements.
The BOSU® Elite by WeckMethod
It is known as the BOSU® Elite by WeckMethod because it was conceived using key principles of WeckMethod training. Created by David Weck, the inventor of BOSU, WeckMethod training improves essential ground based movement (walking, running, squatting, jumping, agility) by setting correct tension within the body and generating greater force production and efficiency during athletic activity. This starts at the balls of the feet and is expressed throughout the rest of your body making "every step stronger."
In order to achieve this objective with the greatest results, changes had to be made to key elements of the original BOSU balance trainer. The dome-shaped design remained (as this is the best design to enhance ground-based movement), however the BOSU® Elite's material composition is much different.
The BOSU® Elite's high density dome provides greater dynamic resistance and feedback than the original. Instead of "sinking" into the dome, as you do with the original BOSU balance trainer, the BOSU® Elite uses resistance to "push back" which intensifies feedback and creates a more powerful exchange between you feet and the dome. The BOSU® Elite's high density dome also provides more stability than the original BOSU balance trainer, allowing users to target and maintain specific positions without the additional demands created by a more unstable environment. The BOSU® Elite still provides the benefits of instability training, however it focuses more on resistance and "spring loading" movements than instability. Two additional benefits of the BOSU® Elite's high density dome are that many core exercises become more challenging as the user doesn't "sink into" the dome and new users, especially active aging, have an easier time acclimating to the BOSU® Elite's surface as it provides more stability.
BOSU® Elite's New Design Features
In order to achieve the full potential of the BOSU® Elite and desired results, proper foot placement is important. The Power Zone and Power Line were introduced to work in concert with the high density dome and serve as a "visual guideline" for precise cuing and targeting areas which will produce the greatest returns.
The Power Zone:
The Power Zone guides the user to target the optimal area on the BOSU® Elite in order to load the feet with proper tension and establish the correct positioning. Training in the Power Zone promotes proper loading throughout the body and maximizes the dynamic resistance the new dome provides. The unique honeycomb texture in the Power Zone offers sensory feedback while enhancing grip.
The Power Line:
The Power Line is used to cue body positioning for different variations of feedback, tension, ranges of motion and alignment. The numbers on the Power Line help provide precise cues to position the feet by width (wide-narrow) and target individual foot placement according to specific movement patterns. For example, wide foot placement on the Power Line ("Placing your toes at the 6's") will yield a different result than a narrow foot placement on the Power Line ("Placing your toes at the 2's").
Application
Both the original BOSU balance trainer and the BOSU® Elite by WeckMethod have unique benefits and applications. By understanding your personal goals (or a client's needs) you are able to utilize both modalities to enhance different stages of training or desired results. You can perform many of the same exercises on the BOSU® Elite as you can on the BOSU original balance trainer, however the feedback from the BOSU® Elite, along with design features, provides a difference experience than the original and will yield different results depending on application.
