10 Amazing BJJ Bosu Ball Exercises To Boost Your Balance

Introduction 

There’s no doubt that Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) is a physically demanding sport. It requires you to be strong, fast, and flexible. In order to improve your performance on the mat, it’s important to address your overall fitness level. That means addressing core strength and balance training with specific exercises designed for BJJ athletes. The 10 Bosu Ball exercises covered in this article will help improve your balance and help you up your game during sparring or competition! 

Importance of balance & stability training in BJJ & How Bosu Ball Workouts Can Help 

The benefits of using a Bosu ball for BJJ are numerous. For one, the ball provides an unstable surface that forces your muscles to work harder in order to maintain balance. This not only strengthens your muscles, but also improves your coordination and proprioception. 

Additionally, the ball challenges your core stability and can help to improve your posture. As a result, it can help you to become a better jiu jitsu fighter overall. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, the ball is also great for injury prevention. The unstable surface of the 

ball helps to reduce the risk of shearing force injuries by producing less impact on your joints. Using a Bosu ball can help keep you healthy and injury-free so that you can train at your full potential. 

Exercise 1: Bosu Ball Bridge 

Bridges are one of the most basic exercises and a great way to work your core muscles, as well as your glutes and hamstrings. To do the bridge, start by lying on your back with your heels on top of the Bosu ball. Slowly lift your hips off the ground, and then hold for a few seconds. You can make the exercise more challenging by adding a weight to your lap, or by doing single-leg bridges. 

Exercise 2: Bosu Ball Lateral Step-Over 

This exercise is great for developing balance and improving your ability to keep your knees straight when dealing with a variety of attacks. It’s also great for strengthening the muscles in

your legs, so it can be useful if you’re trying to improve your BJJ game or even just want to be more active overall. 

To perform this exercise, engage your core muscles and step onto the ball with one of your feet. In a quick motion, lunge up and switch your feet so that your starting foot is on the side of the ball and your other foot is now on the ball and repeat. 

Exercise 3: Bosu Ball Plank 

The Bosu ball plank is an excellent exercise to strengthen your core, arms, back and hips. To do a Bosu plank, start in a push-up position with your hands on the ball and your feet on the ground. 

Then, engage your core and straighten your body so that you are in a straight line from head to heels. Hold this position for 30-60 seconds, and then lower yourself back to the starting position. Plank on a Bosu ball is a great way to challenge your balance and stability while also working your core muscles. So give it a try and see how it feels! 

Exercise 4: Bosu Ball Push-ups 

Start by placing the Bosu ball on the floor and making sure it’s stable. Make sure that your body is straight in line with the ball and that your knees don’t touch the ground (this will make it hard for you to engage your core). Then, place your hands on top of the Bosu—you should be able to see that they’re slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. 

Keep an eye on where your hips are throughout this exercise as well; you want them facing toward the ceiling at all times so you’re working those glutes! From here, lower yourself down into a push-up position by bending at both elbows until they’re 90 degrees from your body. Hold this position for two seconds before coming back up again using only muscles in arms and shoulders. 

Exercise 5: Bosu Ball Squat 

The Bosu ball squat is a great exercise to help strengthen your legs and improve balance. This forces the muscles to work harder to maintain balance. To do a squat on a Bosu ball, start by standing on the flat side of the ball with your feet shoulder-width apart. Place your hands on your hips and slowly lower yourself into a squat position, keeping your knees behind your toes. 

Exercise 6: Bosu Ball Jump Squat 

Similar to the regular squat, the jump squat helps to increase muscle activation while challenging your balance. To do a jump squat on a Bosu ball, start by standing on the ball with both feet. From there, lower into a squat position, then explosively jump up into the air. As you

land, be sure to absorb the impact through your legs so that your knees don’t take the full force of the landing. 

Exercise 7: Bosu Ball Lunge 

The Bosu Ball Lunge is another great exercise to improve your balance and leg strength. It’s really quite simple: all you need to do is place a Bosu ball on the floor with the ball side facing up. Step onto it with one foot, keeping your upper body tall. From there, slowly bend your front knee until the thigh is parallel to the ground, then extend back up into the starting position. From there, you can switch sides. 

Exercise 8: Balancing on a Bosu Ball 

Just balancing on a Bosu ball is a simple, but effective exercise for improving balance and stability. Carefully place both feet onto the flat side one at a time. Make sure to keep your back straight and avoid rolling too steeply in one direction. 

Once you feel comfortable with this step, release your support and balance yourself. This exercise strengthens the legs and ankle muscles, so try it several times before moving on to other exercises! 

Exercise 9: One-Legged Balancing 

Taking it a notch up from the previous exercise, you can challenge yourself and your balance by doing it with one leg to improve strength and range of motion. To perform a single-leg Bosu ball exercise, start by standing on the flat side of the ball with one leg. Slowly lift your other leg off the ground and hold it in the air for a few seconds. 

Then, lower your leg back down to the starting position and repeat with the other leg. As you get comfortable with the exercise, you can increase the amount of time that you spend balancing on one leg. 

Exercise 10: Bosu Ball March 

Another great standing exercise is the Bosu ball march. This exercise will work your glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps. 

Balancing on the ball, march one foot at a time. With each step, raise your opposite knee up to hip height (or higher). Alternate legs until you have completed 20 steps total. 

Conclusion

To improve your BJJ and judo balance, you need to have a strong base of support. The Bosu ball is the perfect tool for helping you do this. The ball can be used in many different exercises that will help improve your balance in all aspects of life. If you’re interested in increasing your BJJ skills, come to Granite Bay Jiu Jitsu and try out a free week with us!