First and foremost what is a Powerball? The best way I can describe it is a mix between a piece of exercise kit / equipment and a very fun toy. This tennis ball sized electronic gadget is a fantastic tool when it comes to strengthening and toning your biceps, lower arms, wrists, hands and shoulders. It looks more like a child's high-tech toy rather than something you would use for exercise but believe me this can be hard work, especially at the beginning.


How does it work, I'm sure you are wondering. Well you're not alone as I wondered the same thing at the beginning. Well the magic lies within. First of all you must rest the Powerball in the palm of your hand with its little screen facing upwards then wrap your fingers around it and hold on tight (you don't want the ball flying out of your hand and through the window once you begin your exercise). Inside this hard plastic ball there is a gyroscope that you must trigger by pulling on a small cord. Once the gyroscope is activated the premise of the Powerball becomes clear. You must quickly find a technique to keep the gyroscope moving at all times (this mechanism is visible through the clear top of the unit). This can be achieved by swivelling, or dipping, or rotating the Powerball, or like me you can do all of these at the same time. These moves alone will make you use muscles in your hand, wrist and arm that otherwise would not see the light of day.
 

The little screen on the ball will register and display your progress the faster you make the internal gyroscope spin. The ball will also make sounds and flash lights the better you do. This sounds annoying but it is actually encouraging and does help you know that you are doing good and if the gyroscope stops moving all these noises and lights stop informing you that you have failed. The fact that you can't see the little screen if you are concentrating on the movement needed to keep it going means the lights and sounds tell you, you are improving.


There really is a technique to this exercise and a lot of people that have tried it out in my home find it annoying that they can't find the rhythm needed to keep it flashing and making sounds and that can result in them giving up before they have even given it a chance. When they do find their rhythm the noises and lights turn this into a fun game especially if you start competing with each other to beat each others time and speed rating.
 

Sounds like fun doesn't it? Well it is but the one thing haven't mentioned so far is that the faster you make the gyroscope spin the more force is generated and the heavier the Powerball becomes and the more grip and strength you must apply to keep it in your hand and keep it spinning. Very soon you will feel every muscle in your arm, shoulder, wrist, hand and fingers screaming for you to stop. But the fact that it is competitive even on your own (I always want to beat my previous score) means that you don't give up as easily or quickly as you would with a boring, standard form of exercise. The joke I made earlier about smashing a window is actually quite possible with this, so luckily they provide you with a wrist strap to ensure this doesn't happen and they recommend you use it at all times.


The best thing about the Powerball and there are lots of different models and designs but they all have the one brilliant thing in common is the fact that unlike most exercise equipment you will not need to upgrade to a more advanced model once you begin to improve. This is all down to the internal gyroscope because IT is always working against YOU. By this I mean the better you become at making it spin and making it go faster and faster the harder the exercise becomes. This in turn means the Powerball grows with you as you improve and as your level increases so does the resistance applied by the gyroscope. This means you are always being challenged by the Powerball to go faster and faster and for longer and longer periods of time.


This won't result in huge biceps, bad news for most guys but good news for most most women. What it will result in is stronger arms and toned muscles, both in feeling and in appearance. One of my female friends says this is the answer to her "bingo wing" problem (I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about) she explained that she especially loves how this has tightened and toned her upper arms.


The Powerball can be incorporated into your daily exercise routine as well, just pop in your favourite CD and off you go. You can do lunges, squats, step aerobics all the while trying to keep this crazy ball spinning. Just remember to change hands, in fact that's something worth noting, if you are right handed this will of course be more difficult when you are using it in your left hand as your muscles will be weaker on that arm and visa versa. prepare yourself for the dreaded "dead arm syndrome" as I call it, this ball will result in that sensation sooner rather than later especially at the beginning. But it's so much fun and very enjoyable to use, how often can you say that about exercise?

Thanks for reading :0) 2night

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