General Approach

Definition: Stability training works with all kinds of mostly small and simple tools that take away the stability of a solid ground to stand or sit on. Exercises are mostly performed with body weight or low additional weights. The instability aims to activate all muscles and neuronal connections to get your body back to stability to stand secure or to perform otherwise simple poses or movements.

Stability training vs. core strength exercises: In my understanding stability training uses whole muscle slings to stabilize your body - so to say the ‘chains’ or ‘slings’ from food to neck. Core strength exercise target more isolated e.g. your abs or your back. Stability work deliberately takes away your stable ground. Your normal abs routine fixates most of your body still on a bench or within a machine. Strength work you can do until muscle failure - I don’t feel such a point with stability work. I think the neuronal load is much higher in stability work.

I use stability exercise today as part of my running warm up, as adder to my yoga flows and as short individual flows. In terms of frequency I think it is more important to practice several times (2-3) per weeks for rather short sessions (10 to 30 min) than low frequency long sessions. While I clearly feel the muscular action, I do not perceive any meaningful overall exhaustion comparable to strength or endurance training.

Confession of a macho

I thought this stuff is for weaklings (with too much money and time)

For a long time I did put this type of exercises in the corner of very alternative methods mostly for folks who don’t want to do tough workouts. Targeted clientele for questionable coaches and margin rich producers. Toys rarely used.

My attention was risen as Peter Attia stated that stability work could be the most relevant exercise form with respect to longevity. In the course of several interviews Peter talked with successful coaches about it and I realized how significant the part of stability training today is also in competition oriented training…

With a little bit of searching I collected a set of these tools for way more affordable prices than below examples (yet still overpriced), use them regularly and start harvesting the results.

Exercises I find useful

Will follow

Exemplary Flows