{"id":320786,"date":"2026-03-04T04:54:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T04:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/320786\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T04:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T04:54:09","slug":"i-used-a-wobble-board-for-one-minute-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/320786\/","title":{"rendered":"I used a wobble board for one minute a day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\tJust 19 seconds on this left my core, glutes and arms shaking as I collapsed on the carpet\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

From the plank to weight machines, via Russian twists, leg raises and bicycle crunches, I\u2019d tried pretty much every exercise<\/a> possible to strengthen my abdominals, which, for a 47-year-old mum of two, were reasonably steely.<\/p>\n

So when I heard about a \u00a3119.95 gadget that promised to work my core \u201cmore intensely than anything you have ever done before\u201d, I rolled my eyes. Not only was I pretty sure this wasn\u2019t true, but I believe in fitness<\/a> (as in life), hard work and discipline trump gimmicks any day \u2013 especially at that cost.<\/p>\n

Then I tried the Core Master and decided perhaps there is a place for a device that looks a bit like the pogo ball I used to jump on as a kid in the 80s<\/a> in my fitness regime, after all.<\/p>\n

New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n

Just 19 seconds on this balance-based exercise board left my core, glutes and arms shaking as I collapsed prone and humbled on the carpet, questioning everything I thought I knew about my body, my muscles, my stamina.<\/p>\n

But I brushed myself off, got back on my board and kept trying. Three months later, with just a minute\u2019s practice a day, my core is stronger than ever.<\/p>\n

The muscles on my stomach are more visibly defined, yes, but those on my back are bolstered too, making me feel more stable, whether I\u2019m doing deadlifts or hauling myself out of bed in the morning. A strong core is critical for good posture<\/a>, a healthy back and injury prevention and psychologically, it\u2019s helpful too. With the centre of me strong on the outside, I feel more emotionally resilient and, well, centred.<\/p>\n

So what exactly is the Core Master and why is it so challenging? At its most basic level, you put your forearms on either side of a rotating ball in the middle of the board and hold a plank, which sounds simple enough, especially if you can hold a regular plank for several minutes already. But, you\u2019re braced against a fixed surface in a regular plank. With the Core Master, you\u2019re balancing on a small ball. \u201cWhen you remove the floor, you trigger the mechanoreceptors (that detect change) in your joints and connective tissue,\u201d explains the Core Master\u2019s creator and personal trainer, Dean Varga. \u201cThese sensors send a high velocity feedback loop to the brain demanding constant micro adjustment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The Core Master targets often forgotten deep transversus abdominis (TVA) muscles that wrap around your core and the multifidus muscles along the spine<\/p>\n

In other words, it burns like hell, targeting often forgotten deep transversus abdominis (TVA) muscles that wrap around your core and the multifidus muscles along the spine (both critical for stabilising your spine) far more ferociously than a regular plank. \u201cIt hyper fires the small stabilising muscles,\u201d says Varga. \u201cYou aren\u2019t just getting stronger \u2013 you\u2019re educating your nervous system to protect your spine automatically.\u201d<\/p>\n

The obliques and \u201cshowy\u201d six-pack muscles are also worked, says Varga, 43. \u201cBut it doesn\u2019t stop there. To maintain structural integrity on the board, you have to engage the glutes, the lats (latissimus dorsi \u2013 the large flat muscles on your back) \u2013 they lock the pelvis and spine into place. It\u2019s a total body workout that forces the entire system to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

He came up with the Core Master after getting clients to do planks on his old balance board \u2013 an elevated board that wobbles. \u201cEveryone used to comment how they could feel their core a lot more,\u201d he said, deciding \u201cit would be great if we could take that balancing plank on the move. So that\u2019s where I got the idea of the roller ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

A trained engineer, he made a prototype in his nan\u2019s garage in 2016. Feedback from clients was \u201cawesome\u201d, and since the Core Master was launched in 2020, it\u2019s won fans from former footballer Rio Ferdinand, to former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and presenter Kirsty Gallacher, who described it as \u201cthe best workout of my life\u201d.<\/p>\n

I was already happy with my existing workout, however: 55 minutes of simple, cheap weight training in my kitchen every other day. But after writing about the 10 minutes of ab exercises<\/a> in it (which currently include weighted Russian twists, side planks and leg raises) last November, I got a message from Core Master HQ: would I like to try their product? They asked twice. I relented out of politeness, holding out no great hope.<\/p>\n

Precisely because it was so hard, I felt compelled to carry on. Over the next month, I worked my way from holding a 19-second plank to holding one minute, substituting the regular plank in my kitchen workout for the Core Master version and doing an additional minute on the days I wasn\u2019t lifting weights. Of course, my other exercises still contribute to my strong stomach, but this one has turbocharged it.<\/p>\n

Varga advises beginners start with 20 seconds every other day with their knees on the floor, which shortens the \u201clever\u201d between feet and arms to make the exercise easier (advice I would have been wise to take), working their way up to 180 seconds, or three minutes, a day, which could be split into sets.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve progressed to holding the board\u2019s removable handles and twisting side to side from my waist \u2013 like steering a car, but more stressful \u2013 and dabbled in bending my knees and rolling back on the board to my feet, before returning to the start position \u2013 \u201cto add a leg workout into the mix, which really gets your heart rate up,\u201d says Varga. He has devised 100 exercises for the Core Master, from press-ups and mountain climbers to ab extensions where you roll your arms on the board out in front of you \u201cto increase that lever. You can certainly feel it for a few days after.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cost is, of course, substantial, and it\u2019s worth proving you can maintain a fitness regime and would therefore actually use it, before investing. Cheaper options include Swiss Balls and Medicine Balls, balance cushions \u2013 air-filled discs \u2013 which are around \u00a315 on Amazon, and wobble boards, around the same price, all of which you can put your hands on to intensify a plank through the added challenge of balance.<\/p>\n

Arguably, none are as versatile as the Core Master, but they\u2019re a good place to start \u2013 and a good reminder for the most committed exercisers that there\u2019s always room for improvement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just 19 seconds on this left my core, glutes and arms shaking as I collapsed on the carpet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[1372,2664,589,163,85,46],"class_list":["post-320786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-exercise","tag-features","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}