If the Soviet “Grace” waist disc is still standing idle in the corner, quickly include it in your home workouts. And if not, you can easily purchase it at an affordable price and strengthen the muscles of your torso, legs and even arms. The health disc will make simple crunches more effective and will replace many home cardio equipment if you perform the technique correctly and follow a training regimen.
What is a health disk and what is it for?
A flat disk made of two interconnected plates up to 4 cm high is capable of rotating 360 degrees, allowing the rectus abdominis, oblique muscles of the abdomen, back, and legs to be activated when rotating the hip joint. You don’t just need to spin on the disc, strengthening the vestibular apparatus, but concentrate on twisting due to tension and contraction of the muscles that form the waist.
If you perform exercises continuously for 30 minutes, increasing your heart rate, you can achieve a cardio effect no worse than with an exercise bike or orbitrek. Of course, there are both pros and cons to training on a health disc.
Possible harm and contraindications
The gadget itself does not cause any harm to health, you just need to use it correctly: if the device is designed for a weight of 90 kg, then people with a larger mass are not recommended to use it. Classes are contraindicated in the following situations:
- atherosclerosis;
- radiculitis;
- hernias of any kind;
- osteoporosis;
- chronic diseases.
The benefits of a waist disc
- Rotations on the simulator allow you to work out the muscles responsible for holding the spine and improve not only your waist, but also your posture.
- Exercises on the disc develop balance, coordination, and endurance.
- Crunches on the machine develop muscle flexibility and joint mobility.
- Training is allowed at any age, regardless of the level of physical fitness, if there are no concomitant diseases of the spine.
- Twisting massages internal organs and improves blood circulation.
- Takes up little space.
- Low cost.
Reviews of those losing weight
- Alina: In my apartment I can’t even dream of having large exercise equipment, but I liked the health disc. It's small but effective. After just a month of a gentle diet and exercise, I easily lost 5 kilograms.
- Irina: To make sure whether the exercise machine was right for me, I studied reviews about it on the Internet, watched training videos, and decided to try it. I didn’t feel much of an effect because I worked out to the best of my ability, and I ate whatever I wanted. I plan to continue exercising and review my diet.
Positive results from using a weight loss disc will please you after just a month of regular training. The simplicity of the exercises and the compactness of the device have made it a bestseller in the sports world.
Disadvantages of a spinning disc for the waist
- Spinal twisting can be dangerous in case of some of its diseases: hernia, protrusion, disc displacement.
- With incorrect technique, sudden and incorrect movements, back pain may develop due to trauma to the intervertebral discs, muscle strain and pinched nerve endings.
- The simulator is not multifunctional. It has a limited range of effects on muscles, aimed mainly at torsion of the lumbar region and tension of the abdominal muscles.
Advantages
Probably the main advantages of the health disk can be considered its relative accessibility and ease of use. Almost everyone can afford the simplest model (just to rotate). It’s not difficult to figure out how to perform most of the exercises on it – even a child can master the simulator.
Let us emphasize once again that in the process of working with a circle, first of all, the waist and abdominal muscles are loaded. In addition, you will perfectly strengthen and tighten your legs, thighs and buttocks, make your spine more flexible, increase overall performance, improve blood circulation, metabolism and intestinal function. All this contributes to weight loss. Of course, not on its own, but in combination with other methods of reducing body weight.
It is important that while exercising, you can arbitrarily choose the rotational amplitude and determine the duration of each approach and the entire workout yourself.
The longer you exercise, and the higher your motor amplitude, the more energy will be spent and the faster your muscles will become toned. Just imagine: just 30 minutes a day – and you’ve already started losing weight.
Top exercises on the health disk
Exercise No. 1
The first exercise, which can also be used as a warm-up, is torso rotation while maintaining balance. Stand on the disk with both feet, squat slightly and begin to rotate your pelvis so that your knees rotate in one direction, and your arms and body in the opposite direction. Perform dynamic rotations while maintaining balance.
Exercise No. 2
Place a chair in front of you, body distance apart, with your arms outstretched. Standing with both feet on the disc, hold onto the back of the chair, forming a right angle in the tilt. Twist your pelvis slightly, slightly rounding your back, begin to rotate your pelvis on straight legs, contracting your oblique abdominal muscles with each turn. As if you were pulling the ribs towards the ilia. Perform crunches dynamically, but concentrate on working your abdominal muscles.
Exercise #3
Place your knees on the disc, pelvis-width apart, and place your palms a short distance in front of the disc, placing them under the shoulder joints. Start rotating your pelvis, also twisting to the sides, tensing your oblique abdominal muscles. As you rotate, pull your ribs toward your pelvis.
Exercise #4
Sitting on the disc, place your palms on the floor behind your back, and keep your legs bent at the knees. Tightening your abdominal muscles, twist your torso, lowering your feet to the floor in one direction, and lean your body in the opposite direction. Do the same in the opposite direction, as if moving your legs over an imaginary large object.
Exercise #5
Stand in front of the disc with your feet on the floor. Bend over and place your palms on the machine. Start twisting your torso while keeping your legs motionless. Using your hands, rotate the disc from side to side, contracting your abdominal muscles. If the upside down option is inconvenient, it can be replaced by resting on your knees. In this case, the palms are also located under the shoulders on the disc, and the twisting is controlled by the torso, without involving the pelvis.
results
If you use the spinning health disc for weight loss for 30 minutes, you will burn approximately 250-300 kcal. It should be noted that this is a very decent result.
As already mentioned, it is most convenient to exercise on this simulator at home. At the same time, you can listen to your favorite music, watch a movie or TV show. In other words, combine it with other activities, thus saving time and spending it with maximum benefit.
If you train daily, then in a month of training you will be able to lose from 2 to 5 kilograms, and your waist will decrease by 2-5 cm, respectively. However, to get this result, you will need to supplement spinning on the circle with other sports and diet correction.
Top 3 best health disc manufacturers
- Star Fit, an Australian manufacturer of a line of home fitness products, produces metal and plastic discs weighing from 0.5 to 1 kg that can withstand loads of up to 100 kg. Approximate cost from 290 to 580 rubles.
- Artist - a company originally from China produces acupuncture massage plastic discs with magnets. “Grace” of this kind not only massages the feet, but also, as the brand claims, creates a magnetic field that accelerates metabolic processes in the body. Approximate price: 570 rubles.
- SP-Planeta - a Ukrainian brand produces metal disks, similar to the Soviet “Grace”, with a diameter of 28 cm, suitable for home use. The price of the product is approximately 700 rubles.
Rules
To achieve the desired result and not get injured while performing exercises on the simulator, you must adhere to a number of rules.
- Before standing on the circle, it must be placed on a flat surface. It shouldn't be slippery. To increase safety, you can place a rubber training mat or travel mat under it.
- If you have never used such exercise machines before or have problems with the vestibular system, it is better to place a chair next to the circle. It is needed so that you have time to sit down if you feel dizzy. You can minimize the risk of fainting by avoiding sudden movements.
- To reduce your waist, you need to make sure that only the lower part of your body rotates. You can't move your shoulders. If you ignore this rule, you can’t even count on results.
- To increase blood circulation and accelerate metabolism, it is recommended to drink a glass of clean water at room temperature 20 minutes before the start of training.
- Exercise should be moderate. You shouldn’t immediately load yourself to the maximum. The load and duration of training should be increased little by little. Let the duration of the first lessons be from 10 to 15 minutes per day.
- Before you start practicing, you need to ventilate the room.
How to choose a “Grace” simulator
This projectile has many variations:
- There are manufacturers that produce this disc with a textured surface for additional foot massage. The disk covering is made of rubber or plastic with bulges.
- There are also classic simulators without any subtleties. These, by the way, are the most common types of such disks.
- Recently, “Grace” discs with expanders appeared. They are attached to the sides and are designed to pump up the arm muscles. You need to simultaneously spin the disc and work with expanders.
- Magnetic disk. Such simulators have a built-in chip that counts how many rotations you have made. Very convenient for those who want to improve their results and reach new marks.
- Manufacturers have prepared discs for children that, when rotated, can sing or make certain sounds.
The price of such discs ranges from 250 to 900 rubles.
Usage
The simulator can be used by both adults and children. Performing most exercises does not require special skills or technique.
Before you start training, you need to determine your goal. This can be working out the hips or abs, back and waist, tightening muscles and increasing the overall tone and blood circulation in the body.
Having chosen a complex, perform each movement measuredly and slowly to avoid injury. It is better to increase the load and speed gradually, developing the skill and developing muscle memory.
The following basic exercises will help you warm up and get used to the apparatus:
- stand on the disk and carefully rotate it, then to the right, then to the left;
- After making sure that the position is stable, bend your legs and arms, increasing the range of movements;
- After doing this warm-up for about five minutes, proceed to the next exercise: find a support, the height of which will be convenient for resting your arms in a half-bent position;
- bending over and grasping the support, rotate the body;
- to warm up the upper body, you need to take a position typical for push-ups from your knees, with your hands on the disk;
- Having formed a straight line with your body (from your knees to the top of your head), rotate the disc with your hands.
It is very important to keep your muscles tense at all times during exercise. Such grouping will not only make training safer, but will also have a positive effect on their results.
