Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You'll Have a Ball With It!, December 29, 2010
There are two reasons to get one of these. The first is if you want to strengthen your hand and arms. The second? To have fun!
First reason one. If you're looking for a way to strengthen your arm and hand, the powerball will help you with this. Specifically, you have to hold on to it, so it works your gripping muscles of the hand. It also works the wrist muscles, because you have to rotate your wrist to keep the thing going. Lastly, your biceps will get a workout as well, because your biceps muscle helps turn your palm up (supination), which is one of the motions involved in keeping the gyro spinning.
I can't really see anyone with an acute wrist/elbow/arm injury using this device, as it would probably be just too vigorous a motion. In other words, say you had really bad tennis elbow- I think the powerball would likely make it worse in the beginning- but maybe use it later on as it got better- definitely this would be a more advanced activity to do to get fully back into shape. Exercises like those outlined in Treat Your Own Tennis Elbow would be better overall to use than to jump into something like a powerball. Mild cases might do alright.
On the other hand, if you don't have an injury and are just looking to get the above named muscles stronger and in better shape, then the powerball will certainly benefit you. Because it can spin progressively faster and faster as you get stronger, the powerball can provide you with a progressive resistance of sorts to get you stronger and stronger over time.
Now the second reason to get a powerball, for fun, really needs little explanation- it's just too much fun seeing how fast you can get this thing spinning! Perhaps the only non-fun thing about it is that it does take a little practice to get the hang of it, and when you're starting out and can't keep it spinning, well, that can get a little frustrating. However, it doesn't take long, and one tip that helped me in the beginning was to keep your elbow straight as you're practicing getting the technique down.
A cool toy and useful tool, don't think twice- give it a try!
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79 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A little good, a little bad, August 14, 2007
It's funny how so many of the reviews posted here are either 5-star "its so great! its so easy!", or 1-star "its a piece of worthless junk!". The reality is that, for most of us, its going to fall somewhere in between. I bought one of these a week ago from a local sports shop, thinking that I could bring it into my office or with me when I travel, and use it while I read over papers and reports. Any chance I can get to multi-task... After a week of use...
Pros: I can easily see how this would provide a decent forearm workout. When I use it for 4-5 minutes in one arm I can really feel those muscles have indeed been worked. Consequently, I would say that it works more or less as advertised, meaning that it does what it says it will do (strengthen your forearms, hands, wrists, fingers, etc.)
Cons: Despite some of the promotional material, it is not the easiest thing in the world to get started. I tried the "handstrike" methods to no avail. After a week of using it several times a day, I am now focusing solely on starting it with the string. I am only able to get it up to truly high rpm's once out of every 5-6 tries; however I can almost always get it up to the point where it will run for a minute or two. The motion involved is not quite the simple "back and forth" that is advertised on the package or in the "instructional" dvd that comes with it. It seems to be more of a circular motion, and it seems to be important to not try to force the gyroscope to spin too fast too quickly, you need to work with it especially at the beginning. And to some of you who say it is ridiculously easy to use; yes I *can* tie my own shoes, I *am* reasonably well coordinated. Please simply consider yourself lucky that it worked for you so easily rather than insulting the rest of us.
Consequently, at this point, it is definitely *not* the tool I was hoping for in that I really need to pay attention to it in order to use it. I can't read, look at my computer screen, have a phone conversation, or really think about anything other than the gyroscope. Hopefully this changes over time.
Additionally, those folks who want to use it at their workplace should know that it is *not* silent, the gyroscope absolutely makes a small noise when it gets up to high rpms, which may be distracting in some work environments.
So, does it strengthen your hands & forearms, probably. Is it as easy to use as some suggest? Definitely not. However, I would hazard a guess that most people could develop the skill required with a few days or weeks of steady practice. I'll hope that works for me at least.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Docking station makes the difference, March 3, 2011
I bought this piece of equipment two weeks ago and I have to say: everyone who complains about getting it started with the string or the hand has a valid point. The item is almost useless (for me and I guess many other people, too) if used this way. However, because a friend of mine so highly recommended it, I looked into it further. First of all, the product does come with instructions, albeit in the form of a weird video from a professor on roids.
Second of all, the item is really meant to be used with a DOCKING Station.
The station costs about $15 but makes a world of difference. Two AA batteries required. You put you ball into it, press and hold the red button, and away it goes -- spinning at speeds that left my arms weary and almost massaged (from the vibration?).
I have the tennis elbow and carpal tunnel, so I've tried all kinds of devices like the Theraband Flexbar, Theraputty, chinese balls, Gripmaster (fingers) and Iron Mind resistance bands. The Dynaflex is a welcome addition to my collection. It seems, so far, to work very well. Of course, it's not a substitute for freeweights, but it can, I think, work out muscles in ways free weights can't.
I cannot speak to the product's durability; haven't had it long enough. So far, I can say that while it isn't sliced bread, it seems to be what it claims to be. But without the docking station to get it started, for most people it will make a passable paperweight.
If you own the ball, you're in for the penny, so buy the station and go in for the pound.
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