Hand, Wrist and Forearm Strength - part 3 - Power Ball Gyro Exerciser

I'm not sure whether this qualifies as a toy or a genuine piece of exercise equipment.  I bought this Power Ball Gyro Exerciser on Amazon for less than $15.00.

The idea is simple, inside the hard plastic outer shell is a gyroscope (the yellow ball with the groove in the picture).  You get the gyroscope spinning, and then hold on to the outer shell.  They gyro creates momentum that tries to force the ball into motion, and as you hold the ball, your grip resists that force.  This works your small muscles.

It does seem to work, at least as far as tiring out your muscles.  Getting the gyro revved up and then holding the ball still takes some effort.  When I'm done with a "workout" I can definitely feel it.



I bought a stripped down model.  You can get some that light up and have an LED screen mounted to tell you the RPMs that the gyro is doing.  The way mine works is that you tuck a string (included) into the slot on the gyro, and pull start it like a lawnmower.  Once you get it spinning, you start to make a rocking motion with your hand to rev the gyro up even more.  Once it's going good - and you can tell - then you can just hold the ball and fight the centrifugal forces.  I find that I'm much better at keeping it going, and revving it faster, with my dominant hand (right, in my case).

This thing isn't benignly harmless, you have to pay attention while using it.  There's some heft to it and the entire unit is trying to move when you've got it going.  In addition, I was inattentive once and  managed to touch my forearm skin to the spinning gyro (clumsy and not paying attention... it's a gift I have).  It pinched off a thin layer of my skin about a half inch long and eighth of an inch wide.  Left a visible scar when it healed.

This thing is fun and kind of cool to play with, and it might actually be beneficial when it comes to building up your strength, but it doesn't do anything that you can't do with other exercises.  There's a lot of hype on the internet about powerballs, and unsurprisingly, some of the most glowing reviews come from sites that sell them.

As I usually try to do, here's a video showing the powerball in use.  Note that he starts the gyro with his thumb and rocking his hand.  I've not been able to do that, but the string works just fine for me.



If you give it a try, or have used it before, let me know in the comments.  Did it work for you?