Powerball is a new, addictive, multi-facetted device that is spreading across the world and it may just end up rivalling the Rubik cube! It's a handheld device that can be used in a fitness, sports, rehabilitation or fun manner. It can be used by anyone from young children to old aged pensioners due to it's dynamic, non-impact nature. This article will explore what Powerball is and how it does it's magic.

Powerball is a handheld gyroscope device that is roughly the same size as a Baseball or Tennis Ball, being 7cm in diameter and weighing about 0.26 kg. The "ball" consists of a plastic outer casing, often with a rubber grip around the centre. Inside there is a finely engineered and precision crafted gyro with a rotor that spins rapidly once the device has been started either by a rip cord or electronic starter. This all sounds very high tech, but it is a very clever piece of applied science using the theory behind gyroscopes and the principle of precession.

The basic theory centres around how gyroscopes act on the environment around them. Once a gyroscope has started, then it asserts a centrifugal force and inertia on objects in contact with it. When the gyro is spinning, a tipping action will cause it to precess and move in a circular fashion. The inside of the device is grooved near the axle, so with an externally applied force, the axle will push against the rim. The gyroscope will respond with a rolling action and the speed of the rotation will increase. You use your wrist in a circular motion to generate the force to continually increase the speed, which in turn acts with a greater resistive force against your body.

The Powerball (or hand held gyroscope) is a truly dynamic object, there are no batteries and no electricity used, unless you have a model with a rpm counter. Using the theory above, you rotate the powerball with a circular wrist motion in either a clockwise or anticlockwise manner, it's works in both directions. As you gently build up the speed, measured in revolutions per minute (rpm) the greater the torsion and dynamic forces acting upon your wrist, lower and upper arm muscles, depending on the arm orientation and direction of spin. With practice, speeds in access of 15,000 rpm's can be generated.

There are a number of different uses for the powerball that result in effective non impact exercise and it can be used by anyone with hands big enough to grip it. Due to the dynamic nature of the device, the force achieved from the device is only ever as much as the person using it. Therefore the device is useful for increasing finger, hand, wrist and arm strength as well as increasing blood flow and ligament strength. This means the powerball can be used in a rehabilitation manner for arm and wrist injuries or to help with Repetitive Strain Injuries. It can used in a fitness way to build muscle or for exercise and in a sports manner to build strength for certain sports, such as golf, tennis, baseball or any sport that demands powerful grip and strong arms. You can even use it for fun, having competitions between friends, family or work mates to see who can get the highest score.

As you can probably tell by now the Powerball is a dynamic handheld device. They have many benefits for the hands, wrists and arms being able to increase muscle strength and definition. They can be used as rehabilitation devices and help with repetitive strain injury for the young to the old. Powerball's are rapidly gaining a reputation as being fun, multi facetted exercise device that can be used by people from any walk of life and in a multitude of situations.