Balanced Body recently partnered with SISSEL®, an innovative health product company founded in Sweden 30 years ago and based in Germany. SISSEL is the leader of rehabilitation tools in Europe. The partnership between Balanced Body and SISSEL is designed to bring new ways to improve your movement and overall health, and is aligned with Balanced Body’s commitment to support healthy, active movement for life.
One of the most exciting products in the SISSEL line is the SPINEFITTER® from SISSEL. The SPINEFITTER is a brilliantly simple device, and one of those items I’ve encountered in my career where I find myself doing a facepalm and thinking, “why didn’t I think of that?”
Have you ever used athletic tape to put two tennis balls together for release work, or as an easy home program option for clients? Imagine taping tennis balls together and then connecting them in a long row so you have a length of parallel balls – 28 in total. That’s the SPINEFITTER. The balls of the SPINEFITTER are made from specialty foam, providing a density that most users can tolerate very well—they’re not too hard, and not too soft.
I was fortunate to be one of the first users of the SPINEFITTER when it was introduced to the US market earlier this year, and after a few months of experimenting on myself and with clients, I’ve made some discoveries.
In addition to some of the obvious benefits like release work, I’ve had some other surprises with the SPINEFITTER:
- The SPINEFITTER is not a foam roller. Although the SPINEFITTER may be compared to a foam roller because the length of both devices and some of the recommended positions for use are comparable, the feel and overall experience of the SPINEFITTER is very different. One obvious contrast with the foam roller are the points of contact. When lying supine on the SPINEFITTER, the foam balls are in contact with the spinal muscles and tissues, rather than with the bony spinous processes. This is far more comfortable for most people, and provides feedback to the areas of the spine responsible for movement.
- Looks can be deceiving. The SPINEFITTER sits closer to the floor than a roller and has a wider footprint, and I assumed balance and coordination work would be easy. I discovered there’s plenty of challenge in multiple planes of movement.
- The SPINEFITTER is very versatile. Because of the shape and flexibility of the SPINEFITTER, it can be used in almost any position you can dream up. This variability provides great opportunity to apply a specific local focus, or give whole body, global feedback.
- Create moments of calm. By adding the Linum heating/cooling pad, which is filled with linseed, the SPINEFITTER can be used to apply heat or cold treatment to the muscles near the spine. The heating option can effectively activate the parasympathetic nervous system, creating a calming effect. This helps clients focus less on their discomfort and more on their movement experience.
- The SPINEFITTER is a wonderful tool for travel. It’s light, portable, comes with a carrying strap, and looks good with any outfit! It’s a best practice not to cram the SPINEFITTER into a carry-on and fortunately, the SPINEFITTER has a simple carrying strap so it can be worn like a back-pack, or across the body, making it a wonderful conversation starter at the airport!
