The 8 Best Balance Boards for Better Balance, Stronger Ankles, and More Stable Runs

After years of testing workout tech, running shoes, and all sorts of home fitness equipment, balance boards (and stair steppers) surprised and challenged me the most. They’re affordable fitness devices, and they actually do what the brands claim. The best part is, they don’t just target one area of your body or one problem you may have.

Each step on the road requires stabilizing through the foot, ankle, knee, and hip. And balance boards challenge your core, boost your stability through your legs, ankles, and feet, and even sharpen coordination in sessions only a few minutes long. Adding balance board work to my running routine has strengthened small muscles I never thought needed work, which hopefully means fewer injuries for me.

As Michele Olson, PhD, FACSM, states, “Research shows that falls and many injuries are directly related to balance. This system (the neuromuscular system) is challenged and improved via ‘tools’ that create instability.” Balance boards “push the body to act as a stabilizer,” leading to overall improvement. For runners specifically, Olson highlights that “balance training, and improved balance, hands-down, helps runners to achieve their primary goal: faster running times,” by improving “postural control—which comes from a well-trained core that is responsive to cues about the terrain and how the body should tackle that.” Balance training makes runners “more efficient with less movement errors so there is not wasted movement which slows running times.” She also told me that the upper body workouts that you can do on these boards work alongside lower body workouts to improve efficiency and race times.

For me, the results showed up on long runs—my hips aren’t getting achy as quickly, and my gait feels a little bit more even, but my ankles are where I’m seeing the biggest gains. I have long dealt with ankles that like to roll and loll, but since I’ve been consistent on the Gibbon SlackBoard, they feel more stable and secure. Runners often deal with repetitive stress injuries, and adding in balance work is a fun way of shock-proofing your lower body.

Instead of just piling on more mileage, these boards I recommend let you build that foundational core and muscle control that keeps you healthy enough to enjoy the mileage you’re putting in. I’ve covered fitness gear for nearly a decade, writing about running tech, training tools, and at-home workout equipment for Runner’s World. I logged weeks of testing balance boards, slotting in short sessions before and after runs, while working at my desk at home, and even during prehab for ultra training.

The process was straightforward: I researched the most recommended balance boards across retailers and then, after speaking with therapists and users, got samples of the most promising. While I was able to get on all of these, the one I have in my home and chose to keep was the Gibbon SlackBoard, but, after further research and testing in gyms, therapist offices, and my own home, I chose the best. The Fitlaya board is the only one I haven’t tested, but I was impressed by the materials and weight limit, so I’m confident recommending it based on research alone.