Have a Ball With Stability Ball Exercise

Whether you call them a stability ball, swiss ball, or exercise ball, there are so many great benefits to exercising with a stability ball in your home workouts.

Stability Ball Benefits

Besides providing balance training, (an often overlooked component in most exercise programs) stability balls work your core in almost every exercise that is performed, and work multiple muscles at one time while forcing your body to balance itself. So your core will be better prepared to support the rest of your body in whatever activity you do. They are versatile too:

1. The ball can be used at home or at your gym.

2. All ages, and levels of fitness can benefit from stability ball training.

3. An exercise ball is portable and light weight.

4. An exercise ball is inexpensive.

5. Requires little if any maintenance.

Stability Ball Workout Tips

Use your exercise ball for a total body workout. You can work your legs, arms, chest, back, and abdominals. Try some of these in your stability ball training:

Supine Oblique Curl

Start with the top of the ball beneath the center of the back, then stagger your feet and turn hips to one side. Anchor the lower hip to the ball and move the rib cage at a diagonal direction toward the legs (for example, right elbow to left inner thigh). Make sure your neck and pelvis are stable.

Forward Transverse Roll

Kneel on the floor and place your forearms on the ball, making sure your hips and arms form a 90 degree angle. From this starting position, roll the ball forward as you extend your arms and legs simultaneously. Contract your abdominals to help support your lower back, which should not be strained. Roll as far forward as possible without compressing the spine, drooping the shoulders, or rounding the torso. Return to starting position.

Chest Fly

Lie across the ball with your head and shoulders supported on the ball and your legs bent with heals about two feet from ball. Extend arms overhead with palms facing each other. Slowly separate your arms in a circular motion and bend your elbows slightly as lower your arms down until your upper arms are parallel to the ground. Return to start position and repeat.

Wall Squats

Lean your back against a ball that is placed against the wall and stand with your feet hip-width apart and about a foot away from the wall. Keep your back straight. Bend your knees and let the ball roll up your back until your knees bend to about a 90 degree angle. Keep your knees behind your toes as you bend. Return to start position and repeat.

Shoulder Retraction

Kneel over the ball. Tuck your hips into the ball and rest your abs against it. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, with your arms relaxed and at the sides of the ball, palms facing back. Pull your shoulder blades back. Pull your arms up, bending at your elbows to form right angles until they are parallel with your shoulders. Return to the starting postion.

Don’t Forget to Stretch

The American Council on Exercise suggests the following simple yet effective stretches on the ball:

Back Extension – Start in a seated position with your fingertips supporting the back of your head both your elbows out. Walk your feet out until your upper back is lying on the ball while continuing to support your head and back. For a more intense stretch, lengthen your arms overhead and straighten your legs – breathe deeply and hold the stretch.

Kneeling Side – Start by kneeling upright on a mat with the ball at the side of your right hip, place your right hand on the ball and your left arm hanging close to your torso. Sweep your left arm in a wide arc up and over your head and back to the starting position. Hold the final arc in a lifted position 10-30 seconds for a static stretch and repeat three to five times.

Pelvic Circles – Start in a seated base position. Slowly circle your hips clockwise three to five times; reverse, circling counterclockwise. Focus on releasing tension in the hips and lower back.

You can’t go wrong with such a versatile and inexpensive piece of equipment. If you are looking for a simple and highly effective way to change a workout routine, look into doing your exercise on a stability ball.

The information contained in this article is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended to provide medical advice. If you are sedentary or over 40 please get clearance from a doctor before starting an exercise program.

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You have permission to publish this article electronically, without changes of any kind, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included, and remain working hyperlinks. Please send a copy of the URL where you have posted this article.

©Rick DeToma

stability ball benefits

Jenna Dotson asked:

What Is a Stability Ball?

It’s an inflatable ball made of heavy-duty material that can hold up to about 600 pounds of weight. It is the perfect piece of exercise equipment, because it conforms with the body and gives good support. It has also been called a Swiss Ball or Physioball. It is good for beginners and can be quite “fun” to use. It is light weight, can be taken anywhere and is very inexpensive compared with other exercise equipment. It’s great for working the abs and lower back and improves strength, balance and flexibility.

So what are the real benefits of using a Stability Ball to lose belly fat?

Great Looking Abs - If you are looking to lose belly fat and get a flat stomach, (like who doesn’t want that?) then it may be your answer. The ball works the ab and back muscles simultaneously to achieve balance. Core Muscle Workout - A Stability Ball is a great way to workout the core muscles, which consist of the back and abdominal muscles. Core muscles help stabilize and support the rest of the body. Improves Muscle Strength and Endurance - Because mostly all the major muscle groups are worked, it can improve strength and endurance and give your body more resistance and flexibility. It also can ease back pain and prevent it in the future. Great for stretching - makes stretching easier and smoother Lose Weight - as you increase your workouts, you will also benefit from losing extra pounds

stability ball benefits

What Different Types of Exercises Can You Do With an Exercise Ball?

As children, there was nothing more fun than playing with that favorite ball. Unfortunately, we eventually grow out of it and it finds its place in ball heaven to never be played with again. However, the end of childhood doesn’t mean that a good old inflatable ball can’t have a permanent place in our lives. In fact, there are inflatable balls that are made for adults to have fun with. And that would be the stability exercise ball.

The stability  ball is a great way for the individual to receive a workout of their core muscles, which are the muscles that keep us balanced. How this is achieved on the exercise ball is that certain exercises are conducted that require both the body and the ball to be balanced. The goal is to keep the ball from rolling out from underneath you and in the process you are receiving an excellent core workout.

There are a vast number of exercises that can be done, but there are 10 exercises that can be a lot of fun and those exercises are:

1. Squats: Hold the ball between your lower back and the wall. Slowly bend at your knees and hips in order to achieve a sitting position. Make sure the ball stays between you and the wall. Return to the standing position and repeat this between 8 and 15 times to strengthen the legs and hips.

2. Birddogs: You want to get on all fours like a dog with the exercise ball under your stomach. You are now going to extend an arm and a leg that are opposite from each other off of the floor at the same time and keep the ball balanced beneath you. Repeat this o 8 times for each side to strengthen arms and legs

3. Subpine Bridges: Have your hands on your hips while sitting on the ball and start walking. The ball should roll out until it gets to your head and your shoulders, then walk back to go back to the sitting position. Repeat this 8 to 15 times to strengthen the thighs and buttocks.

4. Pushups: Put the stability ball underneath your stomach and have your palms flat on the floor. Walk out with your hands until the ball is somewhere between your hips and your ankles. Now bend your elbows to do pushups. Repeat this 8 to 10 times to work the upper arms

5. Abdominal tucks: Being in the same position as with pushups except with the ball under the knees, tuck the knees to make the ball roll toward the ankles and then return to the beginning position. Repeat 8 to 15 times.

6. Hamstring curls: This one requires you to lie on your back. With your palms flat on the floor, the ball should be under your hills. From here you will slightly bend your knees while lifting our hips to bring the ball toward your buttocks. Repeat 8 times.

7. Crunches: Crunches benefit the abdomen and the mid-back should be against the ball with feet shoulder-width apart flat on the floor. Your hands should also be behind your head and repeat 8 to 10 times.

8. Walk-outs: Walk back and forth with the ball under your belly, walking out with your hands until the ball reaches your ankles. Repeat 6 to 8 times for abs and upper arms.

9. Balance: Sit on the ball with hands on hips and spine straight and lift one foot at a time. Repeat with each leg 8 times to balance your core.

10. T, Y, I: This exercise has you placing the ball between the hips and thighs while keeping the knees bent and the toes down and moving the arms into a T position, a Y position, and then an I. Repeat this 4 times to strengthen abdominals and shoulders.

These fun exercises are a great way for you to get in shape.

stability ball chair

Mikki Reilly asked:

The stability ball is one of my favorite training tools because it’s so versatile. It can be used by sedentary individuals to develop proprioception (body awareness). It can also be used by workers to rehab an injury. And most recently, top level athletes are using the ball to improve strength and balance in an unstable environment.

Why is the stability ball so beneficial?

1) The stability ball develops the deep segmental muscles that stabilize the spine. Many trainers and coaches use exercises like deadlifts and good mornings to strengthen the back. While these exercises are effective for strengthening the hips and spinal erectors (low back muscles), they don’t develop the deep spinal stabilizers: the multifidus, rotatores, interspinales, etc. By exercising on the ball, you engage these segmental muscles. And developing them not only helps prevent injury, it also improves your posture and efficiency in movement.

2) The stability balls ability to roll in all directions makes it a great training stimulus for working in all three planes of motion (front-to-back, side-to-side, and rotational).

3) The unstable quality of the ball develops the neutralizers (muscles which counteract the actions of other muscles) and stabilizers (muscles that surround the joint and hold it relatively still) involved in the movement. For example, when you do a push up with your hands on the ball and your feet on the ground (as illustrated in the photo), the stabilization required recruits and develops the neutralizers and stabilizers of the shoulder girdle/joint. As a result, you become stronger in exercises that work the same muscles but don’t require stabilization. In this example, you’d be stronger in chest exercises performed on a bench, such as the bench press.

stability ball benefits

carli543 asked:


Please be specific and please tell me the website if possible. Also no more then 250 dollars please. Things like ab rollers and exercise balls, etc.
Sorry if im picky but best answer gets 10 POINTS!!!!!

buy-vending-machines.com

littlebittykittycat0226 asked:


The ones you sit on and do the workout. Does it work? Are there any good DVD workout videos to go with?

Tim