All about fitness balls

8 Fitness Ball Workout Tips

2007-03-25T19:43:00.000+02:00

By Rick DeToma

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.

©Rick DeToma Rick DeToma is a fitness coach, and trainer who specializes in home workouts. Contact Rick for a no obligation telephone fitness assessment at: http://www.tailored-fitness-home-workouts.com/contact.html.

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Fitness balls showing up in homes

2007-03-25T19:25:00.000+02:00

By Allison Williams
Correspondent

You could be exercising right this very minute.

Well, just don’t sit there. Actively sit .

It’s not a new exercise craze or fad. In fact, your mother has probably preached the benefits of good posture since the time you learned to slouch.

But truly dedicated active sitters are on the ball — literally.

The oversized plastic fitness ball was introduced, like a lot of exercise equipment, in physical rehabilitation and slowly moved into gyms and fitness centers across the country. Now, they’re appearing in living rooms, dens and home offices.

“There are a lot of pieces of equipment that will come in as a fad and go away,” says Sandy Fisher, a registered nurse and group exercise coordinator for The Spa Fitness and Wellness Center in Fayetteville. “The exercise ball has been around for a long time, and it continues to be used. It’s a piece of equipment that will be around forever.”

Beth Helsinger replaced her home desk chair with a fitness ball. While she works, she perches on top of her ball.

“It’s like you’re getting a little workout every time you sit on it,” Helsinger says. “It takes a lot more work to sit up nice and tall.”

Of course, sitting is no substitute for more strenuous exercise, but it is work. Anyone who has tried to slump on an exercise ball knows that. The ball forces people to sit up straight and constantly readjust their bodies to stay balanced. Exercise physiologists call that working the core muscles of the abdomen and back.

“Finally, people are realizing that core muscles are really important,” Fisher says. “If you have a strong abdomen but weak back, the body is going to be unbalanced. A lot of people who have low back pain, it’s because of weak abdominal muscles.”

Fisher says the balls are so popular at The Spa, most people have staked one out and started bouncing before class even begins. At the HealthPlex, one man even brings his own ball from home.

“It’s fun,” Fisher says. “It brings back childhood.”

If you’ve ever seen a class full of grownups bouncing on gigantic plastic balls, well, you can’t help but giggle.

Instructors love the versatility of the ball. They use them for aerobics, Pilates, yoga and weight training. You don’t need a gym membership to use one. The balls have become so mainstream, they’re available at many stores.

Muriel Roux keeps a ball at home.

“I can’t get to The Spa as often as I like,” she said. “I wanted the flexibility to do exercises I liked at home. If it’s there, I’ll use it. If you only have 10 minutes, you can work 10 minutes on it.”

Roux likes the ball because it increases endurance and strength. Her 15-year-old daughter has scoliosis and uses it for back exercises and stretches.

One ball does not fit all. Fisher says there are a few guidelines. You should pick a ball based on height.

People between 4 feet 11 inches tall and 5 feet 4 inches should use a 55-centimeter ball. Those who are between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 11 inches tall should a 65-centimeter ball. And those who are taller than 6 feet should use a 75-centimeter ball.

Balls can be adjusted by either adding more air or letting air out of the ball.

Fisher says the ball is for anyone of almost any physical ability. It’s great for exercise, she says, but she sometimes just lets loose with the ball, running and bouncing.

“Everyone’s giggling, having a great time with it,” she said. “The ball’s also for playing and having fun.”
Correspondent Allison Williams can be reached at life@fayobserver.com.

Exercises

Squat and reach

Hold the ball in front of you so that your arms are parallel to the floor. Bend your knees and reach out.

Keep your back straight and don’t let knees extend beyond your feet. You should see your shoelaces if you look down. Rotate your torso and reach with the ball toward your left. Hold for three deep breaths and return to the center. Rotate to the right. Vary this exercise by holding the ball in a downward position or upward position.

Plank

Start out behind the ball with your stomach resting on the ball and your feet touching the floor just behind the ball. Lean forward until you touch the floor with your hands. Keep leaning forward while walking your hands further away from the ball. Stop when you feel the ball reach your upper thighs. Your feet will be suspended above the floor and you’ll be balancing on your hands and the ball.

Keep your shoulders directly above your hands. Contract your abdominal muscles and hold the position for as long as you can maintain your balance and form.

Bridge

Lie on your back on the floor with legs resting on top of the ball. Raise your hips and buttocks off the floor into a bridge. Hold this position for three deep breaths before returning to the start position. After you’ve mastered the bridge, make the exercise more challenging by raising first one leg and then the other a few inches off the ball.

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Learn to use that stability ball

2007-03-25T04:10:00.000+02:00

Get the full benefits by choosing the right size and doing exercises that match your fitness level.
By Jim Hage, Washington Post
March 26, 2007

"Over there, look," trainer Julieanna McGuire says, pointing discreetly toward a young woman stretching her back over a large rubber exercise ball. "I used to try to correct them, but now it would be a full-time job."

Anyone who has been to a gym in the last decade has seen people working out with inflatable exercise balls, sometimes called Swiss, stability or yoga balls. But, as McGuire points out, few have seen them used properly.

Strengthening and developing the body's core — primarily the abdominal and back muscles — is the reason for working with an exercise ball and an outgrowth of the Pilates philosophy. The ball's instability means you must continually work your core muscles to balance yourself on it or against it. Rather than targeting the extremities and large muscles, as most gym gear does, the ball forces you to engage trunk muscles, even while working the arms and legs.

"Balance and posture are critical to every activity, from dancing to just walking," McGuire says. But they're "so often neglected, mostly by guys, who usually come to the gym to work their arms and legs."

McGuire incorporates ball exercises into every client's training session at the Washington Sports Club in Chevy Chase, Md. Novices can do basic exercises, such as push-ups with hands on the floor and the ball elevating the thighs. Doing the exercise this way increases gravitational resistance and, more significant, activates abdominal muscles needed to maintain the position. The closer to your ankles you move the ball, the harder the exercise gets.

Ball sit-ups, another basic exercise, also take balance and constant core adjustments while engaging the abdominals more directly. (Keep that ball fully inflated. A squishy ball decreases balance issues and makes such exercises less difficult.)

Intermediate-level exercises include squeezing and lifting the ball with your legs while lying flat on your back. Once the ball is overhead, rotate it back and forth 90 degrees from your core. Return to start. Repeat.

More-advanced exercises incorporate dumbbell repetitions while seated on the ball; maintaining coordination and balance makes resistance training even more challenging. The Mayo Clinic presents a good slide show of some stability ball exercises at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/core-strength/SM00046 .

Oh, and what's the problem with arching your back over the ball, as so many people do? You think you're stretching the muscles in the center of your back, but you're actually contracting them. Better to lengthen the back muscles, McGuire says, by simply touching your toes.

Exercise balls aren't just for the gym. Some cost as little as $10. They come in a variety of sizes, 55 centimeters to 75 centimeters in diameter; 65 centimeters is usually a good fit if your height is 5-foot-8 to 6-foot-3. You've got the right size if you can sit on the ball with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent at 90 degrees.

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Play Ball To Get Fit

2007-03-23T00:15:00.000+02:00

Chances are if you’ve stepped foot in a gym or watched a television fitness program in the past year then you’ve seen the “big balls”. You’ve probably wondered what all the fuss is about. Well, they may look like something found on a children’s playground, but don’t be deceived. These balls offer one of the best methods for strengthening your abdominals and core.

That is why the fitness industry is jumping on the ball bandwagon. According to the 2003 Idea Fitness Programs and Equipment Survey, 89 percent of IDEA businesses were offering balls to their customers and 71 percent had added ball group fitness classes in 2003.

Find it hard to believe that simply sitting, rolling or bouncing on a big inflatable ball can make you more fit? Read on to learn just how effective ball fitness can be.

While they are somewhat of a new craze in the public domain, the ball (commonly known as stability ball, fitness ball, Swiss ball, physio ball, etc) was used as early as the 1960s. It originally was used by physical therapists to assist with rehabilitation.

But, the ball is far more versatile and valuable then simply for re-hab use. It is a very inexpensive piece of equipment that offers a total body workout while also improving your balance. There are literally hundreds of different exercises that can be used with the ball. And, both beginners and advanced exercisers can benefit from it. Plus, children to seniors can use it.

What makes this piece of fitness equipment so uniquely effective? It works multiple muscles at one time while forcing your body to balance itself. This creates a very effective and challenging workout. For example, lying on a bench to perform tricep extensions is a good exercise but it’s limited to working primarily just the triceps. However, perform that same move on a stability ball and you have created an unstable environment. Additional muscles are activated that work to keep you balanced on the ball. That means you are now working harder and essentially getting more bang for your buck while not increasing your exercise time.

So, if you haven’t already gotten on the ball, it’s time to give it a try. You may think that your workout already provides everything you need but chances are you are focusing the majority of your exercise time on the lower body. It is essential to concentrate fitness time on your core, which is responsible for stabilizing the rest of your body. Having a strong core improves your performance in all activities, not just exercise but also daily activities like carrying groceries. The ball can help improve your posture, balance, and core strength. Virtually every exercise performed on the ball works your core area. And, yes, it can even help you get that sought-after six-pack!

Before you try out the ball be sure to choose the right size and firmness. The harder the ball is then the more difficult the exercise move will be. Therefore, beginners should probably choose a ball that is softer (e.g. not overly inflated). Also, it is important to choose the right size based on your height. The ball manufacturer or your fitness center can provide height guidelines.

As previously mentioned, the ball can be used for a total body workout. With the ball you can work your legs, arms, chest, back, abdominals and you can even get a cardio workout by doing such moves as sitting jumping jacks. Below are a few examples of the types of exercises that can be done with the stability ball.

Oblique Twist:

Begin lying with ball resting under your back. Place hands behind head for support. Using your abdominal muscles slowly raise up lifting your shoulder blades off of the ball and rotate left shoulder toward right hip. Do not strain neck by pulling on it with hands. Keep elbows out to your side. Return to starting position and repeat then switch sides.

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 away from you. Slowly separate your arms in a circular motion and bend your elbows slightly as lower your arms down and rotate your palms to face each other. Return to start position and repeat.

Squat Against Wall:

Lean your back against a ball that is placed against a wall and stand with your feet hip-width apart and about a foot away from the wall. Keep your back in a straight position. 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.

Author's Bio

Lynn Bode is a certified personal trainer specializing in Internet-based fitness programs. She founded Workouts For You, which provides affordable online exercise programs that are custom designed for each individual. Visit: http://www.workoutsforyou.com for a free sample workout and to sign-up for their monthly fitness newsletter. Fitness professionals, visit: http://www.trainerforce.com

Exercise equipment tips at Natural Weight Loss Guide

The Benefits of Using an Exercise Ball

2007-03-21T00:07:00.000+02:00

Exercise balls have become so popular that most fitness centers now offer hour-long classes using them.

We have some very high quality exercise balls with great accessories to keep your workout fun, challenging and dynamic. Many of them come with videos and/or instructional material to help you maximize your results.

It may look easy, but even elite athletes are using them to make run-of-the-mill exercises more challenging.

When you use a swiss ball to do crunches, for example, you're using more than just the abdominis rectus. Many other muscles have to help out, acting as stabilizers, and this makes the exercise much more powerful and effective than if you were on a mat doing simple crunches. The same goes for an endless list of traditional exercises. The exercise ball really is a great innovation to the fitness industry.

Here are a few benefits you can get from spending a half-hour a day working with an exercise ball:

• Develop muscle tone all over. When you're training one muscle group, another is helping to maintain balance, so you become toned up pretty quickly.

• Improve your flexibility. There are some great stretches you can do - especially for your back and abdominal region. When you limber yourself up, you feel taller and thinner.

• Make yourself more graceful. Working with a exercise balls trains you to balance yourself while you're in motion, a skill that really shows in every movement you make.

• Really work your body's core. Few fitness devices offer such effective exercises to tone the deeper abdominal muscles.

• Work at your own pace, to maximize your progress. Everything you do with an exercise ball can be modified to make it more or less difficult.

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

Exercise equipment tips at Natural Weight Loss Guide

The Run Down On Balance Ball

2007-03-20T23:59:00.000+02:00

First thing first, Balance Ball is also known in a variety of different names. However, the most common name for Balance Ball is called, the Stability Ball. Balance Ball is also known as Swiss Ball, Exercise Ball, Fitness Ball and Physio Balls.

The Balance Ball has had long-standing success in the world of clinical rehabilitation. However, due to their effectiveness in developing balance and core strength, athletic trainers, coaches, personal trainers and physical education teachers have begun to integrate them into their programs. Now they are the new craze in the world of athletic and functional conditioning.

The history of the Balance Ball originates back to the early 1960s. It was made by an Italian toy maker, Aquilino Cosani, and sold primarily in Europe as the Gymnastik.

The balance ball is a conservative treatment option for back pain sufferers and is designed to help prevent further episodes of low back pain as part of a rehabilitation program. The exercise ball is effective in rehabilitation of the back because it helps strengthen and develop the core body muscles that help to stabilize the spine.

Once limited to the rehabilitation and clinical setting, the Balance Ball has permeated to all sectors of the health and fitness community. In clinics they are still used to provide gentle proprioceptive stimuli for individuals recovering from surgery. The balance ball is fun, it’s colorful and everybody from pediatric patients to geriatric patients literally find the Balance Ball to be something unique and that they can generate some enthusiasm about. The unique thing about the Balance Ball is that they utilize the neuromuscular system in a way that no other exercise equipment I have come across has. That is that they incorporate the use of:

1. Multiple muscle systems
2. Neurologically induced muscular responses
3. A normal and natural process of balance
4. The body’s own normal processes, to establish and restore balance.

Article Source: Sustainable Living Articles