Exercise Ball Workout - Worth Trying Or Just Hype?
Exercise balls were origniated in Switzerland by a group of physical therapists back in the fifties or sixties (the exact date seems to be disputed) and are also called swiss balls, stability balls, therapy balls, gym balls, and fitness balls. They have become extremely popular over the past five years or so, and many new exercises that utilize the balls have been invented, which means an exercise ball workout never has to be boring.
Swiss balls can be used to exercise almost every area of the body, but their main use has been as a device to work the 'core' area of the body, as they have been found to be extremely efficient for that purpose. The core, as you might expect, would include the abdomen, lower back, buttock and hip area. The idea behind using such a ball to perform exercises, whether for the core or other areas of the body, is that the ball makes the exercise unstable. This may not sound like a very good idea, but the fact that the exercise is performed in an unstable environment means that many small, difficult-to-train stabilizer muscles that would normally not enter into the performance of an exercise are recruited and thereby strengthened.
One use for exercise balls that's received some promotion is to use them as a substitute for a chair. Apparently, just the act of sitting on the ball recruits stabilizer muscles and makes it more difficult to slouch, and the slight bouncing movement that occurs is said to relieve stress. Some experts have recommended against this, however, saying that the fact that there is no backrest on a swiss ball makes it unsafe for longer-term use. This has led to the offering of chairs that have backrests and use a stability ball for a seat.
When purchasing an exercise ball, be sure to get the right size for your height. Purchasing a ball that's too big or too small will throw off the dynamics of the exercises, causing the wrong muscles to receive stress. At the point of sale, the balls are clearly marked as to which size they are, and what size person they're recommended for. Also, you may want to look for a ball that comes with a special safety feature that causes it to deflate very slowly in case of a puncture, which should make you feel safer when perched on top of the ball. Balls with this feature are widely available. So what kind of exercises can you do on these balls? Well, as we said earlier, there are new ones being invented all the time. We don't have the space to go through an exhaustive listing of exercise ball exercises here, but we'll run down a few good ones for you. They're planks, pushups, reverse crunches, and sit-backs. To perform the plank movement, get into a pushup position with your stomach on the ball and hands on the floor. Walk your hands away from the ball until your thighs are on the ball, and hold this position while contracting your abs and keeping your back as straight as possible. When you become accomplished at the movement, make it more difficult by moving the ball down your legs. To do a pushup, start in the same position as the plank and just perform a pushup. Once again, when it becomes easy, move the legs down the ball. Remember to keep the back flat and the abs tight. For the reverse crunch, start in the plank position once again, Bring your knees forward and press them into the ball, and then move your knees toward your chest using only your abdominal muscles. Finally, to perform the sit-back, sit on the ball. Keep your back straight, and fold your arms across your chest. Slowly lean back until you feel your abdominal muscles begin to work, then hold the position for five to ten seconds. As you become more accomplished, you can hold the exercise for longer, lean farther back, or both. However, be careful not to increase the back lean too quickly, as this can overstress the back. There you have a few excellent movements to incorporate into your exercise ball workout. Work on improving your performance at these for a while before you add in any new ones. You're bound to feel better and have a stronger core.
|
