Exercise Ball Workouts

Exercise Ball: Benefits

The exercise ball is a great way to achieve more stability while working out by adding an element of instability to your exercises. In this way, you’ll strengthen your core, protect your joints, and get more muscle-building benefits. There are several applications of the exercise ball, from merely sitting on it to doing structured aerobic exercise routines. In any case, there are plenty of benefits that you can get from using it regularly:

• It can help you learn proper posture
• it can increase lumbar (low back) mobility
• it can increase abdominal and back muscle strength
• it can increase balance and stability
• it can develop overall control and strength of the core body muscles
• it can help you learn how to lift properly

You can approach this item by simply sitting on it for 30 minutes a day and bounce lightly, continually finding and maintaining balance on the ball. Once you feel ready, there’s plenty of exercises you can do to train some muscles, especially abs, legs, and back muscles.

Exercise Ball Workouts for Abs

During each exercise, focus on bracing your core so that you activate more of your core muscles, building strength in your pelvis, back, and abdomen. Beginning with the basics, place the exercise ball under your low back and lie faceup on the ball keeping your feet on the floor hip-width apart and with your hands behind your ears. Brace your core, tighten your glutes, and slowly crunch your upper body upward, raising shoulders off the ball and tucking your chin to chest. Then, lower your body down.
Complete 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps.

You can vary these crunches by making them oblique: start in the same position and slowly crunch up and to the right. Lift shoulder blades off the ball and rotate your upper body to the right. Lower back down and repeat on the left side.
Complete 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps.

You can also add some leg movement to your abs workout: Balancing on the ball with your core braced, lift your right foot off the ground and bring your right knee toward your chest. Slowly replace the right foot, then repeat on the other side.
Complete 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps.

Now brace your core and crunch up, simultaneously raising your right knee toward your chest and rotating your upper body to touch your left elbow to your right knee (like a bicycle crunch). Lower your foot and upper body at the same time, then repeat on the other side.
Complete 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps.

Exercise Ball Workouts for Legs

This leg-toning stability ball workout is ideal for you if you want to tone your legs and strengthen your core while, at the same time, being gentle on your joints. Begin by lying on the ground on your back with your heels on top of the ball and leg straight: keep your arms against the floor, engage your glutes and hamstrings, and press the hips up to the ceiling. Hold at the top for a moment before lowering back down.
Repeat 20 times.

Still lying on your back, open your knees and dig your heels into the sides of the ball. Engage your glutes and inner thighs and press the hips up to the ceiling.
Bend and straighten the legs 10 times before lowering.

Stand up now and place the ball between your lower back and the wall. Squeeze your backside and slowly bend your knees into a wide squat. Pause at the bottom for a moment before returning to the starting position.
Repeat 20 times.

Exercise Ball Workouts for Back

Those who frequently suffer from back pain get the biggest benefits from the use of the exercise ball. As a matter of fact, many exercise balls are designed to bring movement to the spine in a controlled manner, nourishing the discs by increasing blood flow around them.

Begin your workouts with gentle and small movements:

• Sit on the exercise ball with arms to the sides or on hips and slowly move your hips back and forth. Repeat it 20 times.
• Do the same exercise but this time shift your weight to the left and to the right. Repeat it 20 times.

Now let’s do some spine rotation: sit on the ball and raise your arms straight to front without twisting at the spine, move both arms across the body to the right and then to the left.
Repeat 20 times on each side.

FAQ

Since the exercise ball is one of the most popular pieces of gym equipment, there’s plenty of doubts and FAQs on the way to use it. Let’s have a look at the most common ones.

Do exercise ball chairs really work

The idea of sitting on an exercise ball instead of a traditional chair is that it requires you to use your muscles more actively to find stability, thus increasing core strength, improving posture, and decreasing the discomfort of sitting many hours in the same position. But does it actually help with back pain? Should we all turn to exercise ball chairs? The answer is no: there’s scientific evidence that sitting on exercise balls instead of chairs can cause more problems than solutions, increasing the risk of developing low back discomfort. So, use exercise balls exclusively for exercise!

Are exercise balls good for your back

Absolutely yes! If they are used correctly. Exercise balls are a great option for recovering from low back injuries that may restrict movement and lead to the weakening of your lower back muscles. This item is perfect to activate and strengthen your spinal muscles, considering that when you are sitting on a ball or use it for a workout, the muscles that stabilize your spine are activated in order to keep you from falling or losing balance. In this way, an exercise ball may be good for your back by merely sitting on it regularly for some minutes every day.

Is exercise ball good for lower back pain?

Of course, it surely is. The exercise ball is an exercise treatment option for back pain sufferers and is designed to help prevent or minimize further episodes of low back pain as part of a rehabilitation program. In fact, by adding an element of instability to exercises, the muscles used to keep in balance on the exercise ball become stronger and people build strength in important back muscles and abdominal muscles without even knowing it, easing the pain, and preventing future injuries from happening.