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Exercise ball workouts are becoming a very popular thing. They allow you to do an in-depth and effective full exercise workout in a relativley small area. This allows you convienience, portability,
and because it forces you to use so many different muscle groups, it is pretty much an all in one kind of exercise equipment. As you will see below, you can target almost any kind of muscle and there
is an exercise ball routine for it.
Exercising and Equipement
You don't need exercise equipement to build and tone muscle, but they can be effective tools to help with the process. That is why we are focusing on this one in particular. The exercise ball allows you
to do so much, it is pretty easy to master it, and it can give you great results if you use it correctly.
Not all exercise equipement is helpful, view the Ab Machines page for more information.
Why an Exercise Ball?
One of the primary benefits of using an exercise ball is that your body responds to the instability of the ball and has to try to remain balanced, thereby engaging many more muscles.
Then these muscles become stronger over time to keep balance. This is as opposed to exercising directly on a hard flat surface which doesn't require this usage
For more information, learn how to tone your Lower Stomach.
You can do many of the same stomach exercises as you normally would do, but use them by laying on or otherwise using an exercise ball. Because you will have to balance on the exercise ball, it will
allow you to get even better results from those exercises and use muscles that you otherwise would not be using.
Exercise Ball Workouts
Abdominal Ball Balance
- Position the ball under your abs and hips, hands on the floor and legs straight and off the floor.
- Hold that position for 20 to 30 seconds, keeping your body in a straight line, abs pulled in.
- Keeping balance, slowly raise your right arm out to the side, taking care not to roll or allow any part of your body to collapse.
- Hold that for a few seconds and switch arms.
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Back Ball Extension
- Position the ball under your hips and lower torso with the knees straight or bent.
- With hands behind the head or behind back, slowly roll down the ball.
- Lift your chest off the ball, bringing your shoulders up until your body is in a straight line.
- Make sure your body is in alignment and that your head, shoulders, neck, and back are in a straight line, and your abs are pulled in and that don't hyperextend the back.
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Abdominal Ball Roll
- Place your hands on the ball in front of you, arms parallel.
- Pulling your belly button towards your spine and tightening your torso, slowly roll forward, rolling the ball out as
far as you can without arching or straining the back.
- Push the elbows into the ball and squeeze the abs to pull the body back to start. Avoid this move if you have back problems.
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The critical part of using an exercise ball is the importantance of maintaining proper alignment throughout the entire exercise motion. By losing that proper positioning, you are dramatically taking
away from the effectiveness of the exercise routine. So remember to stay rigid and in proper form if you want to get the full effect of your efforts.
Final Thoughts
All in all, a regular excercise ball workout can be an invaluable help when it comes to toning and firming your stomach muscles. It will allow you to target your abdominal muscles and force you to use
muscles that maybe you didn't even know that you had. It will give you a consistent workout with consistent results if you stick with it.
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