Exercise Ball Routines

Getting enough exercise is a great challenge in today’s work-driven world: there are just too many reports to finish, too many accounts to attend to, and too many deals to close. A day at the gym can be too demanding for the busy executive, and a few hours spent at the treadmill can be hell for anyone rushing after a thousand deadlines. A greater challenge, moreover, is getting the proper exercise: every minute of the one or two hours spent at the gym should count, and every exercise should put your muscles in stronger, better shape.

The hard gym floor, however, can tax greatly on your back and the soles of your feet, as the impact of either hard wood or stone can rattle your bones or strain your muscles. One alternative is using exercise ball routines to keep fit. By using an exercise ball, even as a chair in your office, you can engage in easy exercise ball routines to keep your body in good shape without having to spend hours on the stationary bike or aerobics class floor.

The use of an exercise ball does not only ease your body from the impact of a hard gym floor. It allows you to concentrate on stretching your muscles and addressing major muscle groups that would otherwise feel worn out and pained after long hours of routine aerobic exercises or machine-based workouts. Exercise ball routines, moreover, allow you to address muscle groups that would otherwise be left out in other conventional exercise routines. In fact, there are exercise ball routines built around strengthening your upper and lower abdominals, as well as the muscles of your hard-to-reach, but delicate lower back.

Before you engage in exercise ball routines, however, you must consult with your gym trainer on exercise ball routines that are best suited for your body type and fitness goals. It can be difficult to design exercise ball routines if you have scoliosis or frequent lower back pains, so you also have to consult with your orthopedist or chiropractor on how you can avoid damaging your spine.

Before commencing your exercise ball routines, perform warm up exercises to prepare your muscles for stretching. Without the proper preparation, you can strain your muscles unnecessarily. You may simply end up accumulating lactic acid in your joints and muscles instead of toning your arms and legs, or losing weight. When you finish your exercise ball routines, moreover, wind down with a few more stretching exercises to keep your muscles from becoming sore.

Here are a few exercise ball routines that you might want to engage in. You can use the exercise ball to aid you in doing push ups. Ordinary push ups can be painful if you are unable to lift your body and arch your elbows. Instead of doing push ups military style, prop your feet, shins, or knees upon the exercise ball, and use it to support you as you lift your body up and down. Make sure, however, that you do not push your elbows down past a right angle, or you can risk over-stretching your muscles or even increasing your chances of a slipped disc.

You can also use the exercise ball along with dumbbells. Use the exercise ball to support your lower back as you lift up dumbbells away from your chest, or stretch your arms to pull dumbbells to your sides. Be sure to use only dumbbells with the appropriate weight for your own capacity and body size, or you may risk injuring your body.

You can improve your balance by sitting on the exercise ball, stretching your arms to your sides, and standing still. This exercise is actually more challenging than it appears: you need to keep still enough and stable enough to keep yourself from rolling off the ball. As you practice this, you will find that you need to contract your abdominals and hamstrings to keep your body in place. This exercise makes sure that you strengthen your core and keep the muscles of your lower torso toned.

These are only a few exercise ball routines that you can follow. For more exercises, consult exercise books or attend weekend classes for routines using the exercise ball. If you perfect these exercises, you will have better balance, not to mention a fitter body, in no time at all.