Fitness Ball Training

There are different ways of staying fit. You can play your favorite sport, lift weights or join a class. For those who cannot engage in high impact workouts, you can ask someone at the gym if they offer fitness ball training.

Fitness ball training is done using a large air filled rubber or plastic ball. It is considered to be an essential device in exercises as its unstable surface forces the muscles in the body to work together in order to achieve stability. When this happens, the person is able to improve in balance, coordination and strength.

Just like free weights, the ball helps develop your core muscles. When we say core muscles, we are referring to the abdominal muscles, the back extensor muscles and your hip muscles.  These muscles need to be worked on in order to support your lower back. Studies show that this prevents lower back pain.

Let’s talk about some of the positions in fitness ball training. You can use it as a free weight to strengthen your upper body while you are sitting or lying on the ball. This exercise is better known as crunches. If you think doing this exercise on the floor is difficult, you will find it more challenging as this allows a longer range of motion and puts more emphasis on the abdominal muscles.

Another example is the push ups. Here, you can put either your hands or feet on the ball and then do the up and down motion. Again, this strengthens your upper extremities because it forces the muscles in the body to increase their involvement.

Fitness ball training can also be done by putting this in between your legs while your upper body is on the ground and you are forced to lift it into the air. You can even sway this from side to side. The important thing is that you tighten those abdominal muscles.

There are other variations to the regular exercises you normally do using the fitness ball. You can learn this in gym class or buy a DVD. In fact, because it is so versatile even those that have sustained an injury use it to recuperate. And most recently, some sports have also used this to train the top level athletes for big competitions.

The beauty of fitness ball training is the fact that whenever you overload a particular muscle group, the others act as stabilizers to facilitate the joint actions of the particular prime movement. The chances of injuries are much lesser compared to free weights and once you get used to it, you will never lay on the floor to perform any exercise again.

The trick to getting a good workout is the amount of air in the ball. The softer it is, the easier it will be for you to do the exercise. The harder it is, the more challenging it will be.

The balls used in fitness ball training come in different sizes. If you are below 5 feet, you should use one that measures 45cm. If you are 6 feet tall and above then you must use the ball that measures 65cm. For the rest, it is alright to use the ball the measures 55cm.

Most gyms already have this ready for you to use. For those that want to do fitness ball training at home, you can buy this at the sporting goods store.