Stability Ball Core Workouts
by Jalinn M Hardy on Aug.21, 2009, under Health
How does it sound to you? That is the claim that stability or swiss balls are an essential for any well equipped home fitness center. As they can tone bulging middles better ab work outs done on the floor. Too good to be true or what?
With the increase in popularity of stability ball workouts for your core, the debate continues whether they are legit or not. Are they a more kids toy or do they deserve inclusion in any serious workout routine? In other words do they produce a measurably better core workout?
When you do your regular ab exercises like the plank, crunches or the reverse crunches on the ball your range of movement with the ball is small. But your body struggles to do a balancing act when you perform such movements. The result of this struggle is that over time the core and stabilizing muscles become stronger from their effort to keep you on the ball.
How much better?
Quite often a study from New Zealand’s University of Auckland is cited that claims if you do crunches on a ball they are 20% more effective. Which should be enough to get anyone’s attention.
If you have tried this you know why that is. The unstable nature of the ball means you have to work more core muscles to stay on it. And it’s this fact that helps you get more out of your crunches as opposed to doing them on the floor.
And if you’re like me, always in a hurry, anything that can leverage the time spent working out is worth doing.
Not sure but there may be another benefit here. Which is some feel being on the ball triggers the release of pain inhibitors that can lead to decreased back pain too.
Trainers Tip: Sizing the stability ball correctly is key. Coming in a variety of sizes, which one is right for you depends on how tall and, to a lesser extent, how long legged you are. Ideally you want to see your thighs at a 90 degree angle to your torso when you sit on the ball. From there you can make it the perfect size by inflating it more or less depending on the adjustment needed.
So all in all the compound movements increase ab muscle strength, help to improve posture and also help in stabilizing the spine. Not to mention what this does for your abs. All of which says stability balls are more than a passing fad but more an essential part of any home workout equipment.
