Exercise Ball Exercises

Probably my preferred piece of exercise equipment and in my opinion one of the top pieces of equipment used for strengthening and shaping your abs must be the exercise ball. But when the majority of people think of the exercise ball, all they picture is doing crunches on it. I I want you to know that there are tons of exercises that you can do and they can virtually strengthen all major muscle group of the body. This article is meant to give you an idea of how you are able to perform additional exercises on the exercise ball. I am only planning to go through a few exercises for a few of the muscle groups. Again, I just want you to see some other things you can do using this ball.  I also will start creating a list of all the exercise ball exercises that you can do.

If you would like to train your chest one might do a push-up on the exercise ball. Basically position your hands about twelve in. apart on the ball keeping the body straight like doing a push-up. Next simply perform the push-up. It is easy to use dumb bells and do a chest press. Place your upper back on the ball. You are going to be positioned sort of like a bench where your chest and stomach is the top of the bench and your legs and the ball are the legs of the bench. From here perform the chest press.

It is easy to exercise your back by placing your chest on top of the ball keeping your body straight. Hold a set of dumb bells with each hand and let your arms straighten out. Pull the dumb bells to your sides and then slowly return to the starting position. This is the dumb bell row on the exercise ball ball.

You can do a dumb bell shoulder press more effectively just by sitting on the ball. By sitting on the ball it forces you to balance. This makes your shoulders stabilize the dumb bells more which makes the exercise more demanding. You can actually place your feet on a chair and raise your hips up so there is a 90 degree bend. You would perform a movement like a push-up with your hands on the ball, but since you’re pushing straight over your head it’s working your shoulders rather than your chest.

You can exercise your legs with the the exercise ball. An example of this is the squat. Place the ball between your lower back and then a wall. Then move your feet away from the wall around 12 inches. Squat down until your thighs are parallel with the floor making sure your upper body perpendicular to the ground. Another great exercise ball exercise is the leg curl. Lie down on your back with your heels on top of the of the ball. Straighten your body like a board. You will next bend at the knees so there is a ninety degree angle making sure the remainder of your body is straight.

While you may have noticed there are many exercises ball exercises. And the best part is that it doesn’t matter what exercise that you choose to do on the ball you are exercising yours abdominal muscles. I will be adding exercises to this post soon so make sure that you check back soon. But try adding some of these exercises to your routine today.

You ca also find more information on the exercise ball here.

Technorati Tags: exercise ball exercises