Exercise Ball Workout To Keep You Fit & Strong At Home
Here is a quick exercise ball workout you can do at home any time to keep fit and strong.
Keeping fit doesn’t mean you have to spend money on tons of different workout equipment. In fact, it’s possible to keep yourself uber fit without ever setting foot in the gym, using nothing more than an inflatable exercise ball.
Exercise ball workouts are perfect for increasing core strength because they force you to bring your stabilizing muscles into play in order to keep your body balanced during the exercises. This makes them ideal for anyone who wants to improve functional strength, core stability and resistance to injury.
They’re also perfect for adding some variety to your home workouts, and can even be incorporated into everyday activities – for example, just sitting on the ball instead of a chair can help to improve your balance while you work.
Exercise Ball Workout
Here are 7 of the best exercises you can do with a workout ball to improve core strength and balance:
1. Exercise Ball Sit-Ups
Many athletes use exercise balls for ab workouts to activate the transverse abdominis (the deepest ab muscle), as well as the rectus abdominis and obliques.
To do sit-ups with an exercise ball, sit on the ball and lie back while rolling on the ball gently, so that your lower back rests on the ball. Keep yourself balanced with both feet firmly on the floor.
Cross your arms on your chest or hold them behind your head, and do three sets of 10-15 repetitions. As you get stronger, you can hold a weight on your chest to increase the demand on your ab muscles.
2. Exercise Ball Push-Ups
If you can already do normal push-ups with no problem and want to make them more difficult, using an exercise ball will take you to the next level.
Get into a push-up position in front of the ball and place your feet on top of it. Keeping your feet on the ball, do 10 push ups. Repeat for three sets and be sure to keep your body in a straight line throughout the movement. Use your core strength to prevent the ball from moving around.
If you find this exercise is too difficult, you can try doing it with your shins on the ball instead of your feet. This will slightly change the angle of your body to the ground and take off some of your bodyweight, making it easier to push yourself up.
3. Exercise Ball Balance Workout
There are many exercises you can do with a workout ball to improve your balance and core strength.
You can start off by sitting on the ball with your feet shoulder-width apart and planted firmly on the floor. Take a moment to center yourself and then lift both feet off the floor while sitting back on the ball. Try to keep yourself in the center, without rolling to either side, using your arms to balance yourself. Set a timer and aim for at least 30 seconds without letting your feet touch the ground.
As you get better at this exercise, you can increase the difficulty by holding a weight in your hand and passing it from one hand to the other while keeping yourself balanced. And to up the difficulty even more, try balancing just on your knees.
4. Lower Back Exercises with a Workout Ball
One advantage of doing exercises on a ball is that it is very gentle on your lower back. In fact, exercise balls are ideal for doing lower back rehab exercises if you’re recovering from injury.
Here is a lower back exercise with a ball which you can do to progressively increase lumbar strength. Lie face down on the ball, keeping the middle part of your body over the center of the ball, almost hugging it. Then slowly lift your upper body, while maintaining your balance with your toes on the ground, and pushing your hips into the ball. Engage your glutes at the same time. Here’s a video showing you how to do this exercise:
You can keep your hands behind your head for a maximum extension which will activate your upper back too. As you’re using your glutes to stabilize yourself, this exercise will target both your glutes and lower back. Try to do three sets of at least 10 repetitions.
Once you get stronger, you can make this exercise more difficult by holding a weight as you lift yourself up.
To help your balance even further and isolate your lower back muscles more, rest your heels against a wall to prevent yourself from rolling backwards.
5. Cobra Exercise
Another very effective workout ball stability exercise is the “Cobra.” This is also done while lying face down on the ball, with your feet on the floor, hip-width apart. The exercise is done slowly and with intention, in order to elongate and strengthen your back muscles while improving your balance and core stability. Here’s a demo of the exercise:
Start off with your arms straight down in front of you and then move them backwards, keeping tension throughout your whole body in order to maintain a straight line through your back, neck and head.
You can perform this exercise as a set of 10, repeating for 3 sets, or just add them to your regular stretching routine.
6. Exercise Ball Knee Tuck
To work on your core strength and balance at the same time in a more dynamic way, try the knee tuck exercise. Start off in a plank position with your feet on top of the ball. Focus on keeping your body in a straight line.
While maintaining your balance, roll the ball towards you by tucking your knees in to your chest.
Here’s a video showing you step-by step how to do the exercise correctly:
7. Exercise Ball Hamstring Curl
Do this exercise to target your hamstring muscles at the back of your legs.
Lying on your back with legs bent and your feet resting on the ball, engage your glutes as you draw the ball towards you. If you’re doing it right, you should feel a strong contraction in your hamstring muscles.
Watch this video to see how to do the hamstring curl exercise correctly:
