Exercise Balls
Physical therapists have been using various balls in therapy for years, now fitness experts have discovered that exercise balls are one of the best ways to strengthen your abs and back and increase your overall core stability too. Exercise balls focus on your core strength and allow strengthening the torso with minimal risk of injury.
Using an exercise ball puts your body in an unstable environment and forces your muscles to react instantly and unconsciously. Just the act of attempting to lie flat on an exercise ball forces your legs and abs to immediately contract in order to keep you from falling off the ball. You can easily increase the intensity of the workout by attempting exercises like crunches and twists while you are balancing. Performing traditional exercises on the ball adds difficulty to every movement and requires the use of more muscles too.
Home fitness buffs who are into weight training can utilize exercise balls as substitute weight benches to increase the resistance and incorporate more muscles in the legs, butt and abs. Exercise balls can be great additions to general flexibility exercises and can add some diversity to your yoga or Pilates sessions too.
Exercise balls can be great for stretching and relaxing, or even just sitting around. Simply sitting on an exercise ball while you watch TV or sit in front of your computer is more of a challenge than one might think and can be a good way to improve your posture at the same time. Sitting on an exercise ball and raising one foot off the ground while balancing will quickly reveal the challenge of even the most basic ball exercises.
An exercise ball is a fitness device, but it's also just a ball and a great way for kids to get some exercise while they play. Exercise balls are very durable and designed to hold a lot of weight without bursting. Most regular exercise balls are weight-rated at well over 300 lbs. of capacity and some of the sturdiest balls can even exceed 600 lbs. of load. The balls do come in different sizes though, and you need to purchase a ball that is the right size for your height.
The general guideline for choosing the correct size exercise ball is to have your knees and hips bent 90 degrees and your thighs parallel to floor when you are sitting on the ball. That is the quick test for the smallest ball size you can use, but many people prefer larger balls, where you hips are higher than your knees. The most common exercise ball sizes are 55cm, 65cm and 75cm balls, with all three being slightly smaller than an adult basketball. Kids, teens and short adults under 5’4” will likely find that the 55 centimeter balls fit them well and people up to 5’11’ would need the 65 cm size. Taller people up to 6’7” will need the largest 75 cm balls.
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