I tried the Swiss ball
68Last week, right after the New Year celebrations I was reading a magazine instead of going for a workout -as I had promised myself in order to lose all those extra calories gained with the festivities- when I found an article on the Swiss ball workout. The article was written by Julie Imperali, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s personal trainer. Julie claimed that following a basic routine with the aid of an exercise ball anyone could achieve a lean silhouette.
As luck would have it; I had one of those balls in my cave. I immediately went searching for it, amidst the bottles of wine and colourful jam jars. I had almost given up looking for my ball when I found it timidly hiding between an old fridge and a pile of boxes. I had never used the exercise ball, my husband had bought it to use it as a seat but gave up after he rolled over and the ball ended up bouncing around the house until someone put it in the cave.
My Swiss Ball
What is a Swiss ball?
- Exercise ball - Swiss Ball in Wikipedia
An exercise ball is a ball constructed of elastic soft PVC with a diameter of approximately 35 to 85 centimeters (14 to 34 inches) and filled with air. A Swiss ball, is also known as balance ball, birth ball, pilates ball, yoga ball, therapy ball...
As soon as I found my exercise ball I tried the exercises in the magazine. I was amazed at how easy and fun they were. I suffer from lower back pain –after pregnancy I was diagnosed with occupational/pregnancy scoliosis- and I am always looking for stretching exercises to relieve the pain. That is why I was so pleasantly surprised with the exercise ball; instead of exercise every movement felt like a gentle massage. My first try was so successful that I decided to give it a try and started looking online for more information and workouts with a ball.
I found out that introducing a Swiss ball in your workout has several advantages like stretching your spine and helping you to achieve a slimmer waist. Using a Swiss ball facilitates full flexion and extension of your spine thereby training your abdominals through a full range of movements. Also using a Swiss ball promotes balance and stability. You are working double without even noticing. Not only are you doing the exercise (a crunch, a stretch, etc) but at the same time you are working your core muscles concentrating to maintain equilibrium on your ball.
So far I have only tried it for a week, but I am loving it. I have fun doing the exercises and I feel more supple and invigorated when I finish.
Below are some basic exercises that can be done with an exercise ball. Please bear in mind that I am new to this, I am not a professional. For proper coaching I would advice you to refer to a professional trainer.
Swiss Ball Crunch
Abdominal Crunch
- Lay on top of the ball facing up, your legs bent at a 90-degrees, your feet firmly on the ground. The Swiss ball should be between your hips and shoulders following the curvature of the spine.
- Clasp your arms behind your head. Relax in this position to obtain a stretch of the abdominal wall.
- The movement: flex your midsection raising your shoulder blades off the Swiss ball. Do not come up too high because the tension in the muscles will decrease.
- Keep your abs squeezed-in when you are going up and slowly lower yourself back to a fully relaxed and stretched position.
Swiss Ball Crunch
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Oblique Crunch
Oblique Crunch
- Place the Swiss ball on the floor near to a wall.
- Kneel on the floor between the wall and the ball
- Extend one leg forward and one leg backward bracing them where the wall meets the floor. The foot of the side you are exercising should be the one extended forward. Otherwise you will be unstable and roll over. You’ll have a laugh but you will not get rid of your love handles.
- Rest your hip on the ball.
- Relax and stretch yourself sideways over the Swiss ball with your arms bent and hands clasped behind your head.
- Push your hips downward into the Swiss ball and crunch your body lifting off the ball in the direction of the wall until you reach the limit of your movement.
- Hold and slowly lower yourself back to your original position.
Swiss Ball Obliques Exercise - Lift and Twist
Swiss Ball Fitness DVDs
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Stability Ball Pullover Row Exercise
Stability Ball Pullover Row Exercise
To workout your back, your chest and abdominal muscles.
- Kneel on the ground with the Swiss ball in front of you.
- Place your arms on the ball with your elbows bent at a comfortable angle.
- Lean into
the ball and let your body rock forward stretching your arms as far as
possible.You might lift your feet from the ground for more stability and comfort.
- Pull your body back to its original position pushing down into the ball.
Rollouts to work the entire abdominal wall.
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The Wall Squat
- Find a wall with a flat surface.
- Place the stability ball on the wall behind your body and lean against it. Place your feet forward slightly. Keep your back nice and flat, do not round it.
- Slowly lower yourself until your knees bend to 90-degrees. Look straight ahead or slightly up while squatting.
- At the bottom of the motion push through your heels and drive your body back to the starting position.
Hip Extensions
Hip Extensions
- Lay on the floor in a supine position.
- Place the Swiss ball under your legs somewhere between your calf and heel. Keep your arms on the floor
- The movement: Push your legs down into the ball as you push your hips upward until your body has created a straight line. Squeeze your bottom at the top of the movement to increase intensity.
- Hold at the top and slowly lower your body back to the floor.
- Tip: The further the Swiss ball is from your hips the more intense the exercise.
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For more Swiss ball Exercise on line check:
- Exercise Ball & Stability Ball Exercises and Videos
Each individual exercise page will tell you the primary muscle trained, secondary muscles trained, equipment needed, mechanics type, and teach you proper exercise technique. Each exercise includes pictures and a video demonstration. - Swiss ball exercises
Swiss ball exercises for the upper body, lower body and trunk. Click through for teaching points, muscles worked and a picture and video for each exercise.
Kim Strother's Swiss Ball Workout
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Swiss Ball Lower Body Workout DVD Adam Ford Stability Ball Fitness Exercise Legs
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More fun Exercises by Princessa
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Cardio striptease is a low impact aerobic workout that uses striptease moves. Between aerobics and a sensual yoga it is the routine that will not only work out your body but also your self confidence and sex appeal.
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- Dance as a Form of Exercise and Having Fun - Dancing as Exercise is Healthy
For me, dancing is the best form of exercise specially if you are busy and want to have some fun while doing it. It is not boring and while dancing you can listen to music and then you are more attuned to... - 2 years ago
- Stretch Class; The Key to a Successful Exercise Program
What's the key to a successful exercise program? Take a Stretch Class!Whenever I let a few weeks go by without exercising, I’ve learned that it’s smart to get back into it slowly by taking a stretch class. - 2 years ago
- The Benefits of a Regular Exercise Program
New Year's resolutions aside, we would do well to put in at least some little effort into improving our general level of fitness. At this time of year though, especially after so many of us have made a commitment to our physical well-being, perhaps we need to focus on what we could hope to reap in terms of our reward for such diligence. - 2 years ago
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CommentsLoading...
rebekahELLE: That's great, I am really happy I inspired you to bring out your Pilates ball. I am just starting with it but I am sure I'll stick to eat because it feels so good.
princessa, you will love it as you get used to it. my son used to sit on mine (and he's bigger than me!) and I had to remember to check the air pressure and to keep it filled properly. you will soon see and feel a difference in your body! have fun.
Princessa, Nice Hub! Wonderful exercising tips and helpful illustrations. I must take my ball out of storage as well. Thank you for sharing, Blessings!
rebekahELLE: thanks, I'll need to remember to check the air pressure :)
DeBorrah: It looks like we all have ball LOL I am really happy I rediscovered mine.
This is great info Princessa! And the fact that you create your own pictures for illustration is simply awesome. Thanks for sharing!:)
Money Glitch: thank you for visiting. The photos are a joint effort with my little Princess, she is polishing her photographic skills :)
It is necessary and essential as well. A good guided hub.
I've got one of these with a training video. I've never opened since I bought it just before moving house, which was shortly followed by major surgery. This rather complicated my life two years ago, but I don't have an excuse any more!
Very good illustrations. We have some of those at the gym, but I haven't tried them yet. Thanks for sharing your workout.
OK - I'll try it - it looks like fun. A friend uses it as a seat at her desk and loves it. Thanks!
Nice one Princessa, it looks very good, Thank you, Maita
Yes, those balls are great for exercise and to play games with. With a little imagination the possibilities are endless. I even used to sit on one holding the baby in my arms and gently bounce it to sleep.
I found some great exercises for it for core training. very useful indeed.
Thanks for all the comments guys. This is one of the first times that I am having fun excercising indoors. I usually find it tedious to exercise indoors and prefer outdoor activities, but we are buried with snow at the moment and apart from walking the only other exercise I can do is this one.
Useful article especially with the images
ethel: I am happy to read that you find this hub useful. Thanks for commenting.
AWESOME Hub !!! You really ARE a trainer and excellent online teacher. Makes me think that I really want to 'Have A Ball'.
Rascal Russ Miles: That's some compliment, thank you :-)
This has come just at the right time for me...after all those Christmas excesses; too much food...too much wine but not enough exercise!
marieryan: We are on the same boat. So far I am keeping up my daily sessions with the ball. I am hoping to see some results soon. For more updates on how I am getting on with it you can visit me here: http://myuneditedlifeinfrance.blogspot.com/
This is great! I am going to check it out, sounds like something I can do. If its fun, I will stick to it. Thanks for sharing!
Funny, I bought my husband one of these a year ago and neither he nor I have used it. Oh well, it is a new year.
Excellent - I'll have to try some of these. I am sitting on one right now. I use mine as a computer chair. I work all day on my computer and it is the most comfortable seat I have found. It is also supposed to work your abs while you sit on it. I hope it's working!
I have been looking at these balls for a year and wondering if they were just another "phase", now I'm ready to buy AND USE. Thanks for the information!
Funny such a simple fitness tool but without great photos we are lost - excellent photos! Very well done!
VioletSun: it is fun. So far I am sticking to it because I enjoy it. I don't do a full workout, but I do several sets a day of about 10 minutes each time I take a break from the computer.
Sandyspider: give it a try!
Patti Ann: ever since you mentioned it I have been trying mine as a seat too :)
The Rope: You are welcome.
Kelly: Thank you.
My daughter has a Swiss Ball that she uses for all of her workouts, she swears by it.
Tony: I've been trying mine for a few weeks now and I still like it and have fun doing the workout.
Will try this ; sounds fun and good exercise.
Awesome hub! I love the swiss ball for balance training. I used to do a drill that involved standing on the ball and catching a medicine ball being tossed at you. Also, squats on the ball are intense!
Good Hub!!!!!!!!!
The hub is explicitly dedicated to swiss ball.The constant use of Swiss ball promotes balance and stability.Also using a Swiss ball promotes balance and stability.The whole hub is highly informative, culminated with huge enjoyment and fun. The photograph displayed are sparkingly beautiful. Thanks a lot for providing so fruitful hub.
I have one of these I use for abs exercises. Great for core.
RosWebbART: it is fun, certainly worth a try!
Gregg Biancci: Wow, that's impresing...
ateenyi: Thank you for your comment. The Swiss ball is a fun way to improve stability and balance.
festersporling1: I find that it makes it easy to do abs that work, you don't feel the work at the time but you can feel your body has had a good workout afterwards.
very nice explanation and the nice option instead of going gym because most of the person do not get time to go for gym
Such people can take advnantages of such exercises.
leathericononline.blogspot.com
james: I do have that, I never find the time -or motivation- to go periodically to the gym.
With the Swiss ball is different, I can do it at home and I do it whenever I can. I don't know if it is good or not (it seems to work well for me) but I do short periods of time whenever I can rather than doing it for a whole hour, I like to do it several times a day maybe 10 minutes at a time.
With the Swiss ball is different, I like to do it several times a day I find that it makes it easy to do abs that work
I also use the swiss ball to put my feet up on it and do push-ups.
The Swiss Ball looks like a lot of fun!
rakesh2: That's right!
Dan: That's a hard one, good for you! I am not good at push ups, especially after I broke my wrist. I mainly use mine for abs and stability work.
SweetiePie: It is a lot of fun, especially when you miss and roll over LOL. Exercise and laugh at the same time, what could be better.?
My exercise ball isn't get much of a workout. You have inspired me to start up again. Thanks for getting me going again!
I have seen them but never got one. After reading your hub it is definitely worth a try.You will have to add another career to your list.You would make a fun exercise ball sales lady....
Great hub! Thanks for sharing the many benefits of using swiss ball.
Part-time Writer: You are welcome. I always feel great when I manage to inspire someone to do something good like exercising. Thank YOU for reading.
Dream on: LOL, somehow I don't see myself as a sales lady. Thank you anyway.
Online scam check: You are welcome. I am sure that there are many more benefits that I have not explored yet.
Excellent hub covers everything one needs to know about swiss ball, i have to admit that i have go get one for myself. Princessa once again thanks a lot for the hub.
sajan: you are very welcome.
Great job explaining the Swiss Ball. You make it look easy. I have balance problems so this would probably be good.
lovelypaper: Exercising with a Swiss ball improves balance and stability so you should probably have a try to see if it works for you. It is definitely fun trying!
Your hub is awesome! I love my exerice ball. It's fun and it works!
Not the most easy thing to do. Great illustration Princessa.
thanks for the great read. You'll make a great coach.
Great Hub Princessa! More people should really know how effective the Swiss Ball is for putting fun into otherwise dull and tiresome workouts. Incorporating the exercise ball into conventional workouts like you demonstrated in your pictures also get more core-muscles into the action, leading to significantly more calorie-burn and more rapid fat-loss. It's really common sense- the more muscular effort, the more energy used-up and faster results from our efforts!
nice exercise tip
this is nice and I tried to look at it online, I think I will try it, Are you the one in red -- sexy, thank you for this one!
HealthFreak2009: Glad to hear from someone who enjoys using the Swiss ball.
VitamineCentral: Actually it is not that difficult. In fact, it is much easier than many other workouts I've tried.
Benson Yeung: Thank you Doc, but I thing I am a long long way from being a coach :)
Dan: thank you for your comment. I do certainly feel my body working harder when I use the Swiss ball than when I do the same exercise without it.
Sourish: thank you.
alexandriaruthk: Yes, that's me -and my love handles- with my battered Swiss ball.
I also have a swiss ball and I love it!! I unfortunately ended up with lower back pain after a vehicle accident and this ball does wonders. :)
AEvans: It does help a lot with back pain. I find it heavenly to stretch my back on it. If I roll softly back and forth while on my back it really feels like a back massage. The exercises I selected here are also good for relieving back pain as they stretch the back and reinforce tummy muscles.
Looks like something I could do while looking after my baby...thanks for the article.
Nice tips. Will you please tell something about how to reduce belly & hip fat.
Thanks
Great hub! I've stopped from work in a while. I decided to give myself a break, and after that, I fats have accumulated in my hips and belly. I'm actually going out to the store and purchase one of these. Thanks for all the info that you have provided. :)
I am a jeweler but i also have a degree as a gymnast... i will help you guys out a little....70% of body fat can be lost from cleverly eating,30% can be lost from exercise except if you do the marathon ...With the swiss ball oblique crunches in pic 2 and 3 actually fill your hips up looking like fat even though it is muscle,because your hips grow in width.All the exercises especially the squats if not done lets say over 20 reps grow muscle and your legs and buttocks will be bigger:)...To be able to lose weight do circle training exercises and cardiovascular exercises like jogging or skiing.(bicycle isnt that good because you use only your legs ,and weight on arms wont be lost that easily).With this method if you have a big weight problem you can lose around 10% of weight in less than a month.I can write a hub if you guys want me to
These are wonderful tips. I like this hub. it is a nice way to be fit, I also purchase a Swiss ball today. thanks for sharing these awesome tips here.
yes i like to do
I made a small little hub after i saw this as i havent seen a professional help out on the topic about losing weight and training effectively http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-lose-weight-trainin
I also have a Swiss ball. It is very good for the lower back pain that I have. I hadn´t thought of looking online for more exercises. A very good hub.
I hope this information inspiring many woman doing this exercise like you. You look beautiful and energetic, I know that from your picture above. thank you very much.
Great Hub. I loved using the stability ball at my gym but haven't picked one up for home use. I didn't even realize it was called a Swill Ball.
The great thing about the stability ball is it raises the intensity of any exercise you perform with it. Not only does it help improve co-ordination, balance, strength and flexibility it also increases your range of motion and is like a portable gym!
Great Hub! I will be sure to link back! In Italy they sometimes call it the Fitball too!
thanks for all the information here, but you might like to know that only the first video actually works now, the others say removed or private?
Using a Swiss stability ball seems like a fun, low impact way for those pursuing a DePuy Pinnacle lawsuit with defective hip replacements to strengthen core muscles, add flexibility, and improve overall health. Thanks!
What can I say! I love Swiss balls. You can get fit with your partner. I have once made love with my wife on a Swiss ball. You have to try to balance while making love with your partner.
Swiss balls are incredible. I view them as the most functional and enjoyable piece exercise equipment in existence.
rebekahELLE Level 5 Commenter 2 years ago
nice article and great pics! it is a great work out. I bought one, we call it pilates or stability ball, a couple of years ago with a work out dvd and illustration cards. I like it especially for ab work and stretching as it feels good and there is no pain.
sometimes my neck bothers me and I lie back on it and stretch my arms out to the side. a physical therapist said it is great for relaxing the neck and spine. they are also fun to sit on and bounce while watching the news or some show. you've inspired me to bring mine out of the back office!! :]