The exercise or stability ball is a great tool for sculpting and toning your muscles. The ball offers beginning to advanced workout enthusiasts a wide variety of exercises which you can do in a small space at home. Exercises that target your abdominals, thighs, glutes and upper body can all be done with a stability ball simply by changing the positioning of your body.
Toning the Core
To tone your ab muscles, start by taking a seat on the ball. Slowly walk your feet out in front of you until your butt is just off the ball and your back rests comfortably on top of the ball. Place your hands behind your head without interlacing your fingers, keep your gaze straight up and your elbows out to the side in line with the ears. Slowly raise your upper body up and forward while you exhale and contract your abdominal muscles. Inhale and return to a neutral spine position being careful not to arch back over the ball. Try combining 10 to 12 very slow raises, with a quicker pulsing set of eight repetitions to finish the set.
Butt, Back and Thighs
After you finish your ab crunches, continue to walk your feet further away from the ball until only your shoulder blades, neck and head are resting on top of the ball. You will be in bridge position. Place your legs hip-distance apart and your body in a straight line from your head to your knees, lining up your shins directly underneath your knees at a 90-degree angle. You can rest your hands on the floor or--for more intensity--you can keep them placed behind your head. Slowly lower your hips about 6 to 8 inches. Squeeze your buttocks muscles while tilting your pelvis and scoop your hips back to return position or neutral spine. Perform 10 to 12 slow, full range-of-motion repetitions with eight short, deep pulses or contractions to finish the set.
Inner Thigh Ball Squeezes
Lying on your back on a mat, pick up the ball between your feet and raise it up to a 90-degree angle to your body, until it is lined up directly above your hips, with your arms on the floor by your side with palms down. Your knees should be straight and your feet flexed back towards your shins. Squeeze the ball between your feet using your ankles, not your toes. You will be contracting your inner thigh or adductor muscles to perform this sequence. Squeeze the ball for 10 to 20 repetitions. Keep squeezing the ball tightly and slowly move to the left side about 5 inches and hold for five seconds. Return to center and repeat to the right side--as in an upside down pendulum.
Best Upper Body Ball Blast
Lay over the top of the ball on your stomach, walk your hands out in front of you until only your thighs are resting on the ball, as in push-up position. Slowly lower your chest toward the floor, without jutting your chin forward, keeping the neck lined up with the spine as in proper push up form. Hover about 4 to 5 inches above the ground for about five seconds and return to start. Place your hands about 4 inches wider and repeat. Again, widen your hand stance and repeat sequence. To perform the last series, your hands should be so wide that your forearm is just past your elbow, which is commonly called a spider push-up. Again, lower down, hover, hold and return to starting position. This exercise targets your pectoralis muscles, biceps, triceps and deltoids.
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