Stability balls force your entire core to work overtime, steadying you against the ball's constant instability. In all but a few cases, the stability ball itself doesn't provide any resistance to work your abdominal muscles; it just positions you properly for gravity, acting on your own body weight, to provide the resistance. The best way to get a quality ab workout on the stability ball is to choose the right size of ball to line you up for the exercises.
Sizing Charts
Most exercise ball manufacturers provide a sizing chart on the product packaging, with an estimate of what size ball will fit an individual of what height. Specific recommendations vary slightly among manufacturers, but fall in the same basic range. The American Council on Exercise recommends that the two sizes of balls you're most likely to see in the store --- 55 and 65 centimeters --- are best suited to individuals between 5 feet 1 inch and 5 feet 7 inches tall, or from 5-foot-8 to 6-foot-2, respectively.
Alignment Is Key
If you have extremely long or short legs, your sizing needs might vary slightly from the general recommendations. Proper body alignment always trumps advice from a chart, the American College of Sports Medicine explains. Sit down on the ball. If your hips and knees each bend at a 90-degree angle, the ball is the proper size for you.
Inflation Matters
Just having the right-size exercise ball doesn't guarantee proper alignment; it must also be inflated correctly. A correctly inflated exercise ball should compress about 6 inches beneath your body weight when you sit on it, according to the American Council on Exercise. You can also check the ball's inflation by placing a box the same distance as the ball's diameter away from a wall. If properly inflated, the ball should just brush the box and wall as it passes between them.
Modifications
To get the most benefit from your ab workouts, you should work near the limits of your ability --- but never exceed them. Aim for a difficult, but manageable, challenge. If you can't maintain proper posture and balance on a properly sized exercise ball, consider using a slightly larger ball, underinflating it so that it's softer and thus easier to balance on. You'll quickly develop enough core strength to move back to the smaller, properly inflated ball.
Other Factors
Ball size isn't the only factor that affects your ab workout. The closer together you place your feet or hands --- whichever body part you're using to balance on the floor --- the harder each exercise will be. You can also add weights, or increase lever length, to increase the strain on your abs. But always stop if you find that you're losing control of your body or the added weight; pushing to the point of injury will set you back far more than it helps.
Member Comments