The exercise ball adds new dimensions to your muscle-toning workouts. Stability balls, along with imposing a balance challenge, increase the exercise's range of motion while enhancing core strength, agility and coordination. The balls also facilitate easy transitions between different body part exercises. Positions used for abdominal exercises, for example, also work for leg and upper body toning. Some positions even allow you to work two muscle groups simultaneously. These time-saving benefits make the exercise ball a tool for muscle toning workouts.
Squat and Front Raise
Step 1
Position the ball against the wall, in alignment with your lower back. Hold a weight in each hand.
Step 2
Walk your feet forward so that your legs form a 90-degree angle when bent in a squat position.
Step 3
Bend your knees and lower your hips, until your hamstrings are parallel to the floor. Simultaneously, raise the weights in front of you to chest height. Keep your elbows visually straight to the eye, but not locked.
Step 4
Straighten your legs and lower the weights with control. Perform three sets of 12 repetitions. This exercise works the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteal and shoulder muscles.
Pushup and Prone Curl
Step 1
Lie prone on the exercise ball. Walk your hands forward, so that your feet are on the ball, and your body is in a pushup position. Maintain a straight line from the top of your head to the base of your spine.
Step 2
Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor. Straighten your arms with control.
Step 3
Contract your abdominal muscles and bend your knees, drawing them toward your chest.
Step 4
Straighten your legs and repeat the pushup. Perform three sets of 12 repetitions. This sequence works your core, pectoral and triceps muscle groups. It also allows people with minimal upper body endurance to rest between pushup movements.
Adductor Bridge
Step 1
Lie supine on an exercise mat. Straighten your legs and place the ball between your lower legs. Externally rotate your hips so that your heels face the ball in a "turned out" position.
Step 2
Lift each vertebra from the floor until you reach a bridge position. Simultaneously, contract your inner thighs, as if you were trying to bring your legs together.
Step 3
Roll each vertebra back into the mat. Imagine that you have grapes inside each vertebral disc, and you are trying to pop the grapes against the floor. Simultaneously, relax your inner thighs. Perform three sets of 12 repetitions. This exercise works your core, your hamstrings, gluteals, inner thighs and back muscles. It also helps improve your postural alignment.
Tips and Warnings
- Exhaling on the exertion phase of the exercise creates a deeper abdominal contraction.
- Avoid jerky movements or locking out your arm or leg joints.
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