What Is A Pilates Mini Ball?

Just 6 to 9 inches in diameter, the Pilates mini ball enhances muscle activation during core strength training and other toning workouts. The ball challenges your balance in some exercises and allows more range of motion in others. The mini ball can help you isolate muscles as you concentrate on keeping the ball between your knees or squeezing it during movements.

Evolution of the Pilates Mini Ball

The Pilates system of core strength exercises is named for its German-born founder, Joseph Pilates, who designed workout plans for hospital patients during World War I, according to the Pilates Insight website. In the decades after his death in 1967, Pilates trainers began using a large stability ball in their workout routines. In the 1990s, Pilates instructor Leslee Bender introduced a 7-inch mini ball for her students to reduce the risk of back injuries, "Healthy Beginnings" magazine reports. The smaller balls isolate abdominal muscles as they support the back and prevent spinal injuries, Bender explains.

A Better Abdominal Workout

Performing abdominal crunches with the lower back resting on a mini ball provides more extension than doing the same crunches on a larger stability ball or on the floor, according to a study published in 2007 in the "Journal of Applied Research." The mini ball provides good back support and allows greater range of motion.

Progressive Workouts with the Mini Ball

The Pilates mini ball accommodates varied levels of workouts by isolating abdominal muscles without increasing stress on the back muscles. Less-fit users can do easier workouts, while more-fit and experienced users can get intense workouts with the same ball, according to the "Journal of Applied Research".

Sample Mini Ball Exercise: The Hundred

In this exercise described by Bender in "American Fitness" magazine, beginners may start with fewer repetitions and gradually work up to the namesake 100. Lying on your back with the mini ball between bent knees, extend your arms above your shoulders. Inhale with four short in-breaths, then exhale with four short out-breaths. Repeat this breathing pattern a few times until it feels comfortable to you, without hyperventilating. Next, lower your arms to about 5 inches above the floor. Keep the arms here and pump them rhythmically with your four-count inhale and four-count exhale breath pattern. Pumping your arms, count until you reach 100 breaths.