Exercises For A Medium Bounce Exercise Ball

Large exercise balls work best for stretching and yoga. They can also be used as office chairs. Because larger balls are easier to balance on, they are better for beginning exercises. Small exercise balls are easy to hold and squeeze, but are very difficult to balance on. Medium exercise balls sized between 55 and 75 centimeters are the correct size for most people to use for core exercises and resistance training. You can bounce on them too if you want to get your heart rate up.

Ab Exercises

One way to use a medium-sized exercise balls is for abdominal training. This size exercise ball gives users an effective ab workout because you have to work harder to prevent the medium-sized ball from moving out from under you. Small and large exercise balls are not suitable for ab exercises. To perform an exercise ball crunch, lie face up with your lower back on the ball and your hands behind your head. Bend your knees to right angles with your feet on the floor. The thighs should be parallel on a medium ball of the correct size. Then, curl forward with your upper torso as if to sit up.

Lower Back Exercises

The instability of an exercise ball also helps strengthen the lower back. The lower back is part of the core, which is a group of muscles near the waist that stabilize your torso. An example of a lower back exercise on a medium ball is the lumbar extension. To begin this exercise, lie face down with your abdomen on the ball and your hands behind your head. Straighten your legs and drape your torso over the ball. Next, raise your upper torso toward the ceiling, which extends your lumbar spine. Put your feet against a wall if you need help maintaining your balance. A small ball would place your body too close to the ground for a complete range of motion, and a large ball would get in the way of your torso when bending forward.

Hips

The core muscles also include the muscles of the hips and thighs, which support the pelvis. An exercise called a bridge works the glutes in the back of the hips. You could use a small ball for this, but it would be very difficult for most people to control. A large ball is unreachable during this exercise unless you have extremely long legs. To perform a bridge on a medium ball, lie on your back and place the soles of your feet on the top of the ball with your knees bent. Then, push off the ball and use your glutes and thighs to raise your hips toward the ceiling.

Bench Exercises

A medium exercise ball can replace an exercise bench in your workout routine. You can lie, kneel or sit on a medium ball to do exercise exactly as you would do them on a bench. Though a large ball can lift your hips higher than the level of your knees when sitting or lying on it, a medium ball is a better size for bench exercises. An example of a bench exercise on a ball is the exercise ball dumbbell fly. To perform this exercise, lie on a ball in the same starting position as the ball crunch. With a dumbbell in each hand, raise your arms straight toward the ceiling. Bend the elbows slightly with the palms facing inwards. Then, lower your arms toward the floor to your sides until they are parallel to the floor.