How To Do Chest Presses With A Swiss Ball Video

Also known as an exercise ball or Pilates ball, this prop introduces a new range of exercise moves and routines. Exercises and stretches for your workout routine in this fitness video.

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Keep back supported by ball
Push straight up & breathe out
Keep hips up

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Tom Clifford has a degree in physical education, fitness and health from Eastern Michigan University, where he ran track and cross-country. Tom has worked as a personal trainer for two years. He also has a separate business where he coaches runners and triathletes for upcoming events. He currently works at Gold's Gym in Wilmington, North Carolina.

TOM CLIFFORD: Now I'm going to demonstrate to you the chest press with a swiss ball. Alright, the swiss ball acts in this case, as a bench. It's a little bit more unstable so you're balancing a little bit more with your lower body and your core. So we're going to start out, the position, sitting on the swiss ball, I'm slowly going to crawl forward with my feet, leaning back. So my back and my upper body, okay, are--the swiss ball is supporting my back and my upper body. Better raise the weight straight up. Notice my hips are up so my back is tensed up a little bit--tensed up--my upper body is relaxed, alright? I'm going to lean my head back so my head and neck are supported by the swiss ball, okay, and the weights are above my chest. I'm going to come straight down, okay, and press up, breathe out as I'm pressing up, breathe in as I'm bringing it down. So, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, focusing on the chest, breathe in. While I'm doing this, I can also feel my back is--my back muscles and my butt muscles are also being worked from keeping my body as if it was lying straight on the bench, alright? So if you can see my body it's straight in line from my knees all the way to my shoulders and that's the difference when you're using a swiss ball or a stability ball when doing chest presses. Alright, so one more time, dumbbells above the chest, not above my head, above my chest, breathe in and breathe out. Neck is supported, back is supported, hips are up, lower back is being worked and chest is being worked. When you finish this exercise, roll back, straight up to a seated position on the swiss ball and drop your weights. Some points to remember when doing this again is to keep your body straight as if it were lying on a bench. Don't let your hips dip, okay? So you're going to use your lower back muscles to keep your hips up. Again, focus on the chest as if you were doing a chest press on a bench, same way, just a little bit more to focus on when you're doing this exercise, alright? And I'd say repetitions and sets. A good amount is three sets of 10 to 15.

How to Do Chest Presses with a Swiss Ball Video

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