Core Training Can Be A Ball
By Kelli Calabrese MS, CSCS, ACE
A manly chest and flat stomach co-exist as the Holy Grail of fitness for most men. As for abs, people are looking for me to tell them, "the best abdominal exercise is..." or "the exact number of crunches to perform are..."
The answer is that there is no one answer. But, if I had to choose a tool that is one of the most effective in strengthening the abdominals and lower back, it would be the fit ball. Yes, those over-sized balls that you see rolling around the fitness centers. The one your kids love to play with. Fit balls are sold everywhere for less than $25.00 and the results they can produce are priceless.
Physical therapists introduced fit balls (also known as stability balls and resist-a-balls) to personal trainers about 12 years ago, and that's when the boom began. We took abdominals off of the floor and placed them two feet off the ground on a colorful ball.
A recent study on the most effective abdominal exercises found that exercises, which require constant abdominal stabilization as well as body rotation, generated the most muscle activity. Performing crunches on the ball not only increases the need for abdominal stabilization, but it adds an additional range of motion that is not possible when performing abdominals on the floor.
Starting from a pre-stretched position, where you're hugging the ball with your lower and middle back, allows for a greater range of motion and contraction of the abdominals and obliques.
Some of the benefits of using the ball are that it works your entire core (otherwise known as your trunk) in almost every exercise that you perform with the ball. Because of the instability of the ball, you will be incorporating more muscle fibers than you would simply by doing a crunch on the floor. By making slight adjustments in how your body is positioned on the ball, you can progressively increase or decrease how challenging an exercise is.
For example, when performing a basic crunch on the ball, a beginner would sit more forward on the ball, forming a wide stance with their feet. An intermediate exerciser would be positioned evenly balanced on top of the ball with the feet closer together, creating less stability. Finally, an advanced exerciser would use their body weight as added resistance by having less of their body on the ball and their upper torso hanging off the ball with feet placed together.
The ultimate challenge would be to lift one foot off the floor or hold a weighted object in one hand. You can strive to doing both at the same time...after all you don't have that far to fall.
You can also lie on the floor and place the fit ball between your feet. Some of the variations in that position include alternating elbow to opposite knee as you bring your knee to meet your elbow. You can also lift your feet up towards the ceiling and roll your spine up moving teh ball closer to the ceiling. While lying on your back, keep the feet in the air with the ball between the legs and slowly lower the legs to one side. Stop, pause and move back towards the middle and then to the other side. You can also roll the ball out on your legs and lift your legs higher to roll the ball back towards your mid section. You can pass the ball between your hands and feet. There are many other variations that can be performed while lying on the floor. The possibilities and results are unilimitied.
The fit ball has helped to rehabilitate athletes, improve athletic performance and reduce the risk of injury. Equipment, such as medicine balls, weights or tubing can be used to enhance results or focus on specific goals. For those of you, who are involved in sports or want to improve how your body moves and performs, the ball will help enhance balance, posture, body awareness and coordination due to its dynamic nature.
Just about any exercise that you can perform on the floor or a bench can be performed on the fit ball -- with practice. Give yourself lots of room when first taking your exercises onto the ball. Start with more basic moves that are the most stable and then progress to positions that create more resistance, challenge your balance and may even involve some movement of the ball.
Using the fit ball incorporates all of the musculature below the neck and above the legs (excluding the arms). So, if your lower back could use some strengthening, if your posture needs improving or if your shoulders are a weak link, the fit ball can help.
The fit balls are also fantastic for stretching your core. You can smoothly roll into a stretch to intensify it. Again, its possible to achieve positions that are not possible while lying on the floor. The ball can reduce stress on your joints and encourage the spinal muscles to relax as compression on the spine is reduced.
Remember that you don't need any fancy equipment to work your abdominals and lower back, but training tools can be very effective and sometimes just having the ball will remind you to do your exercises. All of the same principles of exercise training apply to using the ball as any other piece of equipment. You must exercise consistently and challenge your body.
One of the biggest downfalls of abdominal training is that people get into a rut and repeat the same routines. The ball can help you progress and give you many alternatives in abdominal and core training.
The ball makes working abs and lower back fun by adding an element of play and excitement. Give it a try.