Holy Balls!
Whether you're performing a seated shoulder press, crunches or squats, adding the physioball forces you to engage your core muscles to help stabilize the body during each movement with the ball. The ball also helps improve balance and increases flexibility since your muscles stretch more.
Start with this routine, which will build core strength that not only improves your fitness level but helps you perform everyday activities with ease. Do one to three sets of each exercise (based on your current fitness level) with 10-15 repetitions per set for endurance, 8-12 reps for power and strength.
Sidelying ball lifts are great for the core and the inner thighs.
There are so many moves you can do with the physioball, this simple routine barely scratches the surface of the cerci sea you can do with my favorite piece of exercise equipment. Invest in a good ball, don’t get a $20 cheapy, they loose air rapidly and don’t have the durability to sit on or exercise with. Get a ball to fit your height, when you sit on a ball, the hips should be slightly higher than the knees.
Basic Physioball Workout
Squats with the ball: Stand with feet wider than the hips, toes turned outward, hands gripping the ball. Bend the knees pushing weight into your heals and squat down as if sitting on a chair, simultaneously lift the ball overhead. As you straighten the legs to push back up as you lower the ball down. Keep your weight in your heels, your abs engaged, and sit back as if sitting into a chair. Squeeze the ball to engage your upper body. Exhale as stand back up and inhale as you lower down. (to increase the difficulty do split squats with one food on a BOSU round side up)
Calf Raises with the ball: Stand with feet wider than the hips, toes turned slightly outward, hands gripping the ball at shoulder height. Hold the arms steady as you press up on the toes, lifting the heels up away from the floor. Pause and hold at the top and balance, then slowly lower the heels back down. Keep your abs engaged. Squeeze the ball and try to keep it lifted in line with the chest or shoulders. Exhale as you lift the heels and inhale as you lower them down.
Seated shoulder press: Sitting on the ball with feet flat on the floor and shoulder width apart, engage the core and DO NOT arch the back as you raise free weights overhead. Do not snap the elbows, slowly lower the weights back to each side of the ear. Repeat. Exhale as you lift the heels and inhale as you lower them down.
CORE exercise: Kneeling Rollout with Ball (use a mat under the knees) Try 5-15 reps based on your abdominal strength. Clasp your hands together like praying and place your forearms on the ball in front of you as you kneel. Engage the abs/core and roll the ball forward SLOWLY, stop when you feel you are loosing control. An advanced person can push out, straightening the body into a plank position. Use the abs to roll the ball back in to the starting position. Don't let your torso rest on the ball, do not let the back arch. Keep toes on the floor. Inhale as you roll forward and exhale as you return to the start position.
Stretch after the core exercise: Modified Child's Pose Stretch with Ball. Hold for 15-30 seconds, or about 5 deep inhales and exhales. Walk back off of the ball and kneel on the floor. Drop your butt to your heels to shift your body weight as you roll the ball forward to extend your arms. .Roll the ball back towards you, lifting the butt off the heels as you roll the ball back to the start position. Relax through your shoulders and neck. Breathe deeply.
Oblique Crunch with physioball. Lie on a mat, placing your left heel on top of the physioball ball. Cross your right ankle at the left knee, as if doing a piriformis stretch (hip opening stretch too). Lace your fingers together and place your hands at the base of the skull, not on the neck for support. As you “crunch up, Rotate the opposite elbow toward your knee, and then slowly lower down. Repeat reps on the other side. Keep your abs engaged and your hands lightly supporting the head. Exhale as your crunch up and inhale as you lower.
You can also do a crunch lifting straight up. A towel on the base of the skull can support the head as needed.
Rack Stretch: Extend your arms overhead and your legs out. Stretch your abs, like you're reaching your fingertips and toes to opposite walls. (as if getting stretched in the medieval rack) DO not arch the back. Hold for 15-30 seconds, or about 5 deep inhales and exhales.
Hamstrings with the physioball: Lie on a mat, placing your heels on top of the physioball ball and your arms at your side. Push your weight down into the ball for resistance as you raise your buttocks off the mat (this is a bridge pose, start here if you have balance issues). Once you master the bridge, bend drawing the knees to the chest and heels towards the butt (doing a hamstring curl) and roll the ball in towards you and then extend the legs to push the ball back out into a bridge. Lower the buttocks between reps. To increase the difficulty, do 2-5 hamstring curls in a row before lowing the butt to the mat. Exhale as you roll the ball in and inhale as you push the ball out.
Knee extensions with the physioball: Lie on a mat, placing the ball between the feet and shin/calf area of the leg. Your arms at your side. Bring the feet and ball up to the ceiling at a 90 Degree angle from the torso. Engage the core as you bend the knees to lower the ball towards the mat, and engage the core as you extend the knees to the ceiling to strengthen quads and do a knee extension. Exhale as you extend the ball to the ceiling and inhale as you control the ball bending the knees.
Starter position for intermediate knee extensions, hands behind the head and engage the core, keeping the shoulders up and off the mat slightly as you extend the legs at the knee.
Plank off the ball: Bring your forearms onto the ball and lift the knees into a plank position. Hold 10-30 seconds. Repeat reps to core fatigue.
