Stability Ball for the Abs

 

One of my favorite work out toys is my stability ball. However, it was not always that way, when I first got it I could not stay on. I was frustrated at first, the woman on the video made it look so easy. I didn't give up, I would lay on the ball and roll forward and backward, sometimes holding in a plank position. After a while of doing this I reverted back to the DVD and yeah me!! I was doing it. What makes the stability ball so wonderful is that you need to use your whole body, so you are working multiple muscles all the time. If you have never used a stability ball or are just beginning here is what you can do with it. It is great for abdominal work with various exercises, you can use a dumb bell or weight ball to add to the intensity. Lay on your side to work your oblique muscles add a resistance band for more intensity. You can also use it to work your chest and triceps, than get down on the floor to work your abs some more or work your gluts. There are a lot of different exercises for the stability ball, but I use it just for my ab work outs. 

Some of my favorite ab exercises with the ball are ball exchange, basic stomach crunch, oblique work, roll outs and wood chops. Because I want those who have never done these exercises or used a stability ball at all to get a full understanding of each of the exercises I mentioned I have added videos for each one.Okay every time I add a new video the previous video is being deleted, so I am going to just add the links instead which will open in a new window. 

Ball Exchange

Basic Stomach Crunch this one is kind of long, but she does a good job of explaining proper technique along with variations.

Obliques this was the closest video I could find for what I do. I do not use the wall and the arm she has on the ball I put further on the ball and put my hand on my side like in the picture below. 


                                                                   





Roll Outs in the example she goes out pretty far, only go out as far as you can, also for those just starting out you can start with your forearms on the ball like the image below. This is a great exercise for the core, just remember to breath on the way out, and contract those abs!!

 

Wood Chops there are a different variety of these, so finding a video for this exercise was a little challenging. You will also notice the video has different name for wood chops, Swiss ball torso twist.

Speaking of Swiss ball, this is another name for the stability ball so if you see it know that it is the same thing. It may also be called a fitness ball or some other names, but all in all it's a big big ball and the same.


Do you use the stability ball?

Shared on Wildcrafting Wednesday and here.