Who would have thought a large bouncy ball would have become such a must-have piece of fitness equipment. The genius that designed it, an Italian toy-maker, could not have imagined just how popular it would become. The exercise ball has become part of the furniture at gyms, clinics and increasingly so at home. But are we missing a trick here?
The ball is generally used to develop the core muscles with routines to place them under stress. However, in my opinion, the ball?s best features are not used to the full. Invariably routines using the ball are just the sort of exercises that have been done without a ball for centuries. Sit-ups, leg raises or extensor exercises are nothing new. The positions you can do them in using a ball does add a new dimension, but in effect they are the same. This is not to say an exercise ball routine is not beneficial, with a bit of imagination you can get far more from your ball workout.
The main benefit of the exercise ball is its mobility and compressibility. I believe the ball can be used to develop far more than just core muscles. Just balancing on the ball will help to develop coordination and balance but there is another less obvious skill that you can practice, and that is, learning to be in the moment.
Elite athletes call this Being in The Zone when they experience an effortless, enjoyable state even when setting world records! How can using the simple exercise ball develop this skill? It will help you to ?get out of the way? and develop your skills of awareness, focus and detachment ? essential for health and fitness. To successfully balance on the ball with no feet on the ground you have to not worry about falling off. This will prevent you from stiffening your jaw, neck and shoulder muscles (common habits in most adults) to allow your in-built balance systems to coordinate your arms, legs and your core at the same time. I call it Total Body Integration. It?s simple really.
The essential objective is to take what you can learn using your ball into your everyday activities. This way you will still be benefiting from your routines when going about your business. You don?t need to think about holding your stomach in, or standing and sitting up straight, because these actions will only cause discomfort and adversely affect your posture in the long term.
So use you imagination. Don?t worry about stomach exercises. Try things that will develop total coordination and your understanding of how your body would like to coordinate itself. Use your body as a whole and not only will your stomach muscles get a workout but your coordination, posture and focus skills will improve dramatically.
Roy Palmer is a teacher of The Alexander Technique and has studied performance enhancement in sport for the last 10 years. More information about his unique approach to training can be found by clicking Exercise ball | |
