Swiss Ball Exercises
The humble swiss ball (also known as the stability ball or the exercise ball) is one of the most versatile exercises tools you can use to totally transform your physique provided you know how to use it effectively. It is used by athletes, models, Hollywood starlets, physiotherapists bodybuilders and even military personnel to facilitate their training and improve core stability and fitness overall. The efficacy of a swiss ball is undoubted and it’s quite clear that the benefits garnered from using one of these are not to be ignored or taken lightly. The core stability benefits alone are reason to go and purchase one of these and frequently include it in your workouts.
The Mechanism.
Before we get into the various swiss ball exercises you can do, we will look at why a swiss ball is so effective. The theory is that when one uses a swiss ball to perform a given exercise as opposed to a hard and flat surface, the human body is then forced to respond to that instability by recruiting a lot more muscles to keep you from falling off the ball. Over time, these muscles become much stronger as time progresses to maintain your balance. In this post, I will focus more on the core benefits (abdominal and back) of the swiss ball as they are what the swiss ball is mainly used to strengthen.
Swiss Ball Ab Exercises
1. Swiss Ball Crunch – This is the archetypal swiss ball exercise that just about everyone does. Not only does this beautifully target your abs, but the instability of means other muscles in the body are working overtime to keep you stable. Another variation of the swiss ball crunch is to perform the exercise with your legs elevated on the ball while your torso is flat on the ground. You can try both and see which your prefer!
2. Swiss Ball Planche/Plank – I personally find the regular plank to be significantly more effective as you are completely parallel to the ground which is much more difficult. In the case of the swiss ball, you are at an incline to the ground and your legs are supporting more of your weight which makes the exercise a lot easier. However, using a swiss ball is an effective way of building up your strength so that you may be able to perform the conventional planche on a flat surface if you are not able to do so initially, or long enough for the exercise to be effective.
3. Swiss Ball Side Crunch – This is another excellent exercise for the obliques and the abs in general. If you are a beginner, it is best performed near a wall where you can stabilise your legs. As you become more advanced and as your muscles get stronger, you can do away with the wall completely.
4. Swiss Ball Sit up – This is a personal favorite of mine. I prefer it to the conventional sit up and I firmly believe the only exercise that beats it is the decline sit up. The beauty of the swiss ball sit up is the range of motion. You go all the way down and let your back bend to the curvature of the ball, completely stretching your rectus abdominis (if you have read my other articles, you’ll realise how much emphasis I put on the stretch) and then of course, you have to crunch the abs (ditto the squeeze too!).
5. Swiss Ball Jack Knife – This is another one of my favorite swiss ball exercises. It’s dynamic nature makes it very effective for burning calories and also, it targets the abs rather nicely and from an unusual angle. I only dislike it for the fact that it burns the legs and the hamstrings pretty good which can be a problem is your muscular development in those areas is lacking.
6. Swiss ball roll out – This exercises is very similar to one of my favorite workouts; the abdominal roll. Here, the swiss ball is used an a giant ab wheel (ball in this case!) to stretch and contract the abs while constantly keeping them under some stress and tension. Since the ab wheel is rather difficult and not to be taken lightly, a swiss ball is a gentle way to break yourself into this demanding exercise.
Swiss Ball Back Workouts
1. Swiss Ball Back/Hyperextensions – I’ve always maintained that if you are looking to build a thick lower back, stick to deadlifts and weighted hyperextensions on an incline. However, swiss ball hyper-extensions have been used by medical professionals to rehabilitate back injuries. They do have their place firmly cemented. If you goal is to strengthen your back then by all means use this exercise as a strengthening and conditioning movement.
2. Swiss Ball Reverse hyperextension – For the more advanced, the reverse hyper-extension involved lifting your legs and opposed to your torso. You MUST keep your legs dead straight throughout the movement which recruits your quads. your hip flexors are also hard at work but primarily, the lower back is being targeted here.
3. Swiss Ball bridge – This is an excellent way to target your lower back and hamstrings. It’s also an unparalled exercise for the glutes. You can even recruit the calves if you elect to extend all the way up till you are on your tip top although this isn’t advised for beginners!
These are our favorite core swiss ball exercises. We hope you enjoyed reading the article and please do not hesitate to suggest your very own exercises in the comments section below.
