changeisgood29

Hello, fabulous Fitdayers - Can any of you please recommend a site or resource that offers stability ball exercises/workouts? I find myself more than a bit overwhelmed when Googling it - ideally, I'd like something I can print out (without spending 20 years formatting it) and follow, but I'd gladly take any pointers or just a clue to the right direction. I'm specifically looking for strength training stuff, but I really don't know what to do with a ball...hahaha, this kind, anyway. Thanks in advance for any help, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed here.

64rhoda

you can go on youtube they have some good videos

changeisgood29

Yeah, it looks like my idea of a simple, printable chart is not something I'm going to find for free, which is ok. I just learn better by reading/looking at an image as opposed to watching a video. But hey, it's free, so best not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

almeeker

I use a stability ball for core and upper body, about 3x/week. What I do with it is a very short sort of workout, but effective. Lay with your stomach on the ball, then with your hands "walk" so that your torso and legs roll across the ball and then once the ball is under your feet hold for 20-30 seconds, then do a side plank right, side plank left, then roll back to your stomach. When I started I could do 1 or 2, now I usually do 10 or so. Another exercise I do is similar, but instead of holding my torso and legs straight I lift the gluts in the air until I'm almost at a handstand from the hips up, hold for 30 then slowly lower, I do maybe 5-10 of those. Another exercise I do is to lay on my side, hold the ball between my ankles and lift it up in the air in counts of 4 (up 2,3,4, down 2,3,4) then counts of 2, then counts of 1, then I hold it up for 10-20 seconds, and then if my thighs aren't already on fire I do a little teeny pulse up from the hold for 10. You can also do crunches while laying on the ball, it takes a lot of core strength to do that and stay balanced, so I don't do very many, maybe 20-25. All of that maybe takes 20 minutes, but it will leave you shaking and covered with sweat.

changeisgood29

You're wonderful. Thank you! I'm looking forward to trying those out.

almeeker

Thanks honey, you're not too shabby yourself. BTW you might want to make sure that you have some aspirin and Icy Hot handy. The first couple of times I did those my shoulders were on fire. It's all good now though, my shoulders are getting very cut looking. I went to a funeral on Friday, my black dress is sleeveless and I wear a loose shrug with it, the shrug got hung up inside my coat and came off with it, before I could get it pulled out of the coat and put back on and friend of mine called me "Sarah Connor". I don't think I'm quite to that yet, but maybe by summer...

Oh I forgot, when I do the semi-handstand exercise, the ball ends up between my ankles for extra stability. I'm no gymnast, so a near handstand is a big step for me.

changeisgood29

Ah, chance of pain duly noted! Lol, thanks for the warning - the exercises do seem intense, but I like me a challenge. And I bet you're a lot closer to looking like Sarah Connor than you think - the stuff you do and your consistency is so awesome. Yeah - I don't think I'll be doin' a handstand or anything close to it anytime soon - you have my utmost respect! Lol, the coolest thing about exercise is when you have those moments of "whoa, look at my shoulders!" or whatever - it's so neat to see consistency pay off. As of late, I've been amazed that even with quite a bit more weight to lose, my stomach is actually showing some definition from all the cardio, lunges, squats, crunches and god-knows-what-else I've been doing. It's cool.
Thanks again for taking the time to list your stability ball exercises - it's much appreciated.

almeeker

The "Sarah Connor" comment came from a friend of mine that looks a whole lot like Arnold, and he said it with a heavy German accent. It was pretty funny actually. He's a goofball, and will use any excuse to impersonate Arnold.

I'm cracking up about your stomach definition comments. Just this morning I was looking in the mirror and flexing a little and chuckling over "this little line is from crunches", and this little pouch is from babies, and this other little pouch is from groceries, and this little line is from reverse crunches and this little indent is from obliques. It was like doing the 5 little piggies, only with the firm and flappy bits on my stomach. There is a funny nursery rhyme in there somewhere, I'm sure of it.

The first couple of times I did some of those core exercises, I really struggled, I even fell off the ball a few times (so glad that was in the privacy of my own living room). They can be really hard especially if you don't cheat on the holds, but gradually I've gotten better and I keep doing them because they seem to work and it doesn't take that much time.

I have a friend that's been asking me for advice, she's doing a Biggest Loser program at work. Anyway one of the challenges they've had was doing the side plank, and she was the first one to drop. Then she said that her husband won that challenge because he held it for like a minute and a half. So of course I had to see how long I could hold a side plank after that, just in the living room by myself, for kicks and giggles right? 2.5 minutes right side, 3.75 minutes left side, I'm left handed and have a bum right shoulder. Of course I weigh less than he does and I'm about a foot shorter, so I suppose I can't say that I'm stronger than he is, but it was cool to think I could maybe have whipped his butt and walked away with that $10 gift card to the health food grocery... Girl power!!! Keep in mind, a year ago I couldn't do a side plank to save my life.

changeisgood29

Hahaha, that was brilliant - thanks for the laugh! "This little line is from crunches." I love it! It's so funny because there's more than a little truth to it.

I didn't try the ball exercises today (day off today), but thanks for the fair warning. To be honest, I'm totally expecting to fall off. Balance and I have an uneven relationship, nyuk nyuk nyuk. But I'll keep trying; I've been curious about the ball thing for awhile. Also, my husband wants to get back into working out and since he expressed an interest in and even bought us stability balls, I figured I'd do what I can to help motivate him. Even if that means rolling off a big rubber ball.

So, you can do a side plank for 3-4 minutes? O_o That is awesome. I can barely do a *bent* arm side plank for 30 seconds! Still though, I'm with you in a big way regarding always keeping in mind what we couldn't do a year ago (or whatever length of time) that we can now. If someone had told me in Feb. '10 that in one year I would be 50# lighter, love working out and do so voluntarily 6 days out of the week, I *definitely* would not have believed it. With that commitment to health comes so many other good things, as well, to which I think many folks on this site can also attest. Cheers to you, and to everyone else making a commitment to health.

bettmrr

Just did a quick search and found this, it looks pretty good hope the link below works.

http://www.performbetter.com/catalog...bilityBall.pdf

if not just google 'about stability ball exercises' or check out about . com which also seems to have clear illustrations

I also like the 10minute solution Pilates on the ball DVD, as was said before if you focus on doing the exercises correctly and not cheating (which is easy to do) they will kick your butt and give you grear results