I have to admit, I was no fan of the big blow up fitness balls, or balance balls if that’s what you call them, that are found in many gyms now. I do know a lot of people who swear by balance balls though, and say that they rely on them to strengthen their “core”, which is their belly, or abs. They also are hailed as a great benefit for those with back troubles because they do essentially help strengthen the “core”, which is essential to having a strong back that is more resistant to injury.

Many of us have extremely sensitive backs, especially as we get older, and the problem is if you don’t know how to use a balance ball, then you may end up doing your back more harm than good. I’m the perfect case in point. Instead of positioning myself correctly on the balance ball, I was actually arching my back too much, so that I was relying on my back muscles to lift me back out of the momentum of going down, instead of my abdominal muscles.

Balance balls come in a few sizes, and the one that is most commonly used for the abs is the larger one. Sometimes a smaller one may be used as well for the abs, just in a different capacity. For example, I used a smaller balance ball to go in between my knees and my legs to help get more of a solid center-belly workout instead of just working out the top of my abs, which is the most common part we go to when we’re working on the abs.

Balance balls are great because they almost force you to work on your upper abs, which is very hard for a lot of people to do, including me. They also work your abs in a way that makes them flatter and will give you that washboard look, but one that is not too ripped, because the whole time you use them, you are subconsciously using every part of the abdominal muscles without even knowing it, and this is what creates that flat, uniform, toned look to the abs.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 5:12 am and is filed under Fitness Accessories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.