Workouts for Exercise Ball

The exercise ball, or stability ball, is one of the best tools for working out and maximizing your results. It helps many people take their fitness to the next level. There are many benefits to using an exercise ball, which you can read about in my article: Best Equipment for Home Workouts, and in this article I will show you how to use it for a full-body workout.

Performing exercises with a stability ball may be challenging at first as you learn to balance, but you will quickly find them to be simple and fun. It requires you to control your balance, and focus your body movements on performing exercises with proper form. While concentrating on the movements, you trigger both core muscles and stabilizer muscles, which improves strength and endurance.

Many people associate exercise balls with rehab because they are beneficial in improving stability to help protect joints. But exercise balls, also known as stability balls, balance balls, yoga balls, and pilates balls, are quickly becoming one of the most popular tools for strength training and exercise. They promote proper alignment, posture, and balance; and when combined with exercises, stability balls help improve strength, endurance, flexibility, and of course stability.

Exercise ball workouts can target the upper body, lower body, and core. There are an unlimited number of workouts for the exercise ball you can perform at home or in the gym. Below are exercises with the stability ball that are categorized according to targeted area of the body. Each is super effective at improving strength and balance. As you become comfortable with these exercises, feel free to think outside the box and introduce more into your routine.

** Don't have an exercise ball at home? Here's a list of recommended stability balls and tips for choosing the right one for you: Best Exercise Ball (Stability Ball) for Home Gym

Exercise Ball Workouts for the Upper Body

1. as a substitute for a bench

chest press

fly

skull crushers

2. as a seat

military press

curls

lateral shoulder raises

3. to add difficulty to bodyweight exercises

pushups

shoulder raise

dips

Exercise Ball Workouts for the Lower Body

1. as a substitute for a bench

hip thrust

single leg dips

pike

2. to support your weight

wall squat

incline squat

single leg squat

3. to make balance more challenging

squats

lunges

hamstring curl

Exercise Ball Workouts for the Core

1. as a substitute for a bench

elbow to knee bird dog

mountain climbers

elbow plank

2. for dynamic moves

crunches

russian twists

rollout

3. to add weight

russian twists

v-pass

window wipers

Recommended Exercise Ball Workout

For a full-body exercise ball workout, perform exercises one after another, similar to circuit training. Start with an upper body exercise, and then a lower body exercise, then a core exercise. Repeat this cycle with different exercises to really get your heart pumping and maximize your results.

Final Tip

Exercise ball workouts are a fun and challenging way to improve your fitness. Exercises performed with a stability ball are an effective means to target more parts of the body with each repetition. Because exercise ball workouts force you to use stabilizer muscles and core muscles with each rep, you are burning more calories and increasing your heart rate, improving the effectiveness of your workout.

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