Get On the Ball
By Michael Berg, NSCA-CPT
These 5 exercise-ball moves are so effective, even a guy would do them
You’ve surely seen them in the gym. Maybe you’ve even given one an irritated kick out of the way as you made your way through the free-weight area. The fact they’re reminiscent of that old childhood toy the hippity hop (sans handle) doesn’t help. Nor does the fact that the way many people use them is a bit suspect. Torso twists? Seated dumbbell curls? Oh, please.
Yet exercise balls (alternately known as Swiss balls) can, in fact, prove extremely helpful for someone looking to take their training intensity up a level or two. The secret is to employ those big colorful orbs as a tool to increase the difficulty of a movement, rather than an option simply for variety’s sake. By taking full advantage of their biggest selling points — they’re portable, versatile and can call stabilizer muscles into play as you maintain your balance — you can incorporate a ball with your testosterone levels firmly intact. Here are five exercises to try in your next few workouts.
1. Dumbbell Overhead Crunch
Target: Back, chest
The exercise-ball crunch is a top-notch abdominal move, introducing additional core stimulation through the need for stabilization in multiple planes. Introduce extra resistance and it becomes even better, prompting your midsection muscles to work harder through each repetition.
How-To: Lie on a ball, your lower back and glutes in contact with it. Hold the handle of a dumbbell in hand-over-hand style over your head, extending your elbows so your upper arms are alongside each ear. From there, slowly perform a crunch, rounding your back as you flex your abs, shortening the distance between your pelvis and your rib cage – the full range of motion is just a few inches, but if done correctly you’ll build an intense burn.
2. Weighted Back Extension
Target: Lower back
The bonus of performing the back extension on a ball is the slightly improved range of motion you gain compared to floor exercises such as a standard back extension or a “superman” (where you lift your legs and upper body up simultaneously).
How-To: Lie with your abs and lower chest against the ball, your legs extended behind you and your feet splayed beyond shoulder-width apart for balance, toes on the floor. Place your hands lightly on the back or sides of your head. Lift your torso up a few inches by contracting your lower back muscles. During each rep, you’ll bring your torso down to a point where it forms a 140-degree angle or so to your legs, and then rise up until your body is in a plank position. Don’t attempt to raise yourself too much further than that, as you can compromise your lumbar region without gaining additional benefits — a few inches of movement is all you need for results. For more advanced lifters, you can add a weight such as a dumbbell or a plate, similar to the dumbbell overhead crunch described above.
3. Deep Smith-Machine Squat
Target: Legs
For many lifters, a common problem with standard squats is descending through the full range of motion. That’s where a ball can help: By placing it behind you and making sure your glutes touch down to it every time, you can cure yourself of stopping your reps short.
How-To: Set up as you would for a regular Smith-machine squat, except you’ll have a ball positioned behind you. With your head up, spine neutral, back and core tight, lower your hips until your glutes touch down on the ball, then reverse the move to a standing position by driving through your heels. Although part of the ball’s benefit is teaching you control — to keep it from rolling away, you need to come down onto it slowly and carefully — you may find a spotter helps to hold it in place as you learn the motion.
4. Push-Up
Target: Pectorals, triceps
Doing a push-up with both hands on a ball might sound easy … until you try it. The struggle to balance yourself as you push up and then lower yourself will likely give you the exercise shakes until your muscles adjust. On a ball, you can take advantage of two different angles, hitting the lower pectorals by keeping your toes on the floor, and switching the bulk of the stress to the middle pecs by elevating your feet on a flat bench.
How-To: Place both hands about shoulder-width apart on the ball. Your feet should be together on the floor (or up on a bench) behind you. Hold your body in the plank position, arms extended. From there, slowly lower your chest toward the ball, your elbows pointed out to the sides throughout. When your pecs lightly touch the ball’s surface, reverse the motion.
5. Dip
Target: Triceps
Admittedly, there’s no better dip than one done on parallel bars, where you can lower yourself nice and deep, and apply the whole of your bodyweight as resistance. But the exercise-ball dip does offer a different feel, and can work really well as a finishing move at the end of a workout, when your tri’s are a little too fried for the traditional version. Also, because it introduces the element of maintaining your balance as you rep, it is superior to the bench dip (where you perform the move with your hands on a flat bench behind you and your feet propped up on another bench in front of you).
How-To: Sit on a ball, feet close together and flat on the floor. Place your hands on the ball next to your hips, then step forward to bring your glutes off of the ball and into the air. Now, bend at your elbows to lower your glutes toward the floor, keeping your back straight and your head up throughout. When your elbows reach a 90-degree angle, slowly reverse the motion by straightening your arms.
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Tags: ball training, mike berg, training
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