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Find Your Feet On A Swiss Ball

11th July, 2010 - Posted by health news - No Comments

People are always coming up with new ways of doing exercise and physical fitness, but there is a new game in town that is all the rage – gym balls. Some of the reasons for the popularity of these exercises are that it’s extremely portable, it’s very low impact (therefore it’s very quiet), it doesn’t require much space and it is very economical.

One of the most popular exercise balls folks are using at the moment is the Swiss ball. It is an inflatable ball that is usually a around 65 or 75 cm diameter. Many folks simply use this ball in place of their chair at work. when you are sitting on a Swiss ball, it feels quite natural to make small rocking movements rather than just sitting still which works the core and also provides a small amount of exercise even while just sitting there.

But when it is used in the course of normal exercise the Swiss ball is an amazingly versatile piece of kit. Many of the exercises using the Swiss ball primarily work the core but all of the exercises work secondary muscles at the same time and it’s also possible to emulate the same kind of exercises that you can do on home gym equipment.

The first time I encountered a Swiss ball was at the gym where the instructor showed me how to do press ups with my feet balanced on the top of the ball. While doing this, the feet attempt continually to roll off the top of the ball, therefore as well as the usual benefits that can be gained from doing press ups, you are also continually working the core which is trying to stop the feet from rolling off the sides of the ball.

Most Swiss ball exercises are based on the same principle – a part of the body is elevated on top of the ball and gravity tries to encourage this part of the body to dismount from the top of the ball. This may sound quite basic and you may assume that there aren’t many exercises that can be done in this manner. But you simply have to do a search on youtube for the term Swiss ball exercise and very quickly you will normally probably notice that there are absolutely tons of exercises that you can do with your Swiss ball.

In fact, once you have tried attempting these exercises and learning new ones you will normally probably start creating your own fresh ones before too long. Going back to the press up with your feet on top of the Swiss ball, once you have attempted this you will normally probably notice that it not only works on the core, but it also gives a new angle to the upper body toil that you do. As you will discover while doing press ups the whole of your upper body will eventually start to quiver and shake due to the forces transferred from the feet all the way down the body to the arms. This is one of the many reasons why using the Swiss ball for exercise is so effective.

As mentioned, there are loads of exercises that can be carried out with the Swiss ball. But if we scoot ahead to the advanced level one of the hardest but most advantageous methods of using the Swiss ball is to carry out exercises while standing on top of it. This is not to be recommended for beginners as it can be quite perilous. Once you are ready to attempt these complex exercises, you should initially learn to kneel on the Swiss ball. Then once this has been mastered, you can advance to standing on it.

Again, by looking on youtube you will normally locate some excellent examples of exercises that you can carry out while standing on a Swiss ball. When searching, you will find that they have a variety of names such as Swiss balls, balance balls and exercise balls. One of the most important things to bear in mind while trying to learn the skill is that when the ball throws you off the landing can be quite painful, therefore safety mats should be used to start at all times. Obviously, the normal occurrence is for the legs to slide off the side of the ball which is the equivalent of your feet going from under you – such as when slipping on ice. Please consider this as the main reason for exercising is to improve your health, not to damage it.

Once you have mastered standing up on a Swiss ball, you will be a Swiss ball master and will have developed incredibly strong core and legs and an outstanding balance ability.