Swiss Balls Get You Fit!

New ways to exercise are always being invented, but there is a new game in town that is all the rage – balance balls. some reasons for the popularity of these Swiss ball exercises are that it is very portable, it is low impact (therefore it is particularly quiet), it can be carried out in a very small area 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 usually around 65 or 75 cm diameter. Many folks simply use this ball in place of their chair at work. When sitting on a Swiss ball, it feels quite natural to make small rocking movements rather than just sitting still which obviously works the core and also provides a small amount of exercise even while just sitting there.

But when used for full-blown exercise the Swiss ball is an amazingly versatile piece of kit. Many of the exercises using the Swiss ball work the core primarily but all of the exercises work the secondary muscles at the same time and you can also emulate the same kind of exercises that you can do on home gym machines.

One day while I was working at the gym, a gym instructor showed me how to do press ups by putting my feet on 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 similar principles – some part of the body is balanced on the top of the Swiss ball and this part of the body is encouraged by gravity to roll off the side of the ball. This may sound quite basic and you may assume that there are only a handful of exercises that can be done in this way. But you only have to do a search on youtube for the phrase Swiss ball exercises and very quickly you will usually find that there are literally hundreds of exercises that you can normally do with the Swiss ball.

In fact, once you try attempting these exercises and trying new ones you will usually probably start inventing your own novel ones before long. Returning to the press up with the feet resting on the Swiss ball, once you attempt this you will usually notice not only that it works the core, but it 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 extra forces transferred from the feet all of the way down the body to the arms. This is one of the key reasons why it is so effective to use the Swiss ball for your exercises.

As mentioned, there are loads of floor exercises that can normally be carried out with the Swiss ball. But if we jump ahead to the advanced level one of the hardest but most advantageous ways to use the Swiss ball is to do exercises while standing on it. This is not recommended for beginners as it can normally be rather perilous. Once one is ready to attempt these complex exercises, you should initially learn how to kneel on the Swiss ball. Once this has been mastered, you can then advance to standing up on it.

Again, by searching youtube you will usually discover some great examples of exercises that you can normally do 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 attempting to learn the skill is that when you involuntarily dismount the landing can normally be very painful, therefore safety mats should be used to start at all times. Obviously, the natural tendency is for the legs to slide down the side of the ball which is the equivalent of your feet going from under you – just like 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 incredibly strong core and legs and an outstanding balance ability.