Five Creative Ways to Use a Stability Ball

The stability ball is a great tool for strengthening the core, but there are so many other exercises you can do with it. Here are five fun exercises that you can use to work the entire body using this incredibly versatile piece of equipment.

The Exercise: Rollouts

Targeted Muscles: Abs, back, chest and ats
The Movement: Bend your elbows at 90 degrees and place them on the top of a stability ball. Place your knees on the floor so that your knees, hips and shoulders are in a straight line. Engage your abs and open your shoulders, pushing the ball forward away from your body. Roll the ball out as far as you can without breaking the straight line between your knees and shoulders. Engage your abs and upper body, and then roll the ball back toward your body.
Challenge: For an added challenge, place your feet on the floor instead of your knees.

The Exercise: Bulgarian Split Squat

Targeted Muscles: Glutes and hamstrings
The Movement: Place the ball against a wall. Stand facing away, about 2 to 3 feet from the ball. Place the top of your left foot on the ball, so that you feel a slight stretch in your left hip flexor. Keep your shoulders square and chest up, and engage your core. Once balance is established, bend your right knee, keeping your right knee directly over your foot so that your shin remains vertical. Go as low as you can. Push through your right heel and stand back up. Repeat 10 to 15 times, and then switch legs.
Modification: To modify the exercise, start with a half squat, just to establish balance. You can also place the ball in a corner to prevent lateral shifting of the ball.
Challenge: If you have great balance and want an extra challenge, try this exercise without a wall behind the ball. As you lower, push the ball back with your foot, and then as you stand back up, pull it back in to starting position. You can also try holding on to dumbbells for more glute/hamstring activation.

The Exercise: Plank Variations

Targeted Muscles: All muscles depending on variation, but especially the abs, glutes, lower back and hips
The Movement: Set up is similar to the rollouts. Place your elbows on the ball and your feet behind you on the floor; maintain a straight line from ankles to hips to shoulders. Do not allow your upper body to collapse onto your elbows; rather, keep an open angle between your arms and torso, and keep your visual focus on your hands. Start by holding a plank. Once you can hold a plank for 30 seconds without breaking form, progress to plank variations.
The Variations: Lift alternating legs while maintaining a tight plank. Try lifting one leg up and then out to the side 1 to 2 feet while holding the plank. Try lifting one arm out to the front, and then out to the side. Alternately bring one knee in to touch the ball just below your chest. Alternately bring one knee out to the side and then forward to touch the ball on the outside of your elbow. Try a side plank by propping yourself on your right elbow, with your left hand on your hip, and then switch sides.

The Exercise: Glute/Ham/Low Back Extensions

Targeted Muscles: Upper and lower back, glutes and hamstrings
The Movement: Lie prone (facedown) with the stability ball positioned under your hips and your feet pressed flat against a wall. Bend your knees so you “hug” the ball between your torso and knees. Place your hands behind your head and lift your torso, hinging at the hips, by pressing your feet against the wall. Keep your back straight throughout the exercise. Finish with your knees, hips and shoulders in a straight line at about a 45-degree angle from the wall. Be careful not to overarch your back. Bend at the hips and lower back down until your stomach contacts the ball again.
Challenge:  Hold a 5-pound medicine ball at your chest while completing the movement. Alternatively, hold 5-pound dumbbells in each hand and perform a reverse fly as you lift.

The Exercise: Push-ups

Targeted Muscles: Chest, triceps, abs, core, glutes and back
The Movement: Place your shins on the stability ball and your hands on the floor so you are in push-up position. Bend your elbows and lower yourself to the ground. Finish with your chest between your hands, keeping a tight, straight back during the whole movement. Squeeze your abs to keep the ball from rolling laterally.
Modification: To make this exercise a little easier, start with the ball closer to your torso, on your thighs or knees. As you get stronger, try to roll the ball back a little more each time, until you can eventually do push-ups with your feet on the ball.
Challenge: To make ball push-ups harder, engage your abs by adding a knee tuck after each rep—bend your knees and roll the ball to your chest. Straighten your legs back out and repeat the next push-up. You can also lift one leg about 6 inches above the ball while performing the push-up. To activate more upper-body stabilizer muscles, place your feet on the floor and put your hands on the ball to do your push-ups.

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Sitting at a Computer All Day? These 4 Stretches Will Help!

 

Ever since I quit my nursing job and started working from home, I went from standing for 8+ hours at a time to virtually sitting… all day long. I noticed that my flexibility went from high to none-fast! Also, my lower back started hurting which was strange because never ever did I have back pain in my entire life!

It wasn’t until I began a yoga class that I learned that tight glutes and tight hips can lead to back pain by pulling those muscles out of alignment. Tight hips and glutes can also lead to a tummy pooch by forcing your lower back to arch itself.

Sounds lovely, right?

These 4 stretches have helped me tremendously and I would recommend them for anyone who has a desk job or who happens to sit for long periods of time. I do these 4 moves every morning and every night. At first, it was a bit painful, but now my flexibility has improved and my back pain has virtually disappeared.

Here are 4 stretches to undo sitting all day:

1. Lizard Pose

From Downward Facing Dog Pose, step your right foot forwards between your hands. Heel-toe your foot towards the edge of your mat, so that your foot is slightly wider than your shoulders.

Let your hips grow heavy, so that they settle forwards and down. Begin to walk your hands forwards until you are able to come down on to your forearms. You may place your forearms on the ground, or on a block.

Extend your heart forward, lengthening the spine. Try to soften the heart and draw the shoulder blades together, taking the rounding out of your back.

Keep your right knee hugging towards your midline to get into the inner hip and thigh area of your right leg. You can keep your left knee lifted with your leg active, or for a more restorative version, you can lower your left knee.

2. Happy Baby Pose

Lie on your back. With an exhale, bend your knees into your belly.

Inhale, grip the outsides of your feet with your hands (if you have difficulty holding the feet directly with your hands, hold onto a belt looped over each sole.)

Open your knees slightly wider than your torso, then bring them up toward your armpits.

Position each ankle directly over the knee, so your shins are perpendicular to the floor. Flex through the heels. Gently push your feet up into your hands (or the belts) as you pull your hands down to create a resistance.

3. Pigeon Pose

Begin in Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), or on your hands and knees in Table Pose.

Bring your right knee between your hands, placing your right ankle near your left wrist. Extend your left leg behind you so your kneecap and the top of your foot rest on the floor.

Press through your fingertips as you lift your torso away from your thigh. Lengthen the front of your body. Release your tailbone back toward your heels. Work on squaring your hips and the front side of your torso to the front of your mat.

Draw down through your front-leg shin and balance your weight evenly between your right and left hips. Flex your front foot. Press down through the tops of all five toes of the back foot.

Gaze downward softly.

Hold for up to one minute. To release the pose, tuck your back toes, lift your back knee off the mat, and then press yourself back into Downward-Facing Dog. Repeat for the same amount of time on the other side.

4. Plow Pose

Begin by lying flat on your back with your legs extended and your arms at your sides, palms down.

On an inhalation, use your abdominal muscles to lift your legs and hips up toward the ceiling. Bring your torso perpendicular to the floor. Straighten your legs and slowly lower your toes to the floor with your legs fully extended.

If your toes do not yet touch the floor, support your back with your hands. Lower your legs as far as possible, keeping your legs straight. Continue to keep your back supported if your feet do not touch the floor.

If your feet rest comfortably, extend your arms along the floor and interlace your fingers. Press your upper arms firmly into the floor, drawing down through the pinkie finger side of your hands.

Align your hips over your shoulders. Un-tuck your toes and press the tops of your feet into the floor.

Lift your tailbone higher, and draw your inner groin deep into your pelvis. Keep a space between your chin and chest, and at the same time, lift your chest to open the upper back. Soften your throat. Gaze down toward your cheeks.

Hold the pose for up to five minutes.

To release, support your back with your hands. Then, slowly roll down, one vertebra at a time, bending your knees if you need to.

Image: Yogaoutlet.com

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