What Is A Swiss Ball?
A Swiss Ball is a large heavy-duty inflatable ball and if offers a fun, safe and highly effective way to exercise.
Swiss Balls are great for rehabilitation, offering variety to exercises and are used mainly to add instability to the user to make core muscles work harder.
Why Should You Train With A Swiss Ball?
A Swiss Ball moves and causes the body to have to work hard to recruit core muscles to aid in the stability of an exercise.
For example, a Chest Press performed on a bench will focus on the Pectorals, Triceps and anterior Deltoids.
When you add a Swiss Ball and take away the bench your body becomes the bench and your working all the above muscles plus working your Glutes, Lower Back, Abdominals and Obliques)
Exercise 1 - Around The Worlds
This exercise works on shoulder mobility and strength. While using the ball as a bench resting your head and shoulders on it, you squeeze the glutes and brace the abdominals.
Then with small weights or body weight, you circle the arms out and around working on your range of movement. This is great for those sat at computers all day.
Exercise 2 - Bridge
This exercise is great for working the Glutes and lower back and anyone sat at a desk all day should use this exercise to promote great posture and mobility in the hips and lower back.
Lie with your head and shoulders on the ball, from this starting position lower the hips towards the floor, once you reach the lowest point your flexibility allows push with the heels squeeze the bottom and rise back to your starting position.
Exercise 3 - Bridge from floor
This is another great exercise to work the glutes, lower back and abdominals. It promotes great posture and allows the muscles in the back of your body to work together with your core to stretch out the hips and strengthen the glutes and hamstrings.
Lie with your head on the floor and feet on the ball, legs bent and the ball close to the bottom, push the heels into the ball and lift the hips up so that your balancing on your shoulders with your arms by your sides, brace the abs tightly at the top.
Exercise 4 - Swiss ball Crunch
This exercise is great for your Abdominals, lie with your back on the ball, squeeze the bottom and tilt pelvis under, now supporting the head curls up as high as you can without letting the hips drop, then lower under control.
Exercise 5 - Double Crunch
This exercise is great for your lower abdominals, lie on your back and rest your legs over the ball gripping the ball tightly.
Now pull the abdominals down towards the floor and scoop the pelvis under lifting the ball off the floor, at the same time support the head and lift the head and shoulders off the floor, then slowly lower both ends down.
Exercise 6 - Figure of 8
This is a favourite for anyone with tight hips or pregnant ladies.
Sit on the Swiss ball with good posture, then use your hips to draw a figure of 8 allowing the hips to move you as far out to the sides as possible feel your hips moving and opening.
Exercise 7 - Jackknife
This is quite an advanced exercise and should be chosen once you have mastered the easier Core exercises. You can make the exercise easier by having the ball closer to the knees.
Roll over the top of the Swiss ball into a plank on the Swiss ball, make sure your shoulders are over your wrists, shoulder blades pulled down and back and abs braced. Now without moving the upper body pull the knees in towards you using your Abdominal muscles and then push back.
Exercise 8 - Lat Raise
In this exercise I'm using the Swiss ball as my bench so it brings instability to the exercise making my abdominals work harder while I preform the lat raise, taking the arms out to the side and then lowering down to work the shoulders
Exercise 9 - Leg Curl
This exercise works the Hamstrings (back of the upper leg).
You perform the bridge as seen earlier and once your at the top of the bridge position you then pull the legs in towards you bending your knees and pulling with the heels of your trainers, getting the ball close to your bottom and keeping your hips high then slowly push the ball away back to straight keeping the hips high.
Exercise 10 - Oblique Crunch
This exercise is great for your Abdominals.
Lie with your back on the ball, squeeze the bottom and tilt pelvis under, now supporting the head curls up as high as you can without letting the hips drop, reach for the opposite knee to engage the oblique, then swap sides.
Exercise 11 - Ball Pass
This is quite an advanced exercise although you can regress it so that you keep the ball in your arms and don't pass it or move the legs one at a time.
On the advanced video above the back is pressed down into the floor and the abdominals are pulled in tightly as the ball lowers behind the head the legs go towards the floor but only as low as you can keep the backdown, then lift up and pass the ball between the legs repeat the other way round lowering the ball towards the floor between the legs keeping the back down then pull abs in tighter and lift the ball back up.
Exercise 12 - Pike
This is quite and advanced exercise and is like the jackknife, except the movement comes from the hips lifting up not the knees coming in towards the belly. You can make the exercise easier by having the ball closer to the knees.
Roll over the top of the Swiss ball into a plank on the Swiss ball, make sure your shoulders are over your wrists, shoulder blades pulled down and back and abs braced. Now without moving the upper body pull the ball towards you by lifting the hips as high as you can scoop the pelvis up and under, then lower to straight
Exercise 13 - Push Up
This is quite an advanced exercise. You can make the exercise easier by having the ball closer to the knees.
Roll over the top of the Swiss ball into a plank on the Swiss ball, make sure your shoulders are over your wrists, shoulder blades pulled down and back and abs braced, arms shoulder-width apart. Keeping the chin in-front of the hands lower the body down and forwards into a press-up then push the heel of the hands into the floor and push up.
Exercise 14 - Reverse Curl
This exercise is great for your lower abdominals, lie on your back and rest your legs over the ball gripping the ball tightly. Now pull the abdominals down towards the floor and scoop the pelvis under lifting the ball off the floor and then slowly lower down.
Exercise 15 - Squat
A great leg exercise and great for teaching beginners how to squat. Stand with the ball in your middle back against the wall, feet in front of you a few inches so you are slightly leaning back into the ball. Now let the knees move forwards and the hips move back allowing the ball to roll up your back into your squat position, then push the heels into the floor and rise up.
Exercise 16 - 1 Tricep Push up 1 Jackknife
This is advanced but shows how you can use the ball to add variety to your workout.
Preforming a tricep push up on the ball is tough as the ball is unstable, like a push up the shoulders start over the wrists hands narrow shoulder blades back and down and abs braced, bend the elbows back and lower body down, as you come up you then stabilize and preform a jackknife, without moving the upper body pull the knees in towards you using your Abdominal muscles and then push back. The is a real challenge this one!
Where To Buy A Swiss Ball
You can get your Swiss ball at Amazon by following the link below, you can also get a Swiss Ball workout plan personalized to you and based at your fitness level by sending me an email, find me on Instagram at katie_greenpt1980 or Facebook as Katie Green