Here at Physical Industry Training, we use a variety of equipment, and each piece has it’s purpose. When I think about a well rounded training routine, increasing the stability of your core and all postural muscle components comes to mind. Here to help make that happen, we implement stability or (phisio) balls to increase the proprioception or a more unstable environment to make these specific changes happen. With this ball, you can still work just about any muscle group and gain more ordonnance control doing so. Gaining more control is an important aspect when trying to progress as a functional human being. We stress that you don’t want to just go through movement, but you need to feel the movement, and activate a certain technique to be effective.
A few things to consider before using a stability ball when training at your gym:
- Briefly inspect the ball for any damages, or any signs that the ball could burst.
- Make sure the ball is completely blown up, it should feel full have a spherical shape to it.
- Be sure not to overload high weight when using this ball, stability balls are used to increase stability, not to increase maximum strength.
Using the ball correctly:
- Be sure that you have enough space around to safetly use this ball, especially with weights, when the enviroment gets more difficult to control, you want to have room to correct yourself, keep yourself safe and those around you.
- DO not wear sharp jewlery that could puncture the ball.
- Maintain proper technique when you use this ball, this means to keep your spine in line. You can do this by looking in a mirror, and take notice of your posture, from your head to your feet. Keep your head/neck in line with your spine, as well as your trunk (hips, glutes, lower back, abdominals) and lower extremities like your knees and ankles, should all be held at an angle or straight point that allows your joints to become stable and safe.
Using the ball for progressions:
- If you want to safety work on doing an ab crunch or sit up for example, a safer technique for your spine is to sit on the ball, gain your control with your feet on the ground and slowly work on doing a sit up on the ball, just be sure not to over extend when going back into the sit up. Keep your chin tucked to your chest.
- If you can effectively do a plank on the ground, and can master good posture and control on one leg, try raising your legs or arms to the ball and see your results climb as you will place more stress to your deeper core muscles. Again keep your spine and extremities safe.
- Other exercises such as chest presses, chest flies, rowing, squats, and hamstring work can all be trained using this ball.
For a complete guide to using this ball and learning more about our various training techniques please contact us and we can schedule a time to meet or have a phone call. Also feel free to contact us with questions, just head over to the contact page and drop a message.
Have a good day!