The One Piece of Exercise Equipment Everyone Should Own (And Use!)

I often have clients ask me what equipment they should have at home. There are countless products out there that promise amazing results and it can be confusing to figure out which ones you need. But one of the best products you can use may already be sitting in your basement or spare room – a stability ball. Also referred to as a fit ball or exercise ball, this tool has multiple benefits. One can be used to perform an entire workout, as part of a workout to enhance a variety of exercises, or throughout your day as a chair at your desk or table.  Utilizing a stability ball can help improve your core strength, balance, flexibility, and overall functional strength. Here are a few ideas to start using your stability ball to begin exercising or to enhance your current routine.

·      Weight Training: If you currently sit on a bench or in a chair to do perform exercises such as biceps curls, shoulder exercises, etc, try switching to doing the same exercise while sitting on a ball. Creating an “unstable” base of support challenges your core strength in addition to the muscles that you’re already working.  Adding this challenge makes any exercise you do more functional, further resembling tasks you need to perform in your activities of daily living.

·      Body Weight Training: Use the stability ball to make many bodyweight exercises more challenging. You can do abdominal curls while sitting on the ball, push up with your feet on the ball, or back and shoulder exercises while lying on your tummy on the ball. Be creative. Functional exercises utilizing your own body weight couple with the instability of a ball are some of the most challenging exercises you may encounter in the gym.

·      Flexibility Training: You can perform a large variety of stretches on a stability ball, ranging from very simple and restorative to more vigorous and advanced. Start by sitting on a ball with good posture. Rock your hips side to side, forward and back, and in a circular motion. This simple movement is wonderful for opening up your hips, pelvic floor strengthening, and relieving back pain.

·      Desk Chair: Sitting on a stability ball all day long may prove difficult and may not necessarily be the best course of action, particularly if you do not practice good posture the entire time. But use a ball as another source throughout the day. Start your day by sitting on your ball, then switch to standing or pacing while you’re on a phone call. Sit in a desk chair if you feel your muscles fatiguing. By switching up your work modes throughout the day you can avoid many over-use injuries that are associated with desk jobs.

Ensure your ball is properly inflated to provide adequate support during exercise.  Whether you’re training to improve athletic performance, recovering from an injury, or looking gentle stretching or balance, the versatility of the stability ball is unmatched.