When it comes to getting fit or wanting to lose weight more and more people are finding how beneficial stability ball workouts can be to them achieving their goals. Certainly for many they have seen adverts or others using this piece of equipment at the gym but don’t understand what the hype is regarding the use of them.

In this article we hope to explain how these should be used and why using this type of equipment whether in the gym or at home works so well.

Firstly unlike other forms of exercise equipment you can use at home or in the gym when use a stability ball or exercise ball you are working on different muscles from those that would be used to carry out sits ups or crunches. The reason that you body uses different muscles is to help ensure that it is stabilized as you workout on the ball.

When you do exercises that require you to lie on the floor or a mat then your body remains flat and so it is stable. This means that only the muscles that will be working are those that are needed to carry out the specific exercise you are undertaking. However once you become unstable then not only is your body being asked to use the muscles for the particular exercise being carried out it requires others to work alongside to help you regain your stabiilty.

It is important that when doing any kinds of stability ball workouts you don’t limit yourself to the simple ones, but try to vary the exercises you do. You can still do sit ups and crunches using this piece of equipment but there are plenty of others worth considering employing and all of which ensure that all muscles including your core ones are being utilized. As you will soon discover with this kind of workout you lose weight more quickly and more effectively.

So what sorts of exercises can one incorporate into your daily stability ball workouts? Below we look at one that you may want to consider including in your workouts.

Single Leg Lifts – This the ideal exercise for those who are looking to tone up their abdomen, butt, hips and oblique muscles. It requires you to lie either on your back or your side over the ball and then very slowly lift one leg at the time off of the floor. Don’t be afraid to rotate the position in which you lay as you may find that one position works better for you than another and for those who do have back problems then laying on one’s side may prove much more comfortable than laying on one’s back.

Also it is worth considering when you feel ready to incorporate some weightlifting exercises into your routines each day or week. You may think that you look silly but remember using weights as you do your stability ball workouts is helping to use all muscles rather than just some. So the results you would like to see will be achieved a lot more quickly.

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