by Kjirstin

Having a nice looking, chiseled, flat abs is the goal of many individuals today. Men generally aim to achieve the fabled “six pack” abs while women desire to gain a flat stomach that will compliment their figure more. Unfortunately, many people still use and believe outdated practices and beliefs when going about and getting cut abs, wasting time, and making huge mistakes in the process.

One big mistake that most people usually make is in terms of workout intensification. When starting a new routine, it’s advisable to take it slow. Forcing your body by starting “hard” workouts can only guarantee injuries and skimping on your workout by not intensifying can only guarantee absence of results. Walking is one example of a cardio workout. Doing the same pace without building it up will not bring about the desired results. Walking can be a good workout, but doing the same pacing over a period of time (not choosing to build it up) can lead to lower or maybe even absent results and starting with a pace which you cannot keep up with can only result to fatigue that will eventually tire you out faster as time goes on preventing you from getting the most out of your workout.  Walking faster or longer is another way. The same principle is applied in ab workouts.  Begin slow and minimal then increasing both amount and intensity over time.     

Incorrect application of the exercise is another mistake people make. Take note that ab exercises are supposed to target the abs specifically (hence the name). And using your leg strength or neck muscles to perform the exercise will render it useless. What’s the point of doing ab exercises when you are using either your neck muscles or your leg strength to finish the regimen? If you want to know if you are doing it correctly, lay your hand on your abs as you perform the exercise slowly for the first time. You should be able to feel your ab muscles harden and contract. Learning to target the specific muscles is something you will adapt through the duration of your workout. Another thing that will help you in your workout would be to brace your abs before each exercise as if preparing for an incoming punch in the stomach. This will help focus the exercise on your abs as well as protect your back. Incorporating this technique to other workouts can also be a good way to get the most out of the regimen. Another good tip to remember when avoiding back injuries from exercises would be to avoid exercises that can cause you to bend over or arch your back. You will end up with a back injury. There have actually been a lot of modifications and improvements done to the exercises being introduced today which further assures safety. We have laid aside the full lift of the torso off of the floor in order for the chest to touch the knees. Do a bit of research and you will find that there are already a lot of varieties not only on abdominal crunches but also on other abdominal exercises allowing you to start and successfully finish without having to fear injuries of any kind.  

You will be able to bump up the effectiveness of the workout by avoiding these simple yet common mistakes. Along with ab exercises, you can also add interval and resistance training to your regimen. You will find yourself having that flat, chiseled, sculpted, or sexy abs that you have always dreamed about.

Find More Ab Workout Articles

Women can lose belly fat quicker than men can. However, without constant attempt, the fabulous belly can go flabby. Study these tips to get a flat belly and ways to keep it that method.

Before you study flat stomach exercises, discover why a flat belly is significant for your health. The fat put down at your belly can lead to various health troubles including cardiac harms, diabetes, back pain, varicose veins, lower back pain, and a host of other conditions. Keep your belly flat and you will not merely seem improved in bikini, other than as well prevent various diseases from attacking you. The surfeit belly fat triggers increase of cholesterol and unwanted hormones in your blood. Worst of all, these fat will add to appetite, forcing you to eat even extra, to add up bulk. Lose that unsightly fat will aid you live better.

How can you perform flat stomach exercise? Abs or stomach workout, when combined with a low-fat diet can provide you fast results. Your exercises won’t provide you a flat belly, unless you manage your fat intake. If you eat at fast food joins, discontinue. If you eat wholegrain bread, continue. Alternate your unhealthy eating habits with healthy ones. Make use of wholegrain instead of refined flour. Refined flour has all (literally) nutrients removed. Wholegrain is a good basis of dietary fibre. Vegetables and fruits are a good basis of vitamins, minerals, and extra nutrients. Oily food, high-fat dairy products, etc will remove any profit of flat stomach exercise.

What are the workouts to a flat belly? Well. They are the similar old exercises. They are crunches and planks. Here are fairly a few new variations for the old crunches and plank. If you do crunches and plank, they are superior exercises to make stronger your abs and stomach muscles.

However, to obtain a flat belly, you require losing fat. Losing fat is probable only with a grouping of low-fat diet and fat burning exercises. Cardio exercises work well to melt fat absent. You as well require jumping into the swimming pool and staying here for at least 20 minutes. Go cycling, running, etc to burn sufficient fat. And, don’t lose the profits of these exercises by eating junk snacks and hollow calories.

Find More Stomach Exercises Articles

Question by Uzumaki: Do oblique exercises make your stomach look wider?
This is kind of a debatable question, but I was just wondering if you could state your opinion with evidence hopefully.

Doing oblique exercises supposedly “tone and firm” your oblique region making it smaller. However, my first argument to that would be, your obliques are muscles and by working them, they will gain size (completely the opposite of what one would hope to achieve).

I thought “maybe the core region doesn’t put on muscle, or bulk up through continuous body weight exercises”. But then, there would be no reason to be doing sit ups to get a six pack (and I have got one through sit ups, so please don’t tell me they are useless).

So really, is there any point to doing oblique exercises if you are just aiming for looks? Won’t not doing it give you more of a V? Please state your opinion, personal experiences etc etc =]

Best answer:

Answer by William
Yes the muscles will be bigger. From what I read in the past, if you exercise everything but the stomach, you will have a narrower stomach than those who would do sit-ups.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Question by f25085: I started to “exercise” today. I need to know what exactly I need to do from now on…?
I stretched. Then I ran up and down our stairs in our house for a little bit. Then I did 20 push-ups and 50 crunches. Then I lifted 5lb. weights I did 3 sets of 10 each. I gave up pop, so now it’s water and juiced down water. I found out from my doctor that I have high cholesterol, so I have to start watching what I eat.

So what should I eat to lower and control my cholesterol?
What should I do to exercise properly and in a healthy way?
I’m not trying to lose weight, I’m trying to tone my stomach and get some muscle in my arms and thighs.
I’m 5’5 and I weigh about 110 pounds.

Thanks!
What would be a healthy diet?
What are foods that have lots of protein?
My waist is 28 inches and bust is 32 inches. I want to get my waist down to 25 inches.

Best answer:

Answer by tree
For what to eat, I think the advice from the Abs Diet is pretty good. (Exercises in there are fairly typical.) And like the commercials on TV, oatmeal (the real kind, not instant) lowers cholesterol.

Also, in general, I find if I avoid all typical sugars – breads, potato, rice, cookies, cakes, and etc my belly flattens out

Add your own answer in the comments!

by conner395

Discover The 5 Reasons Why Exercise Machines Are A Waste Of Time

In today’s day and age we live in a technology dependent society. Almost everything we do revolves around some kind of mechanical or electrical device. This includes what just about everyone looks for in a gym. If you’re like most, when you walk into a fitness center, you usually look for the amount of equipment or how many resistance training machines there are on the exercise floor. “Is there a machine for my chest, back legs, arms etc…” This has been the biggest indicator when clarifying a gym’s effectiveness. Well, being that our population’s obesity epidemic is spreading world wide, and fitness levels have dramatically declined in the past twenty five years or so, I think it’s time to re-evaluate and determine what went wrong.

It has been during the past twenty five to thirty years when our obesity problem really started to take off. And due to the fact that our society has always been in search for the ‘quick fix’, exercise really started to take off as well. Since exercise was “in”, and we desire the “magic solution, resistance training machine companies are heavily marketing their equipment. I hate to break it to you, but when it comes to getting healthy and more physically fit, nothing will yield better results than hard work, dedication, and motivation; not gimmicks or machines. Machines actually are an inferior method of exercise.

It’s time to go back to our roots and look like we did hundreds of years ago. When you think about it, humans have always done some form of activity, and we have always been obsessed with strength and physique. So my question to you is did we have machines hundreds of years ago? My next question is as a whole, who looked better as a population, us now or mankind hundreds of years ago?

Now I’m not saying exercise machines are useless, everything has its place, but I can come up with a couple of dozen reasons why exercise machines are not optimally efficient. Instead of boring you anymore than I already have I’ll provide you with my top five.

Here we go:

1.) Exercise machines are NOT an optimal form of exercise for most. Exercise machines are great for isolating specific muscles (i.e. – the standard leg extension machine for the quads), but because exercise machines are anchored to the ground, your stabilizer muscles (muscle that surround your joints and protect them from injury), do NOT get developed. Exercise machines do not allow you to stabilize the weight you are lifting in three dimensions, and since daily activities such as work and athletics do require you to use these important muscles (the stabilizers), exercise machines are an inferior method of exercise

2.) Exercise machines are NOT ideal to improve posture. Over the years in the fitness industry, I have seen an incredible amount of people that have poor posture. This includes forward head, rounded shoulders, flat lower backs, and other misalignment in spinal curvature. This is due to the lack of strength in postural muscles, making it hard to fight gravity, and since gravity is almost impossible to escape, those who can’t fight gravity efficiently will almost always have poor posture. By performing exercise on machines your body does not have to fight gravity, and on most traditional gym equipment your body doesn’t have to stabilize itself. However, by performing exercise in a prone, upright, or supine position, you can engage and load postural muscles to help with fight gravity, resulting in better posture.

3.) Exercise machines are just flat out BORING! I can remember a couple of years ago when I worked at a large health club filled with fancy ground based machines, I would sit and watch people go through their work outs. One day I saw a gentleman working on the chest press machine. It was hilarious. He actually appeared to be falling asleep. I mean yawn after yawn during repetitions. I think if the guy was on a lying leg press he may have actually dozed off.

Now let’s analyze that situation. If he were on a flat bench performing dumbbell chest presses, do you think he would have been in that state of mind? Only if he wanted a nose job by dropping the dumbbells on his face. I have in the past and still do observe exercisers on the free weight floor. What I see is always a look of determination, motivation, and enthusiasm. My point here is that by participating in a free weight, non-machine based program, it not only forces you to concentrate and work harder, but it’s more fun, and the feeling of accomplishment is far superior than just going through the motions on exercise machines.

4.) Exercise machines CANNOT improve balance or stability. As I stated earlier, ground based exercise machines DO NOT require the use of your stabilizer muscles. These muscles not only protect your joints, but they also are responsible for your ability to stabilize and balance. Instead, try to incorporate some non-traditional methods of exercise like the use of a stability ball, or balancing on one leg, or doing some low level plyometrics. These types of exercises are extremely beneficial to increasing balance, stability, and agility. No machine can give you any of these qualities by itself.

5.) You can mimic any exercise machine exercise without the machine and get the same benefits plus a lot more. Every exercise machine that is on the market today has been developed based on movements that the human body does naturally. With that being said, you can perform any exercise machine exercise without the use of an actual exercise machine. The chest press machine is essentially a bench press, the leg press machine is a squatting motion, the rowing machine (you know the one for your back muscles) can be done with free weights, and the list goes on and on. But the catch is that when you do these movements with body weight or free weights you get all the same benefits plus the development of balance, stability, and definitely more calories burned. Let’s not forget that when you perform body weight or free weight based movements, you will always engage you core muscles.

I don’t know about you, but if I have my choice I’m sure you can guess what it is. That’s right good old fashioned body weight, free weight, or other non – machine based movements. Now, it’s important to realize that I’m not saying that exercise machines are useless, but would you rather work out for hours at a time with boring exercise equipment, or would you like to get more bang for your buck by getting more out of one exercise like a squat, some form of a press, a rowing motion, a lunging motion, or even a twisting, or bending motion? Instead of using one to two dozen boring exercise machines all you have to do is have fun while incorporating the six movements I just mentioned and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your fitness goals more efficiently and faster than ever before.

Related Exercise Articles

by Arizona Shona

It is common idea among fitness gurus that the way a person’s ab muscles are shaped and look somehow affects the totality of the impression it projects. A gorgeously-displayed six-pack is an awesome thing to behold. And somehow for the minds of most people who get to take a glimpse of it registers an image of a fitness fanatic trying to get rid of those unwanted and ugly pot belly fats. Images of malformed arms, uneven chest and legs flash as if denoting an enormous demand for gym engagements. It may somehow appear that hours of rigorous fitness ab workouts aimed at rectifying the ugliness of all the muscles are close to doing the impossible.

An awful-looking and bulging tummy vice a beautifully-sculptured one is a mess. While people may tend to  regard abs at different perspectives as stout and fit , no fitness gurus are efficient and no fitness regimens or workout programs are beneficial unless enthusiasts commit themselves completely responsible for whatever it is that may become of their own bodies.

The following fitness ab workouts should be helpful to put the abs at proper perspectives.

THE CRUNCHES
On a fitness platform, lie down and flex your knees lightly so the feet are secured flatly on the floor. Press your hands on the back of your head, then slowly bring up the shoulders off the floor. On every rear up, make sure the neck is secure and is not forced up while pressing the abdominal muscles gently.

Lift just the shoulder blades up from the floor and remain suspended in that position for a couple of seconds before retreating the shoulders to the fitness mat. Make sure not to retreat the shoulders completely to the floor prior to repeating the sequence. With 2 seconds interval between repetitions, this workout can be done in 3 sets consisting of around 20 repeats.

THE CABLE CRUNCHES
Start out with a couple of ropes secured on the cable machine. Feet pressed on the floor, grasp the ropes with both hands and lock them on your head’s sides. Then slowly, bring your elbows around your knees feeling and holding the contracting muscles for about 3 seconds. Stretch up to the point where the trunk is parallel to the ground. The sequence may be carried out for about 20-30 repeats in sets of 3 for people with average weight.

KNEE LIFTS
Utilizing both of the hands to maintain balance and even position, hold on to the sides of the exercise bench while sitting on its edge. With your legs extended outward now, bring or bend your knees closely to your chest making sure that the abdominal muscles are being contracted in the process. Keep suspended in this position for about a couple of seconds before slowly stretching the legs back to relax prior to going over the entire sequence again. As much as possible, the springing and bouncing should be kept at a minimum level. This workout can be done for 15-30 repeats in 3 sets.

For more great information on fitness ab workout and ab exercises with ball. Do visit http://www.secretofabs.com and sign up for our FREE mini-course and start receive our FREE ab workout tips Immediately.

by Arizona Shona

Hi everboday and welcome back to the road to 6 pack abs workout challenge for week 5!  I would like to congradulate you all on making it this far.  Your commitment to this ab workout challenge is commendable and very impressive so keep up the good work as we are getting closer to week 6 and the half way point of this challenge.

Hopefully you are getting these ab workouts in at least 6 times a week.  They only take 10 minutes so I hope you are being consistent because like I have said before, that is the way to results!  If you have followed the program this far and have cleaned up your diet, you should be starting to see some results.  These would include starting to see your top abs, as well as your close fitting better and your energy increasing.

For week 5, we are going to step it up a notch.  The exercises are going to be a little harder but the harder they are, the more results you are going to get so try them out and keep doing them.  Be consistent and you will see that the exercises will become easier!  Now lets get to them!

12 Weeks to 6 Pack Abs Workout Challenge – Week 5 Exercises

Ab Exercise 1:  Medicine Ball Plank Switches

2 Sets of 12 Switches Each Side

Ab Exercise 2:  Medicine Ball Cross Knee Tuck

2 Sets of 10 Each Side

Ab Exercise 3:  Figure 8′s

2 Sets of 8 to 10

Ab Exercise 4:  Tubing Russian Twists

2 Sets of 12 Each Leg

Ab Exercise 5:  Physio Ball Running Man

2 Sets of 12 Each Leg

Hopefully these exercises won’t be too hard for you and you will be able to do them.  I am sure that if you are dedicated to the program thus far that you should have no trouble.

Lets talk a little about diet.  Your diet is very key to your success in this program.  As recommended a couple weeks ago, hopefully you have been to clean up your diet, stay away from sugary fatty foods and are starting to see results from it.  If you are having trouble and find yourself still not eating all entirely well then it is now that you need to make a commitment to eating better if you want to succeed in this program.  Its not going to be easy but try and stay away from unhealthy foods for the next 3 to 4 weeks.  You will see that as time goes on, the cravings will significantly decrease and your results going towards 6 pack abs will significantly increase, giving you all the motivation in the world to stick to a healthy diet.

In terms of meals, I recommend you eat 5 healthy meals a day.  That means that in a given week, you should eat 35 meals.  To give you some flexibility, try and make sure 30 of those meals are healthy.  This leaves you with 5 meals to play around with and cheat a little on your diet.

Back to your training now.  Remember to be consistent with your training and to perform the exercises in a slow controled fashion.  Make sure you are doing circuit training and moving through the exercises taking as few breaks as possible.  Circuit training workouts and a good diet are the key to achieving a ripped, lean, athletic and muscular body!

by Defence Images

After my article Stick Your Neck Out was published; I surprisingly caught some flack from the “hardcore” types just because I showed a stability ball being used in a few of the exercise applications.

Since I’m not emotionally attached to any one piece of equipment or style of training, I was not upset in the least about this. However, it did make me realize how misunderstood the Swiss ball is within the “hardcore strength” community.

So, in light of this realization, I’m stepping up to set the record straight once and for all about Swiss balls and how they should and shouldn’t be utilized in and effective strength program.

Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game
My friend and colleague Coach Rob Simonelli brought up an interesting point when he and I were discussing this article and why serious weight lifters dislike Swiss balls. Rob said “What serious lifters don’t understand is that it’s not so much that they dislike Swiss balls, it’s that they dislike what Swiss Balls represent”.

He was absolutely right. Hardcore weightlifters have made Swiss balls guilty by association just because there are a bunch of “functional trainers” out there doing some seriously ridiculous stuff on them.
This doesn’t mean that Swiss balls can’t be use for stuff that actually has value.
To all you Swiss ball haters out there, I want you to ask yourself one question; “Am I blaming the tool or the practitioner?”

I think you will realize that myself and Rob and are correct in saying that, the Swiss ball, like everything else in the gym is just a tool. One that can be used or abused depending on whose hands it’s in. Just because there are people out there abusing a certain tool doesn’t mean we should throw it out of the tool box all together. If that were the case, we wouldn’t use any equipment at all judging by what I’ve seen done with barbells and dumbbells these days.

Now let’s get one thing clear, the title of this article is not called “Swiss Ball Exercises that You Need to Do Everyday or Else Your Will Go to Pot”. The exercises shown in this article are in no way a necessity, they are just other options to challenge your body in a positive manner and compliment your “core” lifts.

In other words, they are just tools in the tool box.

You just have to know when to use the tools you’ve got.

When Instability and Strength is Actually Good

Recently, I got to attend one of my friend Eric Cressey’s classes on training the overhead athlete. During his workshop, Eric made a great point that I feel is relevant to this article. He said that although it has been found that unstable surface training for the lower body has been found to be ineffective and in some cases even counterproductive for healthy individuals, instability training for the upper body may actually be beneficial. Eric went on to explain that it all has to do with the fact that the lower body predominantly functions in a close chained (both feet in contact with the ground) manner that does not normally involve the ground moving underneath it. However, the upper body functions in more of an open chained (no ground or solid surface contact) manner with things more likely to move and change position.
This makes a lot of sense if you think of a football lineman blocking a pass rusher. The lineman’s feet are dealing with a flat and stable ground while his upper body is all over place dealing with another body moving in every which way trying to get around him.
Now that I have hopefully changed your mind about the Swiss ball, I’m going to provide you a list of exercises using the Swiss ball that we have found to be beneficial to our clients, athletes and physique competitors.

a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/outgoing/article_exit_link']);” href=”http://www.performanceu.net/article05.html”>Click here to view pictures and videos of all the exercises described below.

The Exercises

Y,T,W, L Shoulder Circuit w/Swiss Ball

The reason why we preffer to use the Swiss ball while performing our Y,T,W, L shoulder circuits has nothing to do with the shoulders themselves but has everything to do with the trunk. In that, when athletes perform the Y,T,W, Lcircuits on a flat surface like the floor or a bench, they usually start to extend from their lower back in a superman like position. This is normally due to the fact that they, like many athletes, lack ample shoulder flexion. Therfore, they attempt to kick in the lumbar extensors to help raise the arms.

If you reffer to my article How Not to Warm Up, you will see why this type of movement is undesirable. We all tend to slouch and sit too much, in doing so we create length and weakness in the thoracic area. So, the real goal here is to somehow create extension at the thoracic spine, not the lumbar spine. This can be successfully accomplished by performing the Y,T,W shoulder circuit on a Swiss ball.

With the swiss ball and some correct positioning, the extension comes from the thoracic spine
We position our athletes so that the apex of their thoracic curve during flexion over the ball is over top the apex of the ball itself. We also have them flex at the hip joint which further decreases extension at the lumbar spine. This enables us to get more bang for our buck.
We build endurance in all the muscles invovled in extending the thoracic spine while simutaneously reaping the benefits of the Y,T,W, L shoulder circuit.

The Swiss Ball Dumbbell Chest Press

The swiss ball chest press allows us to build flexibilty in hip flexors, strength endurance in the anterior neck muscles and glutes while simultaneously building upper body pushing strength.
The swiss ball chest press is the only exercise that we use a swiss ball in combination with weights. However, because it involves an unstable surface, we only use it while performing repetitive effort lifts and never use it while performing dynamic or max effort lifts.
Many people will agrue about the instability of the ball interferring with strength output. When I meet coaches that are of that mindset, I tell them two things;

1. If the feet are positioned shoulder width or wider, the instability is pretty much canceled out.

2. We agree that instabilty interferes with max strength output. This is why we ONLY use this exercise with submaximal loads as in a hypertrophy phase or repetitive effort phase.

In my mind, if you want allot of bang for your buck the Swiss ball chest press is a great choice.

Swiss Ball Perturbations

This is one of the most popular exercises we use at Performance University amoung our high level athlets and recreational clients alike.. Swiss perturbations are a fun and very effective way to develop rock solid core stability. The goal of the person holding the ball is to maintain optimal alignment and own the position thay began in. With each diffrent strike of the ball, the torso as to make a slight adjustment to maintain control of its position. Thi is what Rehab spractioners call rythmic stabilization. We call it a damn good exercise.

The unpredicatable nature of this exercise makes it more functional than most other “core stabilization” exercises.

This exercise can be progressed by the partner striking the ball with slightly more force or the holder standing with the feet closer together or in a stagered stance.

Swiss Ball Roll Out

The swiss ball roll out is one of our favorite exerciss for training the anterior trunk muscles. We like it because it devloped torso strength and pelvic control without putting the spine in a flexed position as it would be in a crunch or sit up type exercise. Mike Boyle produced a great article called Anterior Core Training that thoroughly desribes the theory and methodolgy behind movements like the swiss ball roll out. In that same article, Boyle also diplayed many progressions to the swiss ball roll out involving tools like the ab dolley and arko wheels. However, if you don’t have all of those tools/toys available to you, here are some simple progression strategies you can use.

The beginers version of the Swiss ball roll out starts with the elbows bent and forearms resting on the ball.

This exercise can then be progressed by raising the torso and straightening the arms. This lengthens the lever arm and increases the demand on the anterior core. Shown below.

On both of these roll out variations be sure to extend both your arms and legs while maintaining a fairly neutral spine. Only go out as far as you can without losing optimal spinal alignment.

The Reverse Ball Roll Out

As of late we have been using another variation of the roll out which we call reverse roll outs. To perform the reverse roll out, hold on to a stable object such as a weight bench. While maintaining alignment, extend your lower body until reaching a superman type position. Return to the starting position and repeat.

The height of surface your holding onto should be approx. even to the height of the ball. In the picture above, Tim is holding on to a bar that is slightly higher than the ball underneath his legs. You can see how this is causing him to sag slightly at his low back. We were in the process of moving our gym during this photo shoot and we had to work with what we had left in the gym.

Swiss Ball Toe Plank

This is another great anterior core exercise. We usually perform holds for anywhere from 10-20 seconds. Proper form for this exercise is pretty much self explanatory.

Swiss Ball Knee Tucks

If you have fairly decent “core strength”, Swiss ball knee tucks aren’t really that difficult. This is why we don’t use this exercise with the intention of building strength. We use this exercise to build awareness of what the rehab world calls” hip/back disassociation”.

All this really means is, how well you can move at your hips without moving at your lumbar spine. There are a lot of ways to accomplish this which are beyond the scope of this article. However, in the context of the Swiss ball knee tuck exercise, we want our athletes to be able to flex at their hip without flexing at their low back. If they can accomplish this, it shows that they posses good hip/back disassociation.

Athletes with poor hip back disassociation will always compensate for a lack of hip mobility by increasing mobility at the lumbar spine. Which according to the latest research is designed for stability, not mobility? My article How NOT to Warm Up covers that science in great detail.
The science aside, just keep this little saying in mind, “what your hips lack can hurt your back”.

So, yeah…do your knee tucks.

1 Leg Swiss Ball Knee Tuck

This version of the knee tuck is much more difficult than the previous because there is an added rotary component. Although there is no visual rotation, the athlete has to work to prevent gravity form pulling them into rotation on the side of the lifted leg. This is what my good friend JC Santana calls “training the invisible. This is an important point to keep in mind anytime you go from a bi-lateral position to a unilateral position.

1 Arm Holds

This is another one that’s pretty self explanatory. Simply maintain optimal spinal alignment while keeping your arm locked out. We use holds ranging from 5-15sec.
This one is just plain tough!

Swiss ball Straight Leg Bridge

We always make sure to encourage our athletes to create the lift using from their hamstrings and glutes, not from their low back. Athletes with an increased lordosis (low back curve) will find this more difficult and therefore tend to need more coaching on movements like this.

Yes, I know you can also do this on a bench but our athletes seem to like it better with the ball. So, as they say, “the customer is always right”.

Plus, you can’t do some of the progressions I’m about to show you on a bench.

Straight Leg Bridges (w/Long Lever)

We learned this progression from Coach JC Santana. It’s a great way to integrate in the calf’s and increase the overall difficulty on your posterior muscles.

Be sure to keep the heels off the ball.

1 Leg Hip Bridges (w/straight leg)

These are not only a great progression to the 2 leg bridges but they serve as a nice compliment to the 1 leg knee tucks.

These work on improving hip/back disassociation in extension. We want to see the extension coming from the hips and glutes and not from the low back. We encourage our athletes to keep the lifted knee stable during this exercise. If the knee moves, it means that the pelvis is moving and therefore stability is lost.

Swiss Ball Bent Leg Bridges

The bent leg bridges are more glute dominant bridge than the straight leg version. That said, your hamstring have to work isometrically to hold the ball in place while the hips rise and fall.
We normally just alternate straight and bent leg bridges each workout.

Swiss Ball Bent Leg Bridge (1 Leg)

The rules on the one leg version are the same as above. Just be sure to prevent any sort of pelvic rotation due to the reduced base of support.

Swiss Ball Leg Curls

Once you can successfully perform both the straight and bent leg exercises. We simply combine the two moves to make the leg curl. This you really can’t do with a bench. You can do this with a slide board if you have access to one.

Once your hips lift up, they don’t come down until the set is complete. Be sure to lift your hips higher up as the legs curl in. This will create a straight line between the knee, hip, and torso.

Aside from glute ham raises is the only exercise that allows us to train hip extension and knee flexion simultaneously. Those two motions are always coupled together during any locomotive type action.

Running involves the combined action hip extension and knee flexion of the rear leg as it prepares to pull through

1 Leg Ball Curl

This progression from the two leg curl, when done correctly, will challenge even the most advanced athlete.

Swiss Ball Complex

Once each one these exercises are mastered separately, we like to combine them into a Swiss ball complex. We use this complex as part of an active dynamic warm up, as a warm down or as active rest on recovery days.

We start with roll outs for 10-20 reps

Then to push ups for 10-20 for reps

Followed up with the Y,T,W,L shoulder circuit for 10-15reps each letter

Then move to knee tucks for 10-20 reps

We finish with a toes on ball plank hold for 10-30 seconds

This entire complex is normally performed for 1-3 sets and 0-60 seconds rest between sets. Three rounds of this at 20 reps each exercise with no break is just plain tough.

This complex is very popular with our clients and athletes because it has a smooth flow from between exercises, it’s easy to remember and it gets a lot of quality work done in little time. Aside from that, it’s kind of fun.

a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/outgoing/article_exit_link']);” href=”http://www.performanceu.net/article05.html”>Click here to view pictures and videos of all the exercises described above.

Final Comments

Well, there you have it, the definitive list of Swiss ball exercises that don’t suck.
If it’s not on this list and it involves a Swiss ball then…well, you get the point.

The exercises on this list have been a part of our performance and physique programs for many years. They have been used at some point by just about everyone who has walked through our doors.

I can’t honestly tell you that these Swiss ball are solely responsible for our clients and athletes consistently getting bigger stronger and faster.
But I can tell you that they sure as hell haven’t hurt.

More Exercise Articles

by Leni Rachael

Last time, we looked at how medicine balls could help you build a strong, rugged, and “ripped” midsection, and how they could be used with some basic, simple exercises, to create intense and athletic versions of those same movements to get you into better shape that much quicker.  This time, we’ll look at how to turn these into true cardio workouts, and how to create ‘super exercises’ that will accomplish as many as 3 different things at once! Med balls can also be used to do some pretty intense exercises that just aren’t possible without them.  For example, the Woodchopper (as described by Coach John Davies).  Start standing upright, holding the med ball at your waist.  Bring the med ball out to arms’ length in front of you, squat down, and touch the ball to the ground.  Immediately explode up, jumping up into the air, and bringing the med ball to overhead.  Land, reset, and repeat.  Keep going until doom sounds like a good idea. For amazing cardio, string together several exercises into complexes (like was mentioned with the abdominal exercises).  Pick 3-5 exercises, and perform 5-10 reps of each exercise back to back without resting between exercises.  Once you finally complete an entire circuit, rest 1-3 mins, and repeat.  A sample complex might be: -Woodchoppers x 10 -Pushups (both hands on med ball) x 10 -Med Ball Slams x 10 -Squats (holding med ball overhead) x 10 -Situps holding med ball x 10 Another great thing about med balls is how you can add different elements into one exercise, making an almost “super movement”.  Let’s look at an example. First, take the lunge.  That is a pretty tough move.  Let’s add a dynamic (explosive) – and in turn, cardiovascular – element, by turning them into jumping lunges.  Doing these, you get into lunge position, jump into the air, switch feet in mid air, land, and repeat with the other leg.  Now, add another element by holding a med ball.  The exercise just got harder.  But, let’s go a step further, by adding a med ball twist.  Every time you land with the left foot forward, twist to the left so that you’re facing left, and the ball is pointed left.  Everytime you land with the right foot forward, reverse it. Try that for 10-12 reps each leg and see if you’re not huffing and puffing. In the last installment of this series, we’ll look at how med balls can help incorporate the much-needed mental aspect to your training.

Last time, we looked at how medicine balls could help you build a strong, rugged, and “ripped” midsection, and how they could be used with some basic, simple exercises, to create intense and athletic versions of those same movements to get you into better shape that much quicker.  This time, we’ll look at how to turn these into true cardio workouts, and how to create ‘super exercises’ that will accomplish as many as 3 different things at once!

Med balls can also be used to do some pretty intense exercises that just aren’t possible without them.  For example, the Woodchopper (as described by Coach John Davies).  Start standing upright, holding the med ball at your waist.  Bring the med ball out to arms’ length in front of you, squat down, and touch the ball to the ground.  Immediately explode up, jumping up into the air, and bringing the med ball to overhead.  Land, reset, and repeat.  Keep going until doom sounds like a good idea.

For amazing cardio, string together several exercises into complexes (like was mentioned with the abdominal exercises).  Pick 3-5 exercises, and perform 5-10 reps of each exercise back to back without resting between exercises.  Once you finally complete an entire circuit, rest 1-3 mins, and repeat.  A sample complex might be:

-Woodchoppers x 10

-Pushups (both hands on med ball) x 10

-Med Ball Slams x 10

-Squats (holding med ball overhead) x 10

-Situps holding med ball x 10

Another great thing about med balls is how you can add different elements into one exercise, making an almost “super movement”.  Let’s look at an example.

First, take the lunge.  That is a pretty tough move.  Let’s add a dynamic (explosive) – and in turn, cardiovascular – element, by turning them into jumping lunges.  Doing these, you get into lunge position, jump into the air, switch feet in mid air, land, and repeat with the other leg.  Now, add another element by holding a med ball.  The exercise just got harder.  But, let’s go a step further, by adding a med ball twist.  Every time you land with the left foot forward, twist to the left so that you’re facing left, and the ball is pointed left.  Everytime you land with the right foot forward, reverse it.

Try that for 10-12 reps each leg and see if you’re not huffing and puffing.

In the last installment of this series, we’ll look at how med balls can help incorporate the much-needed mental aspect to your training.

Learn how to do an abdominal workout on an inversion table workout with expert tips and advice on exercise from a fitness expert in this free health and fitness video. Expert: Dr. Edward Riffel Bio: Dr. Edward Riffel is the owner of Riffel chiropractic fitness center. Filmmaker: Patrick Eaves
Video Rating: 4 / 5