A 45-minute fitness ball workout. Includes a warm-up, cool down and 15 different exercises to tone your whole body. Liz Gillies instructs.

Beginners and advanced beginners. Even if you're familiar with the fitness, or stability ball, you'll probably find a few exercises you haven't seen before. You will need a mat, one or two pairs of dumbbells (3 to 5 pounds, or whatever your weight range is) and — of course — a stability ball.

Liz Gilles makes working with a fitness ball seem so easy and natural that you may not realize how hard you worked your muscles until the next day (it's called DOMS, or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). With clear instructions, both visual and verbal, she leads you through 15 exercises, each of which focuses on a different muscle group while automatically keeping your core engaged. That's one of the beauties of working with a fitness ball — it forces you to move from your core, which makes it harder to cheat on the exercises. Gilles begins with lower body, then shoulders, arms and upper body and finishes up with abs, back and ball push-ups. You'll use the ball to enhance some classic moves like lunges, back extensions and crunches, and you'll also find some unique versions of classics — a cross-legged lunge with the ball that's similar to a curtsey lunge, and an oblique exercise based on the Pilates Saw. Gilles gets your blood flowing with a good warm-up and stretches out the muscles you worked with an especially delicious cool down stretch series. Just about anyone will benefit from a good routine that generates from the core, so even if you aren't a total beginner, this workout is worth checking out.

 

 

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment