Here are 5 exercises that you can incorporate into your workout using the Swiss Ball. This piece of fitness equipment comes with a HUGE variety of benefits, including increased balance, coordination, stabilization, and strength. The Swiss Ball engages many stabilizers of the human movement system.
Using a Swiss Ball during exercises recruits more muscles fibers, and also utilizes the abdominal and lower back muscles to a higher degree.
1️⃣Swiss Ball Neutral Grip Chest Press This exercise can be performed on a regular flat bench, but the use of the Swiss Ball instead challenges your balance and coordination. Try doing this movement without dropping your hips!
To progress this exercise, perform it with one dumbbell in one hand. Then, have the other hand free to the side.
To regress this exercise, perform it on a flat bench.
2️⃣Single-Arm Swiss Ball Chest Press This exercises is taken up a notch. Performing this movement one arm at a time increases the recruitment of your stabilizers in order to keep your hips and torso from rotating.
To progress this exercise, take your free hand off the hip to increase core activation.
To regress this exercise, perform it with a dumbbell in each hand instead of one.
3️⃣ Swiss Ball Tricep Skullcrusher This exercise targets the Tricep muscles. But once again, use of the Swiss Ball increases the use of other fibers and stabilizers throughout the body.
4️⃣Swiss Ball Arm Rollout This exercise targets the core musculature. Since the arms go into extension, the shoulders, lats, glutes, and lower back are also recruited during the movement. Try doing this exercise with your belly button pushed in and glutes squeezed. This will minimize lower back tension.
5️⃣Swiss Ball Plank Rollout This exercise targets the core musculature as well. You’ll feel this really good in your “upper core” as you drive your elbows back in towards your stomach. Push your elbows out as far as you’re comfortable, then pull them back in. Once again, you should maintain core and glute tightness to minimize any back pain.
There are TONS are other exercises you can do with a Swiss Ball. But today we simply focused on 5. Sure, there are other means to perform the exercises I showed above, but the Swiss Ball keeps things fun, interesting, different, and challenging as well.
If you ever have any questions regarding fitness, don’t ever hesitate to ask! Take the first step and start your fitness journey with me TODAY!
If you would like to try these movements at home, links to all the equipment used in this article are listed below.
1) Swiss Ball - https://amzn.to/365w3Vb
2) Dumbbell - https://amzn.to/30zoFAs