On the Ball

One of the best developers of functional and core strength is stability ball exercise. And not incidentally, stability ball exercises are among the most enjoyable ways to get a workout because they lend almost any exercise routine a childlike sense of play. But that’s not to say they don’t offer serious benefits, because they do.

The primary benefit of these large, inflatable vinyl balls is that they add a critical dimension to anything you do on them: instability. Because the ball tends to wobble or roll as you exercise on it, your body recruits bands of muscle radiating out from your core toward your extremities to keep you balanced and stable. Some examples:

• When I do push-ups with the ball under my knees, in addition to the chest and back muscles that typically do the work in a push-up, I can also feel muscles from my shoulders to my hips working to keep me from rolling off to the side.

• When I do a “bench press” with dumbbells, resting my upper back and shoulders on the ball. I can feel my abdominals supporting my torso as well as my thighs and hip flexors stabilizing me.

• When I do a body-weight squat, with the ball between my back and a wall, my hip muscles are working to keep me aligned.

• And when I do abdominal curls, with the ball supporting my lower back, I’m aware of my front and side abdominals stabilizing my midsection to a far greater degree than when I do sit-ups on an exercise mat.

Recent research at the biomechanics lab at San Diego State University confirms what my own muscles tell me. Stability balls were found to be particularly effective at working torso muscles in functional combinations. There’s that word functional again. Virtually every stability ball exercise I’ve done (and they are versatile enough to integrate with almost any kind of exercise) has given me the same sense of muscle function that I feel when swimming—body extended in a horizontal position with muscles from fingertips to toes working dynamically to counteract the forces of gravity and drag. The stability ball may be the best dryland simulator yet for that kind of challenge. And you’ll never find it boring.

Here’s one of my favorite series.

TO BEGIN. Balance in a horizontal position with the ball below your hips, hands directly under your shoulders, and legs straight behind, parallel to the floor.

ACTION. Walk your hands out until the ball is at your knees. Pause for two slow breaths, then walk back. Repeat 5 to 10 times.

KEY POINT. Maintain a straight, horizontal line from your shoulders to your feet.

“ADVANCED PLACEMENT”: Try any of the following:

1. Walk out until the ball is under your knees, then pause and do a push-up. Lower your chest down toward the floor—your legs and feet will rise; keep the line from shoulders to feet straight. Press back up to horizontal, then walk it back to your hips.

2. Walk out until the ball is under your shins or ankles, then walk it back to your hips. Don’t let your back sway or bend; keep your hips in line with your spine and feet.

3. With the ball under your knees, roll it under your left knee, then under your right. You’ll feel muscles in the side of your shoulder and upper back working to keep you on the ball.

In each of these exercises you’ll be aware of contracting a connected band of muscle from your hands to your hips—exactly the way you should feel your strength while swimming. The variations will each recruit different stabilizer muscles into the action. This training is as swimming-functional as anything you can do on land.