- Health, Fitness & Weight Loss
- Keep the Weight Off this Christmas
- A Personal Trainer Changed my Life!
- Abdominal Exercise Myths
- Basal Metabolic Rate - Burn Fat while you Sleep
- The Benefits of Bootcamp Training
- The Benefits of Swiss Ball Training
- Get your New Years Resolutions Right
- Corporate Fitness Boosts your Bottom Line!
- Corporate Health Tips
- Functional Performance Training
- Goal Setting for Fitness Results
- Guidelines for Body Fat Percentages
- How to Choose your Personal Trainer
- Introducing the BOSU Balance Trainer
- Motivated for Success
- Not All Swiss Balls are Created Equal
- Personal Training Studio vs Gym
- Recovery and Regeneration
- Sizing your Swiss Ball
- Spring Clean your Training Routine
- Training in your Target Heart Rate Zone
- Walk Off your Waistline
- Weight Loss - Why Weights Work
- Why a REPs PT is your Best Bet
- Why I Fell for my Foam Roller
- Ten Tips for Summer Weight Loss
- Endurance
- Sport Specific Performance
- Nutrition
- Training with Specific Conditions
- References
The Benefits of Swiss Ball Training
Why Swiss Ball Training Should be Part of your Exercise Programme
Using a Swiss Ball is the best way to improve your posture, balance, reaction speed and core strength. This is because a Swiss Ball provides an enriched and challenging environment in which to train. Swiss Ball exercises are fun and achievable for most people, as they can be easily adapted to suit all levels of ability.
Why you Should use a Swiss Ball:
- Improve your Posture - A Swiss Ball stimulates all those little but essential muscles that help maintain a healthy posture. This is because you must maintain your centre of gravity, so that you don't fall off the ball.
- Strengthen your Core - Using a Swiss Ball requires constant and consistent recruitment of the core musculature and as all movement is initiated and supported by the core, a stronger core leads to stronger extremities (arms and legs).
- Improve your Balance and Stability- During regular daily activities your body is challenged by many forces in all dimensions. Since most machines are anchored to the floor they do not recruit your stabiliser muscles, dumbing down your ability to control your body’s movement. Swiss Ball Training encourages you to recruit your core muscles to manage these forces improving balance, co-ordination and stability.
- Improve Nervous System Activation - Swiss Balls provide an enriched training environment which challenges the nervous system and improves your ability to react to a changing base of support.
- Effective Rehabilitation - Because Swiss balls are naturally unstable, sitting, exercising or balancing on it activates a myriad of motor recruitment patterns, increasing muscle awareness. This is particularly beneficial when rehabilitating because often muscles can be inhibited as a result of injury.
There is no end to how you can apply Swiss Ball training to help improve your core strength and stability. The key is understanding why you are performing a particular exercise and how it fits in with what you are trying to achieve.
WARNING - Copying an exercise you see in a magazine, on TV or being performed by someone at your gym is hazardous. Contact Pulse Personal Training and we will design you a Swiss Ball programme that is challenging, enjoyable and specific to your needs and requirements. Click here to see our range of Swiss Balls.
By Hamish Abbie BPhEd, BComm, CHEK L1, XLR8 Coach, REPs - 30/11/2006