Fitness Ball

Don't you know that fitness ball can do a lot of magic in your workout routine? That you can dance with the ball as well, for your cardiovascular exercises? Now here are some other simple tips that i want to share on how to used it...

Cork Screw and Obliques Crunches.
Cork crew is one of the Pilates movement to workout from your rectus abdominis to transversus abdominis.As you hold the ball tightly with your both legs and keep shoulder blade and spine properly seated on the floor. Slowly with controlled movement rotate the ball starting with the right, to center down and moved up to the left. Take 5rounds and repeat to switch.Obliques crunch is one of the most effective methods to tone up muscles around the sides of abdominal areas.Holding the ball with your both hand, you should keep your neck and face muscles relaxed as you lift your shoulder, squeezing the sides of your body. One lift to the right will count as one and do the same on the left as another count. Fit ball will add the challenge as it gives additional weight on your body.10 to 20 repetition or as far as you can go.

Jack Knife and Reverse Crunches.
Reverse crunches is another type of abdominal workout, specifically for your navel or lower part of your abs, making it firm and strong.As you keep your upper body off the floor, chin to chest and supporting your neck with your both hands, slowly, gently move your legs up and down like a car wiper. Again the ball in your legs will challenge the strength of your abdominal areas.Jack knife is for both lower and upper part of your abdomen, but this time you also engaged your arms and shoulder. From starting position, kneel down on the floor as you hold the ball in front of you, then slowly roll forward using your both hands on floor and keeping the ball underneath from your abdomen moving towards your thigh.With a steady hand and shoulder on floor, move your legs in to crunch and extend legs out to recover.Again with the used of the ball on it.5 to 10 repetition

One Leg Bridge Pose and Prone Lift.
One leg bridge pose is for your buttocks and quadriceps. Lying on the floor, position yourself by putting your feet on top of the ball as you keep your knees bend. You can either place your arms in T-form or just closer to your ribcage and keep your palms down as it help your strength by pressing it to the floor. And if you are ready gently with a disciplined motion lift your buttocks up, as high as you can. You can either keep both feet on ball or raising one leg up to challenge yourself.The stronger you are the longer you can keep your balance. Hold it for 5 to 7 breath. Prone lift is also to firmed up your buttocks and abdomen while you strengthen your arms and shoulders. Repeat the methods of jack knife but this time place your both elbows on the floor and slowly lift both legs up until you can feel the stretch on your abs muscles. Now with that stable pose, open your legs out to squeezed sides of your hips and close it again and raised legs up to squeezed middle part of butt as you stretch abs muscles at the same time. Do it 5 to 7 times according to your strength level.

Push-up and Wheel Barrow.
Push -up is for your arms and shoulder. Its tones up the bicep and triceps muscles area.Following the same starting position with Jack knife and Prone lift, but this time you keep the ball underneath your thigh, and keep fingers perpendicular on shoulder as it properly align and pressed on the floor to hold your balance. With that pose you can start pushing yourself up and down facing towards the floor. Always remember to keep your elbows pointed towards your ribcage as you bend it down. Take 5 to 10 repetition according to your arm strength level.Wheel Barrow or known as the plow pose is also good for abdominal strength and to have that massage on your internal organs. You cannot do this on your menstrual period. On your starting position, lie down on your mat comfortably as you hold the ball in between your legs and slowly with controlled movement roll your hips up, enough that you can extend both legs just right in front of your face.You can either hold your hips with your both hand or not. This need a lot of strength specially on the abdominal area. You can also start this without the ball first and if its getting easier bit by bit, use with the ball. Hold the pose 5 to 7 breath.

Do's and Don'ts in doing this routine:
1.Do not forget to breath properly. You can breath from your nose and exhale from you
mouth. Heavy contraction exhale and inhale on recovering.
2. Do your own pace according to your strength level,so its either holding the pose or repeating it to 5 or 7 breath or more.
3.Listen to your body,any intolerable pain, stop and check your angle and proper alignment of your pose. Muscle pain is grateful pain, but if its in any of your joints or somewhere in your spine, then that is not good.
4.Always remember, crunches is not for your neck and not for your head. So try to used abdominal muscles instead of putting pressure on on your spine or on your neck muscles.
4.Lastly, do believe on gradual improvement on your strength and muscle endurance, its not magic, so take your time and just enjoy that wonderful feeling,and expect good result, to have that lean toned looking structure.

Anatomy

Rectus abdominis or known as the six packs.

The human transversus abdominis muscle.


The muscle ends in front in a broad aponeurosis, the lower fibers of which curve downward and medialward, and are inserted, together with those of the internal oblique muscle, into the crest of the pubis and pectineal line, forming the inguinal aponeurotic falx. In layperson's terminology, the muscle ends in the middle line of a person's abdomen.

Throughout the rest of its extent the aponeurosis passes horizontally to the middle line, and is inserted into the linea alba; its upper three-fourths lie behind the rectus muscle and blend with the posterior lamella of the aponeurosis of the internal oblique; its lower fourth is in front of the rectus abdominis.