Balancing on the Edge

Balancing on the brink

If you have a large ball at home, you can create a lot of different exercises with it, rather than just using it as entertainment for the children or as an extra seating area.

In addition, such a ball will add something new to your fitness routine and help strengthen the ligaments and muscles of the spine. While performing exercises on the ball, you not only focus on the technique of the exercise itself, but also try not to fall from it, that is, maintain your balance. And this can only be done through the deep muscles, or stabilizer muscles.

In everyday life, these muscles help maintain the vertical position of the spine when moving and correctly adjust responses depending on situations. They are located deep inside the body, and they can only be worked out using balance exercises, when they are in constant tension, instantly correcting the position of the body in space.

Starting position: sitting on the ball, the back and abdominal muscles are tense, the chin does not fall down, straight arms are spread to the sides. Try to maintain a 90-degree knee angle (Photo 1).

Lift one leg off the floor quite a bit and try to maintain balance, i.e. starting position (Photo 2).

The exercise can be made more difficult:

1. crossing your arms over your chest (this will eliminate the possibility of balancing using your arms);
2. straightening the raised leg until it is parallel to the floor (knees connected) (Photo 3);
3. using both at the same time.

Naturally, it would be incorrect to perform this exercise in such a way that it would lead to a violation of complete balance. You must stay on the ball correctly and not “slide” to the side.

If you have already become a virtuoso in performing this exercise, then to add more acute sensations, you can close your eyes. Weak?