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Spine Ball Exercises

Spine balls are a great tool to get the most out of your workout. They are known by various names such as an exercise ball, physio ball or Swiss ball. When you use a spine ball, you are improving the workout to you core muscles and helping the spine maintain flexibility without adding stress and strain. The movement nourishes the spine with increased circulation and decompression of discs. You can do many exercises with a spine ball.

  1. Balance Exercises

    • When you use a spine ball and do anything that requires you to maintain balance, you are strengthening your core muscles. Exercises include simply sitting on the ball while maintaining good upright posture. Slight body movements cause the ball to move and requires your abdominal and back muscles to work with your thighs to retain your balance. Extend balance exercises to laying on the ball with your belly on the ball. As you begin, you may need your hands to maintain balance as you extend your legs behind you in the air. Ultimately, work to holding a superman pose with your hands and feet extended "in flight" while balancing on the ball.

    Sit-Ups and Crunches

    • A spine ball is a perfect instrument to help you get more out of your abdominal workout. You can do a variety of poses on the ball with your buttocks balanced on the edge as you extend back and forth or you can place your lower back over the ball. The benefit of the ball is removing the stress on the lower back -- something that leads to injury when doing crunches and sit-ups on the floor. It also helps extend your back further than the floor would allow, allowing your head to dip below the level of your waist and giving you a deeper workout.

    Other Exercises

    • The spine ball is a great workout bench to conduct a variety of exercises. When you do simple things like a bicep curl or an inclined press on the spine ball, you are not only providing the workout to the isolated muscle lifting the weight, but you are engaging your core to provide a greater workout. Do leg lifts, push-ups and tricep extensions on the spine ball as well.

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