Are you on the ball?

Have you ever tried using a Fitness Ball (sometimes called a Swiss Ball) as part of your fitness routine? Whether you’re exercising at home or in a studio, a Fitness Ball is an incredibly versatile and inexpensive bit of kit. It can add challenge to just about any exercise and target muscles in a way the other props can’t After just one session, you’ll discover muscles you never realised you had!

It can be used in lots of different ways. You can use it to add resistance, create instability and to support the body (particularly helpful if you’re recovering from injury).

It can also be used as a very big, yet only moderately heavy weight to increase difficulty and range of motion.

Using a Fitness Ball will help you build and strengthen your abdominal and lower back muscles, which help protect your lumbar spine as well as maintain the core stability of your frame.

A Fitness Ball is one of the most versatile and effective devices when it comes to enhancing your Pilates practice. A primary benefit is the need to engage your core muscles to help you remain balanced during the exercise. A strong core will help protect the lumbar spine and stabilise the shoulder, pelvis and spine areas. This is a fundamental goal of any Pilates class.

Just sitting on a Fitness Ball engages the key stabilisers, the abdominal and back muscles. Thanks to engaging these muscles constantly, the it can help with smoothing out any imbalances in your core or surrounding muscles as it forces you to support your own weight and stabilise yourself. This all contributes to a general improvement in balance.

Improvements in strength and balance can also help to prevent future injury, as the more balanced and rounded your core, the more strong and stable you are!

So why not give it a go?

Sending you lots of positive thoughts

Jo (Willow and Daisy) xxx