7 Reasons To Add Stability Ball Training To Your Home Gym

If you haven't bought a stability ball for your home gym yet you need to. Adding stability ball training to your exercise routines is an excellent choice.

Everybody from physical therapists to exercise coaches rave about them. Stability balls are not a fad that will fade away like so many other exercise gadgets out there. They are here to stay and for good reason.

What is a Stability Ball?

A stability ball is an inflatable rubber ball made of soft elastic PVC. They are inflated with air to a diameter of approximately 14 to 36 inches. The larger ones look a little like a beach ball. Size is about the only difference between them.

I happen to use the term "stability-ball" when talking about this ball but there are many other names it goes by:

abs-ball, balance-ball, body-ball, exercise-ball, fitness-ball, gym-ball, physioball, pilates-ball, Pezzi-ball, Pezzi Gymnastikball, sports-ball, Swiss-ball, therapy-ball, workout-ball, or Yoga-ball

Don't confuse stability ball with medicine ball. A medicine ball is closer to the size of a basketball and heavier than a stability-ball.

A Brief History of the Stability Ball

-- Designed in Italy in the 1960?s by Aquilino Cosani, a plastics engineer. The ball was called a Gymnastik and originally sold as a toy to children.

-- European physical therapists repurposed the ball from a toy to a therapy tool to aid in rehabilitation.

-- American physical therapists discovered the benefits of the balls while visiting physical therapy clinics in Switzerland. They brought their new-found knowledge home and dubbed the balls "Swiss Balls".

-- In the 1990?s the American fitness industry heard about the physical therapy benefits of stability-balls and repurposed the balls to be used in all manner of fitness and strength training routines.

-- Today everybody and his brother sells stability-balls, books and training dvd's.

Get the Correct Size

The correct size ball is determined by your height.

Here's a size guide to help you figure out which ball will work best for you.

4'8" and under: 45 centimeter

4'8" to 5'3": 55 centimeter

5'3" to 6'0": 65 centimeter

6'0" and taller: 75 centimeter

If you have family members of varying heights who want to do stability-ball workouts then you may have to purchase more than one ball. A ball that is too small or too large makes exercising awkward and at times dangerous.

7 Reasons To Add Stability-Ball Training To Your Home Gym

1. Improves core strength: The hot topic these days is core strength. Nothing improves core strength faster or better than stability balls.

2. Improves balance: Any exercise you perform on a balance ball requires the use of more muscles to maintain balance. This is especially good as we age because we tend to lose our balancing skills over the years.

3. Improves coordination: It takes more coordination to do dumbbell presses on a stability ball than on a flat bench.

4. Improves exercise comfort: Fitness balls are more comfortable than exercising on the flat floor.

5. Enhances your exercises: Stability balls produce instability which doubles the benefits of your workout because of all the balancing muscles that are activated.

6. Improves workout fun: Because of its bounciness it makes exercising more fun.

7. Workout bench substitute: A stability-ball works very well as an inexpensive substitute for a flat bench.

Conclusion

Whether your fitness goals are modest, to get a little stronger and more toned up, or if your goal is to get massively muscular, adding stability ball training to your home gym workout routines is a smart choice.

About the Author:

Mark A Hanson specializes in fitness and weight loss. Sign up for his "10 Fitness Mistakes" eCourse and learn how to avoid the mistakes that keep you fat and miserable at thebasementgym.com TheBasementGym.com/. Learn more about thebasementgym.com/stability-ball-training stability ball training and how to lose weight safely and keep it off permanently.