Hamstring

[Lisa]

Nalia, still confused. You described that you are supposed to have one leg/heel on the ball at the top. What happens to the other leg in the start position?

If you are using only one leg, just leave the other leg straight above the ball and bend only the leg you will be exercising. Just lift the other leg slightly and leave it extended. I have also seen it used to help balance a person. I can't do it one legged, I don't have the strength or the balance

The ball is really unstable so do you carefully slide your leg under you so your heel hits your butt which is up in the air, then stays there?

Yes you carefully slide your heel towards you butt and then out again to the beginning position. All the while you maintain a straight body with butt in the air.

This sounds like your leg/knee has to be locked to hold the weight of your body. Also it would work more on the hamstrings of this leg holding your weight. What is the purpose of curling the other leg back (which I can't see being exercised) and the ball is made very unstable while doing it? There is no weight in the curling leg. Or are you just supposed to hang there for how many seconds? :idunno: TW

Yes it holds the weight of your body. Don't bother curling the other leg back unless you are holding yourself up with two legs instead of just one. I suppose you can hang there for a second but the exercise is hard enough on your hamstrings and calves that this is not necessary.

Hope this helps a little. If not let me know and I will take some pictures and post them.

 

[gumo9]

Hello folks, very sorry about the delay in replying (and thank you very much for the welcome !)

Nalia's description is spot on. As you pull your heels towards your backside, remember to lift your hips so that your thighs remain in a straight line with your torso. the back of your shoulder girdle should remain in contact with the ground and you shouldn't feel any discomfort in your neck while performing the exercise. If your neck is hurting then you probably need to use a smaller stability ball.

Stability balls were originally used for sports rehab and physio but are now really popular for recreational exercise too. You can do pretty standard exercises using the ball, for example bench press with the top of your back and neck resting on the ball. This tends to increase the difficulty of the exercise by adding instability to the equation.

In practice you tend to find that the fixator muscles which would normally help you "cheat" at the exercise are kept busy trying to maintain your balance. This leaves your poor old primary muscles (ie pecs and triceps in this example) all on their own to perform the bench press.

As well as exercises for specific body parts, the stability ball tends to work your core muscles. These include your pelvic floor, diaphragm, multifidis and Transverse Abdominus (TVA). Good conditioning in this area results in improved balance, better posture and kissing good bye to many back problems. You also feel really stable too - a very odd realisation when I had always thought my balance was really good prior to doing lots of core work !

happy exercising !

Graham
Manchester, UK