Stability ball???

Jilliana22

Cathlete
I noticed in everyone's review of the Instensity series that they had trouble keeping steady on their stability ball. Well, my question is this because I've yet to buy one to use with the Instensity series. I've noticed that they sell stability balls with little legs on the bottom to keep the ball from rolling. I wondered if this version of the ball would work better with the new series as opposed to the regular version minus legs. Does Cathe do anything special on the ball that would require it to roll or is it used as a prop to lean up against only? My tapes are supposed to be delivered tomorrow although I won't be using them anytime soon. But I was going to order myself a ball online based on everyone's advice and kind of incorporate the abs sections on the ball into my rotation. Thanks in advance.

-Jilliana
 
Hi Jilliana,

Yes, you need your ball to roll for certain exercises Cathe does. There's moves where you'll need to roll the ball forward (towards your body) with your feet and then back out (ab work).
Also there is hamstring work that uses a rolling action also I think? Not sure because I haven't gotten mine yet either and I did the workouts just once and used the modification without the ball. But I know you need it to roll! :)

Donna
Fitness~It's a journey, not a race!
 
Thanks Donna for letting me know I'm going to order the standard ball then minus the legs. BTW I'm starting your rotation that you posted for Robin (the one where you lost 37lbs in 6 weeks) on Monday so wish me luck. Hopefully, in 6 weeks I'll have some good news to share with everyone.

-Jilliana
 
I'm just wondering if either of you could tell me where I could find this rotation, or if you could list it here for me. I'm really looking for something new to try, and definitely thinking of ordering the Intensity Series very shortly.
Thanks a bunch! ;-)
 
Jackie and Marisa

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-02-03 AT 10:08PM (Est)[/font][p]I posted the link to Donna's rotation under the "Who willing be doing Donna's rotation?" thread.

Correction its the "Who else is doing Donna's rotation?" thread.
But in case you didn't get it I'll post it here. Of course as Donna stated on the other thread she weighed in at 267lbs when she started the rotation, so we might not get the same results as she did. Heavier people have a tendency to drop the excess weight faster than say a person weighing in at 180lbs. I weigh in at 245lbs so I'm hoping it will help put a dent in my weight loss.

This is the rotation:
week 1 & 2:
m: 60min cardio + PS-BBA
t: 60min cardio
w: PS-SL&A
t: 30min cardio + PS-CST
f: CardioKicks
s: PowerHour
s: 30min stretch

week 3 & 4:
m: CardioKicks
t: PS-SL&A
w: 60min cardio + PS-CST
t: 60min cardio + PS-BBA
f: 45min kickboxing cardio
s: MIS
s: 30min stretch

week 5 & 6:
m: 60min cardio + PS-CST
t: PS-SL&A
w: 60min cardio + PS-BBA
t: CardioKicks + PS-CST
f: 30min cardio + PS-SL&A
s: 60min cardio + PS-BBA
s: 30min stretch

Good Luck!!

-Jilliana
 
Actually, having trouble keeping steady isn't a bad thing--all your core stabilizing muscles are hard at work! If you find you're too unstable, you can simply deflate the ball a bit for the first times you do the workout. This makes it a bit "flatter" and more likely to stay in place.
 
I did Pyramid Lower Body this morning and the floor work uses the ball. For the life of me, I could not stabilize the ball well enough to feel the work in the hamstring/glute during the first exercise (one legged bridges). What I did was modify to do what Brenda was doing (used my tall step instead). I was able to use the ball for the rest of the exercises, though. I think, as a rule of thumb, try to do it and modify if you must. We'll all build up the core strength eventually :).
 
You might want to try doing two-legged bridges, which are more stable. You could throw in a one-legged version once in a while till you build up to full one=legged sets. Of course, this is coming from someone who doesn't have the new workouts yet, and who has trouble keeping stable with one-legged bridges on a step! ;-)
 
Stick with the stability ball exercises and modify if you have too. using the stability ball requires use of muscles that we don't hit when we use weights....especially core muscles. with each workout, you will feel yourself getting stronger and more able to do the ball part of the tape. I used to take a ball class with my friend at her gym. The first few times I took the class, i looked so dumb. But it didn't take long for me to start to be able to do the exercises correctly without modification. with each class, I literally felt stronger and was more capable of handling the ball than the class before. It is the best workout for your abs and back. You are working them without even realizing it. If your muscles are weak in these areas, that may be why you are having some trouble.....stick with it, it does get easier. You will love the results. I would love for Cathe to do a tape with the ball only.

Kim
 

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