exercises using an exercise ball ?

Karasene

Hey all I have finally purchased an exercise ball and I'm wondering what are the best or your favorite exercise to do on them?

Thanks for the help

FaithsVegWorkout

Side crunches for the obliques by bracing my feet on the wall. Also, jackknifes. Search stability ball exercises on Youtube. There are a lot of them.

mandemonious

There are tons of fun things to do with them! I have a few dvd's that have suggestions. One of my favorite ab moves is the hand foot pass. Lay down flat with arms extended over head with ball, jack knife your legs and arms up and pass the ball to your feet. Legs and arms down. Back up to pass the ball back to your hands.

The wood chop is also a good ab move. On floor flat, knees up with feet on floor. Ball in hands over head. Come up, like a sit up, except go to the side and tap the ball on the floor on one side of your legs. Repeat, then switch to other side.

I just realized that this may just be a bunch of words without illustrations, but I hope it helps

PBJunkie

Ideal squats for woman that are afraid of using weights

Cons
- Nice *kitten*
- stunning quads

sanura

well, it's great for your core to use it instead of a chair (one dancer I know uses it at meals and in her home office, another woman I know only watches tv while sitting on it.)

there are lots of great exercises, here are a few of the top of my head

plank - put your feet on the ball and hands on the floor
- for extra challeng try rolling the ball toward your hands with your knees bending (kind of like child's pose in yoga) and for even more challenge roll it toward you with your legs straight (you'll be in an upside down V)

pushups - you can either put your feet on the ball or put your hands on the ball

crunches - sit on the ball and roll a bit forward so your tailbone is against the ball, lean back as far as you can maintain a contraction in your abs (do not relax back) and lift back up, for added challenge, lift one leg off the floor at a time and bring your opposite elbow to knee

you can do your upper body strength training
- sitting upright on the ball for shoulder press, bicep curls, french press etc
- walk your feet forward so the ball rolls to under your shoulder and supports your head, and you can do chest press or pec fly, and tricep extensions all while your glutes are keeping you in position.

you can also use the ball for back extensions, supporting yourself with your toes on the floor and pelvis on the ball.

lots and lots more,,, gotta go to work though
have fun!