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The firmer the ball the more difficult the exercise will be. Try five repetitions of each abdominal core exercise and gauge the difficulty. Beginners should be able to achieve five repetitions fairly easily. If fifteen repetitions are still easy, the ball needs more air.
Start core exercises by sitting on the ball with feet hip-width apart and feet flat on the floor. Lean backwards, keeping your abdominal muscles pulled in tightly, until the muscles feel fully engaged. Hold the position for three breaths. Inhale through the nose, exhale through your mouth, and with your abdominal muscles doing the work, come back to a sitting position.
Walk the feet slowly away from the ball, allowing the ball to roll to the small of the back. Once you have achieved the feeling of lying on the ball, practice crunches with small torso twists.
Take the ball to the wall and stand so that the ball is pressed between the small of the back and the wall. Slide downwards into a squat, allowing the ball to massage your back while working the lower body muscles. Hold the squat for as long as possible, then return to standing. The next time, try squatting down and up without pausing for 5 to 15 repetitions. -
Increase the difficulty of core exercises by adding lower and upper body exercises to the workout.
Lay on the floor with heels on the ball. Tighten your muscles until your body resembles a ramp running up from the shoulders to the ball. Lower buttocks slowly to the ground and repeat for 15 repetitions. During the second set, raise one leg off the ball at the same time as the body is forming the ramp. Alternate legs for 15 reps.
Lay down on your stomach on the exercise ball, using your hands on the floor for stability. Allow the ball to roll down your body as your hands simultaneously walk forward until the ball is resting just above the knees. Do 15 push ups in this position then walk your hands back until the ball is resting on the stomach again.
From a standing position, hold the ball in front with both hands. Squat while holding the ball, then when returning to standing, twist slightly to the right. Return to center before descending back into the squat. This time twist slightly to the left when standing. Alternate sides for 15 repetitions. -
Strengthen muscle fibers faster by adding weight and more extensions to the workout. With lightweight dumbbells, sit on the ball and lean back slowly, as if preparing to do a crunch. Once your back is flat on the ball, pull your core muscles in and pull your elbows back to begin chest presses. Complete 15 chest presses. Move both dumbbells to one hand and lower the weights to the ground before attempting to return to a sitting position.
Flip over onto your stomach, allowing your knees to rest on the floor. Press your chest against the ball, pick up the dumbbells, and perform 15 bicep curls.
Lay on the floor with the ball between your legs. Grasp the ball by pressing your feet against it, and lift the the ball up by engaging the core muscles to raise the legs. Lower slowly.
At this level of fitness, all exercises should be repeated at three sets of 15 to 18 repetitions.
