Many people have seen exercise balls lying around the house of someone they know. Often times, when they are not being used to work out the muscles, they are being used as a chair for guests or another place to sit. But exercise balls are more than simply a unique piece of guest furniture – they are a legitimate way to increase your strength and health through an intense at home workout.
What Are Exercise Balls?
Exercise balls are nothing more than very large, air filled rubber (plastic) balls than you may have seen as a kid. They often have small ripples in order to make sure they do not slip, and the material is generally thicker to prevent puncturing, but in essence they are very simple types of equipment that are inexpensive and do not take up much room in your home.
Why are Exercise Balls so Popular?
Exercise balls are popular because they turn a regular workout into a better workout. For example, abdominal crunches on an exercise ball are the third most effective type of abdominal workout, but regular crunches on an exercise ball are only the seventh most effective abdominal workout.
The reason for this is because exercise balls require constant balancing. That balancing significantly increases the amount of muscles that are being used at any given moment. Without doing it intentionally, your body is constantly trying to maintain stasis on the curved structure, resulting in a constant workout even when you are completely at rest (it is even recommended to use these balls as chairs).
Thus an exercise ball workout is more than just an additional workout tool – it is a tool that helps ensure that you receive more from the same workout. When doing a workout on a single muscle, you end up receiving a workout on a number of different muscles, especially your core muscles.
Not only does that continuous workout help you build strength in those areas, but it also means that you are going to see a significant rise in the amount of calories your burn doing each exercise. If more muscles are active, more muscles will be burning away fat, and you will end up losing significantly more weight.
Finally, when you perform a workout on an exercise ball, you are also getting the benefit of gravity which helps you get better resistance. This is yet another way that you get greater muscle mass and a better workout every time you exercise.
So with an exercise ball, you are getting:
– A greater chance of improving your overall strength and muscles when you exercise. – Greater muscle use in other areas of your body even when you are performing an exercise aimed at only one specific muscle. – Faster and more efficient weight loss.
All three of these are unique to exercise balls, which is one of the main reasons that this simple and effective exercising tool is such a popular new way to work out daily. Using an exercise ball can help to make sure you get the most from your workout.
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