The Swiss Exercise Ball - Does you really require the Swiss Ball to Exercise?
( Let take an in-depth look at the Swiss Exercise Ball and Use - fitFlex Articles - Learn, Share and Discover! ) ..
Many gyms now feature a new piece of equipment: a Swiss ball. It looks like a giant beach ball, and when you look at it, the thought
occurs-just what is it good for? The large globe seems to bump into you at the most inopportune times, such as in the midst of a
searing set of biceps curls. What sets the ball in motion is often a mystery. Its apparent self-propulsion, however, harkens back
to the menacing Rover, the giant globe that trapped a former British secret agent known only as "Number 6" in the surreal prison
known as the Village in the 1967 television show "The Prisoner."
Proponents of Swiss balls say that exercising on their unstable surface promotes the training of trunk-stabilizing muscles. That,
in turn, would serve to train spinal stabilizers, which might lead to fewer spinal injuries. The results of studies done so far to
confirm such claims have been equivocal. One study showed that doing crunches over a Swiss ball was superior to doing them flat on
the floor. The effect was attributed to a greater range of motion in the Swiss ball crunches, along with more involvement of the
trunk stabilizers, such as the oblique and spinal muscles. Another study found that doing chest presses on the Swiss ball resulted
in much the same muscle activation as doing them on a flat bench, but the force generated was less when doing the exercise on the ball.
The unstable nature of Swiss balls could prove injurious to trainees with poor balance.
The most recent study examined several exeercise: supine abdominal curls, chest presses, seated shoulder presses, seated laterals, seated
biceps curls and seated double-arm overhead triceps presses.1 Not all subjects showed increased trunk-muscle activation when training
on the Swiss ball, as compared to using a conventional bench for the same exercise. The authors suggest that anyone who contemplates
training on a Swiss ball should first master the exercise on a more stable surface, such as a bench. Think about it pragmatically,
though: It doesn't make much sense to do chest presses or shoulder presses on a Swiss ball, since, as the study shows, there's no
guarantee you're getting any additional benefit over doing the same exercise on a conventional bench. In addition, the injury risk
is greater with the Swiss ball, especially if heavier weights are involved.
The one type of exercise that may benefit from the Swiss ball is the crunch. The greater range of motion you get activates more
abdominal muscles than doing the same exercise on the floor. Since most ab exercises don't involve the use of heavy weights, the
injury risk is also lower than for other exercises done on the ball.
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