Ball Exercise

Work your chest. Come into a plank position with your hands on the ball about shoulder width apart and arms extended. Slowly lower down until your chest lightly touches the ball, then push back up. Another exercise is a dumbell chest press. For this exercise, lie on the ball with your head and shoulders comfortably resting on it and dumbells in both hands. Turn your palms forward and push the weights straight up until they are about one inch apart. Your knees should be bent 90 degrees and there should be a straight line from the back of your shoulders to your knees. To make this exercise more challenging, place your feet on a BOSU.

Work your shoulders. Sit on the ball with your back straight and your feet flat on the floor about shoulder width apart. Grab dumbells and bring your hands up to about shoulder height with your palms facing forward. Press the weights up and straighten your arms until the dumbells are about one inch apart. Slowly lower back to the starting position.

Work your back. A good back exercise can be done with the body only. Lie face down on the ball with your hips at about the center and your legs straight in a wide stance. Place your hands on the side of your head and fold forward over the ball. Rise back up. Keep your back straight throughout the whole exercise.

Work the back of your arms. Place the ball against the wall at about eye level. Extend your arms straight into the ball and place your fists into the ball. Slowly lower your body into the ball by bending your elbows. At this point, your nose should be almost touching the ball. Force your fists into the ball and roll back up to the starting position. Pretend you have two knives in your hand and you are making a downward stabbing motion.

Work your biceps. Grab dumbells and lie on the ball with your shoulders and head comfortably resting on it. Place your elbows against the ball with your palms facing up. For this exercise, drop your hips and put your body into an incline position. Slowly lower the weights to your sides, then curl them back up.

Do some functional training. Sit on the ball with a medicine ball in both hands. Extend your arms straight out in front of you. Now rotate to the right and then back to the left. Go back and forth in a slow and controlled fashion. Keep you head in line with the ball the whole time, and keep your arms and back straight.

Work the abs. One of the signature exercises of an exercise ball is an ab crunch. Lie on the ball so your upper body is slightly lifted and the lower back is the contact point. Place your hands on the sides of your head and perform crunches. Make sure to keep your feet flat on the floor and your legs straight throughout the exercise.

Squeeze the ball. To do a chest squeeze, stand up with your feet about shoulder width apart. Grab the ball right about in the center, lift it up, straighten your arms and squeeze the pulp out of it. Another exercise you can do is for the legs. Straddle over top of the ball with the inside of your legs pressing into it. Slightly bend your knees and squeeze as hard as you can. This really focuses on the adductors; the muscles on the inside of the thighs.

Hit the hamstrings. Lie on your back on the floor. Bend your knees and place your heels on the top of the ball. Lift your hips off the floor so your back comes into a straight line. Your hands should be lying flat on the floor next to your hips. Roll the ball back toward your glutes, then roll it back out.