Stability Ball

Points to Ponder

Take a good look at yourself and assess your current level of fitness and state of mind.
Determine your goals and objectives.
Be realistic. Do not expect changes overnight.
Have a thorough medical exam and the approval of your physician before you participate.
Be knowledgeable about “How to” select the correct exercises and how to properly perform them.
Remember that exercise combined with reduction in caloric intake is by far the most satisfactory method of losing weight.
Fit the regimen into your schedule. The time of the day is not important except you should not work out after a meal.
Remember that firm muscles are more attractive than sagging ones. If you are a female, you should not be concerned with developing bulging muscles as it is highly unlikely that you will do so.
Avoid taking measurements immediately after exercise because muscles tend to hypertrophy during and immediately after exercise.
Know that extensive exercise may decrease your appetite. Even if studies do not show that any increase is negligible and that you will burn more calories than you take in.
Expect your bone structure to stay the same.
Remember that heredity is a major factor in determining appearance. Exercising makes it easier for you to attain and maintain a desired shape and size but will not solve all figure and physique problems.
Woman be active during menstrual periods. Lack of proper exercise is often the cause of dysmenorrheal.
De active as there is no such thing as “effortless exercise”.
Know your target heart rate range and work within it.
Start each work out with a warm-up.
Be aware of signs of overexertion and stop if you: feel dizzy, feel nausea, cannot talk normally and have difficulty breathing, begin to shake, experience chest , arm, or facial pain or tightness in the chest, or have a very pale or flushed face.
Perform exercises slowly to help prevent soreness and injury. Emphasize proper technique and full range of motion. Exercise slowly and rhythmically concentrating on strong muscular effort.

The Core

Muscles can have two different roles. In one, they act to move the body (mobilizers), in the other they act to resist or control movement (stabilizers). In the core, the mobilizers can move you four main ways: bending forward, backwards, and sideways, as well as twisting.

The role of the core stabilizers is to keep the individual bones of your spine correctly aligned while using your mobilizers. This is known as Spinal or Core stability. These spinal stabilizers include the Transversus Abdominis (TVA), Multifidi and Rotatores. To make things simple, these muscles will be referred to collectively as spinal stabilizer muscles. For exercises that use spinal stabilizers, benefits will be described as “improve core stability.” Of these three stabilizers, you can most easily find you TVA muscle, and therefore know when it is working.

Sit-ups and crunches strengthen the mobilizers, but even when you finally have that washboard stomach you may still have poor spinal stability. Strong mobilizers do not give you good core stability. This is because mobilizing muscles are not attached in the correct positions to do this job, and they become tired quickly. Research shows that people with good core stability are less likely to suffer from lower back pain and injuries.

TVA?

In order to engage your TVA voluntarily and begin training it, you need to learn when it is working. Lie on your back with your knees and hips bent, feet flat on the floor. With your finger tips, find the top left and right corners of your pelvis, they should feel like hard bony points. Now slide your fingers down and inwards 2 inches. Apply pressure. You are now above your TVA muscle. To contract the TVA, hollow your lower abdomen, especially the sides. This is not as easy as it may sound. If you are having difficulty visualizing what to do or contract, try one of the prompt below.

· Imagine you have a string attached just below your belly button running through to your spine. Now pull that string towards your back bone.

· Try to pull the corners of your pelvis (the hard boney points) towards each other.

· Imagine pulling the sides of your waist away from your belt.

If you are contracting your TVA you should feel slight tension equally under your fingertips on both sides. Remember this feeling. This is what you need to do later when you read “engage your TVA”, “stabilize your trunk”, or “stabilize core”. You will use your TVA’s a lot!

If you feel the muscles bulge up, then you are trying too hard and are starting to use your mobilizing muscles. Back off a little. You need to learn to tighten the muscles with a low intensity effort. Postural and stabilizing muscles respond best to low forces. Keep practicing until you get it right!

You want to avoid tilting your pelvis, moving your back, breathing in and holding your breath. If any of these happen, then you are ‘cheating’ by using your mobilizing muscles and need more practice.

Do not worry if you have trouble doing this properly; you are not alone. Many highly trained athletes have trouble contracting their TVA properly! With repeated practice, you should be able to get your core stabilizers to contract on command.

“No Pain, No Gain?”

The old phrase”no pain, no gain” does not apply to all situations. For the most part, pain should not be experienced when performing ball exercises. Feelings of discomfort within the exercising muscle, sometimes described as ‘burning’, ‘aching’, or ‘fatigue’, may be felt. These sensations are similar to those in the stomach when doing many sit-ups, or in you quads when climbing a few flights of stairs. This discomfort is normal and acceptable.

Pains that are ‘sharp’ deep joint pains, or pain that lasts when you stop an exercise, should not be pushed through. If you cannot perform the exercise with correct technique then it is likely too advanced for you. Return to a similar, but easier exercise. NOT all exercises are suitable for everyone. We do not all have the same bodies.

If you are just starting to exercise, or trying a new technique, it is common to experience muscle soreness the following day. This soreness usually peaks on the second day and dissipates over the next few days. To minimize this soreness, start your program slowly and gradually build up the amount and difficulty of the exercises.

Strength vs. Endurance vs. Power

Strength is the amount of force a muscle can generate for a specific movement. Muscular endurance is the ability to do this movement repeatedly or for a sustained period of time. A common misconception is that training muscular strength and endurance is only for athletes. This is not true!

Both strength and endurance are of great value to each and every one of us. We use them every day when you do house-or yard-work, walk, run, lift, carry, sit, stand or any other type of recreational activities. Increased strength and endurance makes all of these tasks easier to perform. Strength and endurance also improves our posture, flexibility, personal appearance, self-image, and increases our metabolism and energy levels. Improved strength and endurance also helps prevent low back pain, decrease risk of injury, reduce body fat, enhance the ability to recover from fatigue and improve overall quality of life!

Power is defined as the rate at which a force is applied. For power, the question of speed of movement is important. The faster a given weight is moved, the more power is being exerted by the muscles. Power is an important concern for athletes and others in highly demanding sports or physical occupations.

In order to improve your strength and endurance, your body must be challenged to do more than usual. Tissues in the human body adapt and improve in response to the challenges they face. If muscles are required to exert more force than they are used to, they will adapt to this new level of activity by increasing their endurance and strength. This is known as the Overload Principle. A key point to remember is that once an exercise seems easy, your muscles have adapted and become stronger. For continued improvement, challenges need to be increased.

The following might be called the ‘Underload Principle’! If you stop challenging your muscles, they will lose the strength and endurance they have gained.

Walking the Walk

Rest Periods: this is the amount of time taken to rest in between sets of exercise. Rest is needed between each set to allow some muscle recovery. If you do not rest, you will not be able to perform the next set effectively. Rest too long and you may not overload your muscles.(Remember the overload principle)

Tempo: This is the speed at which an exercise is performed. Tempo can range from very slow to explosive. To improve general fitness, slow and controlled movements are best. A general guideline for each rep is to take two seconds to perform the concentric phase and three seconds to do the eccentric phase. This should be considered a moderate tempo.

Muscles have to be fatigued in order for them to get stronger. Therefore, when you complete a set of any exercise, your muscles should be tired. A general guideline is that your final rep should be difficult, but still done with proper technique.

Training Effects

Muscular Strength
Muscular Endurance- Exerting strength over a period of time.
Cardiovascular Endurance- Increasing the lung capacity and blood flow.
Flexibility- Stretching and lengthening the muscles.
Body Composition- Weight loss and toning the muscles.
Muscular Power- Exerting maximum muscular power immediately.

Upper extremities muscles	Location	Stretching	Role of the muscle	Exercises
Flexors	Front of Hand /forearm	Pull hand back and forward	Flex the hand and move the fingers	Wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, wrist rolls, squeeze ball.
Extensors	Back of Hand/forearm	Pull hand down	Flex the hand and move the fingers	Wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, wrist rolls, squeeze ball.
Biceps	Front of upper arm	Pull arm behind body without bending elbow or put thumb side of hand against wall and turn body away	Flexes the lower arm	Bicep curls, pull-ups using palms facing body, upright rowing
Triceps	Back of upper arm	Pull arm in front of body, volleyball stretch	Extends the lower arm	Narrow grip bench press, Shoulder press, dips, Lat pull downs
Deltoids	Shoulder	Pull arm in front of body, use straight arm against the wall	Lifts upper arm, rotates upper arm	Bench press, shoulder press, Dips, rowing
Core muscles
Pectorals	Chest	Pull both hands behind the back	Move arms and shoulders	Bench press, shoulder press, butterfly, Dips, front lat pull downs
Trapezius	Neck	Neck rolls	Rotates and flexes the head, shrugs the shoulders	Neck rolls, Lat pulls, shoulder press, shoulder shrugs
Latissmus Dorsi	Upper Back	Pull arm across the chest while bending down or twisting.	Shrugs the shoulders, extends the chest	Lat pulls, incline bench press, butterfly, roman chair.
Abdominals	Center of stomach	Trunk twists	Flexes and rotates the midsection	Sit-ups, incline sit-ups, skiers lift, leg lifts
Obliques	Sides of stomach	Trunk twists, side bends	Rotates and flexes the midsection	Side bends, side lifts, elbow to knee, seated twists
Lumbo Dorsi	Lower Back	Toe touches	Straightens or extends the core	Back hyperextension, dead lifts, squats
Lower Extremity muscles
Gastrocnemius	Calf	Toe extensions, straight leg stretch	Flexes and extends the foot	Seated toe raises, standing toe raises
Quadriceps	Front of upper leg	Hurdlers stretch back leg lifts	Flexes the lower leg	Squats, leg extensions, Lunges, leg press
Hamstring	Back of upper leg	Hurdlers stretch toe touches	Extends lower leg	Leg curls,leg press, lunges
Gluteus Maximus	Buttocks	Knee tucks, cross legged stretch	Extends the whole leg	Squats, Lunges, Leg Press,
Groin	Crotch	Hurdlers stretch lay down	Flexes the whole leg	Light squats, leg extensions

Terminology

Aerobic – Long lasting exercise done with oxygen.

Anaerobic – Short, powerful exercises done without oxygen.

Concentric contraction – A muscle contraction when the ends of the muscle are being brought to the center.

Eccentric contraction - A muscle contraction when the ends of the muscle moves away from the center.

F.I.T. Principle – F=Frequency- How often to work out. I= Intensity- How hard to work out. T= Time- How long to work out.

Isokenetic Exercises – Involves moving resistance through a range of motion on a device.

Isometric Exercises – Exercises involving no changes of the muscle length.

Muscular strength – The amount of force produced with a single muscular contraction. Having muscular strength helps decrease injuries, and improves physical conditioning.

Muscular Endurance – The capacity of a muscle or a group of muscles to continue to contract over a long period of time. Muscular endurance helps to resist muscle fatigue.

Set – A group of repetitions performed together is one set.

Repetitions – The number of times an exercise is performed.

Personal Weight Program

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Name

Goal: (Be specific)

Station(Exercise)	Max. lifts	Sets	reps	weight

Notes: