Wondering if anyone has / uses an excercise ball for their ab workouts . Ive heard that they are very good, for that purpose, for stability issues.

What brand is good overall?

I've never bought one but I frequently use them. Let me just say that they are very versatile and ace for building core strength and intensifying various exercises.

I have an exercise ball, and I love it.

Now that I've been doing my crunches on them, it doesn't feel right to do them on a mat anymore. The bonus after the crunch is just to drape yourself over the ball to stretch. Heavenly.

I also use it as resistance for the inner thighs (squeeze the ball between my legs) and I do wall slides with it. My aerobics instructor swears by "butt blasters", so I'll have to look that up and try it.

Mine is "Energetics" and is so comfortable I use it to lean back on to watch tv, and my kids fight over who gets to exercise on it.

I use a physio-ball (same thing I think you're talking about) that I bought back when I was rehabing a shoulder years ago. Abs on it are fabulous. Half the work almost literally gets you the same benefit as other off-ball ab exercises.

It's a bit tougher to get the very lowest abs using the ball, but it's still possible. The variability of how you can shift yourself ever-so-slightly really helps in my view. Plus, the stretch is great between sets by just lying back and moving around gently. No other way to get this good a stretch... I do other ab stuff too, but if I had to choose one tool only it would be the ball.

I use one of the official Italian Gymnastika (I think) balls, but any of them will do nicely. Just make sure it's the right size (I'm 5'9" and use a 75cm ball) and puncture resistant...

I agree that they are great... use one all the time for Abs / Core / & Streatching....

Becareful though.... The first one I bought was red, and the dye rubbed off on my gym clothes and on my cream colored carpet :mad: . I returned it and bought another brand, and everything is fine. Just a note for thought.

I have an exercise ball, and I love it.

Now that I've been doing my crunches on them, it doesn't feel right to do them on a mat anymore. The bonus after the crunch is just to drape yourself over the ball to stretch. Heavenly.

I also use it as resistance for the inner thighs (squeeze the ball between my legs) and I do wall slides with it. My aerobics instructor swears by "butt blasters", so I'll have to look that up and try it.

Mine is "Energetics" and is so comfortable I use it to lean back on to watch tv, and my kids fight over who gets to exercise on it.

Hi ther, I'm desperate to start using my ball but have no idea what to do. Please could you let me know of some aerobic excercise to do for general fitness and toning.

There is so much that can be done with a stability ball, that this forum would need a seperate catagory just for Stability Ball Training. The videos that they include with some balls are pathetic. For starters, you might want to consider picking up a video from one of the true masters in the field. Check out the selection by Juan Carlos Santana from the Institute of Human Performance. (http://www.ihpfit.com/) Just click on the Products tab.

I bought one as well... it works REALLY well right when you wake up in the morning and just wanna stretch.

You've all convinced me to go buy one on my way home...

If you want an extra strong ball, there's the duraball pro. I stuff mine between 2 metal supports so that it's held securely and then I can do situps on it while my feet are raised high up and hooked behind a support...so my feet are higher than my head, with my legs bent, with my lower back supported on the ball, and at the start of the movement my head is pointing towards the floor, so I get a nice prestretch. It's also great for doing dumbell pullovers on.