Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

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Panda
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Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by Panda »

Recently, I went body boarding while hanging onto a rope tied to the back of a boat down the Tchefuncta River near where I live at about 30 miles per hour (48.3 kilometers per hour). I did a great job of balancing on the raft and only fell off once when I hit a large wave and it flipped my raft over. It was a lot of fun and I saw a lot of beautiful sights, but I had to get out of the water when we got to the area where there are alligators. Alligators will hunt humans.

Anyway, since then, I've decided that I want to strengthen my core some more so that I can be able to better maintain my balance when engaging in such exciting activities as this. However, I don't know of any specific exercises that really concentrate on the core aside from planks and crunches on the fitness ball that I have. Does anyone here know of any good exercises to strengthen core muscles? I have a small, waist with a little definition, but not a lot of muscle, can do Yoga, acrobatics, and I have access to a shallow pool, so I would prefer to do something more efficient than just crunches or sit-ups all the time. Besides, I've heard that sit-ups aren't good for your back.
HectorMeyer
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by HectorMeyer »

Yeah, Yoga is a really relaxing and refreshing activity, no doubt:

http://acidcow.com/pics/3100-russian_dr ... _pics.html

No but seriously, Pilates might be what you are looking for. Similar to Yoga and focuses on strengthening the muscles.
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Panda
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by Panda »

This looks like a great exercise for me to do on my own.
HectorMeyer wrote:Yeah, Yoga is a really relaxing and refreshing activity, no doubt:

http://acidcow.com/pics/3100-russian_dr ... _pics.html

No but seriously, Pilates might be what you are looking for. Similar to Yoga and focuses on strengthening the muscles.
Lol, funny video. I can do those poses without being drunk.

I tried Pilates once a very long time ago and thought that the class that I was in seemed a lot like an Aerobics class. I think that the instructor modified the way that it was supposed to be taught. Aerobics classes can be helpful especially for cardio workouts and socializing, but I tend to get a little board in them. Plus, I don't really need to stress out about cardio since I can jog about 5 miles. However, the description of the class in Wikipedia makes it seem as though it is exactly what I'm looking for. I'll have to see if there's a good class at the Local YMCA. I'm not sure if they would have the equipment shown in the picture in the wiki, but if it really is similar to corrective exercise or gymnastics and stays close to Joseph Pilates's original work, I'd join the class. I can still to somersaults and splits and used to really enjoy gymnastics. Thank you for the good suggestion.
Machete234
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by Machete234 »

No pictures, no videos, too much text, boring....
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KaiserJ
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by KaiserJ »

lay on your back on the floor, put your heels onto a ------- chair. try to straighten yourself out, then relax again/

i forget what the exercise is called but you'll feel it in your legs and abs and ass
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Panda
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by Panda »

Machete234 wrote:No pictures, no videos, too much text, boring....
I don't like to take pictures and I don't think that I could have from the raft. Plus, I didn't have a camera.

Here's a picture of a light house that I saw.
Image

Here is a dock on the river.
Image

KaiserJ wrote:lay on your back on the floor, put your heels onto a ------- chair. try to straighten yourself out, then relax again/

i forget what the exercise is called but you'll feel it in your legs and abs and ass
There's a Yoga pose called the bridge pose that's similar to that, but I don't think that it's really that effective.
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Panda
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by Panda »

I saw a lot of turtles too, so have a picture of a turtle:
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PicassoCT
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by PicassoCT »

I would suggest Chinups with additional leg ups. They are good for the spine (as not stressing it, even relaxing it slightly).

For balance, i would recomend sports that make you constantly change orientation but need a sense of direction to be done. Trampoline is good, tennis is better, but best is climbing - stuff like this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE4qvZ-9fdc

Do not go for seemingly specialed trainings on balance like the balance beam- thing is a freaking bone breaker if ever something goes wrong - and accidents occure. One member of my family had her coccyx broken, and she really was good at that sort of stuff.
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SinbadEV
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by SinbadEV »

Psychotropic drugs are probably a more efficient means of gaining new and interesting experiences and they don't require you to improve your core strength... just putting that out there.

I'd recommend taking up a Martial art (my suggestion is WTF Taekwondo).
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Panda
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

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SinbadEV wrote:Psychotropic drugs are probably a more efficient means of gaining new and interesting experiences and they don't require you to improve your core strength... just putting that out there.
I find that a lot of medications often make me feel more sick than I would had I not taken them. I'd hate to ever have to take a something like a psychotropic drug.
PicassoCT wrote:but best is climbing - stuff like this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE4qvZ-9fdc
That is an awesome looking climbing wall, but I don't know if there is anything like that near where I live. I like hiking and climbing, though.
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Panda
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by Panda »

PicassoCT wrote:Do not go for seemingly specialed trainings on balance like the balance beam- thing is a freaking bone breaker if ever something goes wrong - and accidents occure.
I never got hurt from doing flips on the balance beam or fences, but I wasn't really interested in doing something like that anyway. I don't think that it would help me build muscle and wouldn't be, overall, particularly useful.
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bobthedinosaur
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by bobthedinosaur »

you don't need any kind of fancy equipment or specialized training/ sessions. just find something you can do at home that isn't a chore for you to keep doing and you will find results over enough time.
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Panda
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by Panda »

bobthedinosaur wrote:you don't need any kind of fancy equipment or specialized training/ sessions. just find something you can do at home that isn't a chore for you to keep doing and you will find results over enough time.
That seems like good, sensible advice. I've always heard that it is best to exercise regularly and have a regular schedule for doing things so that you can be healthy and efficient while making sure that you some time to do things that you enjoy. Then I sometimes wonder if that's possible for most people. For many people, once they graduate from high school, their schedule becomes very hectic. University class schedules work schedules are always changing, so, unless your a fitness major, it can be difficult to keep up with workouts. :( I think that this is kind of sad, but I do a pretty good job of keeping up with my work outs anyway. I don't know how people with children can manage to do things like work a bunch of odd or late hours and go to the university and take care of their kids can do that without sacrificing their health, though. I've met people at my university who do that.
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bobthedinosaur
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by bobthedinosaur »

kids, university, job, sacrificing health, sounds pretty familiar
sonakshy
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by sonakshy »

Table Tennis Ruining Your Lawn Tennis On Court? Hi, I am an avid tennis player, I am 14 years old and I am getting a ping pong table. I play tennis very often, from 4-7 times a week, and I was wondering if I started to play table tennis regularly would it ruin my tennis on court?
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SinbadEV
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by SinbadEV »

sonakshy wrote:Table Tennis Ruining Your Lawn Tennis On Court? Hi, I am an avid tennis player, I am 14 years old and I am getting a ping pong table. I play tennis very often, from 4-7 times a week, and I was wondering if I started to play table tennis regularly would it ruin my tennis on court?
... it probably doesn't matter... seeing as you are most likely a bot and bot's don't tend to be good at Lawn tennis OR Table tennis...

ALSO: Who the heck calls Tennis "Lawn Tennis"... That's worse then people calling Hockey "Ice Hockey" which is equally annoying but far more common.
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MidKnight
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by MidKnight »

The hardest part about strengthening your core is not injuring your back at the same time. Combining core exercises with some stuff for your lower back may be a good idea.

As for suggestions: Rock climbing is lots of fun and does a lot for your core (and also your hand muscles). If you don't want to drive out to a rock face or bring a buddy to belay you, there are sometimes indoor rock-climbing clubs that handle all of that for you for a small fee.
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Panda
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by Panda »

I've been doing planks on my exercise ball which is difficult to balance on. I've also been doing crunches on the ball and some exercises related to doing back flips that I learned from gymnastics a long time ago. Don't worry, they aren't dangerous and I can still do back bends, some flips, etc. so flexibility is not something that I have to really worry about. I've also been doing some weightlifting and am actually getting some muscle. I'm so happy!
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PicassoCT
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Re: Core Exercises With A Fitness Ball

Post by PicassoCT »

Anoying thing with muscles is that you got to use them every three days, ore they will atrophy, wither away.
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