People are always coming up with new ways of doing exercise and physical fitness, but there is a new game in town that is all the rage - exercise balls. Some of the reasons for the explosion in popularity of these Swiss ball exercises are that it is extremely portable, it is very low impact (therefore it is particularly quiet), it can be carried out in a very small area and the cost is very cheap.

One of the most popular exercise balls folks are using at the moment is the Swiss ball. This is an inflatable ball which is usually around 65 or 75 cm diameter. Quite a lot of folks just replace their work chair with a Swiss ball. When sitting on a Swiss ball, it feels quite natural to make small rocking movements rather than just sitting still which works the core and also provides a small amount of exercise even while just sitting around.

But when used for full-blown exercise the Swiss ball is an amazingly versatile piece of exercise equipment. Many of the exercises using the Swiss ball primarily work the core but all of the exercises work secondary muscles at the same time and you can also emulate the same kind of exercises that you can do on home gym equipment.

One day while I was working at the gym, a gym instructor showed me how to do press ups by putting my feet on top of the ball. The natural tendency is for the feet to roll off to either the left or the right of the ball, therefore as well as the usual benefits of doing press ups, you are also continually working the core which is trying to stop the feet from rolling off the sides of the ball.

Most of the Swiss ball exercises use similar principles - some part of the body is balanced on top of the ball and gravity tries to encourage this part of the body to dismount from the top of the ball. This may sound quite basic and you might assume that there aren’t many exercises that can be done in this manner. But you only have to do a search on youtube for the term Swiss ball exercise and very quickly you will usually find that there are literally tons of exercises that you can do with your Swiss ball.

In fact, once you try attempting these exercises and trying new ones you will usually most likely begin creating your own novel ones before too long. Returning to the press up with your feet on the Swiss ball, once you attempt this you will usually notice that it not only works on the core, but it gives a new dimension to the upper body labor that you do. As you will discover while doing press ups the whole of your upper body eventually starts to quiver and shake because of the extra forces transferred from the feet all of the way down the body to the arms. This is one of the many reasons why using the Swiss ball for exercise is so effective.

As mentioned, there are lots of floor exercises that can be carried out using the Swiss ball. But if we scoot ahead to the advanced level one of the hardest but most advantageous ways to use the Swiss ball is to do exercises while standing on it. This is not to be recommended for beginners as it can be quite hazardous. Once you are ready to try these complex exercises, you should first learn to kneel on the Swiss ball. Then once this has been achieved, one can then advance to standing up on it.

Again, by looking on youtube you will usually find some great demonstrations of exercises that you can do while standing on top of a Swiss ball. When searching, you will find that they have a variety of names such as Swiss balls, balance balls and exercise balls. The most important thing to consider while trying to master the skill is that when the ball throws you off the landing can be very painful, therefore safety mats should be used to start out at all times. Obviously, the normal occurrence is for the legs to slip off the side of the ball which is the equivalent of your feet going from under you - just like when slipping on ice. Please consider this as the main reason for exercising is to improve your health, not to damage it.

Once you have conquered standing up on a Swiss ball, you will be a Swiss ball master and will have developed amazingly strong legs and core and an incredible balance ability.

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