Gym Ball Workout

All you need for this routine is a physio ball. In just 10 minute, this app briefly engages all major muscle groups & helps you make the most of your time with a maximally effective & comprehensive workout.

This exercise ball workout has nine different moves for 45 seconds apiece. In between each exercise, you will be shown a demonstration of the next exercise; this 10 second interval will serve as a short break before you jump into the next active segment.

Make sure that you do a quick cardio warm up (5-10 minutes) to get those muscles ready to work.

Hamstring Curls – Lie on your back, place the heels of your feet on the physioball, and then draw your feet in towards & under your butt. You will feel this primarily in the backs of your thighs (the hamstrings), and your glutes, though your triceps, lower back, and shoulders also work to help stabilize your body.

Pushups – Balance on the ball at mid thigh with your hands on the ground and do a push up. If you want to make this harder, move the placement more towards your feet; situate it higher up on your body in order to make it less challenging.

Crunches – Sit on the ball and slowly lean back until you are parallel with the ground, rolling it so that it is positioned in the curve of the lower back. Do a basic crunch, except with a more full range of motion; because of the exercise ball, you can extend your back further on the downward part of the crunch. Focus on not letting the your hips move at all.

Wall Squats – Stand 1-2 feet away with your back towards a wall, holding the physioball between the small of your back and the wall. Drop into a basic squat.

Inner Thigh Squeezes – Place the physioball between your knees and squeeze. Relax and then repeat. This is a very small range of motion. Engage your core in order to use even more muscles and bump up your calorie burn.

Back Extension – Prop your feet against a wall with the ball up against your thighs; push out so that your weight and torso is balancing on the ball. Use your feet as an anchor and wrap forward & over the top, and then straighten yourself back up to the starting position.

Tricep Pushup – Use the same starting position as you did for the regular pushups above, but this time keep your elbows squeeze in towards your sides and your hands planted directly beneath your shoulders. Remember, you can make this one more or less difficult by changing the placement of the exercise ball under your body (closer to your shoulders is easier, towards your feet will be harder).

Abductor Lifts – Prop yourself up on one side, leaning over onto the physioball. The bottom leg will be your contact with the ground & what balances you while you lift the outside thigh upwards. Make sure that you don’t use momentum in order to get that leg upwards as you could end up straining muscles or at least minimize the effectiveness of the move. Focus on pulling in your bellybutton through the entire 45 seconds and you will get a bit of an extra toning benefit. You will repeat this on both sides of the body.

These kinds of quick workouts are awesome for toning up and burning calories, despite a schedule that is jammed packed. When you’re finished with this routine, reward yourself with a quick stretch on the physioball by positioning it in the small of your back (as you did during the crunches) and rounding over it so that you feel a nice total body stretch, moving your arms around and extending them over your body to incorporate the upper body, as well.