Discover How to Do Stability Ball Crunches to Get Perfect Abs

Researches show that adding a stability ball to crunches boosts the results for upper and lower abs and oblique. For toning and tightening abs, various workouts are used, but it has been proven through the latest researches that workouts which use stability ball are more effective than regular crunches as they engage all smaller core muscles, which are quite helpful in balancing your body on the ball, and you will be able to sculpt all major muscle groups found in abdominal area like transverses abdominus muscles, obliques and rectus.

Why to Do Crunches on a Stability Ball?

Doing crunches on stability ball seems to be fun as you have to balance your body on soft surface of the ball which prevents pain and discomfort on your back that often occurs when you do regular laying crunch exercises. This makes you feel that you are not doing some difficult exercises but actually having fun.

Stability ball ab crunches help you improve metabolism, digestive system and as mentioned above, prevents injuries which often occurs while you are doing traditional exercises to improve your abs muscles as your back and hips are involved in such exercises. Even if you don’t have lots of time, you can easily spare 10 minutes to perform this simple workout to tone your abs and define your waist in a much better way.

Various Forms of Stability Ball Crunches

1) Weighted Stability Ball Crunch

Unlike traditional way, you can also use weights which will improve the result and you will feel much better. When you do crunches on a stability ball with weight, it works even more effectively for your abs and increases intensity and provides wider range for motion. Here you can learn how to do this exercise;

  1. Arrange a stability ball and sit on it by putting your feet on surface of the flat floor and maintain hip-width.
  2. Use the ball to lie on it with your back and take support for you body from buttocks and shoulder blades. In this way your abdominals will come right at the top. However, your head will be hanging off the ball.
  3. If you want to use weights, you need to hold a weight plate in your hands to put it right behind your head. The weighted plate will be on your head and the elbows will be out to the sides.
  4. Once you have taken right position from all angles, it is time to involve your core muscles and make your upper body roll up to the point where your shoulder blades leave off the ball.
  5. Make sure that your head is still in alliance with weight plate, but it should be light move and you should not push the plates to move your head up.
  6. Balance the plate with your hands, but raise your upper body with the help of your abs not your hands.
  7. Complete the motion and then go back to the previous position to take the second rep.

2) Stability Ball Reverse Crunches

It is also considered to be a better and safer way to provide an alternative to the traditional ways. You can easily keep your back straight during the entire exercise which is quite helpful in reducing the risks of injuries, pain and strain. This exercise is used to work with legs, stomach, hips and glutes.

3) Stability Ball Oblique Crunches

This is another way to perform this exercise and this is an ideal workout, especially for those who are completely fed up with traditional abdominal workouts. The main reason to use this form is the effectiveness as there are many people who don’t get the results using old ways and surely they would like to use some new techniques and this is one of the new and unconventional ways and is highly effective.

Final Words

The abovementioned are some of the variations which are also effective in burning fat and building overall body muscles. If you are really serious about packing on abs, you must try to these exercises to see the awesome results.