Start the New Year looking and feeling your best with the fitball, a versatile exercise aid that helps to tone and strengthen your body. Scott Rose from Regenesis Health & Fitness reports.

The fitball exercise ball has become one of the most common exercise accessories. Versatile and fun, they can be found rolling about gyms and training studios, homes and even offices.

Origins
An Italian toy company first manufactured fitballs as Pezzi balls in the sixties. They were soon used in rehabilitation of children and adults with movement impairments. In the eighties, American physical therapists began using them after witnessing their benefits in Switzerland, and thus the term Swiss ball was used. They progressed from the clinical arena into gymnasiums as a fitness tool during the nineties.

How fitballs work
Fitballs increase the effectiveness of many normal exercises when compared to a bench or the ground. They are like a mobile, unstable bench that challenges reflexes and requires more muscles to work continuously harder to maintain balance and healthy alignment of the different body segments.

Changing body shape
On its own, a fitball is fantastic for toning and strengthening the midsection of the body. Its contours and stabilising demands on abdominal and spinal muscles facilitate a good range of exercises for the front, back and sides of the body's ‘centre'.

Combined with other equipment such as dumbbells, they are invaluable and can complement exercises for all major muscle groups.

Used on their own, they are also useful during early stages of a new workout program - low-impact conditioning movements such as squats, bridges and push-ups are given more worth using easy fitball versions.

Realistically, high levels of coordination and strength are required to perform the types of intense bodyweight fitball exercises that will effect noticeable changes in muscle appearance other than the midsection. However, by improving the body's movement efficiency, they eventually contribute a great deal to physical transformation.

Helping back problems
Fitballs have application in the prevention and rehabilitation of back injuries as well as other areas of the body - hence their place in physio and pilates studios. Qualified instruction in using them for this purpose is advised.

Replacing a chair with a fitball is often viewed as a healthy back habit. While this works in theory, it requires sitting with correct posture, and possibly some additional exercises to really benefit the spine. Many specialists recommend using one as a chair for no more than a few hours each day.

Other uses

Fitballs are a close ally to a range of sportspeople for enhancing performance. Creative warm-up and stretching routines can be done on them. Fitballs can add a sense of ‘play' to a session, which increases motivation.

For advice on essentials such as correct sizing, posture and suitable exercises, consult a fitness professional. Like any workout equipment, practising on a fitball regularly and progressing skills gradually can add new colours to an exercise lifestyle.

ACSM #43