Like an apple, a workout a day keeps the doctor away! The only problem with that is that with our busy schedules it gets difficult to work out every day because one does not have the time to go to the gym or a class.
Also if one works out at home then all kinds of equipment are required which are expensive and the point of saving time and money are both gone. However all these problems can be put to rest with an effective 20 minute home workout on a gym ball.
Purchasing a gym ball is fairly inexpensive as it starts from Rs. 400. Another perk of using a gym ball is that it provides an adequate amount of cushioning which prevents injuries and reduces the wear and tear.
Now you would be wondering that how one can manage an entire body workout on a gym ball. Well, not only can you manage it, it will test your endurance strength and flexibility and work multiple muscles in your body.
#1 Push Ups
Fitness enthusiasts know that push ups are the ultimate full body workout. However push ups are not easy to do. They require a fair bit of strength in your arms and your core.
Doing push ups on the gym ball is not only easier but for beginners it ensures the correct posture and stance along with increasing your strength incrementally as you go down.
You place your arms right below your shoulder and your legs on the gym ball. One can increase or decrease the difficulty based on where you place your legs on the gym ball. If you place your legs between the ankle and knee, the difficulty increases, and between the knee and thighs, the difficulty decreases.
Once you are in this stance with your entire body parallel to the floor, try and bring your chest to the floor. The gym ball is a great buffer to aid your push ups. One can start between 15-20 reps and do 3 sets.
Buy Gym Balls Online at the Best Prices
#2 Swiss Ball Lunges
Lunges work the legs out in probably the best manner ever. From the quadriceps to glutes, the lunges work out almost everything. The problem with lunges can be that the posture is wrong and the depth of going into a lunge is too less. A gym ball corrects these problems and ensures a safe and proper manner of doing lunges.
Place your both your hands, with your palms touching the crown of your head. Then put your ankle against the gym ball and dive into a lunge. And after diving into a lunge, come up but not entirely up as this increases the work which is being done on your muscles and increases the intensity of the workout
.
Do 20 repetitions for each leg, that is a total of 40 lunges. And do 2 sets of the entire exercise and your legs are good to go.
#3 Physioball Crunches
Now, abdominal crunches are a staple of almost every workout. But crunches on a gym ball not only make the exercise more intense and interesting they provide many variations of doing the same.
The first way of doing a physioball crunch is to put your back against the ball with your legs firmly placed on the ground. Make sure that your shoulders are not on the ball. Place your hands on the crown of your head or in front of you and exhale and push your body up.
Another way of doing a physioball crunch is by facing the ball. Placing your elbows on it, while keeping your torso away from the ball. Start by by bending your elbows and placing your knees on the floor. This is your starting position. Then slowly straighten your elbows and extend your torso towards the ball. And then retract back to the original position.
One can do 20 repetitions and 3 sets of this exercise.