Personal training programs online can provide a wealth of knowledge and direction for those who are looking for an exercise program that aligns with their goals and current fitness levels. Many individuals who are looking for a low-impact workout to build stability, core strength, and flexibility turn to yoga to help them reach their personal fitness goals. Yoga training with exercise balls can provide a challenging workout that builds lean muscle, improves flexibility, strengthens the core, and improves joint range of motion.
A yoga balance ball is also known as an exercise ball or stability ball. These yoga exercise balls come in a variety of sizes based on your body size and what types of exercises you want to do on them. You can fully inflate them for maximum firmness or let some of the air out to make them softer. Yoga ball exercises challenge your core as you work harder to stabilize yourself and keep balanced and stay upright. If you have never worked with a yoga balance ball before, you are in for a challenging, yet fun treat! Exercise balls can be used to do exercises you may have done before on a mat, but the ball allows the movements to be more fluid and can support your spine as you go into a deeper position and hold the movements longer. This benefit of using the stability ball makes those regular mat exercises a lot more challenging and difficult.
One popular yoga ball exercise is the Stability Ball Jackknife. This exercise is done in a high plank position with your feet on the ball. Keep your trunk straight and bend your knees to roll the exercise ball toward your upper torso. Pause when you get as far as you can go and extend back out to neutral position. This exercise strengthens your core and hip flexors. Decline push-ups can also challenge your core strength. Remain in a high plank position with your toes on the stability ball. Bend your elbows and perform a push-up. Return to your high plank neutral position. Wall sits can also be done with exercise balls. Having the ball against the wall at your lower back, keep your spine straight as you squat. Go down as far as you can and pause before coming back up to neutral position. Doing wall sits with a stability ball activates your glutes, hamstrings, and quads. These are just a few exercises that you can do with yoga breathing or incorporated into yoga movements to help build strength, improve functional fitness and core strength.
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