Keeping your head curled up, lower one leg down to tap the toes to the floor keeping the core engaged and as still as possible through the rest of the body. Alternate from one foot to the other for around 30-45 seconds. We love to use the ball for recovery or rehab movements, and use it a lot for cardio and core training in functional fitness, or FunFit as we call it at the School of Happiness. Of course, you can use it in your standard daily workout routine. Most exercises focus on abs, hips and glutes, and upper torso. Often referred to as the core. The big takeaway here is that you do not need heavy and expensive gym equipment to stay fit. Bender Ball Specifications Increases the intensity and targets the muscles you want from all sides – your upper abs, the sides and your hard to reach lower abs. Laura has been using the ball for close to two decades. She has developed countless core fitness programs, workout routines, and recovery exercise videos. Many are available online to help you get well and stay fit.

This kit includes the entire Bender Method Kit plus 3 Additional Videos! You'll get the Bender Ball, The Bender Method Manual and Leslee Bender's amazing video: The Bender Method of Core Training. As a free gift, we are including a bonus video: the Bender Method of Buns & Thighs. Plus, includes the convenience of the Bender Preview Program.

To help you on your way then, we’ve compiled a list of the best Pilates balls to buy now, along with the most effective Pilates ball exercises according to Power Pilates UK founder Korin Nolan, and everything she wants you to know about the kit. What is a Pilates ball good for?

Fire Up Your Core & More! Discover exercises unique to the Bender Ball™ using the STM Approach - Stabilize Then Mobilize! On your exhale, nod your chin forwards, curl up the upper body as you engage your abdominals and squeeze the ball. Repeat 10-15 reps. To make this easier, put your feet down flat on the floor, knees bent. To make exercises harder: A Pilates ball can add a stability and balance challenge to your usual exercises just by giving you something to hold in place or it can add extra resistance when you squeeze it or push against it. Primarily for travel or transportation if you plan to fly to a destination and carry your ball. If you are going to travel by plane make sure you do deflate the ball otherwise it will get quite big in your suitcase due to cabin pressure.There is the rare exception when someone forgets to store it to keep it away from their pet! Unique Green Color Tone The amount of exercise balls on the market can make things v confusing, we know. A yoga ball is the larger aerobic kind (that you might see pregnant women bouncing around on as they're said to help bring labour on), whereas a Pilates ball is a small, squishy style; around the size of a football (size specifics below, courtesy of Korin), but made from the same material as a yoga ball. What size Pilates ball do I need? The Bender Ball has been so popular in our Move it or Lose it! classes we decided to make them available to our customers too. They are great for resistance exercises and can help improve core muscles for better posture too. Flex Pro Replacement GelPads by Slendertone. The GelPads are designed to work with both Men's and Women's ab toning products. All Slendertone replacement pads and accessories are manufactured to medical grade standard.

As they say, you are only as strong as your weakest link. That link is where you will likely get injured down the road if you don’t pay attention to it. Let’s avoid getting there and develop a strong “core” of foundational muscles. Each muscle has a job to do and if they are not doing it, you will likely feel aches and pains at some point. You can also increase the difficulty of an endurance exercise such as the plank by squeezing the ball while holding your plank. Do 3 sets of 20 on each leg. Take 30 seconds break in between. Increase the number of sets overtime. In this analogy, the crane arm could be your femur bone in your leg along with small skeletal muscles that attach your femur to other knee and hip bones. Let’s imagine your quadriceps is the cable. If you develop your quadriceps and do not proportionally strengthen the foundational layer or skeletal muscles that attach to your hip and knee, because both joints need good stabilization while you flex your quads, something will eventually break if you attempt to push your quadriceps to their full potential. This is often how joint injury takes place. You’ll notice it’s often the smaller muscles that are compromised. Muscles like the rotator cuff group in the shoulder, small abduction muscles in the pubic area, or smaller muscles in the elbow or knees.As you roll up into the bridge this time, press down onto the ball activating the hamstrings and glutes stronger on the supporting side. Make sure your hips stay level as you go up and down and keep the core active throughout. Repeat 10 -12 times on each side. The Stamina Magnetic Recumbent Bike gives you a great cardio workout in the convenience of your home. By the way, you would be amazed how simple exercises that seem ridiculously easy can be hard. We have seen very fit people unable to do some of the functional fitness moves in Laura’s classes. If you have tried Pilates, you know what I mean. Ab Workout Exercises An example of how it can make an exercise harder is the Bird-dog exercise. The Bird dog movement is a great progression toward the superman exercise. Once you are comfortable performing the bird dog without; as support for those who are injured, or are looking for a solution to progress through movements they haven’t mastered yet,