New ways to exercise are always being invented, there is a particularly new and exciting way of exercising that has become very popular - balance balls. Some of the reasons for the popularity of these Swiss ball exercises are that it’s extremely portable, it’s very low impact (therefore it’s very quiet), it can be carried out in a very small area and it doesn’t cost much.

Probably the most popular exercise ball in use at the moment is the Swiss ball. This is an inflatable ball which is usually around 65 or 75 cm diameter. Quite a lot of folks just replace their work chair with a Swiss ball. when you are sitting on a Swiss ball, it feels quite natural to make small rocking movements rather than just sitting still which works the core and also provides a small amount of exercise even while just sitting around.

But when it is used in the course of normal exercise the Swiss ball is an amazingly versatile piece of kit. Many of the exercises using the Swiss ball work the core primarily but all of these exercises work secondary muscles at the same time and it’s also possible to emulate the same kind of exercises that you can do on home gym machines.

The first time I encountered a Swiss ball was at the gym where the instructor showed me how to do press ups with my feet balanced on the top of the ball. While doing this, the feet attempt continually to roll off the top of the ball, therefore as well as the usual benefits of doing press ups, the core is constantly working while trying to stop the feet from rolling off the sides of the ball.

Most Swiss ball exercises are based on the same principle - a part of the body is balanced on the top of the ball and gravity tries to encourage this part of the body to roll off the side of the ball. This may sound quite basic and you may assume that there aren’t many exercises that can be done in this manner. But you simply have to do a search on youtube for the phrase Swiss ball exercise and very quickly you will usually find that there are literally hundreds of different exercises that you can do using the Swiss ball.

In fact, once you have tried doing these exercises and learning new ones you will usually probably begin inventing your own new ones before long. Returning to the press up with the feet on the Swiss ball, once you have attempted this you will usually notice that it not only works the core, but it adds a new angle to the upper body work that you do. As you will probably discover while doing press ups the whole of your upper body eventually starts to shake and quiver because of the forces transferred from the feet all of the way down the body to the arms. This is one of the key reasons why it is so effective to use the Swiss ball for your exercises.

As mentioned, there are lots of floor exercises that can be carried out using the Swiss ball. But if we scoot ahead to the advanced level one of the hardest but most advantageous ways to use the Swiss ball is to carry out exercises while standing on top of it. This is not recommended for beginners as it can be rather perilous. Once one is ready to try these advanced exercises, you should first learn to kneel on the Swiss ball. Once this has been mastered, one can advance to standing up on it.

Again, by searching youtube you will usually come across some excellent examples of exercises that you can carry out while standing on a Swiss ball. When searching, you will find that they have a variety of names such as Swiss balls, balance balls and exercise balls. One of the most important things to consider while trying to learn the skill is that when you involuntarily dismount the landing can be quite painful, therefore safety mats should be used to start out at all times. Obviously, the most common occurrence is for the legs to slide off the side of the ball which is the same as your feet going from under you - just like when slipping on ice. Please consider this because the main reason for exercising is to improve your health, not to damage it.

When you have conquered standing on a Swiss ball, you will be a Swiss ball master and will have amazingly strong core and legs and an amazing ability to balance.