Pilates Info Guide

Benefits of a Pilates Ball

Have you ever used a Pilates ball as part of your normal Pilates workout? If you have, then you know how beneficial using a Pilates ball can be. Often referred to as Swiss balls, exercise balls, or fitness balls, Pilates balls can be very helpful in your goal to become fit and in shape.

When people think of Pilates, they often envision someone on either a mini pilates ball or a large pilates ball, working and sweating a way as they strengthen their abs. However, interestingly enough, the original Pilates did not incorporate a Pilates ball the way that it incorporates the magic circle or the pilates reformers (I’ll write more about those in another post).

Of course, pilates balls have become increasingly popular among enthusiasts simply because of the benefits one can achieve using it. Generally speaking, when you workout using pilates you do so to strengthen your core muscles—and using a good fitness ball will help you do exactly that. In fact, the best pilates ball can be very effective in training and building your core muscles. Every exercise you perform on the fitness ball will be a little more difficult that if you did it on a sturdy, solid bench. Why? Simply because of the instability inherent in the nature of the pilates ball. You will be forced to balance and leverage your body in addition to performing the traditional exercises. In other words, you make the exercise more complex, helping you achieve maximum effectiveness in your workouts by stimulating all your muscles.

If you have not tried using a Pilates ball as part of your pilates workout, I would highly recommend finding a good one and at least trying it—you will be pleasantly surprised at what you will find.

Posted in PIlates Ball |