An exercise such as lifting the ball with your feet, lying on your side, is more often used in training aimed at general physical training rather than the development of strength, speed, or muscle hypertrophy. Most sources will tell us how healthy they lose weight with such exercises, but you should understand that lifting the ball is not a panacea for fat on the sides, and other imperfections of the figure.
Purpose of the exercise
The goal of the exercise is to develop the flexibility of the lumbar spine, as well as the mobility of the hip joints. For a person with a low level of fitness, it is possible to work with the help of this exercise bringing the thigh muscles and obliques of the abdomen. In addition, the exercise allows you to develop a balance to work with weights on the back. It is used for training beginners or as part of rehabilitation therapy exercises.
Sometimes this exercise is considered “burning fat on the sides,” but this is not true. On the contrary, if the oblique muscles are well susceptible to hypertrophy, the waist will increase, but such low-intensity movements will not have any effect on the fat layer, simply because they do not contribute to a significant increase in calorie expenditure. For the sake of justice, in training beginners, such things include at the end of an aerobic session, so a certain effect from their use does occur.
Working muscles
Emphasis is placed on the oblique abdominal muscles, as well as adductors of the thigh. If you slightly bend your legs and pinch the ball tightly with your legs, your gluteal muscles may be involved.
Equipment
Fitball is selected for growth. Usually up to 167 cm use balls with a diameter of 50 cm, higher – 60 cm. But it is also necessary to take into account the mobility of the hip joints when choosing a ball. Exercise should be comfortable, and not cause pain in the hip joint.
First, the student is located on the floor, on the back. The ball is rolled by the hands to the legs, and the shins are clamped tightly enough to hold it. Then, a side flip is performed, and the alignment – the stomach retracts, the shoulder blades tighten to the spine and descend to the pelvis, and the ball is stabilized so that the support is of high quality and the movement does not cause the body to swing.
Having taken the initial position on the side, you should place your head comfortably. A large amplitude is created if you lift the head and the thoracic region, and support the head with your hand. But this option is not recommended if there is a curvature in the thoracic region. In principle, you can simply stretch out the arm that is “below” and lay your head on it. Further, by reducing the oblique abdominal muscles, and “clamping” the ball, the projectile rises a few centimeters from the floor. At the top point, the fixation is performed due to a strong contraction of the muscles, then the ball is lowered to its original position.
The exercise is performed in 15-20 repetitions or “for a while”, about 40-50 seconds under load, in 2-3 approaches. It should be understood that in some types of muscle development, hypertrophy of the oblique abdominal muscles can lead to a “smoothing” of the waist, and not to the result desired by the majority.