After years of doing sit-ups every night before bed, I was pretty certain I could hold my own in any ab challenge. I was wrong. I made this discovery after a run-in with a large stability ball at my gym. I thought I might as well give it a try, and although I only managed a few measly crunches, I could hardly laugh the next day. I can honestly say that doing my crunches on the stability ball helped me discover muscles I never knew I had.

A stability ball adds something to your workout that regular crunches or sit-ups can't -- instability. You need to use all your core muscles to help balance on this non-flat surface, which is why it offers such a great workout. It can be used to tone your abs, thighs or arms, and it can also be used as a posture-perfecting chair for your home office. And it's not that expensive either, and trust me, it's a worthwhile investment.

Click here to see examples of great workouts you can do with a stability ball, and tell us in the comments how you get on the ball.

Using a Swiss ball during an exercise is a great way to incorporate your core stabilizing muscles, thereby helping your set of dumbbell presses or side lateral raises to also whittle your middle.

Be that as it may, it's important that you don't just select any Swiss ball; the size of the ball should be proportional to your own body size. The perfect ball should allow your entire torso to be supported and in full contact with the ball at the bottom of the move. A larger ball has a gradual arch, so you won't feel as much of a stretch in your abs when performing crunches. A smaller ball, by contrast, has a more abrupt arch, placing your body in a more pronounced stretch position. And, if you're sitting on top of the ball to perform an exercise, you obviously want a ball that's small enough to allow your feet to firmly touch the ground.

So, aside from how you fit on a Swiss ball, you should also take your fitness level into account. As your core strength and flexibility improves, drop down to a smaller size for best results.

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A gym is a great place to put in a solid workout, but it can sometimes be one of the worst places to get health and fitness advice. It's easy to assume that someone with a great physique must be an expert on health and fitness, but that may not necessarily be the case. Their advice, though well-intentioned, may not exactly be sound. Remember, not all great players make great coaches (ask Isiah Thomas). The approach to fitness these individuals take may work well for them, but for you they could potentially lead to disaster.

Men's Health magazine tackled this very topic in their article 7 Muscle Myths - Fact vs. Fiction. In it, researchers take a look at some common gym misconceptions and, in efforts to clear up any confusion and prevent potential injury, present their own expert advice. We'll be highlighting one of these myths each day here at That's Fit. Here's a look at Myth #6:

Myth #6
You need a Swiss ball to build a stronger chest and shoulders.
Don't abandon your trusty bench for exercises like the chest press and shoulder press if your goal is strength and size. "The reason people are using the ball and getting gains is because they're weak as kittens to begin with," says Craig Ballantyne, C.S.C.S. You have to reduce the weight in order to press on a Swiss ball, and this means you get less out of the exercise, he says.

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There are dozens of great exercises that can be made even more effective when performed on a Swiss ball. The traditional floor crunch, for example, is a mediocre ab exercise. But, done on a Swiss ball, the exercise is made almost 45 percent more effective in recruiting muscle fibers throughout your core.

Similar benefits can be obtained from other exercises performed on this fitness orb. Rather than list a few and do my best to explain the movements with words, I thought a much better idea would be to find some video demonstrations of a variety of Swiss ball exercises. To that end, here is a great website (from the University of the Pacific) that offers .mpeg video of a very wide variety of moves and techniques.

So go ahead, join the ranks of the Swiss Army and start experiencing the fitness results you've been working toward. Each new recruit also gets a free multi-tool knife -- complete with toothpick and can opener.

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Freeze! Now, moving only your eyes, take a look at your posture as you sit and read this post. Are you sitting upright? Are you slouched? Are you leaning to one side more so than the other? Chance are, whatever your current position is, it is also the way you sit most of the time during other computer activities. This may not be so much of an issue of most of your day is spent mindlessly watching YouTube clips. But, if your goal is to be productive -- which, at least ostensibly, is also your boss' goal for you -- you may want to realign yourself.

If you happen to be the person who found themselves sitting properly, then bravo to you. Feel free to stop reading now and to carry on with your day. If, however, you're a bit of a slouch, know that you are decreasing blood flow to your brain by compacting your spine and compressing arteries. This, in turn, deprives you of a little something called oxygen, which ultimately impairs mental capacity.

A great solution for the "office chair slouch" is to replace the chair altogether. In its place, try sitting on Swiss ball. Not only will it help ensure proper spinal alignment, but it will also force you to work your core muscles in order to remain seated (and not fall off the ball and make an utter fool of yourself).

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We are a society obsessed with multiples. We don't want one car, we want a fleet of them. We're not satisfied with just having a television in the living room, we want one in the kitchen, the bedrooms, and even the shower. We're not content with a person juggling three pins -- we won't be satisfied until there's five pins, two chainsaws, three tennis balls, and the entire Encyclopedia Britannica collection being tossed around in the air. And when it comes to sex ... well, you get the point. In many ways, this same obsession with multiples carries over into the fitness world, too.

That's why the perfect exercise for the numbers-obsessed exerciser is the Double Swiss Ball Stability Pose. Unlike other Swiss Ball exercises that only require the use of one ball, this fantastic builder of core strength uses two. To do it, lie face-down on two Swiss Balls. Keep your body straight, with your chest on the first ball and your knees and shins on the second ball. Now, depending on your current level of fitness, you may want to either place your palms on the floor, or grab onto the sides of the first ball with your forearms and hands. In case you were wondering, the latter is much more difficult than the former, although each will provide you with a great core workout.

Try to hold in this position for 20 seconds. As your core strength becomes greater, increase this amount of time by five-second increments. Then, once you're done, flip through the 8,000 songs on your iPod and find one that will help motivate you through a second set.

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Tired of the same ol' ab routine? Well, for only three installments of $29.95, you can have ... oh, I'm just kidding. What I'm selling comes at no cost to you. It will only cost you some calories.

If you are indeed tired of performing the same ab workout, then you're probably well past the point where you should change it. If you've been wondering why you haven't been seeing any new results, this is probably why. If you're yawning during your workout, this is also probably why. And, if you're scratching your head over what you can do instead, worry not, my friend -- for I've got just the move for you.

The Swiss Ball Hanging Knee Raise. If the name alone makes you think this exercise is difficult, you're correct in that assumption. This move is not for the beginner; it's an exercise that requires a fair amount of built-up core strength and coordination. My guess is, if you've been working your abs for quite some time now, you may be ready for this exercise. So, let's get to how to do it.

Is it crunch time again? If so, you'd do well to get off the floor and instead bang out some sets of this ab exercise on a Swiss ball (or stability ball, physio ball, exercise ball, or whatever you want to call it). But, should you just go and use any sized Swiss ball? Not if you have a choice.

According to Men's Health magazine, the perfect ball should allow your entire torso to be supported and in full contact with the ball at the bottom of the move. A larger ball has a gradual arch, so you won't feel as much of a stretch in your abs. A smaller ball, by contrast, has a more abrupt arch, placing your body in a more pronounced stretch position.

So, aside from how you fit on a Swiss ball, you should also take your fitness level into account. As your core strength and flexibility improves, drop down to a smaller size for best results.

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Call them what you want -- Stability Balls, Swiss Balls, Exercise Balls, Physio Ball, etc. -- these orbs are a great compliment to an exercise routine, especially when it comes to ab work.

There are dozens of abdominal/core exercises you can perform using a Swiss Ball (I'll stick to this name, since it's what I regularly refer to it as). Among the more popular moves is the crunch, which is a good thing since this exercise, when done on the ball, works both the rectus abdominis (front abs) and the obliques (side ab muscles). However, to really take advantage of this movement, it's best to do two things: 1) Keep your feet somewhat close together, and 2) Place the ball under the lower portion of your back.

The first suggestion, keeping your feet close together (but not touching. Shoulder width is fine), will force you to really push your core muscles, otherwise you'll tip over. As for the second suggestion, Japanese researchers found that placing the ball under your lower back (as opposed to being under the upper portion of your back) causes greater stimulation to your abdominal muscles.

Just a few tips I thought I'd pass along. If you have any of your own that you feel are worth sharing, please be my guest in the comments section.

Fitness is one of those things in life that requires constant study and lifelong learning. Most times, the principles and practices of diet and exercise don't change all that much from one era to the next (save for the major, anti-carb movement of the late 1990s that was a diametric change from the carbo-loading that went on in the 1980s), but there's always something new to learn.

Even when you know how to do something, you may come across a small bit of information that shows you how to do it better. How to fine tune everything, if you will. To that end, I thought I'd offer up a few tips on how to make some common exercises even more effective.

Side Lateral Raises. Instead of focusing on using the strength of your entire arms to hoist up the dumbbells, let your hands and arms remain only slightly rigid throughout the movement. Concentrate on raising your shoulders, which will then, in turn, raise the weight. You'll feel much more tension on your deltoids if you perform the exercise in this manner.

Swiss Ball Crunches. To make this exercise even more difficult and place even greater emphasis on your core muscles, try placing your feet together on the ground. Keeping your feet spread far apart better stabilizes your body as it rests on the ball, reducing the effort required by your core muscles to keep you from falling off.

Hanging Leg Raises. These are pretty tough to do in the first place, so making them tougher may not be in the cards right now. But if it is, try pulling your body to the top of a pull-up position and stay there. From this position, perform your hanging leg raises as you would if you were dangling with your arms fully extended. You'll immediately find that this method requires a great deal more core strength and endurance. Once you've reached your last rep, drop down by finally extending your arms and burn out with a few more from the more standard position.

There are so many little tweaks that can be done to really amp up some exercises. These are just a few I figured you might benefit from, but there are literally hundreds more for you, me, and the rest of us to learn. If you have any of your own you'd like to add, please be my guest in the comments section below.

Bev Sklar, writer here on That's Fit, just posted a story about a man in Florida who is suing the local YMCA and a fitness manufacturer for damages related to an incident involving a Swiss ball. Now, I don't claim to know any more about this situation than anyone else who read the post, but the details of what occurred made me think about a separate, but somewhat related, point.

In this particular situation, the claimant, a 200-pound man, was performing a dumbell press with 75-pound dumbells (totaling 150 pounds) while lying on top of a Swiss ball. Then, due to an apparent compromise of the ball's integrity, it supposedly popped, causing the man to crash to the ground and the heavy weights to follow. Consequently, the man suffered serious injury, to the point where he was unable to move both arms for six months. While I am in no way blaming this individual for the incident or suggesting that it was in any way his fault, to me it represents yet another example of what I call Fancy Fitness.

Performing light dumbells presses on a Swiss ball really isn't anything fancy, and is actually quite common in many people's workouts. But, doing so with much heavier weights is when things get somehwat complicated and, in my opinion, a little too fancy for their own good. If this man was strong enough to press 75-pound dumbells on a Swiss ball, he was likely able to press much more weight while lying on a bench. Many trainers and so-called fitness experts will sometimes try to wow people with elaborate and oft-unnecessary moves and techniques, some of which may be ineffective (or, in some cases, even unsafe). While it is true that performing the dumbell press on a Swiss ball does incorporate core muscles that performing the exercise on a stable surface does not, the consequential reduction in strength results in far less emphasis being placed on your chest, triceps, and shoulders -- the muscles that the exercise is intended to work.

Do you own a stability ball? Or do you use one regularly as part of your workout? If you answered no, then you're definitely in the minority. Those big bouncy stability balls are a staple of fitness these days -- in gyms, homes and even some offices. They're the focal point of many workouts and fitness classes, and if you've ever used one, you know why -- even doing a simple crunch seems to reveal muscles in your abs that you never knew you had the next day.

I've been working out with a stability ball at the gym for a number of year now. I pretty much stick to working my abs when I'm using the ball, but there are other body parts to can work out with the help of your ball. And if gyms aren't your thing, get one for your home. They're relatively inexpensive and though they take up a bit of room when inflated, they have many uses -- try yours out as a chair.

Here are some great ways to put the stability ball to work for you:

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New and novel fitness gadgets come and go, but the stability ball -- also known as a Swiss ball or fitball -- has earned a great reputation in fitness centers and home gyms everywhere. Adding a stability ball to your strength training routine can help you build balance and build upper body and abdominal strength. Not only that, the ball is inexpensive and easy to find, and it's a pretty low-tech piece of a equipment that's easy to learn how to use. After you choose one that's correctly sized, check out these exercises to get you started on your new fitness toy. It won't be long before you see results!

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