ballast-related stories
Your trainer's 12 Days of Christmas
Healthy Habits, Womens Health, Cellulite, Healthy Events, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment, Reviews & Products, Motivation, Men's Health
Want to know what professional trainers like me wish for, for Christmas? Sing along!
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, one water-based heavy bag.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two boxing gloves.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three ropes for jumping.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four Body Buggs.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five Versa Steps.
Cool Tool: Ballast Ball -- The stability balls' way cooler new sister
Womens Health, Healthy Products and Reviews, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Reviews & Products, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
The Ballast Ball is the new and improved version of the stability ball. In fact, you can do absolutely everything you can do on a stability ball with the Ballast Ball....except for consistently fall on your head.
Created by BOSU, I tested out the new product last week at a fitness conference. Ar first glance, I thought "no way am I dropping another sixty bucks on a ball with some sort beads in it, I already have too many!" But then I tried it. I squatted down on the ball, and when I stood up it didn't roll away. Then I put both feet on the ball and my hands on the floor to do push-ups.....and I didn't roll away! Then I lifted it up for a while and my arms got tired, my core remained engaged and my glutes never unflexed themselves. Hmmmmmm I though. Maybe it is worth the sixty bucks.
The Ballast Ball is genuinely cool, and I simply wish I'd thought of it myself. You can do all of your regular stability ball exercises better, because the ball is more stable. It weighs five pounds, which offers a whole slew of other productive things you can do with it as well. I did end up buying one. My beginner clients love it, because they can do what I ask them to do without constantly falling and readjusting. My high level fitness clients love it cause they can do the really advanced exercises without losing the ball.
Ask Fitz! Your Fitness Questions Answered!
Healthy Aging, Healthy Habits, Womens Health, Ask Fitz!, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Reviews & Products, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.
Q. Dear Fitz. I really need to tone by butt, abs, thighs and hips. I am thinking of getting a fitness ball DVD kit. Does this really work well for toning? Thanks. Lisa
A. Absolutely Lisa. The stability ball is one of my favorite toys/tools for fitness training because there is so much you can do with it. Of course the DVD to go along with it should give you some great ideas on how to use your ball. Besides the variety of exercises you can do with it, the stability ball is lightweight, deflatable for travel, inexpensive and fun!
Another version of the stability ball that was just released is called the Ballast Ball by BOSU. It looks exactly like a stability ball, but it is filled with five pounds of tiny beads that look like sand. The Ballast Ball doesn't 'run away' as easily as the regular ball, so it's easier to do things like squats on it without the fear that it will roll away while you're in the standing position. It's also a challenge to throw it up and do a variety of lifting exercises with it. I'm quite happy with mine. Great places online to get these balls are Power-Systems.Com, SPRIFitness.Com and BOSU.Com for the Ballast Ball. I wish you success!
