Weight Training Advice
Core Ball Training
This is particular important if you compete in some kind of sport. If you want to improve your balance more, increase the strength of your core, or just try something new to break through a plateau, you can do core ball training.
The most popular exercises to do on a core ball are abdominal exercises. When use core ball training to exercise your abs you'll be able to get nice stretch in them since your upper back can go further down than on the floor or a bench. Take make ab exercises on a core ball more intense you can put a light medicine ball in your hands and hold your arms straight up or back. For a real intense set of abdominal core ball training you can start out by doing as many reps as possible with a medicine ball and your arms outstretched, then do as many reps as possible with the medicine ball held close to your head (without putting pressure on your neck), and finish off with as many reps as possible with no resistance. If you want to train your obliques, you can lie with your side on a core ball and side bends on it. You can also do alternating reps to each side when you do core ball training for the abs.
Another common way to do core ball training is to do hyperextensions for your lower back on the ball. If you do this, you can once again use a medicine ball for added resistance.
For legs, you can put your back against a core ball, which is sandwiched between your body and a wall, and do squats. This is a great way to finish off a leg weight training workout.
If you want to try something different, you can do weight training exercises on a core ball. Core ball training can be used for chest and shoulder exercises done with dumbbells. After you've done your flat and incline bench presses during your chest workouts, you can do some dumbbell presses for the chest on a core ball. Lie on the core ball with a dumbbell in each hand and do your presses just like a bench press. Flyes are another exercise you can do with core ball training. For shoulders, you can sit on a core ball and do overhead dumbbell presses. You'll find that you have to concentrate on keeping your body in place when you do these exercises. For obvious reasons, you won't want to use super heavy weights when weight training on a core ball. Keeps the weights lighter and the reps higher.
There are various other exercises you can do if you want to do core ball training. Seated bicep curls and tricep extensions are a couple that you could try. You can experiment with what exercises feel right when done on a core ball.
If you do some core ball training, you may find that you can lift more when you use free weights due to the stregthening of all of those smaller, stabilizing muscles.
It's common knowledge that weight training with free weights is superior to training on machines. Working out with free weights will activate all of those small muscles that help stabilize and balance the weights you're lifting.
