12 best exercises with a stuffed ball: technique and benefits

A stuffed or power ball is a sports projectile with a certain weight and a size of about half a meter in diameter. The weight of the ball can vary from 1 to 20 kg, depending on the density of the stuffing material. There are also different types – heavier but smaller in diameter, made of dense rubber or with sand inside.

Fitness trainer, co-founder and ambassador of online home workout platform FitStars

“Exercising with a stuffed ball is just as beneficial as other workouts. When exercising with the equipment, muscles are strengthened, become more dense and enduring, and become toned.”

Kazalo vsebine

How to exercise with a power ball?

An important feature of exercises with a stuffed ball – the equipment is always held with two hands, because the projectile is quite large, without special handles to hold on to. It should be squeezed with the palms of the hands and held either in straight hands or in bent hands. Learning to work with them, you can diversify your training and pump your body even better.

Using this projectile, you can achieve a fat-burning effect. The intensity of training should be medium and higher, you should also perform circuit training with exercises that include large, powerful groups: chest, back, legs, abs, shoulder girdle.

More often exercises are performed with stuffed balls weighing about 4-5 kg and measuring about half a meter in diameter. Such balls are quite large and soft. With them you can safely perform a large number of functional exercises. Such a load can not be called a power load, because the weight of the ball is small and it does not seriously stress the muscles.

Before using the projectile, it is necessary to work out the technique of exercises without it. This will avoid injuries and help to correctly distribute the load. With the exercises below you can engage all the main muscle groups – legs, back, shoulder girdle, cortex muscles.

Kontraindikacije

Despite the small weight of the ball, you should not perform exercises without consulting a doctor for people who have problems with the musculoskeletal system, joints, spine or hypertension. It is also necessary to undergo a consultation in the presence of chronic diseases.

Do not use super-heavy balls for the exercise, which can provoke excessive force in an untrained person. The load should be increased gradually, without sudden changes.

12 best exercises with a stuffed ball

Taking the ball on the chest

Tehnika

Stand up straight, feet slightly wider than shoulder width, toes slightly pointed to the sides.
Grasp the ball with both hands in front of your chest.
Lower your arms down and sit up slightly.
Then lean forward, touch the ball to the floor.
As you exhale, return to the starting position and with a powerful movement of your legs and back, bring the ball to your chest.

Taking the ball on straight arms above the head

Tehnika

Stand up straight, feet slightly wider than shoulder width, toes slightly pointing to the sides.
Hold the ball with both hands in front of your chest.
Lower your arms down and sit up slightly.
Then lean forward, touch the ball to the floor.
Keep your back straight.
Then with a powerful movement lift the ball directly above your head, keeping your arms straight – the load is transferred to the back and shoulder girdle.

Ball press up from the chest

Tehnika

Sit with your back straight or stand with your feet hip-width apart.
Hold the ball on your bent arms in front of your chest.
Take a deep inhale and on the exhale squeeze the ball up over your head.
At the extreme point, your arms should be straight.

Bending arms with ball

Tehnika

Stand up straight, with your feet at the width of your pelvis.
Arms with the ball are stretched out and down.
As you exhale, bend your arms, keeping the ball near your chest.
Z vdihom se vrnite v začetni položaj.

Bending arms with ball from behind the head

Tehnika

Stand up, straighten your back, feet shoulder width apart.
Hold the ball above your head with straight arms.
From this position, inhale and bend your arms at the elbows, bringing the ball down behind your head.
As you exhale, return to the starting position and extend your arms until the ball is above your head again.

Lifted twists

Tehnika

Lie on the mat, bend your legs at the knee, place your feet at the width of your pelvis, rest them on the floor.
Hold the ball in front of your chest.
As you exhale, lift your torso and straighten your arms with the ball above your head.
Smoothly lower yourself down as you inhale to the starting position.

Obratni zasuki

Tehnika

Lie on your back on the mat, place the ball between your legs near the shin.
Perform leg lifts – on the exhale, slightly bending them at the knees, pull your thighs up to your chest.
As you inhale, lower your legs and extend them forward.
Without touching the floor on the exhale, raise them to the chest again.

Interception from arms to legs

Tehnika

Lie on the mat, straighten your legs.
Hold the ball above your head with straight arms.
Raise your legs and transfer the ball from your hands between your legs.
Then, while holding the ball, lower your straight legs until they almost touch the floor and raise them again.
Transfer the ball to your hands and lower your legs without the ball.
Then repeat the exercise with an interception.
As you exhale, raise and as you inhale, lower your legs.

Russian twist with a ball

Tehnika

Sit on the mat, legs slightly bent at the knees.
Hold the ball in front of you.
Lean back.
Perform torso rotations – touch the ball to the floor on each side of the body.
To make the task more difficult, you can take your feet off the floor and keep your balance.

Izpadi

Tehnika

Stand up straight, hold the ball in front of your chest, you can straighten your arms or bend them.
Take a wide step forward, then lower yourself down so that your back foot almost touches the floor.
Make sure that the knee of the front leg does not go behind the toe, thus forming a sharp angle. Try to maintain a 90° angle in the knees.
The front leg is fully pressed to the floor with the weight resting on the entire foot. The back leg is on the toe.
As you inhale, lower, and as you exhale, raise.
Repeat on the other side.

Squats with a stuffed ball

Tehnika

Stand up straight, feet slightly wider than shoulder width, toes slightly apart, ball in front of the chest.
Lower yourself down, pulling your pelvis back.
Keep your back straight, do not slouch.
Try to keep your knees still so that they do not come together in the center and do not come forward.
As you inhale, lower yourself to the parallel of your thigh to the floor or slightly lower.
On the exhale, lift up.

Squats with ball press up

Tehnika

Take the ball with bent arms in front of your chest.
Place your feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly turned outwards.
Lower yourself down by pulling your pelvis back.
Keep your back straight, the bend in the knees is as close as possible to a 90° angle. The direction of the knees coincides with the direction of the feet.
During the lift, squeeze the ball onto your straight arms above your head.

Improve your workouts by adding new exercises and new equipment, a stuffed ball is just one example. You can also use TRX loops, fitness bands, ropes and many other interesting equipment.