Men’s Fitness Australia – June 2017

114 MEN’S FITNESS JUNE 2017

ONE
Stabilise your shoulders

TWO

Up the challenge

THREE

Trainathome

O

Over ten years

ago, in a fitness

land before

Instagram belfies, gym

balls muscled their way

outoftherehabroom

andontothegymfloor.

They were heralded

asthekeybitofkitfor

developing your core

strength. But in recent

years the popularity of

unstable surface training

hashadabitofawobble.

Theargumentagainst

them is that they often

require you to reduce

the weight you can lift,

making them less than

ideal for adding strength

andsize.Butbeforeyou

deflateyourball,consider

thesefiveinstanceswhere

they can have a positive

impact on your training.

Unstable training has fallen
out of favour in recent
years, but there are still
some benefits to be gained
by incorporating it into
your training regime.

Gym balls aren’t great at directly building
strength because the instability means that
youcan’tliftasmuchweightasonamore
solidsurface.Theydo,however,challengeyour
smaller stabilising muscles, so if you can work
on one you’ll gain the structural integrity that
will allow you to train with heavy weights
consistently and stay injury-free — which is
crucial if you’re going to get bigger and stronger.

KEY MOVE
Gym ball pushup
Start with your hands on the ball shoulder-width
apartandyourbodyinastraightlinefromhead
to heels. Keeping your body straight, bend your
elbows to lower your torso to the ball, then push
back up to the start.

You can use a gym ball to make familiar moves

more challenging. As a general rule, making

adjustmentstoyourworkoutandthewayyou

perform exercises will prevent you from hitting

a plateau where you find it difficult to make

progressbecauseyou’llalwaysbeposing

a significant challenge to your muscles.

KEY MOVE

Gym ball plank

Start with your forearms on the ball, your

elbows bent at 90° and your body in a straight

line from head to heels. Hold that position for

aslongasyoucan.Makesureyourhipsaren’t

toohighbecausethatmeansyouwon’tplace

enoughtensiononyourabs.Iftheystartto

sag, that will put stress your lower back.

Sure,itwouldbenicetohaveafully-equipped

homegymwithabench,barbellandsquatrack.

Butunlessyou’vegotanabundanceofspace

or an understanding family, the chances are

you’regoingtobelimitedtoasetofdumbbells

andagymball.Butthat’sfine,becausehaving

theballmeansyoucandoanumberofmoves

that you wouldn’t be able to do if you only had

asetofweights.

KEY MOVE

Chest press

Lie holding dumbbells with your upper back on

the ball and knees bent at 90° with feet on the

floor. Start with arms straight and the weights

aboveyourhead.Bendelbowstolowerthemto

your chest, then press back up to the start.

Body BookTrainer tips

Roll out the

gym ball