Core Stability and Fitness Balls

There are many ways to improve your muscular health, fitness or sports and minimise risks to injury one of the major ways to do this is to improve your core stability. It is indeed the most important area is you core, all the limbs hang off the core and if the core is strong all the other muscles and joints work that much better. When I refer to the core of the body it is the shoulder and the hip girdle that make up the core. Many people think it is the six pack, and seek to develop rock hard abs unfortunately this will create an imbalance in muscle structures and not actually develop strength in the entire core. The six pack is the outer layer of abdominal muscle know as the rectus abdominus. We are not talking about building up bulky muscles here, the core muscles are much more subtle and need to be fine tuned in many situations.


Many people visit me in the clinic with dodgy hips, dodgy knees or dodgy backs and it is mainly due to a weak core. To help you improve your core stability there are many activities you can do, e.g. ViPR fitness, Nordic walking, Gym Fitness to name but a few . This can be as simple as sitting on a physio ball and lifting one leg at a time. This can feel quite wobbly at first but as your core muscles start to develop, you will be come more stable. The great thing about having a physio ball at home is you can use it while sitting watching the TV and it can also double up as a seat if your out of chairs and you have loads of visitors round. There are endless activities based around the physio ball. When you choose your physio or gym ball look for quality rather than the cheapest after all you want it to be withstand bursting and do the job it is supposed to do.









Of course there is no point having a ball without a pump so buying a ball with a pump is a good investment and of course you need to know what to do with it once you have bought it. Above you will see a useful selection of physio balls and recommended books to help you improve your corse stability for fitness, injury rehab or sports training.


Another useful bit of kit for your home gym is a foam roller this can help you with fascial release and core stabilisation and other activities. Again you may wish to work with your trainer to help you develop some exciting activities to develop your core.


Finally, should you require one to one help to develop a routine that is right for you then do think about a personal training program to help get you started. You will benefit from the expertise and knowledge of the fitness instructor, your confidence will grow and the support and motivation will enable you to get it right first time round and you will avoid going back to rehab. To find out more about personal training, contact Sue: http://www.activeedgesolutions.co.uk/