My clientele and practice is very much built around building a strong, functional, stable, and mobile body that can move well, do anything it wants to do, and not get injured!
AND
At the same time I know that many people (including myself) love a good isolated exercise once in awhile that feels super hard and gives us a good burn, even if technically it doesn’t have a very functional purpose.
I thought I would share with you one today that I’ve been doing the past few weeks with myself and clients.
Before you try it please note- this exercise is not beginner level, and is not suitable for anyone with a lower back injury.
It is a great exercise for your obliques. These are the muscles along the sides of your body. You might also find that it works your hips/glutes and some muscles along the lower back. Just make sure nothing is painful, and you don’t get any strange tightness or soreness from performing this.
Exercise: Side Bend on Stability Ball
I find this photo at the following link, which you could take a look at for more core exercises:
Position yourself as shown in the picture above, but try to move the ball down further onto your legs (this makes it harder). Plant your feet against a wall (or else you are just going to go flying off the ball). Make sure you feel stable in the starting position before you start bending.
Keep your hips and shoulders square forward and start to drop your body over the ball, then squeeze through your side body to bring you back up. Right away you should some nice work happening through your side body. Drop as far over the ball as you can.
Start with 10-20 reps a side and repeat 3 times!
Feel the burn 🙂
Let me know how it goes!
Optimal Health Coaching 