Strengthening your hips and buttocks on a fitball: exercises

The benefits of exercising on a fitball

The peculiarity of the fitball, which makes it universal, is that during exercises with it the motor, vestibular, visual and tactile apparatuses are simultaneously involved in the work. Exercises with balls are safe and fun. But the most important thing is the undeniable benefits of exercising with fitball for the body. What effect can you get by working with a gymnastic ball?

• Correct posture. Any exercise with a ball strengthens the back muscles without overstraining them. Due to the need to maintain balance, the work includes types of muscles that are not used in other types of training. The muscle corset around the back is strengthened.
• Training the vestibular apparatus - over time, the ability to maintain balance automatically is developed, and coordination of movements improves.
• Improving the functions of the cardiovascular system and respiratory system by activating blood supply.
• Strengthening the nervous system. Fitball exercises lift your spirits, help you relax and relieve stress.
• Development of flexibility and plasticity. During the exercises, all muscles are stretched, joints are unloaded and stretched, and clamps are removed.
• Accelerates metabolism and burns fat. Comprehensive exercise programs with a fitball help you lose excess weight. For women, the benefit of training is the opportunity to get an ideal sculpted figure, beautiful abs, elastic buttocks, and remove fat deposits from the hips.

On a note. To get the first benefit from a Swiss ball, you just need to sit on it: this already “works” for beautiful posture! In Scandinavian countries, many people use this ball instead of a chair. This is such an unobtrusive benefit. And if you also jump lightly on the fitball, the release of serotonin, the hormone of happiness, into the blood will ensure a good mood.

How to choose gymnastic equipment for training?

To choose the right ball for practice, you need to consider the following:

• The diameter is calculated using the following formula: Your height minus 100 centimeters;
• Having chosen the appropriate diameter, you need to sit down with your feet pressed to the floor, your thighs should be parallel to the floor and your knees perpendicular;
• bright colors will bring more positive emotions and a boost of vigor to your workout;
• Please note the presence of an anti-explosion system, designated ABS or BRQ.

If you add equipment in the form of a Swiss ball to regular exercises, they will bring more effect, help strengthen more muscle groups, and improve flexibility. Fitball for fitness is gaining more and more popularity due to the ease of training with it and the absence of contraindications. You can pump up your buttocks using a fitball only by following the correct technique and regularity. To achieve even better results, it is better to perform the entire set of exercises on a fitball, alternating them or combining them in one day.

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Jumpers: useful, harmful or “not at all”?

I can immediately say for myself that there will be no such device in my house. But we cannot always regulate this. There are relatives and friends who will give gifts, and then we will be faced with the question “Will it do any harm?”

Much has already been written about the possible harm from such a device. It's all true, but it can be made useful by meeting a few conditions.

Condition one: you can “pack” a child into jumpers only when the child is already standing quietly. Almost on his own and only slightly holding onto the support with his hand. It is too early to introduce even a well-sitting but not standing child into jumping.

Condition two: while sitting in the jumpers, the child should not just touch the floor with his feet, but reach so that his legs are bent at an angle of 120 degrees. As shown in picture "A". In this case, the child will lift himself up to jump. And the jump won't work. He will lift himself up and bend his legs.

If you adjust the height, as in Figure “B,” then in such a situation you will be able to collect the maximum number of owls. I must say that this is exactly how the majority hang themselves. It is in this position that the child will jump on his toes and land on straight legs.

Who is fitball training suitable for?

Age, physiological characteristics, excess weight and fatigue are not a hindrance to exercise with fitball. Balls are used in gyms and rehabilitation centers, and at home. Fitball training is suitable for everyone who cares about their health. Exercises with a gymnastic ball are needed:

• for regular training to strengthen the body, muscles, lose weight, improve posture, figure, and general well-being;
• for pregnant women: training prepares muscles for childbirth, relieves tension from the lower back, improves blood circulation;
• for children of any age - to train endurance, strengthen muscles, coordinate movements;
• for newborns, starting from the 2nd week of life - to strengthen the vestibular apparatus, relieve muscle hypertonicity, improve blood circulation;
• for older people to improve tone, improve coordination, blood circulation;
• during the rehabilitation period when recovering from injuries;
• as a relaxation and anti-stress therapy after a hard day.

The Swiss ball is even used in maternity hospitals: swinging on the fitball and rolling it from side to side relieves pain during contractions. Many pediatricians recommend rocking the baby while bouncing on a ball: this simultaneously calms the baby and massages the mother’s lower back muscles.

Benefits for the buttocks

Exercises with this sports equipment, according to most trainers, mainly strengthen the stabilizer muscles. In regular training without the use of equipment, they are little involved. It is these muscles that are poorly worked in other exercises. Fitball is especially useful for people after injuries and women in the postpartum period. Many people after childbirth are interested in the question: how to pump up your butt if many strength exercises cannot yet be performed. Easy and effective ball exercises will help women with this. The fitball is useful for both the butt and the hips. The figure after regular exercise becomes fit and attractive. Even just sitting on a fitball loads your muscles, and calories are burned due to balancing.

If you want to lose weight and pump up problem areas, a gymnastic ball is the best assistant in this.

Benefits from classes:

• strengthening muscles;
• development of good coordination;
• improved plasticity;
• relieving tension in the back area;
• improved posture;
• weight loss;
• giving beautiful relief shapes to the gluteal area.

Another great advantage of the Swiss ball (another name for fitball) is that you can exercise with it both in the gym and at home.

One of the advantages of a fitball is the ability to perform familiar exercises from non-standard positions.

Can a child jump on a trampoline and fitball?

To begin with, I would like to immediately dismiss two factors that will interfere with the determination of “beneficial or harmful”:

• Possibility of injury. Injury can also occur on a flat lawn or on stairs. There is always and everywhere a risk - so we write off this point from the argument.
• Stimulation. This is a situation where the mental characteristics of the child come first, and not possible harm to the musculoskeletal system. We will only consider situations of child activity and benefit or harm.

If we are talking about the age of 2-3 years, then it is at this age that the child learns to jump, land and jump. Accordingly, moderate use of a trampoline, jumpers and fitball will only prepare the child (his muscles and joints) for such a load.

You will not be able to stop the child, and he will constantly jump off the curb, the bed and land repeatedly on a hard surface. Thus, you receive a shock load on the joints. At the same time, you need to understand that this load will fall not only on the joints of the legs, but will also spread to the pelvis and spine.

Therefore, I can say that it is useful for a child to jump on a trampoline, jumping jacks and a fitball at this age, since all these exercise machines soften the load and make it dosed. Then a child who has learned to absorb shock on a soft surface will be much safer when jumping onto the floor or ground.

My conclusion is very simple: anything is possible and any child’s activity is useful if it does not lead to increased stress. And if the child is also active and has a need to move, then this is also a way to let off steam. You just need to remember that these are high-risk areas and be aware of this.

And, of course, a child can be seriously injured by these shells. But I cannot say that this load will in any case affect the structure of the child’s joints. This simply cannot happen if everything is normal for the child initially. This only happens with excessive load, and this is already a sport.

Are you ready to take risks? Let your child jump. And if you are very worried about this, then... don’t let your child do it. True, later at school it will be a little harder for your child to jump over the goat, but he will have to. Body weight will increase, and the injury may be much more serious. A reasonable approach to the load - and even walking on a tightrope becomes useful. Children walk on curbs at 5 years old for a reason.

What muscles are involved?

Let's talk about the buttocks. The gluteal muscles of our body consist of three parts:

• Large ones - located on the back surface of the pelvis and are responsible for convexity and relief;
• The middle ones are located on the sides of the pelvis and are responsible for the beautiful line of the hips;
• Small - attached next to the middle muscles and perform the same functions.

By training each of them, doing exercises for the buttocks on a fitball, you will help your butt become convex, toned and elastic.

It is important to understand that training on a fitball is not isolating. This means that in addition to the glutes, many other muscles will be involved. Below are the most effective exercises with a fitball for the buttocks, thighs, abs and lower back muscles.

The best exercises for buttocks and thighs

Fitness using a fitball is one of the easiest and least traumatic activities. Suitable even for people with back problems or during the recovery period after injuries. You can exercise with a fitball at any age, during pregnancy and after the birth of a child, at any level of physical fitness. The most popular are planks with emphasis on a fitball, lifting it with your feet, or squats with a ball. Any standard exercise can be varied and complicated with the help of this sports equipment.

Hyperextension

How to do the exercise correctly:

1. Lie with the middle of your stomach on the fitball, take a relaxed position, as if hanging down.
2. Place your feet on the floor and fold your arms across your chest.
3. Take a breath.
4. The torso should be extended in a straight line.
5. Exhaling, return to the first point.

For beginners, it is recommended to perform 10 repetitions in three sets.

Thanks to intense movements on the ball and the simultaneous inclusion of large muscles in the work, you can effectively work out the main problem areas: buttocks, back of the arms, inner thighs, waist.

Wall Squats

Technical points in the exercise:

1. Press the ball firmly with your lower back against a horizontal, stable surface.
2. Exhaling, slowly squat, rolling the ball. Knees come forward.
3. Fix in the lower position, maintaining tension in all muscles.

For untrained athletes, it is recommended to start with 10 squats in three sets.

Fitball exercises are also useful for young mothers to restore their usual slimness. Thanks to the soft, elastic surface of the ball, girls can perform simple exercises in the first months after the birth of the baby.

Jumping

Training Features:

1. Sit your butt on a fitball.
2. Do jumping movements without lifting your buttocks.
3. The faster you do jumping jacks, the more calories you will burn and the better your gluteal muscles will work.

Beginners are recommended to start with 3 minutes. Advanced athletes jumping for 5-7 minutes a day achieve impressive results in the form of pumping up beautiful legs and buttocks.

With the help of a fitball, you can conduct intense aerobic training aimed at getting rid of extra pounds.

Gluteal bridge

The nuances of the correct bridge exercise technique:

1. Lie on your back and press your feet firmly against the ball, raising your legs and bending them at the knees.
2. Inhaling, slowly lift your pelvis up, fix the position, tensing your muscles.
3. Exhaling, slowly return to the starting position.

This type is more suitable for advanced athletes who are physically prepared. Perform 12-15 repetitions in three passes.

By systematically performing exercises on a gymnastic ball at least three times a week, you will achieve what you want - your waist will become thinner and your figure more toned.

Reverse bridge: raising the pelvic area while rolling the apparatus

Subtleties and correctness of the reverse bridge:

1. Lie with your back on the floor.
2. Extend your legs and place them on top of the ball.
3. Hands lie freely on the floor.
4. As you inhale, lift your pelvis up, while simultaneously rolling the ball closer to you with your feet.
5. While raising your legs, tense the muscles of your butt, thighs and abs as much as possible.
6. Exhaling, return to the starting position without touching the floor with your pelvis.

This activity is suitable for people with well-trained muscles and advanced athletes. Perform from 12 to 20 repetitions in three passes.

Perform a set of exercises on a fitball regularly, at least three times a week, alternating a day of exercise with one or two days of rest.

How to choose a fitball?

The effectiveness of exercises with a fitball depends not only on the intensity of the exercise, but also on the correctly chosen size of the ball. It will be inconvenient to exercise with a small one, and with a large fitball there is a high probability of falling and getting injured. There are two options for choosing a projectile.

1. Sit on the ball with your legs together in front of you, back straight. The inclination of the knee joint should ideally be 90⁰, maximum 110⁰. If the slope is an acute angle, the ball is too small for you.
2. If it is not possible to “try on” the ball, and the purchase is made remotely, focus on the following parameters:

• for newborns, children, teenagers and adults up to 1 m 52 cm, a ball 45 cm in diameter is recommended;
• people with a height from 1 m 52 cm to 1 m 64 cm - 55 cm;
• with a height from 1 m 64 cm to 1 m 80 cm - the diameter of the ball is 65 cm;
• if an athlete is taller than 1 m 80 cm, buy a 75 cm fitball;
• For those who are taller than 1 m 90 cm, balls with a diameter of 85 cm or more are suitable.

For gym workouts, choose a classic smooth ball. Beginners, children and pregnant women should purchase a fitball with “horns” for greater confidence. The “pimply” massage device works more deeply with the muscles: it is good for combating cellulite and neurological pathologies.

Important! When choosing a fitball, you need to pay attention to the maximum weight it is designed for. In addition, the ball should not be too elastic or soft, the effectiveness of the exercise depends on this - the degree of its inflation should be adjusted.

The cost of gymnastic balls depends on the diameter of the projectile, material of manufacture, modification and brand of the manufacturer. On average, this ranges from 700 rubles for the smallest ball and up to 1800-2000 for fitballs of large diameters.

If you are in doubt about purchasing a gymnastic ball because it will take up a lot of space in your apartment, then we hasten to reassure you. A fitball in a deflated state can easily be placed in a small box, and is inflated using a pump for 5-10 tons. There is no need to worry about safety: the ball will not burst or explode if damaged, but will slowly deflate. Most modern fitballs are equipped with an anti-explosion system. This indicates that the ball is protected from sudden breaks.

When purchasing a fitball, pay attention to the presence of a pump in the kit. If you have a pump at home (including a bicycle pump), then you don’t have to worry about this. If not, then it’s better to choose a ball with a pump included. Before using the fitball for the first time, it is advisable to inflate it once (approximately 70-80% of the maximum volume), hold it for several hours, deflate completely and then inflate it again to the maximum volume.

Please note that the more you inflate the ball and the tighter it is, the more difficult it will be for you to perform the exercises and the more stress your body will receive. At first, while you are just adapting to a new apparatus, you can not fully pump it up.

Fitballs come in different diameters from 45 to 95 cm. The most popular sizes are 65 and 75 cm. Most often, people of average height choose these types of balls.

In order to make sure that the fitball size is suitable for you, we recommend performing this test. Sit on the ball and look at the angle formed between your shins and thighs. If the projectile suits you, then the angle should be 90-100°. In this case, the feet should be completely on the floor. If the angle between the shin and thighs is sharp, then the fitball is too small for you.

If you do not have the opportunity to try on a gymnastic ball, then try to focus on the ratio of height and diameter of the ball:

• 150-160 cm – diameter 55 cm
• 160-170 cm – diameter 65 cm
• 170-180 cm – diameter 75 cm
• 180-190 cm – diameter 85 cm

Preparation for training

Initially, this ball was developed for special recreational gymnastics. But over time, many women adopted this equipment and began to use it in fitness. Exercises on the ball allow you to tighten not only the muscles of the buttocks, but also strengthens all other muscles of the body.

Before you start doing exercises for your hips and buttocks, you need to prepare your body. You can find it on the Internet and watch relevant videos so that you can clearly understand how to perform certain exercises.

Despite the fact that ball training is quite effective, some still dispute it and do not consider it to be effective enough compared to other sports.

The popularity of exercises for the buttocks with a fitball is due to the fact that they show a higher level of efficiency than the same exercises, but on a flat surface.

Features of training:

• Before purchasing a ball, you need to check whether it matches your height and weight. You can do this in the following way: sit on the ball. If the thighs are parallel to the floor, and the angle between the shin and the back of the thigh is 90 degrees, then the projectile is ideal. A ball that is too large will be inconvenient for training, and there is also a risk of injury.
• You need to give preference to bright balls. They will make your workout more active.
• When purchasing a projectile, it is important to pay special attention to such an important detail as the presence of an anti-explosion system. The system is designated on the ball itself by the abbreviation ABS or BRQ. This is an indication that the ball will be able to withstand even people with a lot of weight and will not burst even if there is a puncture in it.

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Top 3 Ball Moves for Beginners

These movements are quite simple to perform and do not require serious physical training. They are quite suitable for beginners.

The exercise is suitable for both beginners and advanced athletes. The primary muscles involved are the iliocostal, lumbar and mid back muscles. Additionally, the gluteus maximus and hamstring muscles are tensed. The ball exercise differs from the classic hyperextension for the buttocks in that, among others, it involves many more stabilizer muscles.

In the ranking of the TOP 10 exercises for the buttocks, “Hyperextension” takes 6th place.

Technique:

1. Starting position - lie on your stomach on the ball, arms bent behind your head, legs straight with support on your toes, looking down, your back completely relaxed (as if hanging from a gymnastic apparatus);
2. As you inhale, the back muscles straighten and the body stretches into one straight line, the lower back is slightly tucked so as not to overstrain it;
3. As you exhale, we return to IP again.

The difficulty of these actions lies in maintaining balance and coordination.

You should start with 10 repetitions in 3 sets. You can gradually increase the number of repetitions to 20-25.

You will see 5 more types of hyperextension here.

The work is aimed at working out the butt and the front of the thigh. The difficulty is easy; if you wish, you can weigh yourself down with dumbbells or do squats on one leg. There are 7 more types of squats for the gluteal muscles; special attention should be paid to squats with dumbbells.

Also check out our 30 Day Squat Challenge.

Technique:

1. The starting position is to stand with your back to the wall and press the ball tightly against it with your lower back. The legs are set slightly forward and shoulder-width apart;
2. Tighten your abs, take a breath and, keeping your balance, squat down, your thighs should be parallel to the floor. Stay at the bottom for a few seconds, feeling all the tension in your buttocks;
3. As you exhale, return to the starting position.

The ball should roll up and down along your spine. Be sure to watch your lower back; it should be pressed tightly against the gymnastic instrument. For greater load, perform this exercise with dumbbells.

You need to do 15-20 repetitions for 3-5 approaches.

Set of exercises

How to pump up your butt on a fitball? The main rule of any training is regularity. Classes must be carried out continuously over a long period of time. If you do butt exercises every other time, you will not be able to achieve any results.

You need to do at least 4 workouts per week. The minimum lesson time is half an hour. Gradually, the time needs to be increased, as well as the load on the legs and buttocks.

There is one more rule that needs to be taken into account. You cannot do the same exercises for the gluteal muscle. Gradually, the body gets used to the chosen set of exercises, and they cease to have any effect.

The person continues to train, increases the load, but no changes occur to the body. In this case, you need to choose a different complex and temporarily abandon the old, familiar exercises. It's best to vary the exercises constantly.

Before training (1 hour) you should not eat.

Simple exercises on a fitball:

• Plank.

The plank is one of the simplest exercises that affects not only the gluteal muscle, but also the muscles of the abs, arms, legs and back. Kneel in front of the ball, lean on your elbows and gradually rise up. The back should be straight. You must remain in this position for 20 seconds. You need to do it in 3 sets of 20 seconds. After some time, the duration must be constantly increased. It is worth noting that in the plank position the whole body should be tense.

• Plank with alternating leg abductions.

The body position should be the same as in the first exercise. Only now you need to take your legs up one by one. You need to hold your leg in this position for a few seconds, then change it. Perform 10 times with each leg for 4 approaches.

• Scissors.

You need to rest your hands on the floor, put your feet on the fitball. Lift them one by one, straining your thigh muscles. You should raise your legs 10-15 cm above the ball. With each swing they must be held for a few seconds. Then lower it smoothly. Repeat 15 times. Perform 4 approaches.

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• Jumping from a squat position.

Take the ball in your hands and hold it directly in front of your chest, with your feet shoulder-width apart. Jump up sharply, straining your muscles. The arms with the fitball should be extended during the jump. Return to the starting position and bring your hands with the ball to your chest again. Perform 20 times. The minimum number of approaches is 2.