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Home › Articles › Exercise in Pregnancy › Get on the Ball

Get on the Ball

Bouncing into Prenatal Fitness

By Kelly Burgess

Pages:  1  2  3  

Kneel with your hands on the ball. Tuck your pelvis under while contracting your abdominal muscles Roll the ball toward you as you contract. This is another good abdominal exercise.

  • Side Stretch: Position the ball against a wall for stability or use a spotter. Sit on the ball with feet flat on floor, shoulder width apart. Using one arm for balance, raise and stretch the other overhead, palm facing inward. Rolling ball slightly, continue raising arm until you feel the stretch along the side. Lower and repeat with other arm. This helps keep the back limber.
  • Kegels: Sitting comfortably on the ball, tighten the vaginal muscles as if you're trying to stop the flow of urine. Hold for five seconds and relax. Repeat as often as possible. Kegels are a "must do" for any woman. Using a ball allows you to do Kegels in any position. Doing them while sitting upright on the ball also helps strengthen the core muscles and reinforcing balance.

    Also remember that fitness balls can be used, as Gazzo used hers, as additional support for a "normal" exercise routine. For example, use it to support your torso while doing leg lifts, or lean against it at an incline for those exercises that would usually be done in a back-lying position. Since back-lying exercises shouldn't be done after the first trimester, a fitness ball can lift your body and make them safe. Fitness balls also can provide support for exercises done with free weights and bands.


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