Fitness Must Be Applicable To Real-Life Functions
Fitness has indeed evolved through the years. From the traditional weight lifting and body weight exercises to a variation of equipment you can no longer begin to count and name. But are these equipment really necessary in building up a healthy body?
One of New England Revolution’s fitness coach, Nick Downing wrote a very interesting article on this, published online by Boston.com.
Stability Balls Are Added In Fitness Plans To Increase Core Strength And Improve Balance And Stability
Downing emphasized the importance of having usefulness of the workouts and exercises that a person takes on. More or less, he says that when an exercise routine will not be useful in developing a life skill, it is not worth doing.
When he says useful, he means that it should, in his own words, “help you play a sport, work or dance”.; otherwise, he advises for you to skip it.
This is the same perspective he uses in the new equipment that has become a trend. He doesn’t think much of the stability ball, which, according to Downing, may cause you injury if you are not extra careful.
Here’s what he has to say on the fitness equipment trend as posted on Boston.com:
Fitness Equipment And Its Real Life Applicability
In newer trends, I’m no fan of stability balls and elliptical machines. Stability balls just don’t seem worth it, when factoring risk vs. reward. You might be able to balance on the ball, but you could also fall off and severally hurt yourself.
As for the elliptical, I prefer exercises that prepare you for a real goal – in sports or in life. The elliptical machine motion is neither a run nor walk. It basically teaches you to shuffle your feet. How is that useful? I don’t endorse people getting on these because it doesn’t look like anything we do in everyday life.
For the sake of knowledge, let’s discuss the Stability ball, its uses and its potential contribution to a person’s fitness plan.
Fitness With Stability Balls
Stability Balls are also referred to as balance balls for the obvious reason that fitness enthusiasts need to maintain their balance while being on it.
Stability balls are useful for developing core strength. People who substitute the bench press with a stability ball have increased the intensity of their workouts by doing so. First of all, just lying on your back on an unstable ball can help develop your stability and balance and may strengthen your back and tighten your abs and firm up your legs. Your muscles continuously contract as you struggle to maintain your balance on the ball and avoid getting injured.
Stability balls are also used for fitness plans other than weight lifting. They’re used for Pilates, Yoga, and other fitness routines.
Want to know more exercises that will help develop your core strength and improve your stability and balance? Sign up for one of our Sydney boot camps and experience an amazing total body transformation.
