Starting position: Begin with your feet and knees on the floor, arms straight and hands on the ball. Bring hips forward slightly so that the body is in a straight line, with no bend at the waist.
Strengthening Phase: Slowly begin to roll the ball forward, bending the elbows as you go, until your forearms are resting on the ball. You should feel the abdominals tightening.
Once the rollout portion of the exercise is complete, options include:
Holding this position for as long as possible with good form. This emphasizes the time-under-tension isometric effect, and helps to teach the muscles how to better stabilize the spinal column.
You can also perform the roll forward and roll back as one slow continual movement. Because there is no hold, this allows for a greater number of repetitions.
Beginners should focus on proper form rather than the number of reps or sets.
How often should you work the abdominals? Your muscles are ‘broken down’ so to speak, during a workout, and stronger during the rest/recovery phase afterward. My advice is to perform strengthening exercises to the point where you have fully fatigued the muscles, and then allow a day of rest before working the same muscle group. The greater your strength becomes, the greater your ability will be to up the intensity in a given workout, so, depending on the degree of hard work, you may need more time for recovery.
Tips:
It is important to keep your body as rigid as possible as you perform the exercise. Bending at the waist lessens the effectiveness of the exercise significantly.
If your core is weak, you may find that your hips/rear come up as you attempt to roll the ball. In this case, limit the distance that you travel, judging this by how far you can go with a straight body. As long as you feel the abdominals activating, you are still gaining strength benefits.
When ready for more challenge, you can go to a smaller size stability ball, and/or add intensity by raising the knees from the floor once the rollout is complete. For the advanced exerciser looking for an extreme challenge, the Ab Roll can be performed with the legs and arms straight, which requires great balance and strength. Keeping legs straight, roll forward until forearms are resting on ball and hold, as if doing an incline Plank.
If your goal is to reduce body fat around the midsection, you must adhere to a consistently healthy diet and a routine of regular aerobic and strengthening exercise. Abdominal exercises are of great benefit for improving strength and posture, but burn a very small number of calories. So if your objective is weight loss, you must take in fewer calories that you expend on a daily basis. Keeping a food and exercise journal can help you to gauge calories in vs out.
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