Full Body Workout

Welcome to my Fit Ball workout series! There are six workouts in this series and they're all listed in a row. You can purchase a ball here. Each mini workout contains 3 to 4 exercises. Below you'll find suggestions for how to use them.

• A warm up before pole training.
• A quick workout to help you maintain strength when you're short on time.
• Target training for specific muscle groups.
• Guidance for your time at the gym.

Performing 1 set of 12 reps of each exercise will only take you about 3-4 minutes! You can mix things up by doing each exercise for however many sets you choose in a row. You can also do them as supersets, meaning you'll do each exercise one after the other without stopping. Rest for a few minutes or more and start over, completing however many sets you'd like. I suggest starting with one set if you're new to exercise. 

Exercise 1 - Chest - No bench, no problem! I'll demonstrate how to do an incline dumbbell chest press using a fit ball! You can use any grip you like depending on the target for the day. I like to use a neutral (palms facing each other) grip for this as it's beneficial for pole dance.

• Roll down towards the floor until you've reached the incline angle you desire.
• Keep the elbows in by the body for this variation.
• If your ball slips, anchor your toes against a wall or try placing the ball on a yoga mat.

Exercise 2 - Chest and Shoulders - I've had fussy shoulders forever (thanks, hypermobility), and this exercise helped me to build the strength needed to enable me to add more resistance when weight training. For example, my bench press was always sketchy because of my shoulder weakness. Now I can lift far more and also accomplish tricks like Iron X.

• Use very light weights!! No weight if you're new to exercise or very hypermobile.
• Go slooooow (I'm moving a bit quickly in the demo) and breathe throughout the movement.
• Pay attention to your hand position as it will change throughout the movement.
• Stay in your "safe" range of motion if you're hypermobile; pushing to the point of dislocation or weakness is not the goal. 

Exercise 3 - Back bending and Triceps - Cross training not only helps us get into back bending positions, but also provides more support for the joints as we hold poses. This keeps us safe in extreme positions. There's a lot of muscle engagement going on here, so it uses the whole body.

• Start with small movements and make sure your ball will not slip on the surface you're using. If it slips, place the ball against a solid object.
• Start the pose by pushing the chest forward first, then allow the low back to follow.
• Keep the elbows in so you're targeting the triceps, too.

Exercise 4 - Biceps - These are preacher curls done using a fit ball. If you have access to a gym, look for the preacher curl bench, but honestly I really like using the ball. It's a bit more forgiving on the elbow.

• Don't be shy with the weight. If you can easily do more than 10 reps, you need more weight. It should be a challenge to achieve 8 reps at first.
• You can add some core stabilization into this exercise by extending the legs.
• If you're hypermobile, stop before you hyperextend at the elbow. This will help retrain your nervous system, translating to better body mechanics on the pole.