Shoulder 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 - Shoulders - This exercise is wonderful for pole dancers and aerial artists. The thumbnail says shoulders, but that's an oversimplification! You'll be using your core (torso front and back), hip flexors, triceps, upper chest, and shoulder girdle.

I'm demonstrating two options for body positioning. The first hinges at the hips and the second, hips move with you as you maintain a strong core. No banana backs here ?

• Actively push the arms down into the ball.
• You should feel a nice stretch at the top of the movement (face down).
• Keep the thumbs up ?
• For all variations, work towards your end range of motion. It's okay if your movement is much smaller or larger than mine. Form is more important than how far you can go.

Exercise 2 - Shoulders - This exercise allowed me to build strength in my notoriously weak shoulders. The movement is the same as the previous demo, which is done lying down. This is another wonderful exercise for pole dancers and those of us who are hypermobile ?

• Use very light weights!! No weights if you're new to exercise and are hypermobile.
• Breathe throughout the whole exercise.
• This shouldn't be painful. Stop if it is.

Exercise 3 - Core and Shoulders - This exercise would be a great warm-up before working on pole dance tricks that require twisting. If you don't have a large ball, you can use light weights held slightly more than shoulder distance apart. I've demonstrated two variations, and often, I'll do both in the same set. The first targets the core, and in the second, you'll also train the shoulders.

• Don't force the twist.
• Keep both butt cheeks on the floor.
• This can be done while sitting in a chair if sitting on the floor isn't an option for you.