Balance Ball Fitness: Abs

Suzanne Deason
Year Released: 2000

Categories: Abs/Core , Balance/Medicine/Mini/Stability Ball


I really like this video. I'm usually a lover of traditional ab work -- gotta go for the burn -- so it's nothing short of a miracle when I endorse non-traditional ab work.

Like Kristin, I usually skip the 5-minute warm-up. I'm already warmed-up and even if I weren't, the warm-up mostly involves lying on your belly on the ball and rolling around on it, which doesn't do much for me unless I need help burping.

The remainder of the workout clocks in around 25 minutes and is a nice mix of traditional (oblique crunches on the ball), less traditional (sit with legs in v-shape, abs and thighs engaged, swivel right and bounce ball past right thigh and catch it; swivel left and repeat) and far-out (prepare to roll helplessly on your back and shoulders while attempting to gracefully mimic instructor Suzanne Deason.)

The workout flew by because of the variety and novelty of the exercises. Not a beginner level workout, but very well-suited for intermediate or advanced. I was surprised to find my abs sore following my first workout with LABBFA (gotta love that acronym.) I regularly torture myself with all kinds of inhuman ab work and I am NEVER sore!

As usual with the Living Arts tapes, they don't do mirror cueing. When they say "right," you have to pick whether you want to use YOUR right or go left to mirror them.

My picky complaints are with the warm-up -- it just seemed unnecessary -- and the scenery. I'm so accustomed to the gorgeous desert settings or the Hawaiian ocean from Living Arts, that this one, pretty as it is, seemed tame. Like being on the set of Good Morning America or something. It's a deck next to a running brook. Yes, I know, I know, I'm being REALLY picky. I like drama in my scenery, what can I say? It's like going to see Titanic and getting Love Boat.

Instructor Comments:
Suzanne is pleasant, earnest and gives good form pointers through out. Like most of the Living Arts tapes, she doesn't engage in any small talk. It's the workout and nothing but the workout.

Daphne M

05/02/2000