Balance Ball Fitness: Abs

Suzanne Deason
Year Released: 2000

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


Balance Ball Fitness Abs is a slow-moving yet tough workout which will really challenge your abdominal and core strength. Prior to the start of the workout, instructor Suzanne Deason spends approximately 5 minutes providing basic instruction plus a few warm-up moves on the ball, including rolling the pelvis and hip areas plus draping yourself over the ball. The workout begins with some basic twists and crunch movements both sitting and lying on top of the ball. You then move to the floor on your back, placing the ball between your legs for a toe tap series both with and without arm movements; many of my Pilates videos include similar exercises. Next come two additional Pilates moves: rolling up from a lying position and doing a twist while in a seated stradle position. In these exercises, the ball really helps to assist with correct placement and form.

You will then lie on top of the ball, face down, for a series of tough moves in a plank position. Particularly difficult was forming a plank with only your toes on the ball and then rolling your knees in towards your chest--you will definitely feel this one! Following this, Suzanne does a nice relaxing side twist, but you're not quite done: the most challenging work is still to come. In the final segment, you again return to lying on the floor on your back, this time placing the ball between your feet for some moves which concentrate on the lower abs area. For the most difficult of these, you lift your hips, moving your legs overhead and setting the ball down on the floor behind you. This looks like a yoga pose, the plow, but the exercise is actually dervived from the Pilates rollover, and it requires quite a bit of prerequiste core strength. Suzanne ends the routine with a few minutes of nice back and side stretches over the ball for a total workout time of 26 minutes (not including the instruction/warm-up).

I felt that this video gave my abs a great workout, and I particularly liked the excellent lower body work towards the end. I would classify this as an intermediate abs workout, and prior experience with intermediate Pilates moves would be extremely beneficial. The setting for this workout is rather serene--an outdoor stream with soft guitar music in the background--and the pace is slow and steady, so it is not for those looking to break a sweat. However, if you want to do some concentrated work on your abdominal area with an excellent instructor, I highly recommend this video.

Instructor Comments:
Like the setting of the workout, Suzanne herself comes across as quite serene. She is an older woman (50s?) with an obviously supple, youthful body. Her instruction, which is done through voiceover, is very clear and includes frequent inhale-exhale prompts.

Beth C (aka toaster)

01/22/2005