The Swiss ball put to the test
The original use of the Swiss ball was to develop activation of
the lower back and abdominal muscles in patients with lower-back
injuries.
Swiss balls are an unstable surface
which may result in an increased need for force output from trunk
muscles to provide adequate spinal stability or balance.
Doing exercises on a swiss ball instead of a flat surface is supposed
to increase your "core strength" because of the difficulty of balancing
during the exercise.
A recent study tried to determine if the use of a Swiss ball
instead of an exercise bench results in consistent increases across
subjects in trunk muscle activation levels during upper body strength
training exercises.
The myoelectric activity of four trunk muscles was quantified
during the performance of upper body resistance exercises while seated on both
a stable (exercise bench) and labile (swiss ball) surface. Participants performed
the supine chest press, shoulder press, lateral raise, biceps curl and overhead
triceps extension.
There was no statistically significant
difference in muscle activity between surface conditions. However, there
was large degree of variability across subjects suggesting that
some individuals respond differently to surface stability.
These findings suggest that the
incorporation of swiss balls instead of an exercise bench into upper body
strength training regimes may not be justified based only on
the belief that an increase spinal stabilizing musculature activity
is inherent.
Biomechanically justified ground based exercises
have been researched and should form the basis for spinal
stability training as preventative and therapeutic exercise training
regimes.
Selected trunk muscle activity during certain upper limb strength
training exercises is not consistently influenced by the replacement
of an exercise bench with a swiss ball.
Some people are doing exercises on a ball that really should
be done on the floor, which is not only ineffective, but
also increases the risk of injury.
"I've seen professional athletes who were advised to perform squats
without weight or with light weight on the ball," says Joseph
M. Horrigan, DC, head speed-strength and conditioning coach for
the Los Angeles Kings and co-author of The 7 Minute Rotator
Cuff Solution.
"The risk for that movement is enormous," Horrigan continues.
"Some trainers actually advise their clients to stand on a ball
while squatting. While attempting to develop core strength, you
can easily fall off the ball and incur head and/or neck trauma,
ankle sprains and fractures, shoulder dislocations, wrist injuries
and more. You're not a trained circus seal. Don't stand on balls
while performing squats."
Horrigan also points out that swiss ball reduces the amount of
weight you're able to use in some exercises, such as the dumbbell
military press. "If you kneel or sit on a stability ball, you won't
be able to use as much weight," he adds, "so a detraining effect
will take place and the shoulder muscles won't be as strong."
"You can get core strength by placing a progressive-resistance
demand on the abdominal and back muscles," Horrigan notes. "That
can come from squats, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, hypers, glute/ham
raises, variations of the Olympic lifts, abdominal training and
various medicine ball throws."
More
research
References
Lehman GJ, Gordon T, Langley J, Pemrose P, Tregaskis S. (2005).
Replacing a Swiss ball for an exercise bench causes variable changes
in trunk muscle activity during the performance of upper limb strength
exercises. Dynamic
Medicine, 4, 6
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