Fitness Ball Bonding

This entry was written on May 04, 2009 by our Running Guru Heidi Splete

Just for fun, I'm going to dedicate this week's blog posts to some stretches and exercises that you can do with a fitness ball. I have a big red one that I love for doing crunches, but I've been thinking recently that I should do some other stretches with it.

The reverse of abdominal work is back work. A tight upper back can contribute to injuries, and upper back tightness is especially common if you sit at a computer all day.

After you do your ab crunches on a fitness ball, give you back some attention with this stretch:

-Place the fitness ball on the floor, kneel behind it, and drape your chest over the ball.

-Roll the ball forward and straighten your legs, keeping your chest folded around the ball. This helps to stretch the upper spine.

-Hold for a minute or two, then roll back down to your knees.

Happy running and stretching!

-Position the ball in front of you, and kneel behind it so your chest is on the ball.

-Roll forward and straighten your legs, keeping the ball under the chest.

-Allow the body to fold around the ball to stretch the upper spine.

Anyway, back to the ball stretches--Try this one for the back: