[hellcatjill]

I just bought one and have been trying to do some crunches on it. I don't know if I'm putting my body in the right place, if this makes sense. Should I only have my shoulders and upper back on the ball and sorta hold myself up with that and with my legs or should I have more of my back on the ball? I'm tall (5'10 1/2") so I don't know if this makes any difference or not.

So far I like doing crunches on the ball so much better than any other crunches I've tried. I feel like I could actually stick with this!

Oh, and does your (sorry, tmi maybe) butt kinda move up and down when you do the crunches or should I try harder to hold my lower body straight?

TIA!

[kykaree]

The way I have been taught is you sit on the ball then roll forward until the ball is in the small of your back. So your shoulders and upper back aren't on the ball.

You butt won't really move at all doing it this way, as you will have more stability, but there will be a bit of squeaking!

[hellcatjill]

Great! Thank you! I'll give that a try. How do you like using the exercise ball? Does it seem to be strengthening your abs at all?

[kykaree]

I love the exercise ball, and I now do about 20 different things with it, like press ups, superman back extensions among other things.

My ab and core strength has improved markedly. I can now do a lot more weight exercises that use your core strength, and previously I couldn't use the rower machine as it made by back hurt, my improved ab strength means I am not relying on my back anymore.

I like the ball because its kinda fun! It's like playing rather than exercising with an ab cage or straight push ups. I have major coordination issues caused by a mild form of cerebral palsy, so the ball has really helped with that. I am a convert!

[BrOOklyN ChIcK]

I really like the ball as well, The abs workouts are killer!