Crunches on a Stability Ball with a Medicine Ball in My Hands

Oh you think you've made it through high school and college and have mastered the art of multitasking. Have you tried using an exercise stability ball? I thought I got a pretty good overview of the exercise realm basics between track and soccer through the years, but I was blissfully unaware of the wonders of the exercise ball. Sit-ups, wall sits, crunches, leg abductions and the rest with increased difficulty while sitting, posing with, leaning on, and/or squeezing an exercise ball. I don't even think my mind can focus that many muscles on all those activities at one time.

Breathe in and out through your nose, suck your belly button to your back, lower your pelvis, squeeze your glutes, keep your chin up, and, which exercise was I doing again. I was so busy preparing for my body for the set of lounges with a weight bar on my neck that I got lost. I try to be adventurous and creative when it comes to working out but it seems like I have to be a limber, multi-tasking, pilates guru to even make it through one set. Instead, I do my regular routine of pushups, crunches on the ball, and back extensions because the familiarity of the exercises make it too easy to drop the more difficult one I found on the internet.

There is no dearth of tips, routines, manuals, guides, videos, and iPod downloads on using an exercise ball. The real difficulty is unearthing all that advice and information into a coherent mental understanding of what your body and the ball are supposed to be achieving: strength, flexibility, tone, maybe even relaxation. If you're doing a one-legged wall sit with a medicine ball in your hand and your back pushing against a stability ball, then which, if any, of those goals are you achieving? I would much rather leave it to the experts to tell me that, but it is my body, and I'm the only one that can feel which muscles are supposedly doing their thing.

I do glimpse at others at the gym, trying to gauge whether or not their exercise activity is worth imitating or avoiding. I do get a kick out of those guys who do 10 pushups in 10 seconds and pick up their bag and leave. Yes, if only women could get abs like that. Then again, we would lose entire industries. What would we do without Women's Health Magazine, Denise Austin, or Jillian Michaels? I do enjoy watching trainers helping their clients at the gym with new routines. Heck, I get a free personal workout just listening and watching them. "Pull the weight like this and flex...," as the trainer guides his trainee and his unsuspecting fan. A few minutes later I follow along and perform the same activity and determine if this trainer is worth my time.

For all the trainers out there, why don't you point out and give some advice for some of us awkwardly looking at the machine's directions when we both know that even after reading them I won't utilize the machine to its max? I'm sure it's painful to watch us doing crunches wrong or missing a step or two in total body workout. Just watching someone curl a free weight like it's a gallon of milk makes me turn my head. Plus, the free advice will no doubt make us warm up to the idea of having a trainer. Look at Costco and all those freebie samples. Trainers, take a cue, and share your wealth of knowledge with us lowly gym infrequenters. Perhaps we'll take a liking to you and actually want you to do the job you're being paid to do.

In the mean time I'll be downloading, e-mail forwarding, and magazine-ripping all those exercise ball routines that don't contradict themselves too much. I'll add them to my jumble of a folder of exercise tips that I'll play with for a few days, and then get back to the real world. Once I figure out how to set aside time to work on my core strength, which has most likely dissipated since the last time I've gone to the gym, I'm back at square one and climbing back up the exercise ladder again.