1. The Gravity Ball must always be under your control.
Always use a Gravity Ball that is of a proper weight for you. An appropriate weight allows you to perform exercises during the entire time you are exercising without feeling overly tired by the end of the session. Using a weight that is too heavy can also cause joint injuries and muscle strains or tears. The risk of injury greatly increases when using a heavy weight and by performing movements too quickly, with jerky movements and poor form. A weight that is not heavy enough will provide less benefit and make exercise less efficient than if you were using an appropriate weight.
2. Focus on form, technique, and symmetry.
Practicing proper form and technique and working to develop muscular-skeletal symmetry throughout all of your movements, poses and exercises is of utmost importance. Correcting any imbalances and building a strong foundation of a balanced, strong body is the only way to move into more advanced exercises and to avoid injury. Using correct form protects joints from being strained or torn and encourages your skeleton to move in the ways it was designed to move.
Tip: Having a mirror nearby while you exercise is very helpful. You can watch yourself perform an exercise, become familiar with areas that need improvement and work to correct them. Watch yourself from different angles (front, side, and an angle). This will help to develop awareness of how your body moves naturally and also as you begin to implement more therapeutic, corrective movements. Overtime, you will be able to correct imbalances, eliminate or reduce joint pains and become stronger.
Tip: Having a mirror nearby while you exercise is very helpful. You can watch yourself perform an exercise, become familiar with areas that need improvement and work to correct them. Watch yourself from different angles (front, side, and an angle). This will help to develop awareness of how your body moves naturally and also as you begin to implement more therapeutic, corrective movements. Overtime, you will be able to correct imbalances, eliminate or reduce joint pains and become stronger.
3. The spine is a hinge, never an accordion (always bend at the hips).
The spine has a natural "s" shaped curve which is called a neutral spine when the "s" shape is maintained. The lower region of the spine (the lumbar spine) is slightly concave. The thoracic spine, located between your rib cage and neck, is slightly convex to allow for your heart, lungs, and thoracic cavity. Your cervical spine (located from your neck to your skull) is slightly concave. The spine's natural curves keep the body balanced and maintaining these curves (and preventing abnormal curvature) during movement is key. |
Become aware of your spine's natural position when sitting, standing, and especially during exercise. When you bend over (to pick something up) ALWAYS bend at the hips (think of a hinge), and not with your lower back. Your back should look like a tabletop (be kept straight) as you bend and never look like an accordion (see the photos below).
Correct bending technique
Correct bending technique includes maintaining the neutral "s" shaped natural curve of your spine as you bend down. This is done by bending the knees or hips as you lower down.
4. Full body movements are the most effective.
In general, the more major muscle groups used during an exercise, the more efficient the exercise is. Exercises that require more than one major muscle group (called compound exercises) are excellent because they build total body strength, while also improving balance and coordination. Be creative and combine exercises and muscle groups to make sure a majority of your movements include multiple large muscle groups.
5. Stretching may be helpful.
We recommend that you do some additional light stretching. Common areas that may benefit by additional stretching include the back of the legs (hamstrings and calves), Achilles tendon (runs from the calf to back of the ankle), IT band (a strip of connective tissue that runs from your hip to your knee on the outside of the thigh), hip flexors (muscles at the top and front of your thigh), hip extensors (muscles at the top and back of thigh/hip), hip abductors and hip adductors (muscles located at the top of pelvis and in inner thigh) and shoulders. We suggest Googling stretches for each of these areas.
6. Never (almost never) sacrifice form for difficult of movement.
As touched on in the second rule, form and technique is of top priority when performing an exercise.
7. Practice the art of non-movement to some degree with each session.
Non-moving (or static) poses, similar to yoga, require the continuous firing of muscles and thus dramatically increase the challenge and efficiency of an exercise. Non-moving poses can also be low impact on joints. The art of non-movement can be practiced at any time throughout an exercise session by holding a pose or portion of a movement (using proper form of course) until your muscles are burning. Release the movement and begin another exercise.