You Can Have a Ball While Improving Your Posture

Perfecting your posture not only makes you look taller and about 5 pounds thinner, it also minimizes the stress on your neck, shoulders and back. I’ve learned that the biggest key to improving your posture is strengthening the muscles of your torso.

This means that all of us need to do specific exercises for our upper and lower backs, hips and abdominals. When these muscles are strong, they help keep the spine properly aligned all day. That way, even when we’re not thinking about it, our bodies will stay aligned and we can avoid those nagging aches and pains.

Working on weight machines at the gym is not going to make much of a difference for your torso. You’ll still have to work your trunk muscles separately. You see, those machines provide passive support for your back and abs while you’re concentrating on exercising isolated parts of your arms and legs. The equipment protects your back, but it also does part of the work for your trunk muscles.

To help you focus on that often-overlooked part of your body, I’ve picked two of my favorite exercises. One works the whole back and butt area, while another one is great for strengthening the abs.

I like to do both of these exercises on a large inflatable ball, often called a stability ball. In case you’ve never seen them before, these vinyl balls are used in exercise classes and gyms across the country because they are so comfortable and easy to handle. If you want to buy your own, you can find them at almost any sporting goods store.

Be aware when you are working on a stability ball that your torso muscles are doing double duty. They are contracting and releasing to perform the exercise and they are also working continuously to keep you balanced. By using the ball you will be developing muscular strength and, at the same time, you’ll be teaching those muscles how to hold and support your spine in a variety of positions. That support comes in handy whenever you stand, sit or lean in any direction.

Balance on Ball Lift

1. Kneel on the floor with the fronts of your thighs facing the ball. Bend forward from the hips so that your abdomen touches the ball. Place your hands in front of the ball, shoulder-width apart, elbows straight. Straighten your knees and balance on the balls of your feet.

2. Contract your abdominals to keep your back from sagging into the ball as you lift your left leg and right arm as high as you can. Keep your neck in line with your spine. Hold this position for a count of eight. Breathe comfortably while you maintain the position. Think of reaching your hand and foot in opposite directions. Repeat on the other side until you have done 6 to 8 repetitions on each side.

Ball Crunches

1. Sit upright on the ball. Place your feet flat on the floor, slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Walk your feet away from the ball until the tops of your shoulders are off the ball but your torso is resting on it. Place your hands behind your head and inhale deeply.

2. As you exhale, contract your abdominals while you lift your chest, shoulders and head toward your thighs. Simultaneously curl your hips toward your chest. Pause at the top of the curl. Slowly release down and repeat 12 to 16 times.

To create maximum balance in your torso muscles, it’s a good idea to alternate between these exercises, doing one move one day and the other move the next day. With stronger abdominals, butt and back muscles you’ll enjoy a double boost to your confidence. Not only will your aches fade away and you’ll start feeling better overall, your posture is bound to look a lot better too.

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Joan Voight, a San Francisco journalist, contributed to this column.

* Karen Voight is a Los Angeles-based fitness expert whose latest video is “Abdominals & Back.” She can be reached at kvoightla@aol.com. Her column appears the first and third Mondays of the month.