Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book has been a true collaboration from the outset and, first and foremost, Id like to thank all the great people at Ulysses PressLynette for seeking me out and pitching the project to me in the first place, Bryce for all his insight and guidance, and Lily for all her hard work and diligence, as well as all the others who spent hours on the book.
Id like to thank all the models, especially David and Andrea, who allowed me to experiment on them with these programs as the book took shape. All threeDavid, Laura and Andreaare true professionals, and the photo shoot would not have been successful without them. And a heartfelt thanks to Robert Holmes for his excellent photography and patience.
Finally, Id like to thank all the people at Weider Publications who helped me with this project, particularly: Jim Stoppani, Ph.D., for his technical edits; Mario Pacifici for his marketing acumen; and Anne Russell, Editor-in-Chief of Shape Magazine, for her insights about the publishing world.
introduction
No matter what your current physical fitness status, you can improve it. It doesnt matter if youre a world-class athlete, a casual exerciser, someone who hasnt exercised for years, someone whos never trained before or someone who is recovering from a serious illness or accident. With the consent of your doctor, when you make the commitment to follow one of the programs in this book, you can get into much better shape than youre currently in.
Regardless of whether you want to look better or improve your health, one of the most beneficial aspects of starting an exercise regimen is that youll also start to feel better. When you feel better, youll want to exercise more (or more intensely), and youll get even better results. Youll start to look firmer; your health markers such as cholesterol, heart rate and body fat levels will start to improve. But most importantly, youll find that you have more energy. Its ironic that expending more energy is what it takes to have more energy, but thats the nature of the human body. The more demand you place on it, the better able it is to accommodate that demand.
Ulysses Press has asked me to develop this multifaceted exercise program because of a growing awareness and need for a wholesale balance ball and weight-training program. Balance balls have become popular with all levels of exercisers, from first-timers to pro athletes. At first, high-end athletes and body-builders resisted climbing on these brightly colored balls to do what they had been doing on weight benches in weight rooms and gyms. But once a few brave souls risked some name calling, others saw the results these people were getting. Today, balance balls and weights have been integrated into training programs for all sorts of professional sports, and this style of exercise is rapidly spreading into gyms and homes across the country.
Balance ball and weight workouts have been successful because they are both fun and often help people better achieve their goals than traditional weight training alone. Certainly, traditional weight training is a great way to get in shape and build muscle, but integrating balance balls into your weight training helps you improve your ability to train your target muscles while reducing the risk of injury. Though weight training on a balance ball is hard work, its also a lot of fun. When you sit or lie on the ball, you can feel it move under youand, after a couple seconds, you can feel your body learning to control the ball, even your first time on the ball. That fast learning curve equates to rapid results, which is exactly what youll see if you decided to dutifully follow one of the programs in the Weights on the Ball Workbook.
the benefits of weight-ing
Patience is a virtue, and so is weight-ing. When you train your body with weights, you are doing far more than adding muscle mass for the sake of vanity. Muscle is one indicator of health, and you can never have too much of it. But, first, let me assure you that you will never become more muscular than you want to be. Increased muscle mass doesnt happen by accidentit happens through hard work and diligent pursuit.
Its understandable that many people, particularly women, dont want their bodies to become large and excessively muscular, giving them the bulky appearance that many body-builders have. The programs in this book are designed to allow you to achieve the results you want for your body type, whether youre trying to tone up, reduce body fat or add a little more muscle mass. By choosing the appropriate program and following that workout regimen, you will be able to get the look youre seeking.
Including weight training on the balance ball in your weekly fitness regimen will have numerous other positive effects.
Your muscle mass will increase regardless of the program youre on, but you wont get that big blocky lookin fact, more muscle mass may help you appear smaller than you originally did.
Heres how that works:
Muscle mass is denser than fat, and its possible, particularly if you are on a toning or muscle-building program, that your body will get smaller and tighter. Your body weight may stay the same or even increase a couple pounds, but dont let a small amount of weight gain disturb youbody weight is not a particularly good measure of your fitness level or even your appearance. How your clothes fit, how you look in the mirror, and how you appear to others (trust me, theyll notice and theyll compliment you) are far better indicators of the progress youre making on your new Weights on the Ball workout.
Adding a few pounds of muscle weight may help you weigh less overall. Muscles are very metabolically active, and when you have more muscle mass, your body needs more fuel each day simply to maintain itself. In other words, you burn more calories, even while resting. Couple that with the calories you burn while you perform any of these Weights on the Ball programs and youll find that you have less body fat, increased appetite, and the ability to eat more each day without increasing your body size. And though you may have added a couple pounds of muscle mass, you can easily lose more than that in body fat for a net weight loss. At the same time, your body will become denser and tighter, giving you a more aesthetic and fit appearance.
As you can see, weight training is a win-win situation, as is exercise in general. Couple this with the additional benefits that weight training on a balance ball provide and you, too, can rebuild your body to get the resultsand the bodyyouve always wanted.
