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Glendale Adventist Medical Center
1509 Wilson Terrace
Glendale, CA 91206
Ph: (818) 409-8000






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I've been using a Swiss ball during my exercise work-out. So far I've learned how to do the hands-and-knees exercise with the ball underneath me. What's next?

You are doing the right exercises to train the deep muscles that stabilize the spine. This is referred to as local stability. This is a good place to start. It will help your muscle adjust to postural changes during large body movements. Many experts think improving local stability will help prevent back injuries.

The hands-and-knees exercises minimize the activity of the rectus abdominus (RA) muscle compared to the other muscles in the abdomen and pelvis. This is good because the RA tends to be overactive in some people with back problems. The RA is the abdominal muscle that goes straight up and down over your belly.

The next step is to work on the global stability system. This means stimulating the larger, more surface muscles around the abdomen and pelvis. This includes the RA and paraspinal muscles along the sides of the back. Placing the ball further from the center of your body will activate these muscles.

For example try the "roll out" exercise. Facing the floor with your arms straight and your palms flat on the floor, place the ball under you lower legs just below your knees. Don't let the ball slide out from under you.

Take a deep breath, pull your belly button in as if you are zipping up a pair of tight pants. Breathe out as you move forward. Don't let your upper body or back sag. Keeping the abdominal muscles contracted will help with this. Go as far forward as you can rolling the ball down your legs. In a very advanced version of this exercise the ball will roll until only the toes are touching the ball.


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