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Gym Ball Exercises For Flat Stomach: Ways To Use Stability Ball In 2024
Make a move to give your body a challenging workout that reduces belly fat and strengthens your muscles with a fitness ball. Combining regular exercise, gym ball exercises for flat stomach, a healthy diet, and a fat burner helps you manage your weight, lose belly fat, and flatten your stomach.
The abdominal region loves to hold onto visceral fat because of aging, stress, poor diet, and even genetics. However, using a stability ball to tone the abs, midsection, and core muscles helps you achieve your fitness goals.
Five Gym Ball Exercises For Belly Fat
An exercise ball or stability ball is an excellent tool to help you lose belly fat. Exercise ball workouts for belly fat can be performed standing up or while on the floor. Check out the following exercises to flatten a beer gut, develop powerful core muscles, and slay excess fat on your abdomen and waistline.
Gym Ball Exercises For Flat Stomach
Sweat your way to a flatter tummy using exercise ball workouts for belly fat. Using tools like a medicine ball, weights, or a resistance cable makes performing exercises more fun, and challenging and gets faster results. Check out the following workouts to reduce unwanted fat from your abdomen and get rid of a beer belly.
Planks
Test your mettle and try to hold a plank position on an exercise ball for up to one minute.
Note, that there are variations to planks performed on a gym ball. The Stability Ball Forearm will force you to tighten your glutes and pull in your abdominal muscles to keep your body in a straight line. Execute this move to fatten your tummy, strengthen your back, and improve posture.
How to do:
- Place your elbows on the gym ball, keeping them directly under your shoulders, and engage your core to form a straight line from head to heels.
- Focus on squeezing your abdominal muscles and glutes throughout the exercise.
- Hold this position for the desired amount of time.
- Breathe deeply and steadily while maintaining the plank position
- To finish the exercise, gently lower your knees to the floor, and carefully roll off the gym ball.
Tips:
- Maintain proper form and do not push yourself too hard.
- Gradually increase the time you hold the plank as you become more comfortable and strong.
Optimal Sets & Reps: Three- four sets with a 30-60 second.
Mountain Climbers
Feel the burn when you work out your core muscles, increase your heart rate, and burn off fat doing mountain climbing. To get the benefits from this exercise, you place your body in a push-up position and move your legs alternately for an intense stretch. Mountain climbers target beer guts and eventually help reveal hidden abs.
How to do:
- Begin in a push-up position with your hands on the gym ball.
- Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, and your body should form a straight line from head to heels.
- Start by bringing one knee in towards your chest, using your core and hip flexors. Keep your other leg extended behind you.
- Quickly switch legs, bringing the extended leg back while bringing the other knee towards your chest.
- Maintain a steady and controlled pace. Aim for a smooth, continuous motion.
- Inhale and exhale steadily to maintain proper oxygen flow.
Tips:
- Focus on keeping your core tight and your back straight.
- Avoid letting your hips rise too high or sagging down.
- Emphasize control over speed.
Optimal Sets & Reps: Three sets with 30 seconds.
Glute Bridge
If you need an exercise that doesn’t stress the lower back and doesn’t require squatting, look no further. Perform a glute bridge with a stability ball to target stubborn belly fat, stretch the hamstrings, and firm the gluteus muscles. Practicing this move also supports improved blood circulation, and digestion and strengthens the core.
If you need an exercise that doesn’t stress the lower back and doesn’t require squatting, look no further. Perform a glute bridge with a stability ball to target stubborn belly fat, stretch the hamstrings, and firm the gluteus muscles. Practicing this move also supports improved blood circulation, and digestion and strengthens the core.
How to do:
- Place your feet flat on the gym ball and lift your hips off the ground, forming a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
- Ensure your knees are directly over your ankles to target your glutes effectively.
- Prioritize core engagement during the exercise.
- Squeeze your glutes at the top of the bridge and maintain a tight core to protect your lower back and maximize the workout for your buttocks.
- Lower your hips back down with control and avoid arching your back. Focus on a smooth and deliberate motion to fully engage your glutes.
Tips:
- Be cautious not to overach your lower back when lifting your hips.
- Always perform a brief warm-up before engaging in any exercise routine to prepare your muscles and joints for the workout.
- Avoid lifting your shoulders off the floor to protect your neck.
Optimal Sets & Reps: Three sets of 12-15 reps
Exercise Ball Crunches
Get off the floor slightly and execute reverse crunches, side crunches, and typical abdominal crunches using a stability ball. Commit yourself to completing many reps of this exercise to flatten and tone abs, and build a strong core comfortably.
How to do:
- Sit on the gym ball with your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
- Before starting the crunch, engage your core muscles by drawing your navel toward your spine.
- Lift your upper body off the ball by curling your torso forward, focusing on using your abdominal muscles.
- Exhale as you crunch up and inhale as you return to the starting position.
Tips:
- Ensure that the gym ball is properly inflated and stable before starting the exercise.
- Focus on a controlled and deliberate range of motion.
- Place your hands gently behind your ears or across your chest, rather than pulling on your neck.
- Exhale as you crunch up and contract your abs, and inhale as you return to the starting position.
Optimal Sets & Reps: Three sets of 15-20 reps
Stability Ball Pike
Push the limits of your body, improve your balance, burn belly fat, and try completing pikes on a stability ball. You will end up in an inverted V position while balancing your lower body on the stability ball. Doing this incredible move targets all of your ab muscles and demands the engagement of your core muscles while toning the shoulders and legs.
How to do:
- Sit on the gym ball with your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
- Before starting the crunch, engage your core muscles by drawing your navel toward your spine.
- Lift your upper body off the ball by curling your torso forward, focusing on using your abdominal muscles.
- Exhale as you crunch up and inhale as you return to the starting position.
Tips:
- Be cautious with the gym ball’s movement.
- Coordinate your breathing with the movement.
- Always perform a brief warm-up before engaging in any exercise routine to prepare your muscles and joints for the workout.’
Optimal Sets & Reps: Three sets of 10-15 reps
How To Choose A Gym Ball?
If you want to execute belly exercises, it is helpful to use an exercise ball, weights, or a resistance cable to make it more challenging. An exercise ball is a large vinyl ball used for strengthening muscles, building flexibility, and improving balance. Other names for exercise balls include physioballs, fit balls, gym balls, and Swiss balls. Depending on your height, weight, and personal needs, you will want to select the best exercise ball accordingly.
When performing moves with a stability ball, you want to have your knees at a 90-degree angle when sitting on the ball with your feet flat on the floor. Persons between 5 feet 1 inch and 5 feet 7 inches should choose a stability ball measuring 55 centimeters. Persons under 5 feet and less should get a ball measuring 45 centimeters. Taller people over 6 foot 2 inches should snag a stability ball measuring 75 centimeters.
Why And How Does Belly Fat Form?
Three types of fat cells[1] exist in the human body, and they are not all bad if the levels are balanced. The body contains subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, and essential fat. Visceral fat[2] tends to get stored around the abdomen, and liver and triggers metabolic syndrome issues if in excess. Alongside regularly getting enough exercise and cardio, there are multiple things you can do to help reduce fat and flatten a beer belly.
Major Causes Of Belly Fat
The human body requires a certain percentage of fat to stay healthy and support the optimal function of the immune system, hormonal response, enzyme release, and cushion of the organs. An excess of fat on the abdomen poses increased health risks. The following are contributors to a beer gut that won’t budge easily.
- Stress
- Poor Sleep
- Poor Dietary Choices
- Sedentary Lifestyle
- Genetics
- Age
How To Shrink Belly Fat
The battle to curb a bulging abdomen and lose weight requires some effort. You can make an effort to reduce your consumption of processed foods, plan out your meals, and eat more fiber-soluble foods[3] than carbs or fat-laden choices. Also, blast a beer belly using exercise ball workouts for beer fat, drink water, reduce stress, and support a healthy gut microbiome.
Boost Metabolism And Fat Burning
Optimize the fat-burning results of stability ball workouts for belly fat by boosting your metabolism naturally with supplements and positive lifestyle changes. It is essential to increase metabolic activity if you are struggling with a sluggish metabolism because of a genetic predisposition to obesity[4], poor diet, poor sleep, stress, or other factors.
Doing the following can help boost metabolic activity and help you achieve a flatter tummy in no time.
- Eat more protein at meals to raise the thermic effect of food and stay fuller longer.
- Engage in high-intensity workouts regularly.
- Try to stand more instead of sitting when working and avoid being sedentary.
- Consume green tea or oolong tea.
- Eat foods containing capsaicin, found in chili peppers.
- Cook foods using oils high in medium-chain fats like coconut oil.
Exercising regularly may target select muscles in the abdomen, core muscles, and upper and lower body. However, the body still needs to burn off enough fat to allow tone muscles to show. Avoid overeating, increase water intake, get adequate sleep nightly, and engage in practices that boost metabolism to turn your body into a fat-burning machine.
Health Problems Triggered By A Beer Belly
It is crucial to find ways to get rid of a beer belly for your health and personal appearance. Living with unwanted excess fat around your tummy and waistline can bring about ailments to your metabolism, digestive system, and immune system. People struggling with obesity and belly fat tend to have a higher risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, heart problems, and stress on their frame.
Resist the urge to engage in cigarette smoking, binge drinking, overeating, and a sedentary lifestyle. Choose foods that support a healthy gut microbiome[5] to keep bloating, hormonal response, fat levels, and your immune system in check. As the gut microbiome is a crucial factor in the body’s health and weight management[6], stress, poor dietary choices, and persistent digestive problems often contribute to a beer belly.
Precautions
Consult your physician before you begin a new exercise regimen, make significant changes to your diet, start taking supplements, or make other significant lifestyle changes. If you are pregnant, postnatal, have certain genetic conditions, or existing health conditions, or are taking prescription medications, make sure any new activities and changes in your life will not have an adverse effect.
Take your time and ease into new exercises carefully. Consider enlisting the help of a personal trainer to ensure you are using good form and do not injure yourself. Give yourself enough time to see noticeable results and seek professional support if needed.
+ 6 sources
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- Harms, M.B. and Seale, P. (2013). Brown and beige fat: development, function and therapeutic potential. [online] 19(10), pp.1252–1263. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3361.
- Bergman, R.N., Kim, S.P., Catalano, K.J. and Ader, M. (2006). Why Visceral Fat is Bad: Mechanisms of the Metabolic Syndrome. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7138191_Why_Visceral_Fat_is_Bad_Mechanisms_of_the_Metabolic_Syndrome [Accessed 5 Jul. 2023].
- Thais Steemburgo, Valesca Dall’Alba, J. Sánchez Almeida, Themis Zelmanovitz, Gross, J.L. and de, J. (2007). Intake of soluble fibers has a protective role for the presence of metabolic syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes. [online] 63(1), pp.127–133. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602902.
- Li, S., Zhao, J., Luan, J., Ekelund, U., Luben, R., Khaw, K.-T., Wareham, N.J. and Ruth (2010). Physical Activity Attenuates the Genetic Predisposition to Obesity in 20,000 Men and Women from EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study. [online] 7(8), pp.e1000332–e1000332. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000332.
- Banach, M., Rezaie, P., Andre Pascal Kengne, Majid Ghayour-Mobarhan and Ferns, G.A. (2016). Gut microbiome and metabolic syndrome. [online] 10(2), pp.S150–S157. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2016.01.024.
- Howarth, N.C., Saltzman, E. and Roberts, S.B. (2009). Dietary Fiber and Weight Regulation. Nutrition Reviews, [online] 59(5), pp.129–139. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2001.tb07001.x.