If you find elaborate exercise equipment and gym memberships to be beyond your budget, or if your lifestyle is better suited to working out at home, you might want to consider fitness ball exercises.

Used along with a DVD that provides instructions for specific workouts, these exercises can easily be added to your workout routine. Priced from $13.00 and up, a quality fitness ball can be purchased online. Here are some of the features of fitness ball exercises.

The Valeo Body Ball seems to be the fitness ball of choice. It is part of the successful Fitness Gear line of products. Each exercise involves several muscle groups for total body workout.

This program is recommended by top fitness trainers and physical therapists. It improves balance, coordination and flexibility, promotes a healthier posture, and includes a wall chart of step-by-step instructions for a complete body workout program. It even comes with a high volume air pump.

There are three 10-minute workouts which focus on different areas. The first concentrates on the lower body with squats while holding the ball, balancing on it and squeezing it with the upper thighs.

The second tones the arms and back by lifting dumbbells while sitting or leaning on the ball and using it for pushups.

The final routine is specifically for the abs: sit-ups, curls, yoga's plank and downward dog. Weights are recommended for the second routine.

A fitness ball exercise program is also recommended by physical therapists to alleviate lower back pain. Some consumers boast they can perform core strengthening exercises without pain, while others claim they feel the burn in their abs and arms using the fitness ball.

These workouts are also popular because they are fast and effective. There are many creative uses for the ball in all of these workouts.

Those who have purchased the program on DVD state that the upper body segments require heavy and light weights, but using five pound weights is effective during the first few workouts. Some of the exercises are difficult at first, but there are alternatives for beginners. Many of the exercises in all the workouts require good balance and core stability.

Check out the variety of fitness balls available online and choose one that incorporates a DVD.  Fitness ball exercises can be an enjoyable and inexpensive addition to your exercise routine. 

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