There is a large variety of exercise ball workout routines, ranging between the back, chest, shoulders and abs muscle groups. When using an exercise ball, the degree of difficulty of the exercise is magnified as your body and muscles work harder on the unstable surface. This in return gives you a higher quality workout in terms of recruiting muscle and losing those extra pounds. As some say, more bang for your buck!

Compound exercises are the most effective, so I have listed a few compound exercises per muscle group for variety purposes. Most of these exercises can be done with 2-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

Compound chest/shoulder workout for an exercise ball

Dumbbell press on a swiss ball – similar to a bench press, you do this exercise with dumbbells on a gym ball. As always with all these exercises, controlled and good technique is the key.

Shoulder/Seated military press – while sitting on a swiss ball, push your arms straight up and slowly return the weight towards your shoulders.

Compound Triceps exercise

Dumbbell triceps extension on an exercise ball – shoulders flat on the ball. Similar to a dumbbell press, hold the dumbbells above your head and extend your elbows backwards, then come back to the original position.

Abs

Forward ball roll – In a kneeling position, wrist on the ball, hands together. You start by rolling forward, extending yourself as much as possible, keeping the arms straight, then return back to the kneeling position.

Plank on a swiss ball – just like a normal plank exercise, but in this you rest your forearms on a swiss ball. Make sure your shoulders, back and legs are as straight as possible while holding those abs in. If you can hold this position for 1-2 minutes, you’re on your way to getting firm abs.

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