Welcome to Kenwood Chiropractic in Duluth

Serving Kenwood, Duluth, Hermantown, Duluth Heights, Kenwood Village, College of St. Scholastica, Woodland, Congdon, Lakeside, Lester Park, Chester Park

Make exercise ball workouts a part of your daily routine

One of the simplest ways to incorporate an exercise ball workout into your routine is just to practice sitting on it. Sitting on the ball activates the core muscles required to maintain balance. If you are having trouble balancing, deflate the ball a little for added stability. If your balance feels good, try replacing your office chair with an exercise ball or sitting on the ball while watching television. Focus on sitting erect with your head and chest up and spine comfortably straight, while keeping your shoulders pulled back and slightly down (bringing the scapulae or shoulder blades closer together).Beginners may have an easier time balancing on an exercise ball that’s slightly deflated.

 Improve your spinal endurance

Stiffness of the muscles that brace your spine may reduce the stability of your spinal joints, which may cause your spine to buckle under heavy loads. Spinal stiffness in the core muscles and the associated spinal joints can also significantly limit spinal mobility. Exercise ball workouts help relieve muscle stiffness and improve spinal strength and endurance—preventing the spine from giving out when subject to sudden movements or stresses.³

Exercise ball spinal rotation

Gently improve your spinal mobility and endurance using an exercise ball in a simple spinal rotation-based exercise:

1. Lie on your back and place your calves and feet on top of the ball.
2. While using your core muscles and legs to control the ball, proceed to rotate the ball side to side in a range of motion that can be maintained successfully.
3.  Increase your spinal flexibility

When you have better core strength and spinal endurance, the flexibility of your spine is increased, allowing you to bend forward and backward more efficiently with lesser pain. Maintaining flexibility in the numerous core muscles is also critical in maintaining multidirectional spinal motion.

Modified child’s pose using an exercise ball

Here’s a stretch that involves using the exercise ball to enhance spinal flexibility based through a modification to the commonly used child’s pose:

1. Kneel with the ball in front of you and one forearm on top of the ball (for example, your right) while tucking your opposite arm (left) through and under your trunk.
2. Slowly sit back on your heels, as your forearm arm on top of the ball (right) reaches diagonally forward and bends your torso slightly to the side, as your other arm (left) continues to reach in under your trunk.

This exercise stretches multiple muscles, especially the latissimus dorsi and quadratus lumborum on the same side, both of which are commonly found to be stiff or tight core muscles. Perform this stretch 3 times per side, holding for 30 seconds during each repetition.

 Enhance balance and posture

Muscle strength in your torso is important to maintain balance while standing, sitting, and walking. An exercise ball workout can help improve muscle strength and coordination in this region to increase balance, correct posture, improve gait, and reduce the risk of falls.^4,5

30-minute sit on an exercise ball

Simply sitting on an exercise ball can help improve your posture and balance. It requires subtle, yet constant engagement from your core muscles to remain balanced and centered on the ball. When you first use an exercise ball, place your feet flat on the floor and just sit on it for about 30 minutes. No matter where you live in the Duluth area, we can help at Kenwood Chiropractic. Our clinic has been serving Kenwood, Hermantown, Duluth Heights, Kenwood Village, College of Scholastica, Woodland, Congdon,