Each week, our entertainments reporter tries out a new activity. See the latest How to.. or View the archive.
This page last updated:
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
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How to.. do Bodyball
IT seemed such an innocuous little e-mail entitled "Please Have a Go Duncan".
How
could I refuse a polite invitation like that, I thought. Little did I
know that, two days later, muscles I never knew even existed in my stomach
would be crying out in pain and I would develop a nightmare of falling
off a very large blow-up ball.
I'm exaggerating of course - but the very fact those muscles were aching is proof that the bodyball class I went to did me some good. And to be fair it's about time those flabby old muscles got a decent workout.
Karen Mucklin runs two bodyball classes a week at Sir Harry Smith College in Eastrea Road, Whittlesey. It was a very strange scene - almost like something out of The Prisoner - when I wandered in all wide-eyed and unsuspecting in my tracksuit bottoms and trainers.
Everywhere you could see people wandering around the hall with these big round inflatable balls of all colours. I kept on expecting to hear Patrick McGoohan shouting about not being a number, but a free man.
Karen gave me my own non-slip ball - which I was glad to hear would not burst if it got a puncture - with a mat and some weights, and then the fun began.
It started off simply enough. I've done a few aerobics classes now - a sentence I never thought I'd use in my life before I joined The Evening Telegraph - so I was used to the basic warm-ups. Then the ball was brought into the occasion.
We started off using it almost like a spacehopper - probably my favourite exercise of the evening although I'm not sure how much worth it had - before using it to stretch back and arm muscles.
It acted as a focus for our exercises, a cushion for floor work and occasionally as a bit of an annoying distraction when you were trying to remember which was your left arm and your right arm.
Every
so often there was a moment when I could feel the ball slipping from under
me and sensed I would either be falling off it or would have to run after
it at some point. Other times though, such as when we were doing push
ups, it was a useful aid to balance. And the sheer effort of trying to
stay on the ball meant you were exercising muscles you wouldn't normally
use - especially the ones in my stomach which gave me gip the next day!
After the session, Karen, who has been teaching the classes for two years, told me that the bodyball, or stability ball, classes had arisen from physiotherapy sessions. Using it improved posture and body alignment, developed balance and challenged the body to work as a whole.
She said: "All traditional stretches can be performed on the ball, plus alternative and unique positions. The ball is especially effective in targeting your abdominal and back muscles. This will strengthen your back and can relieve lower back pain."
It was also suitable for both men and women of all ages. Speaking for myself I definitely felt energised at the end - albeit a bit stupid bouncing about on a big inflatable ball. Although there was definitely something satisfying about throwing the ball to the ground at the end of the session I hadn't felt lost at any point of the class - and with a bit of practice the basic moves would not be too difficult to master. Anyway that stomach needs licking into shape!