Search - Joyce Vedral: On The Ball Workout on DVD

Variation of physio ball workout uses weights for fitness

Joanna Daneman | Middletown, DE USA | 10/26/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I like working out with weights; being a slow-strong type of person rather than a fast sprinter, weights are a natural for me. So combining them with either aerobics as in Joyce's Speedy Non-Stop Fat Meltdown workout or on a physio ball, where more small muscles are called into action, is something I naturally enjoy doing. Balancing on a ball makes you unconsciously use balancing muscles, those smaller muscles in the limbs and torso that allow you to sit, stand, stay upright or in any position. Putting yourself on a slightly wobbly surface like a ball makes you constantly adjust, which increases your workout activity.

The workout starts with a short set of stretches. If you are the tightly-wound type, you will need more stretching, in my opinion, than this. I am usually pretty limber so this set is enough for me but it is not a whole lot of stretching. So run it twice if you know you need time to warm up.

Then you progress to an upper body workout. The workouts require three sets of dumbbells, which you will be adding to as you get stronger, the ball and that's about it.

You do two 16 minute workouts, on split days. The upper body workout begins with Preacher curls are a natural for the ball--you lean over the ball and using it as a bench, pull up your biceps while resting the upper arms on the ball. Then hammer curls and on to bent laterals lying on the ball, rows. You lean on the ball, lie on the ball or use it to lift. the leg exercises use the ball for inner thigh (hold the ball, flex) and for other leg exercises.

A round ball seemed to work best for me; I tried a capsule type (oblong) which for me was not so good for moving quickly between the exercises. You probably can use a capsule ball (as in Barry's Bootcamp.) if you are more agile than I am. Supposedly, you can use a chair if you have no ball; this is similar to an earlier book by Joyce that was designed for use by travelers in hotels rooms or people with little time, her 12 Minute Workout. I didn't like using a chair as a workout bench, and I didn't like the 12 minute workout as a result. The Ball DVD is a lot more fun--but I tend to like doing my workouts on the ball as a rule.

Since anyone can do anything for 15 minutes and as one person put it, 15 minutes is "not a big enough chunk of time" to be scheduled, you probably can find this 15 minutes each day to do a decent workout. The ball and weights can fit almost anywhere. This is really a gym-in-a-box, and for under $100 you can have a thorough workout. I suggest alternating this with the fat-meltdown, as that workout is more aerobic. I knocked off a star for lack of music; the background set is pleasant enough, but the lack of music makes this a bit dull. But you can always mute the sound and put on your MP3 player or I-Pod and be happy."