I’ve done yoga and Pilates and paid my dues in the gym, so I figured fitball would be a pretty soft option. ‘Every exercise on the ball requires balance, and all your core muscles are working along with every other muscle in your body.’ It also enhances balance, joint mobility, posture, body awareness and the all-important core stability.’ So, basically, it’s Pilates with knobs on? Trisha Brown, a fitness instructor who teaches fitball in Somerset, UK, reckons it is actually more precise and focused than Pilates, as the ball ensures you can’t cheat. It gives strength training, cardiovascular fitness and flexibility. ‘It was initially used with children with cerebral palsy and for rehab after injury,’ explains Australian physiotherapist Lisa Westlake, author of Get on the Ball (Apple). Classes are appearing all over the place and more and more people are bouncing the ball at home too. The fitball (also known as a gym ball or Swiss ball) has been loitering at the back of the gym for nigh-on forty years but now it’s taking its rightful place centre-stage. So what we need is something that gets us moving, keeps us motivated and doesn’t require hours of set-up. Thousands of homes across the known world are fitness graveyards, where bits of kit (from steps to slides, bikes to rowers) sit forlorn in cupboards or gather dust under the bed. However, equally true, nobody can see you give up after five minutes. It’s cheaper than the gym and the opportunities for complete public humiliation are greatly reduced: in the privacy of your drawing room nobody can see your flab wobble.
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