Fitness

Fitness is as much mental as it is physical

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Physical Vs Mental Fitness

There is but one way to live life to its fullest- being fit. Understanding the benefits of all-round fitness and knowing how active you should make it easier to improve the overall quality of your life. To help you live better, here’s how you can benefit from mental and physical exercise regardless of your age, sex or physical ability.

When talking about fitness, both mental and physical fitness come into play. More often than not, physical fitness gets plenty of attention, and for a good reason. A healthy body can counter conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, and help you maintain confidence as you age.

However, mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness, and should not be neglected in your self-betterment plans.

Mental fitness means having a brain and emotional health in tip-top shape. It may not necessarily mean training to ace an IQ test, but a series of exercise that helps slow down, decompress and boost a flagging memory.

Aerobics (cardio)

Aerobics involves maintaining an increased heart rate for an extended period of time. Types of cardio exercises include running, swimming, biking, rowing, dancing, and jumping rope.

Strength

Also called Resistance Training. It’s a physical activity with the purpose of increasing muscle strength and mass. Examples include weightlifting, dumbbell and bodyweight exercises.

Balance

This is where you activate your abdominal muscles for stability and control of your body. Balance exercises can include yoga, tai chi and stability ball exercises.

Flexibility

Bragging about how much you can bench is no fun if you have trouble tying your shoes. Flexibility saves you from tight hips, hamstrings, hip flexors and makes you as strong as you can be.

Why you need to be fit and importance of physical fitness

Weight control leads you towards fitness

Along with diet, exercise plays an essential role in managing your weight and preventing obesity. To maintain your weight, the calories you are taking must equal the energy you burn. To lose weight, you must utilize more calories than you eat and drink.

Manage your sugar and insulin levels

Exercise can reduce your blood sugar level and help your insulin work effectively. This can lower your risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. And if you already have one of those diseases, exercise can help you to maintain it.

Feel Happier through fitness

Exercise has been shown to improve your mood and reduce feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress. It produces variations in the parts of the brain that control stress and anxiety. It can also boost brain sensitivity for the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression.

Better Mental Health and fitness

Regular exercise can have an extremely positive influence on depression, anxiety, ADHD, and more. It also relieves stress, increases memory, helps you sleep better, and boosts your overall mood. You don’t have to be a fitness fanatic to reap the benefits – browse through our site and discover how to reap these benefits.

How to Achieve Mental Fitness

Be positive with yourself and improve your fitness

Affirmation, or positively talking to yourself, involves strengthening neural pathways to bring your self-confidence, well-being, and satisfaction to a higher level. To start, make a list of your good qualities. Remind yourself that you don’t have to be perfect. Set goals for what you want to make better and start small to avoid becoming confused.

Stop Multitasking

Many think that multitasking enables you to get more things done at once, but it creates more problems than it solves. Focusing on one task at a time will improve your concentration and help you to be more productive.
Try Something Different

New practices can also set you on the way to mental fitness.  You can fit new approaches into your daily life by trying new foods, new ways to accomplish routine tasks, traveling to new places or trying a new route to the grocery store.

Read More

Reading is great for your brain. Your brain processes every word you read, including this one. Beyond the mechanics, reading helps you visualize the subject matter on the pages before you, and imagine what voices sound like in the written dialogue.

This can also be a great relaxation technique

Top Fitness Tips for Mental and Physical Exercise.

General physical fitness and targeted exercises to improve stability can prevent falls. But so can staying mentally ready to maintain brain health.  A sharp mind helps you to think — and stay — on your feet. Join us and learn to strike a balance.

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4 of the Best Exercise Balls Reviewed in 2020

If you are looking for a comprehensive review of the best Exercise balls, which traces their origin, uses, and evaluates different products on the market, while offering insights to make informed buying decisions. You have landed on the right spot. LOL

Seriously we have asked our researches including physical therapists, athletic trainers, and fitness coaches, to look at Exercises Balls, often referred to as Swiss Balls, to look at finding and reviewing the best Exercise balls in the market.

Read on

Best Exercise Balls Crunch
While choosing an exercise ball seems like a “no brainer”.  For this reason, we at Mind, Body, Soul & Heart have reviewed Exercise Balls to make choosing a Swiss Ball a little less boring.

Finding the right Exercise Ball can be confusing with the number of different Exercise Balls available.  To help you decided which Swiss Ball is right for you, we have purchased a large number of Exercise Balls.  We have researched, assessed and testing coming up with a short-listed the best Swiss Balls.  The Exercise Ball Review looked at their size, quality, comfort, accessories and price.

We have identified, to what we have considered in our evaluation, and came you with what we considered the best Exercise Balls in the market.  

For those who are building up there home gym equipment, we have also reviewed kettlebells, rowing machines, exercise mats and others.

So without further ado, let’s delve into the world of the Best Exercise Balls, but before that, defining them is essential.

What Are Exercise Balls?

Exercise balls are round elastic masses that are constructed with soft and elastic materials and are filled with air. These are used all over the world, in the fitness realm.

From beginners to fitness enthusiasts use the Exercise Balls to do stretching and strength exercises that stretch and strengthen abdominal, glutes and thighs.

Swiss Balls can be used with basic weight training to pregnancy gymnastics and not forget about the rehabilitation aspects it can provide. It is a valuable piece of gym equipment to have at home.

Best Exercise Ball Review Multiple

The History Of Exercise Balls

Exercise balls weren’t originally popular for their athletic purposes.  Invented in Italy, in the year 1963, these balls quickly became the go-to accessory for physical therapists that based rehabilitation programs such as orthopedic, postural and back recovery, on the usage of these multi-purpose exercise balls.

The Exercise Ball was named “Swiss Ball” by an American Physical Therapist after seeing the use in Switzerland.  It was originally called Pezzi Balls.  Since then they have also known as Yoga Balls, Body Balls, Gymnastic Bals, Swedish Balls, Stability Balls, Birth Balls amongst other names.

In the early 1990s, after hearing about the prominence of these balls in the physical recovery realm, American therapists visited European clinics.  They were amazed by the potential exercise balls had to offer in the physical therapy and fitness domains.  Quickly, the exercise ball moved from the rehabilitation world to the fitness arena, where now it is one of the widely-found accessories in every athletic setting.

Today, millions of physical therapists, athletic trainers, fitness coaches, and gym owners use and recommend the best Exercise balls for body-warming exercises, flexibility training, stretching, and sitting.

Best Exercise Ball Plank Exercise

Benefits of Exercise Ball Exercises

Exercise balls can be used to effectively improve our muscle strength, cardio endurance, and balance.  By executing basic moves on a bouncy surface, our muscles are strained more, which makes them stronger.  After an intense weight training with the best dumbbells, with an exercise ball, users can focus on their core, and train their abs and back with a variety of movements.  This has vital importance as it improves spine and back health along with muscle balance and core stability.

They are also ideal for physical therapy, which is necessary after a devastating injury.  With the help of light movements that are executed on these stability balls, users can recover from back and abdomen pain.

The exercise ball stimulates core stability muscles, deep pelvic muscles, lower back muscles and many smaller stability muscles throughout the body.

In the 1990s, the exercise balls become a popular substitute for office chairs.  The theory is that sitting on the exercise ball will continuously engage the abdominal muscles and improve posture.  Though some argue this is ergonomically poor. 

What Exercises can be done on an Exercise Ball?

The Exercise Ball is a versatile piece of equipment in any gym.  It can be incorporated in any workout routine from shoulder press to back raises.

Here is a small sample of exercises that can be done

  • Puch up Crunch
  • Plank Roll
  • Glute Bridge
  • Hamstring Curl
  • Ball V-situp
  • Knee tuck
  • Balance Push up
  • Back Extension

Exercise Ball Features?

There are some features and quality that need to be assessed when you look at an Exercise Ball, including

  • Size
  • Weight capacity
  • Grip
  • Anti-burst feature
  • Warranty
  • Colors
  • Spares plug
  • Pump
  • Smell
  • Garantee

 

Best Exercise Balls Reviewed Back Stretch

Size

One of the most asked questions is, what is the right size Exercise balls should I buy?

Exercise Balls come in different sizes.  The most common sizes are 55 cm, 65 cm, and 75 cm (Industry Standard), though they do come in additional sizes.

Other factors you may need to consider.  The smaller the exercise ball typically makes the exercise harder.

The table below provides you with a guide in selecting the right Swiss Ball size

Ball Size Human Height
45 cm/18 inch under 1.52m / under 5′
55 cm/22 inch 1.52m -1.7m/5’0″– 5’8
65 cm/26 inch 1.7m-1.8m/5’8″– 6’0″
65 cm/26 inch  1.8m-2 m/6’0″– 6’6″
85 cm/34 inch 2 m & taller /6’6″ & taller

Colours

With the material being used to manufacture the Exercise Ball, there are potentially thousands of colors available.  This is purely a personal choice.

Weight Limits

Another popular questions asked about Exercise Balls, is what weight limit for  Exercise Balls?    Most cheaper exercises balls can take weights of 250lbs/113 kg.  The higher quality and durable models in the market that can take up to 2,200lbs/1,000kg

Anti Burst Exercise Balls

Many Exercise Balls claim they have an anti-burst feature.   This feature means that the Exercise Ball will deflate slowly when punctured rather than bursting.  This is a great feature to reduce the risk of getting injured.

Exercise Ball Air Pressure

Exercise Balls are typically filled to personal preference and measured in physical firmness level. Usually, it is filled between 0.6 to 0.9 PSI (pound per square inch).   The standard way to check the firmness is by pressing the Exercise Ball with your thumbs. 

Best-Execise Ball Back Stretch

Smell

Exercise Balls are made of PVC.  They inherently have an offensive smell.  Some manufactures go to great length to remove the smell for the Exercise Balls.

Grip/ Texture

The finish of the exercise ball should be easy to handle without slipping out of your hands when you carry.  Ideally, the Exercise Ball should not be smooth and have some textured finish.

Using the Exercises Ball Tip

The nature of the ball is round, and consequentially they do tend to roll around.  Use a towel around the base to keep it in one place.

Equipment
Summary

Price
Range

Rating

URBNFit Exercise Ball

URBNFit Exercise Ball

One of the very best in the market, with the vinyl protecting the floor, handle with great grip.

Under
$40

4.6

Best Buy

Live Infinitely Exercise Ball

Live Infinitely Exercise Ball

Very good looking Kettlebell.  The draw back, is it got a little slippery when the hands hot a bit sweaty.

If you had a towel, it could be a good pruchase

Under $30

4.6

Excellent

Trideer Exercise Ball

Trideer Exercise Ball

The feature of this Kettleball, is the soft outside as it didn’t hurt as much when it brushed you when doing the Kettlbell swing

Under
$40

4.4

Good Buy

BalanceFrom Exercise Ball

BalanceFrom Exercise Ball

The Handles of this Kettlebell was one of the most impressive.  It felt good in hands as well when it was being swung.  It was one of the favourites by the Gym instructors.

Around
$15

3.8

Very
Good

Interesting Myth about sitting on a exercise ball to get benefit.
 Sitting onthe Exercise ball is exhausting on the lower back muscle. After some time you will become uncomfortable and may strain your lower back muscles.

URBNFit Exercise Ball

Rating: 4.6  Excellent

Sizes: 45, 55, 65, 75, 85cm

Colors: Large variety

Material: Non-Toxic PVC

Burst Level: 2000 lbs/ 907Kg

Warranty: 100% money back

Pump:  Hand pump

Accessories: 2 additional Stoppers

Price: Under $30

URBNFit Exercise Ball

Pro’s

  • High-Quality PVC Construction
  • Non-slip and burst resistant build
  • Comes with a quick-inflating pump
  • Wide range of diameters and colors
  • Comes with Extra plus

 

 

Con’s

  • A little expensive
URBNFit Exercise Ball Colors
URBNFit products scream quality, and their exercise ball is no different. The URBNFit exercise ball is made from professional-grade PVC, that guarantees durability for years to come. The surface is non-slip. Hence users have the leverage to perform tough moves with confidence. Its structural build makes it burst-resistant up to a whopping 2,000lbs.

A super-convenient quick inflation pump accompanies this exercise ball, that can set up the ball in a matter of seconds. With the help of extra plugs and a basic workout guide, included in the package, users can learn basic exercises. The range of colors and diameters makes this an excellent pick for a wide variety of users.

While many exercise balls made out of PVC have a disagreeable odor, the URBNFit nullifies all strong smells. It is easy to use, durable, and effective.

Live Infinitely Exercise Ball

Rating: 4.6  Excellent

Sizes: 55, 65, 85cm

Colors: Large variety

Material: Non-Toxic PVC

Burst Level: 2200 lbs/ 1000Kg

Warranty: 12 months

Pump:  Hand pump

Accessories: 2 additional Stoppers

Price: Under $30

Live Infinitely Exercise Ball

Pro’s

  • Industrial-grade PVC that is non-toxic
  • 2,200lbs tolerance before bursting
  • Affordable
  • Spare plug supplied

Con’s

The Live Infinitely exercise ball is a perfect pick for beginners, both because of its affordability and beginner-friendly usage. It is constructed from high-quality PVC, that is latex-free. The build quality supports 2,200lbs without bursting, which is sufficient for most users. With a one year industrial-warranty, you have the freedom to return if not satisfied.

The best selling point that this exercise ball has is exclusive access to the Live Infinitely online portal, which includes various workout guides that users can add in their exercise regimes, and utilize the ball to its potential. With the help of a hand pump, extra air plugs, and valve remover tool, setting this ball up is very convenient. The ball is available in three size variants and five colors.

Trideer Exercise Ball

Rating: 4.4  Excellent

Sizes: 45-85cm

Colors: Large variety

Material: Non-Toxic PVC

Burst Level: 2200 lbs/ 1000Kg

Warranty: 12 months

Pump: Foot

Accessories: 2 additional Stoppers

Price: Under $40

Trideer Exercise Ball

Pro’s

  • Best anti-burst feature owing to dense construction
  • Diverse color range available
  • Versatile exercises can be carried out

Con’s

If you are an advanced user that is looking for an exercise ball, able to endure excessive loads, then Trideer is your pick. The Trideer ball is made from a professional-grade PVC, that is free from BPA and latex. Its build is reinforced with high-density material layers, making it extra thick, and granting it the strength to endure a weight of up to 2,200lbs. Users can pick from a range of colors which include exotic variants such as the indigo blue, cyan, and olive.

The versatility offered by the Trideer ball is unparalleled. It is not only great for yoga, back, and abdominal training but can also be used for pregnancy gymnastics and dozens of body warming exercises. Users get the freedom to test the product out, with a 30-day no-hassle return policy.

BalanceFrom Exercise Ball

Rating: 3.8  Very Good

Sizes: 35-85cm

Colors: Large variety

Material: Commercial Grade PVC

Burst Level: 2000 lbs/ 907Kg

Warranty: 24 months

Pump: Foot pump

Accessories: None

Price: Around $15

BalanceFrom Exercise Ball

Pro’s

  • Highly affordable
  • Up to 2,000lbs of burst resistance
  • Slip-resistant and easy to clean

Con’s

  • PVC contains latex

 

BalanceFrom Colours
BalanceFrom exercise ball is the most affordable variant in our feature list, but it doesn’t compromise on quality and features. This exercise features a sturdy construction that can sustain loads of up to 2,000 pounds. The PVC used in the build is high-quality and is slip-resistant, putting users’ safety above all.

Users are in for convenient usage for years to come. If the ball accumulates dirt, then simply get a damp cloth and make the BalanceFrom fitness ball shine. The package includes a free foot-pump that allows users to quickly inflate the ball and set it up in their dedicated workout spaces. BalanceFrom has backed the quality with a satisfying two-year warranty so that you can purchase without the fear of buying a faulty product.

Final Say

This Exercise Ball Review provides you with what we consider the best exercise balls available in the market.  BalanceFrom exercise ball is the cheapest one recommended.  It is regarded as a value for money and a good one to consider if you are not sure if you actually want one.  Any of the other three would more than meet your requirements.

Exercise balls enable a multitude of exercises that other fitness accessories cant. The versatility that they offer in our homes, offices, and fitness spaces makes them a must buy.  Exercise options with the best exercise balls are endless and very convenient to execute, as well.

Their elastic build makes them durable, and a secure fitness investment for years to come, not to mention their anti-burst and slip-resistant features.

Because they wobble and bounce during a workout, they add an extra challenge in exercise, making our basic movements such as squats, pushups, and planks much more engaging!

[ratemypost]

 Did you know? 

Using an Exercise Ball as a substitute as chair will not give you better posture.  In fact, sitting on the Exercise Ball may cause lower back issues. 

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