I guess I have a problem. I can’t sit here and watch as the world of scholars performs experiments teaching us that less is more. I can’t get behind research that shows how sitting on a little rubber ball can do wonders for your abs; how it can make you more “stable,” more “proprioceptively aware” than simple weight training. Yes, I understand the science behind the studies – working out in a proprioceptively challenging environment enhances your ability to recruit the smaller stabilizing muscles that people often neglect to train. The reasoning is sound and simple. But what people are forgetting, as they sit and bounce their way to a slow, unmotivated, and painfully weak death, is that the only way to truly get stronger is by pushing your limits beyond what you’re used to. In science it’s called supercompensation – in the real world it’s called working your butt off.
In “Staying on Balance, With the Help of Exercises,” from the New York Times (Sept. 15, 2010) the author touches on a very important subject: incidence of falling in the elderly:
“Unintentional falls among those 65 and older are responsible for more than 18,000 deaths annually. Most of these falls are caused by a decline in that complex and multidimensional human skill known as balance.”[1]
The doctors interviewed point to the deterioration of the vestibular system, which regulates balance, reduced vision and proprioception, as well as the loss of strength and flexibility in bones as reasons for falling.[2] Of course, they’re absolutely right about this. Falling is a very real and serious fear for senior citizens. It can lead to painful bruising, abrasions, or, worse, broken bones. But they aren’t necessarily correct about how to prevent these falls. Wouldn’t it be just as important to be strong and agile than simply being able to balance on a ball while doing bicep curls?
Stability ball training is prevalent in physical therapy situations – a reactive form of exercise. However, performing exercises only in proprioceptively challenging environments can reduce the ability to accumulate strength necessary to stay healthy. So while it is very important that the glute medius muscle be firing to stabilize the hip during single-leg motion, it is just as important that we be able to move efficiently enough that this is never a problem. By training big muscles through functional movement patterns we can accomplish this goal; sitting on a stability ball won’t be nearly as efficient.
Other issues are also at play:
· Stability ball training is rarely metabolic enough to make a change in the cardiovascular system, thus necessitating hours more work per week – a commitment that many people just can’t make.
· Stability ball training doesn’t really simulate a proprioceptively challenging life environment. Rarely will someone be in a position so unstable as sitting or standing on a soft rubber ball. Because of the nature of this type of instability, movement patterns become mistimed and perturbed. (It’s why baseball hitters warm-up with a weighted bat – but not a bat that’s so heavy that it affects their swing timing). Time may be better spent developing muscle patterns that are properly timed to the movements they are responsible for.
· And, as mentioned above, stability ball training won’t allow a person to lift enough weight to become as strong as possible; and it won’t allow someone to become explosive. (The comparison would be to envision standing in a rowboat in the water and trying to lift a heavy bar above your head. Chances are, if it is heavy enough, you won’t be able to do it. But the same weight, while standing on the shore, can be lifted with explosive power and form, taxing the neuromuscular system appropriately to develop core strength and explosive power.)
· Most importantly, stability ball training doesn’t load the spine. In order to combat the onset of osteoporosis and arthritis, spinal loading is absolutely imperative – especially in women. Loading the spine strengthens the bones, and working the lumbo-pelvic hip complex under resistance is necessary to keep people of all ages strong. It will enhance the lives of the elderly in immeasurable ways to be strong enough to prevent a fall.
The point here is not to denounce stability ball training as inefficient. It has its place in many a regimen. However, I view stability ball training as something to be done for injured or rehabilitating individuals, so as to re-teach them how to use the muscles properly. It is a reactive methodology, therefore, and it is not what gets us stronger. It can get us from injury back to strength, but it won’t get us any further.
In our society it has become acceptable to merely “maintain” or “upkeep” instead of striving to become stronger, faster, and fitter. An appropriate balance of weight training, cardiovascular conditioning, and diet can enhance any person’s life. A proactive conditioning regimen that includes stability/balance training is going to enhance more lives than just stability ball training alone. Personally, I have never done any specific stability ball training, but I have been training with heavy weight and explosive movements for as long as I can remember – and, to this day, I still haven’t fallen over yet.
