Strength Ball Training [Paperback]

Lorne Goldenberg (Author), Peter Twist (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

This work combines two of the most effective ways to train for fitness and sports performance: Swiss balls and medicine balls. Both methods of training can replicate specific sports movements, or create a platform ideally suited to train stabilizing muscles to improve agility and mobility. It shows athletes and fitness enthusiasts how to use Swiss ball and medicine ball exercises to develop greater strength and stability for muscle definition and sports performance. It presents strength exercises that target each of the major muscle groups, and enhance stabilization and flexibility.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You'll never run out of ways to use Swiss (also called stability) balls and medicine balls with this book, which describes and illustrates 69 exercises that can be done with one (or sometimes both) of these balls. Swiss and medicine balls are popular among athletes for conditioning, strength, flexibility, and balance. They provide an unstable platform, challenging balance and core stabilization and helping athletes train for unpredictable situations. You'll progress from basic exercises, like pushups with the feet on the Swiss ball and crunches lying on the ball, to challenges like kneeling on the ball unassisted for three minutes and the one-legged jackknife. Each exercise is described in three stages--setup, movement, and finish--and many also include advanced variations. Illustrations--usually two per exercise--are clear and large, and the book opens flat, so you can do the exercises with the book beside you on the floor. Special training recommendations for football, skiing, tennis, soccer, golf, judo, hockey, baseball, figure skating, volleyball, and basketball are included. Both authors are strength/conditioning coaches, lecturers, and consultants. This book is highly recommended for the serious exerciser, athlete, or trainer looking for innovative ways to use Swiss and/or medicine balls. --Joan Price

Review

"As a coach I have seen how the exercises in Strength Ball Training have benefited my players. The power, stability, and balance that can be developed are exactly what any athlete needs to succeed in sports."

Jacques Martin
Head coach and general manager, Florida Panthers NHL hockey club

“Strength Ball Training has been an important part of my hockey preparation for many years. It gets me ready to play!”

Daniel Alfredsson
Captain, Ottawa Senators hockey club NHL

“Balance, strength, stability and power is what you need on the ice and it's what I get from Strength Ball Training!”

Gary Roberts
Assistant captain Florida Panthers hockey club NHL

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics Publishers; 1 edition (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736038280
• ISBN-13: 978-0736038287
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #886,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Strength Ball Training" by Goldenberg, Twist most comprehensive on subject, January 28, 2007

By 

W. R. Mulkey "Mulk" (North Hollywood CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strength Ball Training-2nd Edition (Paperback)

I'm not a PhD on the subject, but as a lifelong "fitness enthusiast" (read: two points shy of OCD) I've seen dozens of books on diet and exercise and have managed, through judicious culling of available material, to distill a program out of it all that has eased considerably my transition from extended adolescence into midlife crisis.

Lately haven given up running and 80% of my weightlifting activity in favor of dance class, hiking/hill sprinting and bodyweight circuits, the stability ball is the single most important piece of gear I use. The core conditioning I've learned in the course of various rehab cycles relies on it, and having revamped my program based on the ball and related movements I'm always looking for new information about it.

This book is the most comprehensive out of half a dozen or so I've seen on the subject. It contains sections on each body part and a full range of medicine ball movements for explosive conditioning. If I would have known 30 years ago what I know now, I'd have been ten times better off using the programs in this book than the folklore-laden, body builder-based training I was using.

If you want to build the type of conditioning that will not only make you a better athlete but give you survivability throughout your life, this book would be an excellent place to start.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but how about a new edition?, February 26, 2007

By 

Mike McD - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strength Ball Training-2nd Edition (Paperback)

I start all of reviews with 5 stars and then take away stars with something that I don't like.

I think this book is a great book. It's a very comprehensive book showing you all of the different exercises available with a stability ball and even some exercises that I didn't know could be performed with a stability ball. Very well put together.

I do have two complaints though. 1) You have to have a partner for several of the exercises listed. I'm not taking away a star for that though, because other people did have it in their reviews and somehow I just skimmed over that part. 2) There's not really a good workout regiment in the book. They give you all of these exercises and then don't really culminate them well. Yes, there are a few "workouts" in the back of the book, but they only seem enough to whet your appetite. I am horrible about coming up with my own workout plan. I guess I'm just not creative enough. Seems like something they could add in a revised edition.

All in all a good book though.

46 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strength Ball Training, February 22, 2002

By 

Neil C. Scelsa "Neo" (Las Vegas, Nevada United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strength Ball Training (Paperback)

When I was a kid,I remember seeing the guys who boxed at the YMCA gym using Medicine Balls as part of their training. Medicine Balls went by the wayside because people lost interest in using them. So I find this great book on Amazon, with a lot of great exercises showing how to work the medicine ball into your routine. The book is clear and fun and can be used by both men and women.I tried some of these great exercises with my wife and a friend of hers, we all had a good time, and everybody liked the Medicine Ball Workouts!!! Now we are all going to use these routines on a permanent basis. My only complaint is that they don't tell you what weight medicine ball to get. The website provided showed very expensive balls. I got a 15lb ball... at a Sports Store.( Most stores don't carry the 15lb size so you may have to shop around).