Customer Reviews

Swiss Ball Basics

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Swiss Ball DVD is excellent value for money. There are so few DVDs/Videos or even books designed for Men using the Swiss Ball (although it's clear that this video is well suited for women too). The exercises are challenging and thorough and really represent a deep workout for the body. There can be no mistake on exactly how to do the exercises primarily due to constructive camera angles and the sheer definition of Adams physique. It's actually very useful to visually 'see' the muscles involved in each exercise and helps focus the mind on exactly which muscle are supposed to be doing the work.

Having suffered from various back problems (including cyatica and scoliosis), these exercises present a safe way of developing crucial stabilising muscles. Previous to this, gym exercises on classic benches inevitably strained my back and have commonly led to relapses.... so far so good with this DVD.

For men (and women) who are bored of going to the gym, get a Swiss Ball and this DVD (Adam also has one available solely working on Abs and lumbar muscles - which is also worthy of 5 stars). I'd sooner be doing ball exercises than using gym machines which can easily overstress the body. With these exercises it's actually quite difficult to go wrong, as if you do it wrong, you fall off (which is quite a laugh :-) )

This DVD (and Swiss Ball Abs by Adam Ford) is spot on!

Finally! a fitness dvd that is well presented, thorough, and shows simply and effectively just how to use a Swiss Ball to it's full potential!

Before I found this dvd, I'd been looking for one in the UK for months, but they all seemed to be aimed specifically at women, and were mainly intent on just reducing fat - none of them actually showed you how to use the Swiss Ball to it's full advantage.

If, like myself, you have a swiss ball at home and up to now have only used it as a piece of novelty furniture, then this is the dvd you need to finally make some real use of it!

The presenter takes you though the correct use of the ball and guides you though a series of exercises which look innocent enough until your abs (and other muscles) start to scream at you the next day (a sure sign that it's doing the job!). Just watching the presenter at work is inspiration enough as you can see every muscle the exercise is intended to train flex as as each exercise is perfomed. It sounds daft I know, but for me, this alone is an enormous help as you can see straight away whether or not your doing the exercise properly by comparing which of your muscles are working against those that are flexing on screen!

Music and other distractions are kept to a minimum, and at every stage you're guided along with an informative but unobtrusive commentary. You can even hear the presenter breathing, which soon makes you realise when your own breathing is out of whack (something I'm always getting wrong when exercising!)

I'm a 34 yr old guy who's used gyms and other abs equipment in the past, but I've NEVER found a training programme that's been as effective as this! I've been using it now for a few months on and off, and it soon becomes second nature. It may take me some time to get the sort of abs the presenter has, but at least now I'm doing the RIGHT exercises, the RIGHT way help me achieve this!

Swiss ball basics is a 50 minute workout , there is only 10 exercises which are performed in 2 sets of about 10 reps , the instructor shows more advanced variations on the second set and does some stretches in between the sets. Though the exercises can be challenging , the workout is pretty slow paced and let you to concentrate in the exercises. The quality of this video is very good and it is filmed on a sanded area , the instruction is very good also and during the exercises there's some animated pointers.
I think if youre in a good shape you'd be better off just buying his "swiss ball abs" it has most of the exercises from swiss ball basics but it has 3x20 minute workouts in different levels (but there all pretty tough).

I bought this DVD after reading the reviews written on Amazon.com and I have been rewarded beyond my expectations. It has only been few days since I received the DVD and already I can feel the adjustment that my body is going through after each exercise. I feel the pain in my muscles and I can see that the "Swiss Ball Basics" DVD by Adam Ford is a serious workout program.

The picture quality of this DVD is excellent and Mr. Ford gives a clear guidance how each workout should be done. This is the best DVD in its category that I have seen. In the past, I bought many fitness DVDs; including two by John Basedow (Fitness Made Sipmle - Unlock Your Potential and AM-PM Workouts), one called 8 Minute Workouts and another by Gunnar Peterson called "Core Secrets", but non were as good as the Swiss Ball Basics. Either they were amateurish such as John Basedow's DVDs or they were not as well as structured as Adam Ford's DVD.

If you are in the market for a core workout fitness DVD, save your money folks and buy this DVD by Adam Ford. You won't be disappointed. I highly recommend this workout DVD. From now on, when I am in the market for a new fitness workout DVD, I'll make sure that I read the comments of other users first!

I agree with the other reviewers, this is an excellent swiss ball exercise dvd. It is done on sand dunes, with blue skies in the background, which I find very relaxing. Excellent oral and physical instruction, and nice music.

The exercises range from easy to difficult. Some I could do the first time, others, like the side crunch I got after a few sessions, and others, like the superman I am still working to get. Do not mistake Basic with easy, this is a challenging workout for someone who is serious about swiss ball work.

The pace is just right, with stretches between most exercises. Not so fast that I need to pause it, not so slow as to be too slow.

He can do all the exercises, moves methodically through them, and doesn't waste time with phony encouragement. Good at showing positions from different angles.

I really like Adam Ford's DVDs. I bought this one along with his Upper Body DVD and the results are noticeable. I started using a Swiss Ball to deal with some back/hip issues, to gain strength for better core control and flexibility, and Ford's exercises definitely have helped.

This DVD of basics is just that. He goes through about 8 different exercises ranging from back, leg, core and arm work, both lying down and sitting on the ball. For each exercise, he does a set of reps followed by some stretching, then another set of the same exercise, followed by another set of the same stretch.

The quality of the DVD is great. The camera shows Ford from different angles so it's easy to see the proper form. All of the instruction is from a voice over, rather than from him talking while doing the exercises, so it's not distracting. There are also some breathing sounds on the soundtrack, so you can hear when you are supposed to inhale and exhale. This is helpful especially when you can't watch the DVD while doing the exercise, but you can hear the breathing to stay in the same rhythm as he.

Ford's teaching style is also very effective and straightforward. He doesn't waste time with motivational talk (nothing like, "You can do it! Only 2 more! Hang in there!") and everything he says is valuable and to the point.

As far as difficulty, I would not say this Basics DVD is very hard. There's some fairly tough stuff at the end (the Superman is hard!), but I could do a lot more reps especially of the core stuff (and, in fact, I do, skipping the extra stretching to do more reps). It's also much shorter than I expected it to be, but I do appreciate that there's no wasted time like there often is in other DVDs.

The results: I definitely feel more stable in my core and have had no back/hip issues since starting to do these exercises regularly. Also, there are some twist stretches in there that crack my back the way my chiropractor does, so I'm grateful that I can save a visit to the chiro by just taking a few minutes with my ball.

The Upper Body DVD is definitely more difficult than this DVD, and pretty soon I'll likely be purchasing his DVDs dedicated to core and lower body. I've started at the bottom in terms of arm strength, and I have noticeably more tone and strength in my arms with the help of these DVDs, so I'd love to check out his other DVDs as well.

Highly recommended!

Great video for a basic level ball workout. Only complaint I could make is that it is so short and there are no variations to the short "full workout".