Q. When I go to my gym, I’ve come across a few fitness instructors getting their clients to perform various exercises on stability balls or Bosu balls. Are there any advantages to this type of training?

 

A. The use of Swiss balls and wobble boards has become very popular in the last few years. Training on an unstable surface is supposed to help your stability and develop the core muscles.

You will find exercises which can be made better if you do them on a ball. Research has revealed that abdominal crunches on a Swiss ball, by way of example, work your abs harder than the same movement done on the floor.

However there are numerous movements that aren’t appropriate for doing on a stability ball.

We’ve seen some folks doing exercises such as the bench press and shoulder press while sitting on a Swiss ball. The concernis the fact that you’ll need to use a far lighter weight than normal, as you have to work so hard to keep your balance.

Remember that muscle tissue grows larger and more powerful when you force them to do more work, either by working out with a heavier resistance, or by performing more reps using the same weight. That’s how to get bigger muscles.

The net effect of performing these movements on a wobble board is that your muscles miss out on the growth signals they need. Remember that there is only a limited amount of time and energy to spend in the gym. Don’t squander half of it trying to do squats on a wobble board.

Q. I’m guessing you’ll be able to stop a debate about squatting that I’ve been having with two mates. One mate states you shouldn’t go past parallel, while a different friend says you must go to the floor. Which one of my friends is correct?

A. How deep to go when you squat has been debated by strength athletes and coaches for years. One belief is that full-depth squats (when your thighs are past parallel to the floor) enables you to place more emphasis on your hamstrings.

To answer the issue of how squatting depth influences muscle activation, scientists from the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, carried out a scientific study employing experienced bodybuilders.

Making use of electromyography (EMG), the research workers assessed muscle activity in the quads, hamstrings, and butt of the lifters during partial, parallel, and full squats.

The researchers discovered that as squat depth increases, the butt muscles did more work during the upward stage of the lift. Interestingly, the amount of work done by the other muscles examined didn’t differ with increased squat depth.

This study indicates that that full-depth squats may not be as effective in concentrating on hamstring growth as many people think.

Q. The only real free time available for me to train is for 30 minutes when I have my lunch break. Is this long enough?

A. In case you find it hard to find the time to train, why not try supersets.

Supersets are simply 2 exercises joined together and done back to back without any rest in between.

You could pair an upper body exercise with a lower body move (for example pull ups accompanied by squats) or two opposite muscle groups (such as the bench press followed by the seated row).