Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Stability Ball (Swiss Ball)

Any exercise that you would normally do on a bench can be done on the stability ball. You can do exercises like bench press, dumbbell flyes, shoulder press, lateral raises, pullovers, crunches, reverse crunches, etc... This is an excellent piece of equipment. The ball can move and roll so it increases your balance and strengthens the small stabilizer muscles. 

Abdominal Bench

This is basically just a decline bench that is used for doing abdominal exercises. It has rollers that you hook your feet into so you do not slide off the bench. 

Preacher Bench

This bench is designed for working the biceps. It has an angled pad that you you're your upper arms on. This pad prevents you from swinging the weight so you can isolate the bicep muscles. 

Hyper Extension Bench

This bench is used for working the lower back, hamstring, and glute muscles. Some gyms have a hyper extension bench that can also be used for sit ups to work the abdominals. 

Benches

The most common piece of equipment in any gym is the bench. There are three types of benches - flat, incline, and decline. Some benches are adjustable (i.e. they can be adjusted to either flat, incline, or decline). Some benches have racks on one end for holding a barbell, while other benches do not have any racks. The benches that do not have any racks are generally used for dumbbell exercises.