TKO Ball Exercises to Lose Weight

Incorporating fitness ball exercises can help you lose weight more quickly.

Incorporating fitness ball exercises can help you lose weight more quickly.

Despite the company's beginnings in the sport of boxing -- which gave rise to its name -- TKO now produces a variety of general fitness equipment. Among TKO's products are its fitness balls and medicine balls. This portable equipment can help you meet your weight loss goals at home or in the gym. But as with any workout goal, you'll need to perform the right exercises with your TKO balls in order to lose weight. Always ask your doctor before starting any workout program, for weight loss or otherwise.

TKO Ball Types

TKO Sports Group produces two kinds of fitness balls you can use in your weight loss workouts. The first type is the large, inflatable ball, also known as the Swiss ball or simply the fitness ball. These balls are light and large enough for you to sit on and give a bit when you do. TKO also produces medicine balls, which are smaller, non-inflatable and heavy -- up to 15 pounds per ball. These balls are not designed to be sat on, and are typically held or thrown.

Ball Benefits

As you might imagine from the differences in design, the two types of TKO balls are suited to different tasks and have different benefits. Lying or sitting on the fitness balls injects an element of instability into your exercises, meaning that more of your muscles are engaged -- those moving the weights and those maintaining your balance. Using more than one muscle group results in a higher rate of calorie burning, which helps you move toward your weight loss goals. The weight of medicine balls makes them similar to fitness equipment such as dumbbells, and they also allow you to perform dynamic exercises such as throwing and catching.

Upper Body Exercises

Including upper body TKO ball exercises for weight loss will help you tone your arms and shoulders and improve your strength for athletic endeavors and everyday activities. If you're using a TKO fitness ball, lying on top of it and performing the dumbbell fly, dumbbell chest press or skull crushers can be effective. You might also want to sit on the ball and perform lateral raises or the military press. Performing triceps extensions, wall tosses or split pushups -- one hand on the floor, one hand on the medicine ball -- are effective ways to incorporate a TKO medicine ball into your upper body weight loss routine.

Lower Body Exercises

Your lower body consists of many large muscle groups such as the hamstrings and quadriceps, and engaging these in action can help you burn calories quickly. If you're using a Swiss ball, you can perform squats -- one- or two-legged -- with the ball between your back and a wall. You can also lie on the floor and perform hamstring curls by putting your feet on the ball and rolling it back and forth by extending and flexing your knees. To promote weight loss with a medicine ball, you can perform rotating walking lunges, single-leg squats and single-leg deadlifts.


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