So, you heard of the Bender BallTM through a friend, your fitness professional, studio or gym, or social media. You would like to know more. How can "the little ball that does it all", that is the name/slogan it was given in the industry, transform the way I exercise, stretch, and live? Frankly, this ball is straight out amazing!
Read through. You will discover why this mini exercise ball can change the way you take care of your well-being.
For those who know about the ball, you can skip to the Bender ball exercises. Otherwise, bear with me as I give you more specifics about this piece of fitness equipment.
What qualifies us to talk about the Ball?
Laura Warf, one of the co-founders of the Mend My Back Program, has been a certified Bender Ball master trainer for over a decade. We have used the mini exercise ball for years in our brick-and-mortar School of Happiness Studio. Laura used the ball in fitness gyms engagements and industry conferences.
We still use it during weekly yoga and functional fitness or FunFit classes at the School of Happiness virtual studio.
Here is a brief video with Laura from the Mend My Back Lifestyle Foundation program where she presents and describes how we use the Bender Ball: Lifestyle Foundation Intro to the Bender Ball.
Although it is not required, this ball plays a central role in the Mend My Back Program. From back rehabilitation, to back recovery and conditioning or general fitness training. This piece of equipment is a multi-tool for the fitness world. We also use the ball for many applications that are not fitness related. Examples are supporting your back while sitting at an office chair or propping your feet while watching a movie.
Laura has been using the ball for close to two decades. She has developed countless core fitness programs, workout routines, and recovery exercise videos. Many are available online to help you get well and stay fit.
We have prepared an introduction to the Bender Ball videos below.
As a thank you, we also offer a few routine videos with Laura for those who purchase a Bender Ball through us. She uses "the little ball that does it all" in functional fitness, yoga, and Pilates-inspired movements. Let’s get started!
What is a Bender Ball?
It is a piece of fitness equipment that is used in gyms for various floor and standing exercises in functional fitness, which we call FunFit at the School of Happiness, and the Bender ball is also used in Pilates, yoga, and other movement techniques.
Leslee Bender is the creator of the Bender Ball. Leslee is a fitness icon. She created a wonderful business around the Bender Ball and the Bender Method. After introducing the little green ball, Bender later developed the Bender Barre. Great for those who wish to explore other core training methods that are close to but not limited to dance and Pilates.
The ball was quickly adopted by fitness and yoga instructors. Many of them became certified in the Bender method. The ball is great in two major scenarios:
- as support for those who are injured, or are looking for a solution to progress through movements they haven’t mastered yet,
- as a tool to raise the difficulty level of an exercise or routine.
We love to use the ball for recovery or rehab movements, and use it a lot for cardio and core training in functional fitness, or FunFit as we call it at the School of Happiness. Of course, you can use it in your standard daily workout routine. Most exercises focus on abs, hips and glutes, and upper torso. Often referred to as the core. The big takeaway here is that you do not need heavy and expensive gym equipment to stay fit.
Bender Ball Specifications
It has a 9-inch diameter. The exact dimension may vary depending on how much air you blow into your Bender ball. If you over-inflate the ball it may slightly go beyond the 9-inch mark. The opposite is also true if you don't inflate it enough.
The entire package weighs about 1.3 pounds.
once inflated the Bender Ball has a 9-inch diameter
the package weighs about 1.3 lbs
weight capacity or load is rated at 300 lbs
It is extremely durable with a weight capacity or load rated at 300 lbs. For the record, I (Ian) weigh about 210 lbs and have put the ball to the test many times. I have never seen a Bender ball pop. Not to say that they don’t, but they are built strong. Did I mention they are anti-burst? More on this in a minute.
There is the rare exception when someone forgets to store it to keep it away from their pet!
Unique Green Color Tone
We see it as a benefit as the color helps identify real Bender balls from knockoff versions of the ball. Don't get me wrong, some of the no-name versions can be quite good. We have tried many other brands and no-name versions of this mini exercise ball and found the quality, reliability, and durability may vary a lot.
We find it’s better to spend your time exercising than shopping around! 😉
You Bought Your First Bender Ball, Now What?
Unpacking the Bender Ball
The plastic bag package contains:
- One (1) Bender ball deflated and folded,
- Two (2) straws to inflate it,
- Two (2) plugs to shut the hole once inflated,
Bender Ball Unpacking - How to inflate your newly purchased Bender Ball
How Much Air Should I Blow in the Ball?
We get the question all the time. Laura explains it in the video above, but you want the ball to have some give when squeezed between your two hands without excessive pressure. Another way to put it is if you put the ball on the floor and lay your hand over it, only with the weight of your hand without additional pressure, the ball should compress just a little but not flatten. You want to keep that bouncy feeling.
Reasons to Deflate the Ball?
Primarily for travel or transportation if you plan to fly to a destination and carry your ball. If you are going to travel by plane make sure you do deflate the ball otherwise it will get quite big in your suitcase due to cabin pressure.
If you are not flying, we like to keep ours inflated and use it for back support in the car assuming you are not the driver, train, or bus. Do not drive with a Bender ball behind your back, it could be dangerous.
The second reason is for long-term storage.
Deflating your Bender Ball for travel or storage
Major Benefits of the Bender Ball
Save Time
Avoid having to drive to and back from the gym. Pull out your ball. Load your favorite exercise routines from Mend My Back, School of Happiness, or your favorite online yoga or FunFit instructor. Get moving!
Let’s get started with Bender Ball workout routines.
Anti-Burst. What is Anti-Burst anyway?
Something to think about if you choose to shop for "no name" brands. We have tested it out for you. As mentioned earlier we have gone out and purchased Bender ball-inspired products, or knockoffs, and did not find one that matched this one. More on this later.
Let us get back to the anti-burst. What it means to you; without anti-burst on any inflatable stability exercise ball, you may end up appearing on America's Funniest Home Videos television show. Maybe funny for others to watch but not for the one using a cheap ball that explodes under pressure!
Anti-Burst in Lamon’s terms refers to a puncture-resistant material. Think of party balloons. We all as kids decided to test the limit of balloons by squeezing them or poking at them with a pointy or sharp object. Burst rating determines how well the balloon’s material resists your gladiator swing. The anti-burst feature helps determine how the ball behaves if the material does get punctured. Anti-burst-rated materials are designed to contract around the hole slowing down the rate at which the ball deflates. You will not see it with your eyes. It happens in a split second. You would have to set a video camera in slow motion to capture the action. This is what can save you from a bad fall.
In the alternative scenario, without anti-burst, the ball explodes or releases its air in a few seconds. The ball will deflate even faster if you are sitting or leaning on the ball due to the added pressure your weight exercises against the ball.
Perhaps you have witnessed someone fall to the ground as their stability ball exploded. It is painful. It also means the material was probably not anti-burst. If it did, it would not have exploded. Anti-burst gradually deflates saving you or whoever was on the ball from a swift and painful fall. It may save you from several visits to the chiropractor!
There is lots of engineering behind this, which I will spare you and myself, but let’s just keep in mind that anti-burst should not be taken lightly. People have gotten badly injured with non-anti-burst equipment. These people would tell you that getting an anti-burst ball is worth the few extra dollars at purchase.
I’m spending lots of digital ink on this topic because I want you to beware. If you do decide to go for a no-name mini exercise ball, it’s a good idea to read up on the reviews for that product. Some manufacturers claim to sell anti-burst balls even when it’s not always the case.
That is one of the many reasons we stick to this brand and have so for over a decade.
Travel-Friendly
It's small. You can deflate it or simply toss it in your bag inflated assuming you are not getting on a flight. I mentioned this earlier, cabin pressure will increase the volume of the ball quite a lot.
Sometimes we keep it inflated and ready to use during travel. It can be great to support your lower back while sitting on a train, bus, or car if you are not driving.
If you are good at multi-tasking you can do thigh exercises while holding the ball between your knees as you read or work at your computer.
Bruce Lee was known to do ab exercises while he was driving his car! Not with the Bender ball, of course. It wasn’t around at the time, but the point is you can optimize your time by performing exercises while doing other activities.
Versatile: It Supports, Stabilizes, and Balances
So, what exercises can you do on an exercise ball?
It would frankly be more efficient to talk about the exercises you cannot do with it.
The Bender ball can fill many functions and be used for all muscle groups during your workouts.
Standing and Floor Workouts
Stretching, strength or resistance training, floor cardio challenges. The green ball can do it all.
With or without other fitness equipment.
Laura likes to use the bender ball with TRX or suspension training. They make a great combination.
The ball also makes a good prop when you’re making side-to-side and up-and-down movements, passing the ball from one hand to the next. It helps keep the form.
Core Strength Training
Core training is what usually comes to mind. By core training, we mean a workout series that target deep muscles to support your skeletal system. What do I mean by that?
In gyms, people often develop major muscle groups such as back, chest, shoulders, abdominals, quadriceps, and hamstrings. This is great, but muscles work in layers. The stronger each layer is, the stronger you will be. If you only develop your major muscle groups leaving behind smaller postural and skeletal muscles, it can be a cause for injury in the future. For those smaller muscles to be conditioned it requires a different approach, load, and rhythm. That’s one of the many reasons we like to use the Bender ball during functional fitness or FunFit routines.
Quick analogy. Imagine a crane used to build high-rises. Let’s suppose it has a super sturdy cable that can hold heavy loads. The arm structure, on the other hand, is far too weak for the cable’s load capacity. The arm will eventually snap as it is not well rated or balanced for the crane’s cable. In other words, you’re not using the full potential of the crane.
In this analogy, the crane arm could be your femur bone in your leg along with small skeletal muscles that attach your femur to other knee and hip bones. Let’s imagine your quadriceps is the cable. If you develop your quadriceps and do not proportionally strengthen the foundational layer or skeletal muscles that attach to your hip and knee, because both joints need good stabilization while you flex your quads, something will eventually break if you attempt to push your quadriceps to their full potential. This is often how joint injury takes place. You’ll notice it’s often the smaller muscles that are compromised. Muscles like the rotator cuff group in the shoulder, small abduction muscles in the pubic area, or smaller muscles in the elbow or knees.
As they say, you are only as strong as your weakest link. That link is where you will likely get injured down the road if you don’t pay attention to it. Let’s avoid getting there and develop a strong “core” of foundational muscles. Each muscle has a job to do and if they are not doing it, you will likely feel aches and pains at some point.
By the way, you would be amazed how simple exercises that seem ridiculously easy can be hard. We have seen very fit people unable to do some of the functional fitness moves in Laura’s classes. If you have tried Pilates, you know what I mean.
Ab Workout Exercises
Support the back to avoid hyperextension as you extend your back or as you come out of the crunch, flexion.
We also use the ball to stabilize both lower abs and upper abs. You can hold and gently squeeze the ball between your hands as you perform your ab exercises. You can hold and squeeze the ball between your knees which will help engage the core and properly align your knees and hips.
You can also increase the difficulty of an endurance exercise such as the plank by squeezing the ball while holding your plank.
If you have more than one Bender Ball, you can use them all at once:
- one to support your lower back as you come down during a crunch,
- another to squeeze between your hands to stabilize,
- and a third to hold and compress between your knees to help engage and isolate your core abs.
As you can see, the uses for this exercise ball are only limited by your imagination. Again, if you need ideas and inspiration check out our exercise videos on this website or our You Tube page.
You can also join the Mend My Back Conditioning program. The exercises in this program are designed to progressively strengthen, mobilize and stabilize your back. It’s also possible to join the School of Happiness virtual studio for live and on-demand recorded classes 24 hours 7 days a week.
Stability Training
This is about joint resilience. Imagine you are in a fitness or yoga class and the teacher has you stand on one leg. As you focus on your balance, your attention may be drawn to fellow students who are swinging side to side, forward, and back. Those who have good stability have more resilient joints. Their joint muscles fire to compensate and recover moments of loss of balance as their body mass swings from one side to the other.
The little green ball is a great piece of workout equipment for this. You can use it to help isolate muscles, or to increase the difficulty level of the workout.
An example of how it can make an exercise harder is the Bird-dog exercise. The Bird dog movement is a great progression toward the superman exercise. Once you are comfortable performing the bird dog without;
- overarching your back,
- tilting your hips up and down,
- and staying in line with your body, not swinging or wobbling your leg or arm to one side,
You can use the Bender ball to raise the stakes. Either set the ball under your supporting knee or your supporting hand. The next level up is a ball under your hand and another under your knee. Let me tell you it’s hard!!!
Here is a Bender ball FunFit workout provided courtesy of the School of Happiness. This variation of the side plank is challenging. The ball between the feet reduces the amount of leverage and support. This technique increases the need to solicit core muscles or stabilization mechanisms. Only do this if you are fit. It's a good idea to plank while facing a mirror or a camera to notice whether your hips are caving toward the floor. If you notice your hips going down take one step back to the regular side plank, without the Bender ball. Have fun with it!
These Bender Ball aided exercises and moves will help stabilize your joints. As you progress over time, you will eliminate compensation patterns you may currently have when you perform the bird-dog exercise.
By now you probably guessed it, we can ramp up the difficulty of almost any exercise. If in doubt reach out to Laura to get ideas or check our exercise videos on the Mend My Back and School of Happiness You Tube channel for inspiration.
One of the ways you can raise the difficulty level is by combining it with other home workout equipment. Workouts with the green ball and resistance bands, stability balls, or a Pilates ring. The possibilities are endless.
The ball is great for yoga as well. You can help stabilize your bridge by holding the ball between your knees. You can always do this with any cushion at home which is what we recommend for those who do not have a ball. The drawback is that the cushion does not have the same amount of grip or support. It’s harder to keep in place. Secondly, it does not have the bounce or spring the Bender ball has. It adapts better to the amount of pressure you are applying as you squeeze your knees together.
As for balance, exercises with this ball range from very gentle to quite hard. You can use the ball to rest your hands when you perform push-ups or triceps extensions. Or balance your resting knee on the ball when you perform a quadruped position.
The possibilities are close to endless. We have images and videos of Bender ball exercises you can try at home.
Bender Ball for Yoga
If you are familiar with Laura's yoga teaching style, you know she loves to integrate the Bender ball into her classes. It makes for a great yoga ball to intensify postures or to provide additional support. Simple things such as sitting cross-legged at the beginning or end of a class. If you are like me, sitting legs crossed directly on a flat surface is not the most comfortable. I like to have a blanket or a folded-up yoga mat tucked under my bum. Better yet is to sit on the edge of a Bender ball to support my hips and give a break to the lower back.
What can I use instead of a Pilates ball?
You guessed it. There may be slight differences between a Pilates ball and the little green Bender ball, but it will fit the bill. It can easily be held in one hand, it’s light and easy to inflate or deflate depending on how hard or soft you need it to be.
One of the first times I discovered the Bender Ball was during a Pilates and yoga fusion class. A world of possibilities.
Other Home and Office Uses
The Bender ball has the tendency of gripping really well. It has a little bit of a sticky feel. This feature makes it convenient to use the ball to support our back while sitting on an office chair. The ball will remain in place unlike other materials that will cause it to slide out of position. We do this while watching television, or at the dining room table while talking, or playing a board game. Anything that requires you to sit while keeping an engaged position, straight and centered. No slouching. Laura uses the ball all the time when she is sitting on an office chair.
Other fun uses for your Bender Ball. We have discovered over the years that this exercise equipment really is the little ball that does it all!
Very Durable
We have Bender balls in several rooms of our house. To this day, I don’t remember throwing any of them away because they were damaged. The only way we lower our inventory is by giving some away to family and close friends.
We like having many of them around. We have a ball in the living room, one in the office, another in the exercise studio, and sometimes one sits on a chair in the dining room. They’re now part of the scenery and are used in several activities to keep our posture in check.
Not for Pets
We have heard stories of people using it as a toy for their pets. Most of the time non-intentionally! It’s not recommended for our furry friends with sharp claws or teeth. This exercise ball is durable, but not designed for pets, so keep it in a safe place.
Take care of your Bender Ball to keep it for a long time. It's also good to point out a few safety tips.
Key Takeaways About the Bender Ball
It is a very versatile piece of equipment. Here are ways it can help you:
- increase your mobility,
- stabilize your joints and movements,
- combine it with other fitness exercise equipment. Examples are the TRX, stability ball, elastics, resistance bands, floor sliders, and many more,
- use the Bender ball as a lifestyle device. Support your back when sitting at your desk, dining room table, on an airplane or train,
- increase exercise difficulty when it gets too easy,
- correct exercises that are not performed properly. It is recommended to work with a Bender method certified fitness professional.
Finally, the Bender ball is great for other applications such as yoga, Pilates, and more. The web is filled with resources. We do recommend following trained professionals, ideally, Bender method certified trainers and instructors.
We hope this article helps clarify what this ball is about, what it can do for you, and how to use it.
We will be updating its content over time as new information and findings are brought to our attention.
In fact, please let us know how you like to use your Bender ball in the comments below!
Also, if you have questions we haven’t covered please share them in the comments section or write us a message.
Useful Resources
Useful Resources: Bender ball is backed by science
For a more in-depth scientific point of view visit the Bender Ball article on WebMD.
Thank you for your interest and for sharing this article with your network. We hope it can help you and others around you keep moving and stay away from back pain!
Want to Get Your Bender Ball
We are authorized resellers of the ball. Laura Warf is also a Bender Ball certified instructor. The Bender Ball is available for sale on this website. Simply follow the link below.