The Bender Ball Review

Overall 2.16 of 5 view all 31 reviews

LAmommyOF2
Los Angeles, CA

lousy ab workout ..but great squat ball!

an at home exerciser

Pros

good squat ball

Cons

hurts your back, It sucks! Horrible, robbed me of $30

APR

2008

When i purchased this ball i thought it would be a good quality exercise ball and to my dismay it was a ball i could have purchased @ toy r us for my son for a dollar!!!i couldn't believe the cheap little device(basically a plastic straw) they send you to inflate the ball. which btw doesn't fully inflate.i couldn't believe i paid 20 some odd dollars for a piece of crap..then when i tried doing the AB workout the ball moved all over the place when i tried to use it(as so demonstrated in the dvd).I'm not a very big woman..i'm very petite,5'1 103lbs, and i basically got this to tone my abs(i have baby tummy weight thanks to my 18 month old!!!lol). To me it really sucks to buy something not worth using..so i decided to use it as a squat ball.I put it againest the wall with my back to it and squat...it works well for those!!But as far as an AB exerciser it hurts your back and deflates even faster when you use as an Ab ball..For people with bad backs I don't recommend this at all!!!!!I have a bad back..i've had one since i was 16 and this just aggravated the issue after i used it...like i said great squat ball..lousy ab ball!!!

The Bender Ball is not recommended by LAmommyOF2

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Comments about LAmommyOF2’s Review

I am also 5'1", 104 pounds, and have had great success with this! I have worked out for 10 years, tried numerous balance and stability workouts, and this one works better than anything I 've seen in a long time. I used it this morning, and my abs are already sore! I knew it was working, because my abs shook like crazy and were completely engaged. Give it another try!

Hey I came across your review on the bender ball in a search about the product. I just recieved the bender ball and was having the same problems you were having with the ball moving while trying to do crunches. I have found a solution to this problem that you might want to try. If you tuck the ball in the back of your t shirt and place it on the small of your back it prevents the ball from rolling and allows you to lean back across the ball before coming forward and completing a crunch. The further you lean back on the ball the more effective the crunch is because you have more momentum and extension before coming forward to crunch your abdominal muscles. I try and lean back as far as I can before coming forward for the crunch. I agree with you on the product in general though because you can buy a toy ball that is the same size as the bender ball for a couple bucks and it would be the same thing. They are really making profit just off the idea of the ab workout off the unstable surface instead of the floor then they are the ball itself. But give my idea a try and see how that works because I have been getting a great abdominal workout using the ball and I can tell by how sore my abs are the day after.

the back pain is a result from either arching the back or tensing the shoulders to compensate for the imbalance of being on an unstable surface (the ball). Placing a towel under your head / lower back / neck or shoulders should help remedy this. Balance comes from strong abs so as the muscles in that area strengthen, the ball should stop moving all over the place. Have the ball but did not order it off the site, thankfully. It does deflate easily and the straw to inflate it with is pretty cheap, but overall is a good ab workout, if you can keep the shoulders and back from tensing!

It looks great on TV. Thanks for the warning.

I would definitely recommend Pilates videos for getting rid of that tummy. It took me 2 years (my daughter is now 2.5), but I have my musclar abs back.