The Alternating Single-Arm Swiss Ball Dumbbell Bench Press

Need to switch up your workout routine? Getting tired of doing the same old thing all the time, every time in the gym?

The Alternating Single-Arm Swiss Ball Dumbbell Bench Press is a really fun, bilateral exercise with a wide range of applications for people who merely want to improve their fitness all the way up to competitive athletes of many types.

It’s an ideal exercise for working on alternating arm movements in many functional activities like swimming, martial arts and boxing or even team sports like rugby, basketball or football where you’re pushing your way through a crowd.

When you move the setting of one exercise from a bench to a Swiss ball, you’re required to use your balance centers. Doing that significantly increases how much coordination it takes to do an exercise for the perspective of balance and movement. And, from a neurological standpoint, it’s a much richer exercise too.

You’ll bring much more stimuli to your nervous system, because there’s much more for the brain to coordinate. In other words, you’re exercising much more of your body than your muscular system by giving it neurodevelopmental training.

What’s more you can adjust the load, depending on who’s performing the exercise — from kids all the way up to professional athletes — to achieve the most benefit.

Getting started, it’s better to pick up the dumbbells and sit on the Swiss ball than it is to bend over then pick them up, especially if you’re not used to being on a Swiss ball.

As you sit on the Swiss ball, place the dumbbells on your thighs, then roll your body down on the ball. Be sure not to round your back forward, especially if the Swiss ball is sitting on a slippery floor.

Keep your head back and use your hips to thrust the dumbbells upward. As you push the dumbbell upward, keep your hips up and roll your arm in the direction of the movement and focus your eyes on the dumbbell.

Pay close attention to where your butt is on the ball so it doesn’t drop down and don’t throw your head back or forward. Either way, it’ll mess up the movement.

Watch the rest of my video for some pointers on how to adjust this exercise to make it work best for you.

If you want to learn more of these kinds of exercises, check out my Strong ‘N’ Stable DVD set, where I show you how to integrate dumbbells, barbells and cables with Swiss balls.

Love and chi,

Paul