FitBalls for All.

• Author: LEWIS, PETE

HEY, KILLER WHALES AT SEAWORLD LOVE THEM, WHY NOT YOU?

FitBalls may look like oversized beach balls, but they're a serious fitness and therapeutic tool, and they're turning up everywhere from hospitals and health clubs to corporate board rooms, horse stalls and computer workstations (the people stalls of the 21st century).

European physical therapists have used large inflatable balls for years to improve flexibility and strength in patients. Colorado physical therapist Joanne Posner-Mayer encountered the balls while working in Switzerland. She was so impressed she brought a few home and incorporated them into her practice. Soon she was conducting workshops to introduce the balls to other physical therapists. The only problem was finding enough balls to meet demand.

In 1990, Posner-Mayer founder Ball Dynamics International Inc., mostly to supply fitness balls for her practice and workshops. Since then, fitness balls have migrated from rehabilitation into fitness, and Posner-Mayer has developed lines of FitBalls, MedBalls, ball workout videos and such. (See www.fitball.com.)

The balls are combined with light weights for strength training and used for Low-impact cardiovascular workouts. Health clubs offer fitness ball classes and feature the balls as stretching aids.

"They're incredibly versatile," said BDI President Janua Hyer. "You can use them to strengthen, to tone up, to stretch, to relax. As baby boomers get older there is a trend toward taking a more holistic or wellness approach toward exercise. It's common for programs that start in...