Gymnastics balls... slant boards... balance disks... poles...

If you’re waiting for us to send in the clowns, don’t hold your breath.

We’re not dishing the dirt on circus equipment. The above-mentioned gear is featured in a hot new at-home workout program!

How would you like to tone your muscles without hitting a gym or dropping a lot of money on fancy machinery? Well, if you’ve been looking for a physical challenge that'll test your skills and produce fantastic results, then you must check out the funny sounding ProBodX.

In fact, you may want to first open your mind and your body to ProBodX: Proper Body Exercise (HarperCollins).

The founders of this innovative fitness and conditioning program are Marv Marinovich, a former conditioning coach for the NFL's Oakland Raiders, and Dr. Edythe Heus, a chiropractor specializing in rehabilitating elite athletes. The dynamic duo is a dream team whose original mission was to get professional athletes back on the playing field after serious injuries.

“We were originally working with elite athletes,” says Dr. Heus. “ProBodX is the culmination of experiences from working with everyday people that needed exercises to get over injuries and create balance. “Through the workout you get coordination and balance. You get strengthening and strength flexibility all in one workout. You get much leaner muscle and more efficient muscle. People also lose weight more fluidly.”

Maybe you’re recovering from a knee injury and want a workout that won’t put you at risk. Perhaps you want to emulate professional athletes like defensive back Jason Sehorn of the St. Louis Rams or pitcher Steve Finley of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Even if you’re a stay-at-home mom searching for an effective workout, ProBodX fits the bill. Dr. Heus boasts that the ProBodX regimen offers multiple benefits, which include building and toning muscles while increasing strength, flexibility, balance and grace. Unlike other intense workouts, you have a better chance of getting in shape with less risk of injury.

What makes ProBodX so great and so different is that you don’t need any wallet-thinning gym equipment. You don’t even need a set of traditional hand weights or workout shoes -- all exercises are done barefoot!

In the authors' own words: the ProBodX program calls for unstable surfaces with multi-plane movement and strength loading to stretch and strengthen the body at the same time. By using tools such as the gymnastic ball, slant boards, balance disks, and special hand and foot weights, you will stimulate the nervous system, as well as increase speed, power and flexibility. The only "catch" is you have to do the exercises exactly as directed to reap the phenomenal benefits of ProBodX. It starts out simple enough.

You may begin with stretches on the exercise ball. But you’ll eventually find yourself fearlessly perched atop PVC pipes and balancing disks. Alan Ross co-authored the book with Dr. Heus, Marinovich and Ronda Spinak. He advises you to expect the unexpected. But he also stresses that you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to sculpt a firmer figure.

st of the equipment you can make yourself. “Instead of buying a slant board, use a cutting board and a book," Ross says. "PVC pipes can be bought at Home Depot for about $10 for three sets. Instead of buying poles, use chairs. Instead of buying specialized hand weights, fill water jugs with water or sand." Armed with a copy of the book and your homemade equipment, you can perform the routine just about anywhere.

Dr. Heus suggests doing ProBodX twice a week. You'll eventually graduate to as many as four workouts a week. Each workout can range from 15 minutes to over an hour. It’s important to remember that in order to make the most out of ProBodX you have to follow the guidelines that have been laid down by the creators.

When doing ProBodX, be sure to: Begin in the right starting position on the equipment. Be sure to exercise using proper form. Do all the exercises in the order presented. Do a complete cycle of exercises even if that means fewer repetitions of each exercise because of time constraints. Start to count on your own body knowing what’s best.

When excellent form and intensity don’t depreciate and the exercise seemingly can go on forever, it’s time to make the exercise more difficult through progressing resistance, instability, range of motion and/or rapidity. Don’t progress too fast. Don’t over-train. Rest between exercises according to your goal. Your own level of ability and goals determine the amount of time you spend doing ProBodX.

Use proper body eating to get the most out of ProBodX. The more you do ProBodX, and do it well, the faster you move along the path to true fitness.

Here are two of the beginning exercises offered in ProBodX:

FROG ROCKING

Starting position:

Squat down behind the gymnastics ball, knees apart. Your heels will rise off the ground while the balls of your feet stay firmly planted. Roll the ball into your body, drape your arms around the ball, and place your chin on the ball. Your neck stays relaxed. Push off your feet, rolling forward. Stop the forward motion by planting your hands on the floor, about shoulder-width apart, trying not to let the center of your palms touch, and bend your elbows, getting your head as close to the floor as possible.

(This is a smooth braking motion, first using the muscles around the shoulder blades, then elbows, followed by wrists.) Push off with the hands and roll back to the balls of the feet. Your hip area remains on the gymnastics ball throughout the entire routine. Repeat for the duration of the warm-up.

 

THE DIVE

Starting position:

From the Frog Rocking starting position, push off your feet, straightening your legs and pointing your toes as they lift off the floor. The ball rolls under your body to the lower abdomen and upper thighs as your arms are held straight out in front, the hands wider than shoulder-width apart.

Stop the forward motion by planting your hands on the floor, trying not to let the center of your palms touch, and bend your elbows, nearly kissing the floor between your hands.

(This is a smooth braking motion, first using the muscles around the shoulder blades, then elbows, followed by wrists.) Spring back off the hands, using the muscles around your shoulder blades, until your legs bend back into a squat and the balls of your feet touch the ground again. Do not land flat on your feet.

Keep repeating for the duration of the warm-up.