Wasn't as easy to use/practical as I thought.

note what I expected

The ball would not inflate past 4 inches, making the ball impossible to use with the videos. My gym has these balls, and they are wonderful. I am very disappointed that my ball is not the same quality of the Bender Balls I have used previously. I tried using the included straw and my air mattress pump. Neither worked to inflate it any larger than the photo shows.

I purchased this several years ago at a big box store. I would definitely suggest getting it either from Amazon or a retail location. I have seen a lot of complaints about an auto-subscription if purchased directly from Bender Ball.

I inflated the ball once at the initial time of purchase. It has lost a bit of air since then but is still usable. I have not reinflated it because the less inflated the ball is, the harder you work your abs (and also I lost the inflation device though I suspect a drinking straw will work OK too). So one thing to do is, if you are finding the workouts too easy, let some air out of the ball. It will instantly become more challenging.

There are some issues with the DVD quality. These appear to have been poorly reproduced and will not play in all DVD players (though the newer your player is, the better luck you will have, and my 6-year-old MacBook Pro doesn't have any trouble with them either). So keep that in mind.

I am of two minds about the workouts themselves. On the one hand, this is a very effective way to work your abs. I feel it in a way that even Ab Ripper X from P90X does not work me -- it's deep in the abdominal muscles and I actually shake while holding some of the moves. Also, I do like that there is a whole DVD for the back. A lot of ab workouts neglect the back, but you really need to work both the back and abs to balance out your core. There are usually convenient stopping points during the DVDs if you are short on time. There also really are a lot more moves that can be done with the ball to work all parts of the abs than I would have imagined, and the flow of them is pretty good here. Intensity/difficult level increases throughout the course of the workout, typically.

But, there are some things I don't like about the workouts, too. First and foremost is the hostess. She talks way too much, which actually cuts out a lot of workout time. She seems needy or desperate -- there is too much of the "thank you SO MUCH for working out with me" kind of stuff among her prattle. And she also seems to need to convince herself that the program is good -- she says things like "I tell you this program is so awesome." The problem is that the hostess does not appear to have very good abs, herself. The other demonstrators are typically quite fit (there are usually two other women, not always the same two in each DVD) and are wearing tighter shirts and/or just sports bras. The hostess, however, is wearing a shirt that covers her midriff and it kind of looks like there is a bulge of fat under the shirt. Now, I am not saying I have perfect abs (I don't, that's why I'm working out). But it is more convincing to do any kind of workout following someone who looks like s/he does that workout. So if it is an ab workout DVD, I expect the host/ess to have excellent abs (like, say, Shaun T.). When that's not the case, I think it's natural to question the efficacy of the program.

Additionally, not in the basic/first DVD, but in the others, you will do some exercises on one side, then the other, then once more. She will tell you to choose your weaker side for the third time. I hate doing unbalanced workouts, and I often can't tell the difference in performance from one side to the other. I would rather just do the darned exercise twice on both sides. Or once on both sides. Whatever.

This is kind of spendy just for the ball. The DVDs do offer a good collection of moves if you want to cobble together your own workout so you don't have to listen to Ms. Bender. On the other hand, you can also just get the ball separately (I've seen it on Amazon) and then do a web search for exercises. 2.5 stars.

Can't inflate it.