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Sometimes when your workouts get stale, all you need is a certain piece of equipment and you’ll hit muscles you never felt before. A stability ball is a good example of this type of equipment because it forces you to balance throughout the entire move, utilizing your inner muscle fibers.
This workout below will incorporate six moves using a stability ball that will shape your waist, flatten your tummy, and strengthen your glutes. The exercise won’t take long, but you have to really focus on form. In fact, the slower you do these moves the better you will work your muscles.
5 Moves on the Stability Ball
To complete this workout, you will do this entire circuit 3-5 times depending on your fitness level. Remember, this is a toning workout. You don’t want to flail through these moves. Focus on doing them with intention and perfect form, even if you can’t finish the set. It is better to do them right and not do as many than to do more with poor form.
- Glute Bridges- 20 repetitions
Let’s start out by getting those glutes on fire! Lay on your back and place the stability ball under your heels with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle. Tighten your core and dig your heels into the stability ball as you push your lower body up to the air.
Squeeze your booty good when you reach the top to really work those muscles. Make sure you keep your hands on the floor for balance. Release and come back down to starting position. You can relax on the floor between reps but to increase the difficulty just hover about 2 inches off the floor before pushing back up.
- Pike Planks- 20 repetitions
Next you will turn around and face the floor and get into plank position the front of your shins laying on the stability ball. Again, you need to keep your core tight throughout this entire move. Your spine should be aligned from your head to tail.
Pull the ball in towards your head by hinging at the hips and rolling it forward with your feet. Keep your arms strong and your back and legs straight through the whole move. You will really feel this in your abdominals.
After you have brought the ball in as close as you can, slowly roll it back to start position and hold a plank.
- Figure 8- 50 repetitions
This is a standing exercise and it may seem deceptively easy at first but if you do it right, you’ll start to feel a burn in your obliques and in your upper back and shoulders.
Hold the ball above your head to the left side with your arms completely extended. Bring it down to the front of your chest with the left hand on top of the ball and the right below it.
Draw an exaggerated figure 8 in the air with the ball, alternating which arm is doing the pushing. Keep your core engaged throughout the movement using your obliques to raise the ball back up into the air at the top of the figure 8. This move should be fluid and consistent.
- Plank leg raise on the ball- 40 repetitions (20 each leg)
Now you need to lie on the ball under your lower abs. Place your hands on the floor in front of you and look at the wall, keeping your head up. Raise one leg up off the floor and as high into the air as you can with a straight leg, then lower it without letting it touch the ground.
Bend that same leg to a 90-degree angle and raise it again as high as you can to the ceiling. Straighten the leg back out as you lower it down again, never letting it touch the ground. That is one rep. Return to your straight leg as you begin a new rep.
Complete all 20 on one leg before moving to the next. You will notice that you have to engage your core and back muscles to keep the ball from rolling from side to side as you lift your legs.
- Ab tucks- 20 repetitions
Get back into plank position as you did with the pike planks, the ball under your upper shins. Pull the ball in by engaging your core, but this time bend your knees and bring them in towards your chest. Roll the ball back out and extend your legs.
Bonus Challenge: When you tuck in your knees and roll the ball forward, bring it more to the right or left side, alternating between the two.
- Bend and Kick- 20 repetitions each side
Stand tall and hold the ball overhead. Keeping your arms extended bend to one side and kick the leg on the same side up, trying to get as close to the ball as you can. Try not to turn your torso as you bend. Do your best to keep your chest facing forward throughout the move. You will really feel this move in your oblique muscles.
Finish the first 20 reps on one side and then repeat the same on the opposite side.
Repeat these six moves through 3-5 times with about a minute of rest between sets. This is a great workout to do on days when you don’t have a lot of time but want to focus on your trouble zones.
