Stability Ball Leg Curl
What you'll gain
Trains knee flexion and hip extension inside the same repetition.
The unstable ball adds a pelvic control demand a machine curl cannot.
Scales easily by narrowing the feet or lifting one leg off the ball.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- 1
Lie on your back with your lower legs and heels resting on a stability ball.
- 2
Place your arms out to your sides, palms down, and brace your midsection.
- 3
Press your hips up until your body forms a line from shoulders to heels.
- 4
Bend your knees and pull the ball toward your hips, keeping the hips high.
- 5
Pause when your heels are near your glutes and your shins are close to vertical.
- 6
Roll the ball back out under control without letting the hips drop, then repeat.
Common Mistakes
Letting the hips sag as the ball rolls in, which hands the work to the hip flexors.
Rushing the return, which is where the hamstrings take most of their eccentric load.
Pushing through the toes instead of the heels, which turns the ball into calf work.
Letting the ball wander side to side, so balance rather than the hamstrings ends the set.
About This Exercise
The stability ball leg curl combines a bridge with knee flexion. You lie on your back with your lower legs and heels on the ball, press your hips up until the body forms a line from shoulders to heels, then pull the ball toward your hips by bending your knees, letting the hips rise further as the heels arrive. The hamstrings work at both ends, flexing the knee while helping the glutes hold the hips extended, and the ball adds a balance demand a floor version does not have. For a catalog this is the equipment-light hamstring option that needs no machine. It suits home and hotel program blocks, posterior chain accessory work, stability and pelvic control content, and any bodyweight filter that needs a hamstring entry beyond the hinge.
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A supine bridge with the heels on a stability ball, curling the ball toward the hips while the pelvis stays lifted.
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Specifications
Built for
- Home and hotel program blocks in a training app.
- Posterior chain accessory work in general fitness templates.
- Stability and pelvic control content for coaches.
- Bodyweight filters that need a non-hinge hamstring option.
Muscles Worked
Details
License Includes
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