Stability Ball Leg Curl
A supine bridge with the heels on a stability ball, curling the ball toward the hips while the pelvis stays lifted.
How to do it
- Lie on your back with your lower legs and heels resting on a stability ball.
- Place your arms out to your sides, palms down, and brace your midsection.
- Press your hips up until your body forms a line from shoulders to heels.
- Bend your knees and pull the ball toward your hips, keeping the hips high.
- Pause when your heels are near your glutes and your shins are close to vertical.
- Roll the ball back out under control without letting the hips drop, then repeat.
Key technique cue
Keep the hips high while the ball rolls both ways.
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.
Benefits
- ✓ 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.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 -
Step 2 -
Step 3 You are here - Stability Ball Leg Curl
- Slider Leg Curl
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Step 4
About the 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. It is the equipment-light hamstring option that needs no machine, suited to home and hotel workouts and posterior chain accessory work.
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