I also like that it encourages you to keep your body upright throughout the movement. RELATED: Squat Anatomy. Why do it: The preacher curl is a great exercise for biceps activation, and adding a ball provides an extra challenge because it forces you to stabilize yourself throughout the movement.

Why do it: Push-ups work the entire body. There are tons of variations too below is just one of them! RELATED: What Muscles Do Push-Ups Work? Why do it: The v-up with stability ball targets the rectus abdominis, obliques, and hip flexor muscles.

Strengthening the core can help with other exercises in the gym or at home, and daily activities, as well as reducing pain scores, functional disability, and recurrences of acute low back pain episodes 2. RELATED: What Muscles Do Squats Work? Why do it: A stability ball is softer than the floor, so I prefer using it to do crunches.

If you suffer from low back pain, performing crunches on a ball rather than a resistance machine could be beneficial because it induces high rectus abdominis activity accompanied by low hip flexor activity 3.

RELATED: How to Do Back Extensions At Home. Well, with a stability ball, you do. Nearly every dumbbell, barbell, or bodyweight workout in the gym uses the core in some way. The great thing about doing any exercise on a stability ball is that because the ball is unstable maybe it should be called an instability ball instead?

For those who have desk jobs, pay attention. Exercising with a stability ball can help to improve your posture, reducing the risk of back pain in sedentary individuals 4. Remember to warm up by doing some cardio and stretching before you start.

And, of course, pick the right size ball for your needs. RELATED: Best Warm-Up Exercises. Yes, stability balls can be a great tool for exercise.

I like that you can work your whole body and replace most exercises you would typically do on a flat surface with a ball. This adds an extra challenge while improving your posture and coordination. Stability ball exercises can work every muscle group in the body.

Overhead stability ball squats target the lower body, and stability ball push-ups activate the chest, shoulders, and triceps.

There are also a ton of core exercises you can do, including stability ball floor taps and stability ball crunches.

The benefits of using a stability ball include improvements to your balance, core strength, and posture. There are many Swiss ball core exercises for seniors that you can try out.

Stability ball cobra, stability ball Superman, and stability ball crunches are three examples of lower-impact exercises that use a Swiss ball. Two smart rowers with different types of resistance, which will you choose in the matchup between CITYROW vs Hydrow?

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Learn more about our experts. How to do it: Lie down on the floor or an exercise mat , facing upward. With your arms by your sides, lift and straighten your legs and place them on the stability ball your heels and calves should be touching it. Engage your core and glutes, then raise your hips off the floor to get into the starting position.

Your body should be in a straight line. By bending your knees and using the heels of your feet, bring the stability ball as close as possible to your body. Pause, then reverse the motion by straightening your legs so the ball moves away from you. Continue curling for reps. Muscles targeted: Hamstrings, glutes, core, calves.

How to do it: Place the stability ball on the floor, then get into the plank position with your toes on top of the ball. Looking down at the floor, activate your core and glutes.

Take your left leg off the ball, and bring it down to the side until your left foot touches the floor. Hold, then slowly bring the left toe back onto the stability ball. Repeat with the right leg, touching your right foot on the floor.

Continue for the desired number of reps, using a single leg each time. Muscles targeted: Core muscles, hip flexors, shoulders. How to do it: Put a stability ball against a wall. Facing away from the wall, get into the squat position with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and the ball behind you.

Squat down, driving your hips backward while doing so. The fitness ball will roll down with you as you do this. When your quads are parallel to the floor, hold the position there.

Then, push into the ground with your heels to return to the standing position. Keep squatting for reps. RELATED: Squat Anatomy Muscles targeted: Quads, hamstrings, glutes, core, calves. How to do it: Place a stability ball on top of a flat bench or other solid surface.

Then, grab a dumbbell with your left hand and get into the preacher curl position. Keep going, then switch to your right arm.

Continue for the desired number of reps on each arm. Muscles targeted: Biceps, core. Completely straighten your legs and position your feet hip-width apart. Your toes are the only thing that should be touching the floor.

Extend your arms out in front of you to get into the starting position. Hold them there. Return your arms to the extended position in a controlled manner. Repeat for repetitions. Muscles targeted: Lower back, glutes, shoulders, core.

How to do it: Place a stability ball on the floor, close to a wall. Place your hands on or at the sides of your forehead. Now, slowly drop your body down so your forehead moves towards the stability ball.

Repeat for reps. Muscles targeted: Lower back, glutes, hamstrings. How to do it: Get into the push-up position with your feet and shins on top of the stability ball while the ball is on the floor. Your palms should be touching the floor. Squeeze your glutes and activate your core, and at the same time, tuck your elbows inwards.

Similar to a regular push-up, bend your elbows so your body moves toward the ground. Keep going down until your chest is as close to the floor as possible.

Then, go back up. Benefits: Challenge your entire body with this next-level stability ball exercise. It works your core as you pass the ball between your hands and feet, and you have to engage your inner thighs and arms to keep the ball from falling to the ground.

Benefits: This advanced bodyweight move is a version of a decline push-up that challenges your core just as much as your arms. You should be able to perform regular push-ups with confidence before taking on this exercise. Here are some tips to get better at push-ups.

Benefits: Strengthen your glutes, hamstrings, and quads while building stability through your hips and core. Perform back-to-back reps, or hold each rep as long as possible. Benefits: This advanced hip thrust variation builds your glutes and hamstrings by training one leg at once, helping to correct any muscle imbalance between legs.

Using a stability ball rather than bench hones in on single-leg hip stability even further. Practice with both feet flat on the floor, and then both feet on the ball before graduating to this advanced move. Benefits: Fend off the effects of sitting at a computer all day by training your shoulder stabilizers and mid-back muscles with this deceptively difficult exercise.

Benefits: This seemingly simple move will leave your abs shaking as it tests your core strength and stability. One common way to use a stability ball is as a substitute for a bench.

Many moves in Beachbody On Demand workouts can be done with either a bench or stability ball. Just keep in mind that because of this extra requirement for stability, you should start by using less weight than you would use with a bench.

And you can use a stability ball as a sort of weight a very large, light weight and move it from one side of your body to the other, or pass it between your hands and feet.