Major Muscles Worked:
Hamstrings, Calves, Glutes, Core
Set Up:
- Lie down, on your back, hands by your sides,
- Place the heels of your feet just over the apex of a Swiss Ball.
have some distance between your feet. The easier this movement becomes, the closer you can move your feet together. - Pressing through your arms to steady yourself, lift your hips up off the floor.
try to create a straight line between your shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles.
The Movement:
- Keeping your heels in position, dig your heels into the ball.
- Bend your knees, pulling the ball in to your body.
As your knees bend, and you pull the ball into your body, try to raise your hips higher so that your hips still make a straight line between your shoulders and knees. - Pull the ball in as far as you can.
- Reverse the movement to straighten your legs.
try not to put your hips back down on the ground.
Specific Cues:
- Your goal is to perform all of your repetitions without replacing your hips on the floor.
- Make sure that your hands are by your sides – as your balance becomes better, you can float your arms out from the side of your body.
- The ball may get away from you. This is common. Don’t try to adjust the ball while your hips are still in the air. Just bring your hips back down to the floor, and re-set up as described above.
Modifications:
- Make it more challenging by:
- Level 1 – Pull the ball in with both legs, lift one up off the ball, and return to starting with the other.
- Level 2 – Complete the movement with one leg at a time
- Make it easier by:
- Doing as many as you can, rest your hips on the ground, and continuing.