How to Do a Stability Ball Ball-to-Floor Lunge

Traditional lunges effectively work out the thighs, butt and backs of thighs. Adding a stability ball to your workout allows you to increase the range of muscles that are affected by a target exercise. Ball-to-floor lunges work the thighs, hips, arms and shoulders.In this exercise, stability balls have just enough weight to challenge you with a simple lift over the head. When you add multiple repetitions of lifting the stability ball, your arms and shoulders will get quite a workout.Make sure you warm up before performing any exercise with stretching and light cardio to get your blood pumping.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Stability ball

1. Stand with your back straight, head forward, and shoulders aligned and relaxed. Your feet should be 6-8 inches apart. Hold your stability ball straight overhead. If that’s too tiring, hold it out in front of you with straight arms.

2. Take a step forward with your right leg, firmly planting your foot. As you make this step, your left foot will roll onto the ball of the foot. Hold this position. This splayed leg position represents your new “start” position for your lunge. As you progress through your repetitions on one leg, you’ll lift up to this split-leg position between reps.

3. Bend your knees until your front knee touches the ground. Check carefully to make sure your alignment is correct. Your right knee should be above your right foot. As you bend, lower the ball in front of you to touch the ground.

4. Return to your split stance, raising the ball off the floor as you come back up. This should be a fluid movement that allows you to move into a subsequent lunge. These movements should be slow and measured, not jerky or rushed.

5. Complete two sets of 10 stability ball ball-to-floor lunges for each leg. Remember to ease off the number of reps if you feel pain or get too tired. You can always work up to more repetitions with practice.

Tips & Warnings

• Never exercise to the point of pain or exhaustion.
• It’s important to use a stability ball that is correctly sized for you. You should be able to sit comfortably on the ball with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle and feet planted firmly on the floor.

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[iamageniuster]

on 10/28/2008 Very nice article. I'll give this a shot. 5 stars!