5 Exercises to a Stronger Core: Exercise Ball

The core muscles of the body are incredibly important. Having a strong core can help with injury prevention, reducing back pain, improving balance and stability, improving posture, and even improving athletic performance. Having a strong core goes a long way. With a simple exercise ball, you can get a stronger core in just 10 minutes a day. 

10 Minutes to a Stronger Core 

1. Crunch Time. Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and place the exercise ball under your shoulder blades. Make adjustments to where you place the ball under your upper back for comfort. Lie down over the ball and place your elbows out to the sides with your hands behind your head. Slowly roll over the ball to open the space between the ribcage and hips on count one. Then take 9 more counts to slowly crunch up bringing the ribs toward the hips. Repeat this exercise with the 1-9 timing for 20 repetitions. Rest 30 seconds and repeat for a second set up 20 repetitions.
2. Drop Kicks. Start lying on your back with your knees bent and lift your hips to place the exercise ball under your low back. Make adjustments to where you place the ball under your hips to keep the pelvis tilted towards the rib cage. Lift your legs up towards the ceiling with hands out to the sides to maintain balance. Keeping legs straight in a pike position, drop one leg towards the floor, then return to pike position and drop the other leg towards the floor. Continue to drop kick and pike for one minute. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat.
3. Figure 8’s. Lying on your back, place the ball between your ankles and lift the legs into a pike position towards the ceiling. Keeping your low back imprinted on the floor and hands out to the sides into a low “V” position, lower the legs to the side making a circle low to high, and returning to the beginning pike position, lower the legs to the other side making a full figure “8”. Perform 10 figure 8’s starting to the down to the side (meaning down toward the floor then outward to complete the circle) and side then down (meaning out to the side then towards the floor) to perform the circle.
4. Oblique Twists. Lying on your back, place the ball between your ankles and lift the legs into a bent knee position. Keeping your knees bent and hands out to the sides into a low “V” position, roll your hips to the side keeping your knees bent. Then, extend the legs to the side keeping the ball between the ankles. Bend the knees and return your hips back to the center. Then roll the hips to the other side, keeping knees bent then extend the legs out again. Bring the hips back to the center and repeat alternating side knee bent hip roll with leg extensions for 30 repetitions.
5. Plank Ball Rolls. Start at hands and knees with the Pilates ball next to your right hand on the floor. Lift up into a plank with straight arms and a wide foot stance. Then, grab the ball with your right hand and rotate up into a side plank. Return to the plank and rotate upward to the right for another 9 repetitions. Take a break to the knees and repeat on the other side.