It’s simply impossible to ride at your best without a strong center. In fact, routinely training your core muscles is a crucial component to prevent common cycling complaints, like lower back pain and hand numbness.
A strong core also plays a huge role in stamina and endurance, and it affects everything from the way you climb to the way you descend to how well you corner.
An effective core-training program will include moves that challenge your stability, helping you withstand side-to-side movement and keep you steady and balanced on the bike. One of the best ways to build that stability: a balance ball core workout.
The Benefits of a Balance Ball Core Workout
From a functional fitness perspective, your midsection muscles are stabilizers. When you perform moves on an unstable surface, such as a balance ball, or when you sit on an unstable surface, such as a bike, these muscles work in overdrive to keep you steady.
Research backs this up: A 2015 study published in Gait & Posture involving 44 participants, found that performing core work on an unstable surface can increase activity in the core musculature. Also, a study involving 67 collegiate athletes, published in Physical Activity Review in 2021, found that balance ball exercises (a.k.a. Swiss ball) significantly enhanced core stability, even more so than traditional floor exercises.
“Using a stability ball when doing core exercises creates instability, which forces the deep core muscles to be used more. It further strengthens the core to help prevent injury and optimize other exercises that require a lot of core strength,” Noam Tamir, C.S.C.S., founder and CEO of TS Fitness in New York City tells Bicycling.
“Personally, I love using the stability ball for a multitude of reasons,” Victor Miranda, NASM-C.P.T., certified trainer based in Toronto, Canada tells Bicycling. “It’s great for clients because no matter the fitness level, the ball is so versatile and can be adjusted to fit beginners and of course challenge the most elite athletes.”
A few other reasons this tool is so popular: It’s relatively inexpensive, and it’s easily stashed in a closet if you work out at home. They are available at most gyms, too, and they can even pull double-duty as a desk chair.
“Whether you’re going hard and want a great challenge or just an effective way of challenging your stability and improving core control, the stability ball is the tool,” Miranda adds.
What to Know Before You Perform Stability Ball Exercises
There’s no doubt that adding a stability ball to a core exercise will amp up the difficulty, so the basics should be mastered first. For example, you’ll want to feel confident in doing a regular plank before adding the stability ball to that particular exercise. But whether you’re using the stability ball for beginner or advanced moves really comes down to exercise selection.
“Physiotherapists use [the stability ball] to help with clients recovering from injuries and elite coaches use them for high-level athletes. So depending on the exercise, the stability ball can be used with all levels of fitness. It’s a very versatile tool,” Miranda tells Bicycling.
There are a few form notes that are especially important when you incorporate a stability ball into your core work. Correct pelvic alignment is key, especially when doing plank variations, as it becomes more challenging to maintain a strong position, considering the center of gravity is higher from the floor and the surface is unstable, Tamir tells Bicycling.
“I always make sure that [clients] stay in a slight posterior pelvic tilt position for optimal core activation. I like to tell them ‘imagine your belt buckle is pointing up to your chin.’ Also, the elbows need to be in line with the top of the shoulders or you will compensate with your upper body,” Tamir explains.
How to Buy the Right Stability Ball
Stability balls come in different industry-standard sizes, based on height:
- Height: Under 4’8” - Ball size: 45 cm/18”
- Height: 4’8 to 5’3” - Ball size: 55 cm/22”
- Height: 5’4” to 5’10” - Ball size: 65 cm/26”
- Height: 5’11” to 6’4” - Ball size: 75 cm/30”
- Height: 6’4” and up - Ball size: 85 cm/34”
It’s important to keep the stability ball properly inflated, and most balls will come with a pump. A stability ball should be as inflated as a freshly blown-up beach ball. If the stability ball is too squishy, you won’t get the most out of the exercises.
5 Balance Ball Exercises to Add to Your Core Workouts
“In terms of when or how often to implement the stability ball into your core work, I would add at least one stability ball variation,” Miranda recommends.
“It’s something you can do every day [or just] a few times a week. It depends on the intensity of the exercises. Just like other muscles, the core muscles need time to recover,” Tamir adds.
How to use this list: Follow the reps and sets for each exercise listed below. You can do these balance ball core exercises as a circuit (one after another), or choose your favorites and add them to your typical core workout or total-body routine.
Natascha Grief, health and fitness editor and certified personal trainer, demonstrates this balance ball core workout so you can learn proper form. An exercise mat is optional.
1. Opposite Arm and Leg Lift
How to do it:
- Lie over the stability ball so it supports the center of body. Extend legs with both feet on the floor, toes curled under. Keep both arms straight and place hands flat on the floor. Keep shoulders down and back, elbows soft. This is the starting position.
- Slowly and simultaneously lift and extend the right arm and left leg. Hold this extended position for about five seconds.
- Return to start position.
- Repeat on the other side.
- Continue alternating. Do 2 sets of 12 reps each side.
Trainer tip: This move is a riff on a traditional bird dog exercise, so master the fundamentals of that move first—this variation is harder than it looks! Keep your shoulders pulled down your back and away from the ears, and your hand placement directly under your shoulders, while you focus on stabilizing with your core.
2. Side Plank
How to do it:
- Sit to left of stability ball, bend right arm, and place forearm on the highest part of the ball.
- Pull shoulder blade down the back and engage upper back. Extend both legs until they’re straight, stacking hips and knees. (Stack feet for more difficulty; stagger them to make it easier.)
- Push forearm into the ball and feet into the floor to lift hips off the floor; form a straight line from head to heels. Don’t let shoulders shrug or collapse, keep chest open and breathing steady.
- Hold for 30 seconds.
Trainer tip: This is a challenging variation of a side plank, so make sure you practice and master a standard side plank and work your way up to this version. As with all planks, body alignment and form are key, so keep tabs on your head, shoulders, hips, and ankles and focus on keeping them lined up. If holding this move for the full 30 seconds is too challenging, start with 10 seconds, rest for five seconds, and repeat three times.
3. Decline Plank
How to do it:
- Start in plank position with feet on stability ball.
- Keep knees straight but soft and align elbows under shoulders.
- Engage upper back by keeping shoulders pulled down and back.
- Hold for 60 seconds.
Trainer Tip: This is a sneaky-hard plank variation. The instability of the stability ball will require your core to do lots of micro-adjustments. It’s crucial to make sure your low back doesn’t sag and that your pelvis stays in a neutral position. If you start to feel this exercise in your low back, come out of the move and rest. If holding this move for the full 60 seconds is too challenging, start with 10 seconds, rest for five seconds, and repeat this sequence until you work your way up to a 60-second hold.
4. Russian Twist
How to do it:
- Lie with upper and mid-back on stability ball, head and neck supported.
- Place both feet flat on floor with knees bent, then lift hips so body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders.
- Extend arms straight with palms together and over chest.
- Brace core and roll upper body over to the right as far as possible, keeping gaze focused on hands. Don’t let the hips drop and keep the glutes engaged.
- Return to center, then rotate to the left.
- Return to center. That’s one rep.
- Repeat for 10 reps.
Trainer tip: In addition to keeping your core engaged, it’s also important to engage your glutes during this move. Don’t let your low back arch, and pay close attention to keeping your pelvis in neutral alignment. The rotation in this move should be focused on the obliques and core, and not the low back muscles. If you feel your low back muscles start to engage and compensate, rest and reset.
5. Hip Crossover
How to do it:
- Lie faceup and bend knees, bringing them directly over hips.
- Hold the stability ball between back of calves and back of thighs, squeezing the ball and keeping feet flexed.
- Brace core and slowly lower legs to the right as far as possible while keeping core engaged and both shoulders on the floor. Move slowly.
- Return to center, then lower legs to the left.
- Return to center. That’s one rep.
- Repeat 10 reps.
Trainer tip: It’s important to do this exercise without using any momentum to move the ball; try to let your legs and hips be heavy as you recruit your obliques and hips as the main drivers of this movement. It’s extremely easy to compensate with other muscles, particularly in the low back, during this targeted move, so take your time.
Natascha Grief is Bicycling’s Health & Fitness Editor. She started in the cycling industry as a bike mechanic a couple of decades ago, earning a couple pro-mechanic certifications and her USA Cycling Race Mechanic license. She went on to apprentice for framebuilder Brent Steelman in her hometown of Redwood City, California before spending several years working for both large and not-so-large cycling brands. She then switched gears and industries to earn multiple personal training certifications while honing her skills as a trainer and coach, specializing in functional training, corrective exercise, and body positive personal training. She began contributing regularly to Runner’s World and Bicycling as a freelance writer in 2020, and joined the editorial staff of Bicycling in 2022.
