The Stability Ball Leg Curl is a intermediate-friendly bodyweight strength exercise that targets the hamstrings, with the glutes, calves and abdominals working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesHamstrings
Secondary musclesGlutes, Calves, Abs
EquipmentBodyweight
LevelIntermediate
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Stability Ball Leg Curl
Lie on your back with your lower legs and heels resting on a stability ball.
Place your arms out to your sides, palms down, and brace your midsection.
Press your hips up until your body forms a line from shoulders to heels.
Bend your knees and pull the ball toward your hips, keeping the hips high.
Pause when your heels are near your glutes and your shins are close to vertical.
Roll the ball back out under control without letting the hips drop, then repeat.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Trains knee flexion and hip extension inside the same repetition.
The unstable ball adds a pelvic control demand a machine curl cannot.
Scales easily by narrowing the feet or lifting one leg off the ball.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Letting the hips sag as the ball rolls in, which hands the work to the hip flexors.
Rushing the return, which is where the hamstrings take most of their eccentric load.
Pushing through the toes instead of the heels, which turns the ball into calf work.
Letting the ball wander side to side, so balance rather than the hamstrings ends the set.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Stability Ball Leg Curl, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
