Exercise Ball Back Extension With Knees Off Ground

Lie face down on the exercise ball, with your hips and pelvis supported on the ball and your feet wide apart for stability. Place your hands behind your head or crossed over your chest. Keep your gaze down towards the floor. Engage your core muscles and lift both knees slightly off the ground. Maintain this position throughout the exercise. Begin the exercise by slowly lifting your upper body off the ball, extending your spine and lifting your chest towards the ceiling. Keep your neck in line with your spine and avoid arching your back excessively. Pause briefly at the top of the movement, then slowly lower your upper body back down towards the ball, returning to the starting position. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions, maintaining control and focusing on engaging your back muscles throughout the exercise.

How to perform the Exercise Ball Back Extension With Knees Off Ground

  1. Set up. Set up in a stable, balanced starting position appropriate for the Exercise Ball Back Extension With Knees Off Ground using your stability ball.
  2. Brace and execute. Brace your core, control the descent, and move through a full pain-free range of motion while emphasizing your abdominals.
  3. Reset. Reverse the movement under control and reset between repetitions, keeping your form crisp on every rep.

Coaching cues

  • Move with intent — every rep should feel deliberate, not rushed.
  • Drive force through your abdominals rather than momentum.
  • Keep your breathing steady: exhale on the hard part, inhale on the reset.

Common mistakes

  • Using too much weight and losing positional control.
  • Cutting the range of motion short and missing the target muscle.
  • Letting your spine round or hyperextend instead of staying neutral.

Detailed cues, common mistakes, and demonstration video are available in the Fitly app.

Build a free routine

Stage exercises here, then sign up to save them as a real Fitly routine — synced to web and mobile.

View staged routine (0)

Related exercises

0 exercises staged Save your routine — sign up free.