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Stability Ball Leg Curl being performed with proper form
Stability Ball Leg Curl demonstration video — proper form for the full movement.

How to do a Stability Ball Leg Curl

Reviewed by Jim Parker, CPT, B.A. Kinesiology

About this exercise

Sets Logged
118,236
Popularity Rank
661st
Difficulty
Intermediate
Hamstrings Strength
80 mSCORE 56th
Equipment Required

Workouts with Stability Ball Leg Curl

    Target muscles worked

    Primary Muscles
    Hamstrings
    Secondary Muscles
    Abs

    Instructions for Proper Form

    Focusing on the hamstrings and glutes, the Stability Ball Leg Curl involves pulling the ball towards the body with the legs. This exercise enhances lower body strength and stability, providing a challenging alternative to machine leg curls.

    1. Lie your shoulders on the floor with your arms extended laterally and your heels resting on top of a stability ball.
 Lift your hips off the floor to create a straight line from your shoulders to your heels before bending your knees to roll the stability ball towards you.
 Return to the starting position and repeat for the allotted repetitions.

    Sets & Reps Calculator

    Average Stability Ball Leg Curl standards by male, female, gender, weight, age and height

    Use this calculator to see Fitbod's possible first recommendations for you. This would be your starting line, based on more than 4.5 billion logged sets from 1.1 million users.

    • beginner
      3
      sets
      8
      reps
      1 Set Max
      9
      reps
    • intermediate
      4
      sets
      8
      reps
      10
      reps
    • advanced
      4
      sets
      9
      reps
      11
      reps

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    Alternatives & Variations to Stability Ball Leg Curl

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    1. 1. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

      Photo of Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift being performed
      97.6 mSCORESWAPPED 131 TIMES

      This exercise is a variation on Romanian Deadlifts. Like other Romanian Deadlifts, this is a compound exercise that primarily targets your hamstrings and glutes. The use of dumbbells can help with some limitations in mobility, and is a great starting point for anyone working towards performing Deadlifts or Romanian Deadlifts with a barbell.

    2. 2. Seated Leg Curl

      Photo of Seated Leg Curl being performed
      98.8 mSCORESWAPPED 119 TIMES

      Seated Leg Curl is a weighted, isolation exercise that targets the hamstrings. Because a vast majority of lower body exercises tend to be compound movements, this exercise is a great way to isolate the hamstrings for building muscle mass, and developing strength. The use of a machine restricts your range of motion, and adds stability, allowing you to focus on exertion more than stabilizing the movement.

    3. 3. Lying Hamstrings Curl

      Photo of Lying Hamstrings Curl being performed
      95.8 mSCORESWAPPED 80 TIMES

      Lying Hamstring Curl is a weighted, isolation exercise that targets the hamstrings. There’s a relatively short list of isolation exercises for lower body muscle groups. Because of this, this is a great addition to a lower body workout in order to build strength and muscle mass in the hamstrings specifically. The use of a machine restricts your range of motion, and adds stability to the movement, allowing you to focus on exertion rather than stabilizing the movement.

    4. 4. Dumbbell Good Morning

      Photo of Dumbbell Good Morning being performed
      63.8 mSCORESWAPPED 73 TIMES

      The Dumbbell Good Morning is a strength exercise that focuses on the posterior chain, including the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. Holding a dumbbell at chest level or placing two dumbbells on the shoulders, you hinge at the hips and lean forward with a straight back, then return to the starting position. This movement emphasizes hip mobility and back strength, improving posture and stability. It's a versatile exercise suitable for all fitness levels, offering a low-impact alternative to enhance lower back and hamstring flexibility and strength.

    5. 5. Single Leg Romanian Deadlift

      Photo of Single Leg Romanian Deadlift being performed
      80.8 mSCORESWAPPED 68 TIMES

      Single Leg Romanian Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Romanian Deadlift. Like other Romanian Deadlift variations, this is a compound movement that primarily targets the glutes and hamstrings. Performing this exercise on one leg, is a great way to identify, and help address, discrepancies in mobility, strength, and stability between sides. This is a great exercise for anyone looking to improve their ability to perform a large number of other compound lower body movements like Squats, Lunges, or even Olympic lifts.

    6. 6. Kettlebell Sumo Squat

      Photo of Kettlebell Sumo Squat being performed
      87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 53 TIMES

      Kettlebell Sumo Squat is a squat variation. Like other squat variations, this exercise is a compound movement that targets the hamstrings, glutes and quads. Positioning your feet wider than you would for a standard squat helps to recruit the inner thigh, as well as help individuals with mobility limitations.

    7. 7. Kettlebell Swing

      Photo of Kettlebell Swing being performed
      87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 39 TIMES

      Kettlebell Swing is a compound, explosive movement that primarily targets the hamstrings and glutes. This is a great exercise for improving power and explosiveness. It's especially helpful in developing glute drive which can help improve a number of different exercises, and sport performance.

    8. 8. Mini Loop Band Glute Bridge

      Photo of Mini Loop Band Glute Bridge being performed
      20.3 mSCORESWAPPED 36 TIMES

      This exercise is a variation on the more standard Glute Bridge. Like other glute bridges, this exercise is performed as a hold, and primarily targets the glutes and hamstrings. By adding a mini loop band around, and just above the knee, you can further recruit smaller muscles around your hips, and get better muscle activation in general.

    9. 9. Deadlift

      Photo of Deadlift being performed
      98.7 mSCORESWAPPED 29 TIMES

      Deadlift is one of the three powerlifting movements. It’s a compound exercise that primarily targets muscles in the rear chain (backside of the body), and is great for developing strength in these muscles. It’s a staple in most programs, and is often used as a metric for tracking strength.

    10. 10. Romanian Deadlift

      Photo of Romanian Deadlift being performed
      98.6 mSCORESWAPPED 28 TIMES

      Romanian Deadlift is a variation on the more standard Deadlift. It’s a compound exercise that primarily targets your glutes, and hamstrings. Unlike the standard Deadlift, this variation focuses mostly on driving your hips forward to raise the weight, and restricts movement in your knees. This is a great exercise for building strength, and can translate well to other exercises that utilize a hip hinge.