4-Minute Stability Ball Core Workout Circuit for Movement Longevity

Here’s a quick, little stability ball core workout that doesn’t take much time and works your body with unique exercises. Great for a pick-me-up or cooldown.

Coach E here from Precision Movement. Welcome to an article where I’m going to walk you through a general core and leg stability ball workout. It’s a little bit different than the normal stuff that we do, which is more focused on pain and fixing specific problems.

Now, this is a workout that I’ve been doing typically at the end of other weight training workouts. But when I’m really short on time, and I don’t feel like busting the weights out or doing anything really heavy, but I want to wake my body up and get a little burn going, this core strength workout would be great for that.

Stability Ball Core Workout Circuit

Now, this workout is seven exercises, well, six exercises. One is split up into left and right.

We’re going to do 30 seconds on for each exercise with 10 seconds off in between exercises. Just enough time to switch up, and we’re going to do it in circuit fashion. I recommend you do at least two circuits, and you can do four, five, or even six circuits if you feel up to it.

If you want to follow along with the circuit, complete with a timer, click over to YouTube to watch “4 Minute Core & Leg Stability Ball Workout.”

Exercise 1: Kneeling Balance

It’s just a fun thing to do to work on coordination and balance. Now, if you’re a little bit unsure of doing this, or you feel like you’re going to wipe out and smoke yourself, then don’t do this. Do the last exercise that I’m going to describe instead.

Otherwise, let’s go get up on there in a four-point. Then, once you’re ready, you get up tall, and you’re just hanging out up tall, balancing, breathing naturally. Try and relax everything you can and just use what you need to use to stay balanced on top of the ball.

1. Get on the ball balanced in a 4-point
2. Raise your body up so you’re balancing on your knees
3. Hold for 30 seconds

It’s like driving—micro-adjustments. You’re not holding onto the wheel trying to go straight. You’re adjusting to the road and the conditions as you go.

Exercise 2: Rotating Leg Raises

I like this one a lot.

This is going to work those core abdominals obliques. It’s also going to work that rotational movement pattern that’s so prevalent and so important for sports performance.

Squeeze the ball nice and tight between your lower legs, and then it’s up and touch the ground. Rotate the ball. Touch the ground.

1. Hold the ball between your lower legs
2. Lift the ball off the ground
3. Use your abs to swing it to the left side and touch the ground
4. Swing it back to the right side and touch the ground
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for 30 seconds

It’s great for the hip flexors and rectus abdominus.

Exercise 3: T-Lateral Roll

This exercise that I learned back in the day, many, many years ago, when I came out of university learning under Paul Check. It’s great for working something called the posterior sling, connecting your glutes to your opposite shoulder and lat.

This stabilization pattern is really important for a strong and stable lumbar spine.

1. Get into position with the ball under your shoulders, arms out like a T
2. Step to one side, rolling the ball under that shoulder
3. Hold for 5 seconds
4. Step and roll to the other shoulder
5. Hold for 5 seconds
6. Repeat steps 2-5 for 30 seconds

Don’t let your hips drop, and just keep going back and forth. Breathe naturally. Slow breaths.

Exercise 4: Rollback

This is an awesome exercise for challenging the abs. This overhead shoulder flexion movement pattern also integrates the abdominals with the shoulders. If we don’t have strong and stable abs when our arms are up overhead, then we can’t lift weights up overhead with a stable lumbar spine.

So it’s a really important movement pattern chain.

Feet are on the ball. The more your feet are on the ball, the harder it is.

1. Put your feet on the ball in a pushup position
2. Use your arms to push your body back, rolling over the ball
3. Pull yourself forward to the starting position
4. Repeat rolling back and forth for 30 seconds

The more your legs are under the ball, the easier it is.

Exercise 5: Bulgarian Split Squat

Try to get the knee to the ground, staying tall all the way up. The foot stays flat.

1. Get into a split squat position with the front of your ankle of your back leg on the ball
2. Squat, trying to touch your back knee to the ground without your front heel rising
3. Raise
4. Repeat slowly for 30 seconds
5. Switch legs
6. Repeat for another 30 seconds

Regulate your breathing, and if you need a wall for balance, use it. But you can balance on your own.

Make sure you go all the way up on the front leg until full extension, not hyperextension, full extension—front foot’s flat. Get a short and skinny foot there if you can.

Exercise 6: Seated Balance

Finally, we finish off with a seated balance exercise. Again, it is just something fun and challenging to do to work our coordination and our balance.

This last one is just seated balance sitting on the ball, good posture. You’re trying to lift your feet up and just balance using your hips, pelvis, and core to keep yourself there.

1. Sit on the ball
2. Lift your feet off the ground
3. Balance for 30 seconds

It’s like an active recovery. And something fun to do.

Try to stay tall.

Next Steps

That’s one round, 30 seconds of each exercise with 10 seconds of rest in between.

Do two rounds up to however many rounds you want to do. This stability ball core workout is a great way just to wake yourself up. Commit and just see how you feel. You’ll feel more energized.

Using the stability ball requires the activation of a lot more musculature because of the instability and the little micro-adjustments your muscles have to turn off and on. Your nervous system has to be really woken up and active to be able to do it.

If you liked it, let me know what you thought. If you have any other ideas for a workout that you’d love to see here on the Precision Movement Channel, then leave us a comment. Let us know. We’re always open to new ideas and helping you to move freely and without pain.

This is a great workout. Although a stability ball core workout is not necessarily one for someone in pain  If you are in pain, check out our Pain Solution Courses. Once you have addressed the root cause for your condition, join us for this great core workout.

If you want more short routines like that, check out our free ROM Coach app. It’ll give you something short every day to keep your body in good working order so you can move freely and without pain for life.