Exercise balls provide fun, efficient, effective and versatile leg workouts. Use them while lying face up, face down or from an upright standing position. Exercise balls are affordable and portable. Deflate them when you go on vacation for on the road workouts. Perform three sets of 10 repetitions of each exercise. If you want to do four weekly workouts, work your hamstrings and quadriceps on two days of the week, and your inner and outer thighs on the other two days.
Flexion and Extension Function
The exercise ball's rolling movements enable multi-directional leg exercises in all planes of motion. Workouts that extend the legs while rolling the ball away from the body work the quadriceps or front of the thighs. The exercise ball lunge is an example. Place your front foot on the floor and your rear foot on the ball, with your rear leg extended. Keep your spine in an upright position as you bend both knees. Straighten both legs, rolling the ball away from your body.
Ball exercises that emphasize leg flexion, such as the stability ball leg curl, work the hamstrings or the backs of the legs. Lie supine with your legs extended and your feet on the ball. Lift each vertebra from the floor, until your spine is in a bridge position. Remain in the bridge as you straighten and bend your legs.
Abduction/Adduction Function
Rolling the ball away from the body works your abductor or outer thigh muscles. Stand in an upright position with your feet separated to hip width apart. Place one foot on the ball, keeping your knee facing directly ahead. Bend your standing leg as you straighten the leg that is on the ball. Perform 10 repetitions, and then change sides.
The exercise ball provides isometric exercise for the adductors or inner thighs. Lie supine with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Place the ball between your inner legs, and squeeze the ball as if you were trying to break it.
Size
Exercise balls come in different sizes, but the size recommendations are approximate. Your legs should be at a 90-degree angle when seated on the ball, but there are exceptions to the rule. A short but heavy person may need a larger ball, whereas a taller person with shorter legs may be more comfortable on a smaller exercise ball. Exercise choice also influences ball size. Larger balls are more stable, but if you plan to place the ball between your inner legs for isometric inner thigh contractions, smaller balls are more comfortable. When in doubt, go larger. Under-inflating a bigger ball does not compromise its structural integrity, but over-inflating a smaller ball makes it susceptible to bursting.
Benefits
The ball provides a balance challenge, which requires you to use your core muscles for stabilization. Core activation enhances stability and athleticism. Some ball leg exercises, such as the prone leg curl, provide increased range of motion. Lie prone with your belly draped over the ball, your legs extended and your hands and feet on the floor. Lift one foot from the floor. Keep it lifted as you bend the knee. Extend the leg and then return it to the floor.
Exercise balls also help you maintain alignment during leg exercises. The exercise ball squat is an example. Place the ball against the wall, and stand with your shoulder blades against the ball's surface. Bend your knees to a 90-degree angle. Extend your legs with control. This squat variation corrects the tendency to bend at the waist instead of your legs. If you bend at the waist, you will drop the ball.
Warning
Some websites feature photos or videos of people performing squats with both feet on top of the ball. Few people have enough balance to do this correctly. A fall from this position may cause serious injuries. Use a bosu, which is a half ball, instead.
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