Hug A Ball

Muscles worked

The muscles under tension are the spinal erectors running either side of the lumbar spine, which hold the spine extended instead of letting it round under load.

A stretch loads them at the far end of the range they normally work in, so the position you hold is itself the resistance.

Nothing travels, but holding the position is not the target muscle’s job alone: the calves control the ankle and hold the heel position; the glutes finish hip extension.

Every exercise for:Lower backCalvesGlutes

How this movement works

You get into position and hold. One joint sets the angle and one muscle group takes the tension, so the load stays exactly where you put it. Hold for time, breathe normally, and come out the moment the position drifts: a shape that has quietly shifted is no longer training what you set it up to train.

It is filed under stretching, so the target is range of motion rather than force — a position you can settle into and breathe in, held long enough for the tissue to give.

What you need

The exercise ball is an unstable base on purpose. It shortens the leverage you can hold and demands constant small corrections, so the trunk works even when the movement is aimed elsewhere.

Every exercise using:Exercise ball

These train the lower back too, using equipment this one does not:

• Hyperextensionsbench
• Hyperextensions With No Hyperextension Benchbody only
• Lower Back-SMRfoam roll
• Rack Pull with Bandsbarbell
• Smith Machine Dead Liftssmith machine

Difficulty

Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.

Of the 35 lower back exercises in this database, 11 are listed at beginner level.