maratoolWeighted Ball Hyperextension
How to do the weighted ball hyperextension
- To begin, lie down on an exercise ball with your torso pressing against the ball and parallel to the floor. The ball of your feet should be pressed against the floor to help keep you balanced. Place a weighted plate under your chin or behind your neck. This is the starting position.
- Slowly raise your torso up by bending at the waist and lower back. Remember to exhale during this movement.
- Hold the contraction on your lower back for a second and lower your torso back down to the starting position while inhaling.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions prescribed in your program.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the spinal erectors running either side of the lumbar spine, which hold the spine extended instead of letting it round under load.
Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the glutes finish hip extension; the hamstrings assist hip extension and slow the knee down; the mid-back retracts the shoulder blades so the shoulder has something solid to work from.
Every exercise for:Lower backGlutesHamstringsMiddle back
How this movement works
The load travels toward you and several joints bend to bring it there. The arms finish work the back starts, so grip and elbow flexors sit in the path of every repetition: when people stall on a compound pull, it is more often the hands giving out than the primary muscle running out of force.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
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:
- Barbell Dead Liftsbarbell
- Dumbbell Dead Liftsdumbbell
- Hyperextensionsbench
- Hyperextensions With No Hyperextension Benchbody only
- Lower Back-SMRfoam roll
Difficulty
Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.
Of the 35 lower back exercises in this database, 12 are listed at intermediate level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.