maratoolWeighted Ball Side Bend
How to do the weighted ball side bend
- This exercise use a Stability Ball instead of a bench. The Stability Ball conforms better to your body and allows for correct anatomical range of movement.
- Lie one side of your torso, and with your waist and hip against a Stability Ball, position your feet on the floor (or against a wall) for support.
- With one hand, hold a weight against the side of your head.
- Place your free hand across your chest to steady yourself.
- Raise your torso up off the ball by flexing your waist.
- With controlled movements lower yourself back onto the ball.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the rectus abdominis and the obliques, which flex the trunk forward and resist it being pulled into extension or twisted out of line.
Every exercise for:Abdominals
How this movement works
One joint changes angle and the resistance travels toward you along a single arc. Nothing is positioned to help, so tension stays where you aimed it and the usable load drops sharply against a multi-joint pull for the same muscle. Protect the range of motion; buying weight by shortening the arc defeats the point.
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 abdominals too, using equipment this one does not:
- Weighted Crunchesmedicine ball
- Wind Sprintsbody only
- Ab Crunch Machinemachine
- Ab Rollout on Knees with Barbellbarbell
- Advanced Kettlebell Windmillkettlebell
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 97 abdominals exercises in this database, 17 are listed at intermediate level.
Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.