Medicine Ball Leg Raise
Pinching a medicine ball between the feet loads the lying leg raise and forces the adductors to keep the ball trapped, which cleans the whole exercise toward better control. The added weight makes the lower abs work harder through the raise and, especially, the lowering phase. Use a ball you can hold securely so form never breaks down to keep it from slipping.
- Equipment
- Medicine Ball
- Body part
- Abs
- Type
- Strength
- Browse by muscle
- Lower Rectus Abdominals
- Browse by movement
- Core Brace
- Target
- Lower Rectus Abdominals
- Secondary
- Upper Rectus Abdominals, Rectus Femoris
- Tertiary
- Abdominal External Oblique
How to do it
- 1
Lie on your back and squeeze a medicine ball between your feet or ankles.
- 2
Anchor your hands under your hips or grab a support behind your head.
- 3
Keeping the legs mostly straight, lift the ball up until the hips begin to roll off the floor.
- 4
Pause at the top with the abs fully contracted.
- 5
Lower the ball slowly toward the floor without letting the lower back arch.
- 6
Exhale as you raise and inhale as you lower.
Tips
- Squeeze the ball throughout so the legs stay locked as one unit.
- Start with a light ball and add size only when control is solid.
- Stop the descent before the lower back peels off the floor.
Variations
Common mistakes
- Picking a ball too big to trap, so the ankles splay and half your attention goes to keeping it from squirting out.
- Turning your head or letting your attention wander with a weight directly over your face; keep your eyes on the ball and the neck still until the legs are down.
- Snapping the legs up from the hips to get the ball moving, which throws the load onto the hip flexors and the low back rather than the abs.
- Hauling on the bench or doorframe behind your head so the upper body rocks the ball up.
- Locking the knees rigid under load, which stacks the strain into the hip flexors; a soft bend keeps the abs in charge.
Frequently asked
- How heavy a ball and how many reps for the medicine ball leg raise?
- Start with a 4 to 6 pound ball and three sets of 8 to 12; it should be light enough that rep 12 looks like rep one. Add reps up to 15 before you add size, and go up in small steps, since a couple of extra pounds at the end of a long lever feels like much more. Two sessions a week. If the low back lifts off the floor, put the ball down and rebuild with unloaded leg raises.
- What can I squeeze between my feet for the medicine ball leg raise if I have no ball?
- A light dumbbell held on its end between the feet works and is easier to trap than a ball. A basketball or soccer ball adds almost no weight but forces the same adductor squeeze, which is worth doing on its own. A folded towel, a yoga block or a small backpack all serve. Ankle weights load the same movement in smaller increments if you would rather not hold anything between the feet at all.
- What does adding a medicine ball to the leg raise actually do?
- It loads a bodyweight exercise you have outgrown, mostly on the lowering, and the squeeze needed to keep the ball trapped brings the adductors in and makes the legs travel as one unit, which cleans up the whole movement. Use it for lower-ab strength once floor leg raises are easy. It is the wrong choice if your low back already lifts without load, or if the ball is big enough that holding it becomes the hard part.
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