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In this video I cover two different stability ball plank exercise variations. Later in the post I will show how to use the stability ball plank with the wall and a sofa for support.

The exercises in this post can be found in my book Strengthen Your Core  and in the Building a Stronger Core online course. Both of these exercises are stability ball plank exercises. I also cover several variations of the plank exercises as demonstrated in the book to give you a flavour of what you can do with the program.

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strengthen your core book Margaret Martin

First Variation

This is the first variation of two stability ball plank exercises (the active plank six and seven). The stability ball provides us with an opportunity to explore a lot of variations using a ball.

Plank Exercises for Active Client
  • Position your hands in the direction of the forces.
  • Your fingers are going to point straight down.
  • Hands are equal distance apart.
  • I like to count rungs on the ball, so I have an equal number of rungs apart.
  • Hands are equidistant apart.
  • The base of your sternum is pointing straight over the ball.
  • Step back.
  • First with the one foot, then with the other foot.
  • Abdominals stay tight as you lower.
  • Draw shoulder blades down and back.
  • If your feet are really close together, that’s a very small base of support, and that smaller base of support makes the stability of the ball more challenging for you.
  • If you widen your base, then it adds to an increased stability.
  • Another variation is to move the ball when we are in this position.
  • When you are in a stable and controlled position, move the ball slightly around.
  • Two inches to the right, two inches to the left.
  • When that feels comfortable, then you can start moving the ball up and move the ball back.
  • Then the side to side.

Second Variation

Another great variation is to move the ball side to side, but with weight on one foot or having transferred weight a little bit more to one foot or the other foot.

All of these little tweaks that you can do are great ways to take one exercise and add numerous variations to them.

If you find the exercise too intense then you can try with a different size ball.

At five foot one, a 55 centimeter ball is the correct size stability ball for me, but I’m going to demonstrate doing the plank on the ball using a 65 centimeter ball and a 75 centimeter ball.

Any of these would make the challenge just a little bit less, but allow me to continually build into coming back down to a 55 centimeter ball.

So, that’s it for the stability ball plank variations six and seven.

stability ball plank

Exercise Recommendations for Osteoporosis

Exercise is an essential ingredient to bone health. If you have osteoporosis, therapeutic exercise needs to be part of your osteoporosis treatment program.

But what exercises should you do and which ones should you avoid? What exercises build bone and which ones reduce your chance of a fracture? Is Yoga good for your bones? Who should you trust when it comes to exercises for osteoporosis?

A great resource on exercise and osteoporosis is my free, seven day email course called Exercise Recommendations for Osteoporosis. After you provide your email address, you will receive seven consecutive online educational videos on bone health — one lesson each day. You can look at the videos at anytime and as often as you like.

I cover important topics related to osteoporosis exercise including:

  • Can exercise reverse osteoporosis?
  • Stop the stoop — how to avoid kyphosis and rounded shoulders.
  • Key components of an osteoporosis exercise program.
  • Key principles of bone building.
  • Exercises you should avoid if you have osteoporosis.
  • Yoga and osteoporosis — should you practice yoga if you have osteoporosis?
  • Core strength and osteoporosis — why is core strength important if you have osteoporosis?

Enter your email address and I will start you on this free course. I do not SPAM or share your email address (or any information) with third parties. You can unsubscribe from my mail list at any time.

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Stability Ball Plank Exercise Against the Wall

In this variation I perform the stability ball plank exercise with the wall for support.

Stability Ball Plank Exercise With Sofa Support

In this variation I perform the stability ball plank exercise with a sofa for support.

Core Exercises Guide

Want to learn more about core exercises? Visit my Core Exercises Guide.

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