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Exercise library / Ball Pike

Ball Pike

Suggestions, not prescriptions. Exercises here pass automated checks. They have not been clinically reviewed, and no exercise is right for everyone. Adjust to your comfort and ability.

A more challenging exercise. Make it a goal if you like. “Show alternatives” below lists easier steps toward it.

An advanced core exercise where the hips pike up while the feet roll a stability ball toward the chest.

Main focus
Strength
Level
Advanced
Equipment
Exercise or medicine ball
Load
Your body weight
Stability
Unstable: single leg, suspended or on a ball
Balance type
Dynamic balance

Keep something steady within reach: a counter, wall or sturdy chair.

Before you start
  • Warm up first with a minute or two of easy walking or marching in place, and cool down the same way after.
  • Wear flat, closed shoes with a good grip, or go barefoot on a non-slip floor if that feels steady to you.
  • Clear the floor around you. Keep a sturdy chair, counter or wall within reach for any move you do standing.
  • Build up slowly. Add repetitions or minutes over weeks, not days. If you take a break, work back up gradually.

Talk with a doctor or physical therapist before you start if you have not been active for some time, if you have a health condition or a worry about exercise, if you have fallen or fear falling, or if a clinician has told you to limit activity. This library is general information, not medical advice.

What you need

A ball sized for you and a non-slip floor.

How to do it

  1. Place the shins on a stability ball and hands on the floor in a high plank.
  2. Brace the core and keep the legs straight.
  3. Pike the hips up, rolling the ball toward the chest as the body forms an inverted V.
  4. Pause briefly at the top.
  5. Roll the ball back out to the starting plank.

How much

No amount is given; use your own programming.

How it should feel: The muscles you are working should feel the effort. The last repetitions should be hard but controlled, never shaky or painful.

Make it easier

Use the other ways to do this movement below.

Make it harder

Use the other ways to do this movement below.

Tips

  • Keep the legs straight throughout — no knee bend.
  • Move at the hips, not the lower back.
  • Build up with knee tucks first if the pike is too hard.

Safety

  • Warm up first, and keep your breathing steady. Breathe out on the effort and in as you ease off. Do not hold your breath.
  • Move with control. Do not lock your joints straight at the end of a movement.
  • Choose a version, load and number of repetitions you can finish with good form. The last few should feel hard but not shaky.
  • Keep a wall, a rack or a sturdy support within reach.
More safety notes
  • Make sure the ball is firm and the floor is clear.
  • Start with a small range and go slowly.
  • Keep stable support within reach, such as a counter, rack or wall, until the movement feels steady.
  • Clear the floor around you and wear shoes with a good grip.
  • Go slowly, and make the movement smaller if you feel unsteady.

When to stop

  • Stop and rest if you feel dizzy or lightheaded, sick to your stomach, or unusually short of breath.
  • Stop if you feel sharp, sudden or joint pain. Muscles working hard is expected. Pain is a signal to stop.
  • Stop and sit down if you feel unsteady and cannot settle yourself right away.
  • Call your local emergency number for chest pain or pressure, fainting, or sudden weakness, numbness or trouble speaking.
  • After any of these, do not repeat the exercise until you have talked with a doctor or physical therapist.
  • The ball moves out from under you.
  • You feel unsteady and cannot settle yourself.
  • You feel unsteady and support does not settle you.
  • You feel dizzy or lightheaded.

Other ways to do this movement

Sign in and we will show other ways to do this, with other equipment or at a different level, chosen from your own answers. Sign in

Where this comes from

Steps and tips are from an open exercise dataset named below. Starting amounts, equipment and safety notes are Fitafter50's general guidance. Nothing here is clinically reviewed.

Steps and tips: Exercise data by RepDB (repdb.co). License: RepDB Free Tier License v1.0: personal or commercial use inside applications, visible attribution, no redistribution as a dataset or API. All credits.

    This is general information, not medical advice. It does not diagnose anything or tell you whether an exercise is right for you. Adjust to your comfort and ability.