Lying Medicine Ball Leg Raise

The medicine ball leg raise is a floor-based core exercise in which you lie on your back and lift straight legs toward the ceiling while squeezing a ball between your feet. The added weight at the end of a long lever loads the rectus abdominis and the hip flexors far more than a bodyweight raise does, which is why a modest ball changes the difficulty so much. It suits athletes at every level, and it trains trunk stability and coordination at the same time. How heavy should the ball be? A two to four kilogram ball is plenty for most people, in sets of eight to twelve reps. The real cue is the descent: press your lower back into the floor and lower the legs slowly, stopping the moment the back starts to arch away from the ground.