Fitness Ball Fun: Love Those Leg Raises

This entry was written on Feb 09, 2009 by our Running Guru Heidi Splete

I thought I'd have a few posts about some of the exercises that I usually do using my big fitness ball.

In addition to standard crunches on the ball, I like to do these leg raises to work on some of those deep abdominal muscles (and you are engaging the leg muscles, too):

-Start on your back, place the ball between your lower legs, and extend your legs towards the ceiling. Place your hands under your lower back/gluteal muscles for support.

-Lower your legs towards the floor, but stop just short of touching the floor. Keep the ball in place between your lower legs.

-Raise your legs up to the starting position.

-Repeat 10 times.

Try this as part of your pre- or post-run warmup. I like to do it as part of my pre-run stretching routine.

Happy Running!