How To Do Stability Ball Preacher Curl

By: Chris Freytag, CPT


Chris Freytag performing a preacher curl lying on a stability ball wearing black pants and a blue top.

Stability Ball Preacher Curl is a unique way to strengthen your biceps while also strengthening your core stability including your abs, low back and glutes. While the traditional bicep curl is dong in a standing position, using legs for stability, this exercise is done lying on the ball and using the middle of the body to keep you from wobbling or rolling off the ball.

When you first learn how to do Stability Ball Preacher Curl you will want to choose weights that are lighter than those you use in a standing position. This is because when you stand your legs are actually slightly assisting you in the move. By taking the body down to the ball the arms have to be more independent. Of course as soon as your body learns the move you can go heavier.

The stability ball is an excellent tool for many reasons, but particularly for core training. Be sure to choose a ball according to your size. The taller and bigger you are, the bigger the ball should be. In this exercise you will have your body on top of the ball so be sure it is not too small for your frame. Another great tip for this move is to keep your feet wide for extra stability. The wider the feet are, the more help they will give you. Once you have confidence in the exercise, feel free to narrow your stance in order to get more core work involved.

After you try this exercise for your bicep, check out our “Use The Ball, Lose the Belly Core Workout. Also, check out our full body workout Stability Ball Total Body Toner.

Here are the steps to performing Stability Ball Preacher Curl:

1) Holding dumbbells, place your chest on top of stability ball, lengthen legs behind you, and drape your arms over the front of the ball.

2) Bending at the elbows, curl dumbbells up to your shoulders and slowly return back down. Repeat for desired number of reps. Keep body straight and core tight throughout.

Targets: biceps, core

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