A filmed stability-ball abdominal workout led by Autumn Calabrese at Beachbody headquarters. Autumn presents her seven favorite stability-ball ab exercises, demonstrating form, breathing, and safety cues. She prescribes 10 reps of each exercise and instructs viewers to repeat the sequence two times (progressing to 15–20 reps as strength increases). The video emphasizes instability benefits (greater contraction), oblique variations, rollouts, pikes, and leg-lift holds.
Questions this video answers
Seven
10 reps of each (with progression suggested to 15 or 20)
Repeat the sequence two times after the demonstration (i.e., perform the circuit three times total)
Beachbody headquarters
Autumn Calabrese
Chapters
What's up everyone? Welcome to Autumn Fitness. We are hanging out at Beachbody headquarters today. So we are in the Beachbody gym.
We are going to work one of my favorite things, abs today. And we're doing it on a stability ball. I love working out on the stability ball for a couple of reasons. One, it's instable so it makes your abs work harder. Two, it's fun. Three, every time you go back on the ball, you open your rib cage up that much more. So when you crunch, you get a bigger contraction out of it, meaning you work your abs that much harder. So today I've got my seven favorite moves to do on the ball. We're going to do 10 reps of each. You're going to repeat it two times after I show it to you and we're going to have some fun. Let's get started.
Alright, first move we are doing is a cross. So you're going to start sitting on the wall. You're going to walk your feet out so that your tailbone, back and shoulders are against the ball. 90 degree bend in the knees. Hands go behind the head. Abdominals are drawn in tight. You're going to release back over the ball and then exhale as you squeeze and crunch up. So we go back lift.
Make sure you squeeze every time you come up. Draw that belly button in tighter.
Two more like this.
Good. Now let's stay here. We're gonna add a twist to it so getting the obliques a little more involved. So as you crunch, you rotate and.
And lift.
Make sure you alternate side to side.
Last 2.
Good. Okay, I'm going to sit up just to get into this next position. So you're actually going to kind of turn sideways onto the ball and once again walk your feet out. Don't fall. This one gets turned tricky. So one knee bent, one leg straight, hands by the ears and you're gonna squeeze your obliques as you crunch up.
Same thing. Blow that air out.
Make sure you're not on a slippery surface for this.
Two more. Last one. Squeeze and release it. And then we'll go to the other side. Same thing. Find your balance. Bend one knee. Keep that other leg straight, hands by the ears. Crunch.
We'll count that first one right there.
Four more. Four, three.
Last one. Hold at the top. Squeeze and release. Very nice. So now what we're going to do is we're going to flip over so that our stomach starts on the ball. So tummy on the ball. Now you're going to walk your hands out so that your shins end up on the ball. Your hands are directly under your shoulders. Abdominals are drawn in. Pull the knees in. Extend back.
Really pulling from your lower abs.
Last two.
Good. Now stay here. Now we're going to go into pike so your legs actually stay straight. Take the booty up, pull the toes in and extend out.
Drawing from your abdominals.
Keep breathing.
Last two.
Good. Now walk the hands back and stand all the way up. Try not to just flop off the ball. That's not very safe. Moving on, we are going to come down on your knees. We're going to go into a ball rollout. So you're behind the ball. I want you to make a fist and then overlap your hand. I don't want you to interlace your fingers because if you lose your balance and you roll off the ball, you can't catch yourself. So fist overlap. If you need the modified version of this on your knees, it's right here. And you're going to roll out and back, and you want to keep your body in a flat line. Now, that's if you need the easier version. If you want to go for the harder version, we're here on the toes, booty low out and draw it back.
Extend those arms as far as you can.
We have two more.
And good. Drop back to the knees. Now, that's a lot of core strength. It's actually a lot of shoulders and lats as well, so you might not get very far at first, but the stronger you get, the further out you will be able to roll. Last exercise, we're going to lay down on our backs. What I want you to do is you're going to grab the ball on either side with your feet.
So squeeze it tight so you don't lose your grip. Belly button in back pressed into the ground. You're going to lower the ball to about an inch off the ground and lift it up.
And up. Yes. You hear me breathing?
Try to keep your lower back pressed down. Only take that ball as low as you can, keeping your back on the ground.
Three more.
Last one.
And.
There it is. You guys, those are my seven favorite moves to do with the stability ball. Make sure you repeat it two more times as you get stronger up those reps. So instead of 10, do 15, do 20. Make sure you're always challenging yourself. Thank you for joining me. Be sure to subscribe, check back often, and I'll see you guys next time. Bye.
