By RealJock Staff

This exercise provided courtesy of Billy Polson, founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body training gym, voted best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006.

Benefits
This Pilates-based exercise will help strengthen your core and train your balance and coordination.

Muscles Worked
Abdominals

Starting Position
Lie on the floor on your back. Hold a stability ball between your feet with your legs extended out along the floor and place both arms over your head (see Photo 1).

Exercise

1. From the starting position, raise your legs up over your body as you raise your arms to meet your feet (see Photos 2 and 3).
2. At the top of your motion, where your hands meet your feet, transfer the ball to your hands (see Photo 4).
3. With the ball now in your hands, lower your legs as you lower your arms back to the floor behind your head (see Photo 5).
4. Continue to transfer the ball between hands and feet for 20 repetitions (totaling 10 with the feet and 10 with the hands). Breathe regularly throughout the movement; exhale as your legs and arms rise, inhale as you lower them. Your lower back should remain against the mat throughout the exercise.

About Billy Polson: Billy Polson is the founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body training gym, which was voted the best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006. A competitive swimmer and triathlete in his own right, Polson has over 15 years of experience working as a coach and trainer, and was recently named by Men's Journal Magazine (December 2005) as one of the Top 100 Trainers in America.