A plank with your feet on a ball is a high plank where your feet and ankles rest on a large exercise ball instead of your toes resting on the floor. You hold your body in one straight line on straight arms. Because the ball lifts your legs and can move under you, your stomach and trunk muscles work harder to keep you still than in a plank on the floor. It is usually added once a high plank on the floor feels steady.

How to do the plank with feet on a ball

Stand on a mat with your back to a stability ball. Bend forward and place your hands flat on the floor in front of you.
Lift one foot back onto the top of the ball, then the other, so the ball rests under the fronts of your ankles and the tops of your feet.
Move into a plank on straight arms with your hands under your shoulders. Keep your back flat, not arched, and tuck your chin in a little.
Let your lower tummy draw in gently and lightly lift your pelvic floor. Hold still and breathe steadily, without letting the ball roll.
To come off, bend one knee and step that foot down under you, then bring the other foot down beside it. Push up through your hands and stand up slowly.

What you should feel

A strong, steady effort through your stomach and around your trunk, plus your shoulders and arms. The fronts of your thighs work to keep your legs straight on the ball. There should be no ache in your lower back.

Common mistakes

Letting your middle drop so your lower back arches.
Lifting the hips high to make the hold easier.
Placing the hands well ahead of the shoulders.
Letting the ball roll from side to side, or holding your breath to keep it still.

How often

Many programs start with 3 to 5 holds of 10 to 20 seconds, resting between each, a few days a week. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Pain in a wrist or shoulder, or tingling or numbness running into your hand.
Pins and needles in your arm or hand that do not go away after you stop, or part of your arm or hand goes numb. Get medical advice the same day. If one side of your face or body suddenly goes numb or weak, or your speech becomes slurred or muddled, call emergency services, even if it goes away.
Your lower back starts to ache, or the ache grows as you hold.
Chest pain or pressure, dizziness or feeling faint, a racing or irregular heartbeat, or being far more out of breath than the effort should cause.

From the clinic

The video shows stepping back onto the ball from standing, one foot at a time. The voice guide gets you there another way, kneeling on the ball and rolling forward over it until it rests under your shins or ankles, much like the start of the stability ball walkout. That route keeps both hands on the floor while the ball moves, and some people find it easier to control. The closer the ball sits to your feet, the harder the hold, so resting the ball under your shins is an easier start. If you cannot yet hold a steady high plank on the floor, start there.

Use an anti-burst ball, pumped up firm, on a non-slip floor with open space on both sides. If the ball starts to roll away, lower your knees or feet to the floor rather than chasing it. If you have fallen in the past year, have low bone density (osteoporosis), which makes a fall more serious, or feel unsteady getting down to and up from the floor, check with your physio before you try it.

If you have had a hip replacement, get the go-ahead from your surgeon or physio before you try the plank with feet on a ball. Bending down to put your hands on the floor and bringing a knee in to step on or off the ball bend the hip well past a right angle, and many surgeons ask you to avoid that for the first months after some operations.

Raising your legs shifts more of your weight forward onto your hands and shoulders than a floor plank does. If your wrists ache, spread your fingers wide or hold the plank on your forearms instead. After wrist or shoulder surgery, a shoulder dislocation, or with ongoing shoulder or wrist pain, get your physio's go-ahead first.

The stomach wall does most of the work of keeping you level. If you are pregnant, have recently given birth, have had abdominal surgery or have a hernia, ask your physio or doctor before you plank. If you have high blood pressure, breathe steadily through every hold and never hold your breath. With a heart condition or high blood pressure, check with your doctor before you start.

If chest pain, pressure or tightness does not ease quickly when you rest, spreads to your arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, feeling light-headed or being short of breath, call emergency services straight away, as this can be a heart attack. If it eases quickly and none of these happen, get medical advice the same day, and do not exercise again until you have been checked. If you faint while exercising, call emergency services, even if you feel fine again quickly.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-28.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Plank with feet on a ball