Pyramid
Also works: Shoulders
You drape yourself face-down over a stability ball with your hips at the highest point and your hands and feet on the floor, so the spine hangs in a long passive arch. It is a decompression position for the lower back rather than a muscle stretch, and the ball does the work your muscles would otherwise have to do to hold you there.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Pick a ball that lets your hips sit clearly above your shoulders when you are draped over it — usually 55-65 cm for most adults.
- Kneel beside the ball, lay your stomach across it, then walk your hands forward until the ball sits under your hips.
- Put both palms flat on the floor roughly under your shoulders and let your toes rest on the floor behind you.
- Work on a mat or non-slip floor. A ball that skates out from under you on tile turns this into a face-plant.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Slow nasal breathing, roughly four seconds in and six out. Let the exhale sink you a little further over the ball; never force extra range on an inhale.
Before you load it
- Anyone whose back symptoms get worse in extension — leaning back, lying on the stomach — should skip this and use a flexion-based position instead.
- Set the ball against a wall or corner the first few times. A ball rolling out from under an unbraced torso is the only real hazard here.
How much, how often
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
No load beyond bodyweight. Two to three holds of 30-60 seconds, three or four days a week, is a sensible dose — frequency does more for accessible range than one long weekly session. Progress by using a larger ball or straightening the arms and legs, never by holding until the back aches.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Walk your hands forward until the highest point of your body is your hip crease. Ball under the ribs compresses your breathing and removes the lumbar extension entirely.
Use just enough hand and toe pressure to stop rolling, then deliberately soften everything else. This position only works if you stop bracing.
Bend your knees and elbows to reduce the extension, or use a smaller ball. A pinch at the end of range is compression, not stretch, and no amount of holding it improves matters.
Warm up with hip hinges, bird dogs and light sets of the lift itself. Save this for after, when relaxing the erectors costs you nothing.
Why bother
Most lower-back stretches ask you to flex the spine — knees to chest, child's pose, a seated fold. This does the opposite. Hips over the top of the ball puts the lumbar spine into gentle extension while gravity pulls your head and feet down, which lengthens the front of the trunk and lets the paraspinals let go instead of guarding.
Because your hands and feet stay lightly loaded on the floor, the shoulders and trunk are working just enough to keep you balanced on a rolling surface. That is the honest claim: it improves how much extension you can comfortably access and gives a pleasant post-deadlift decompression. It does not realign anything, and it will not prevent a back injury.
Where it fits
End of a session that involved deadlifts, rows or heavy carries, or on a rest day after a long day sitting. Two to four minutes total is plenty. Do not use it as a warm-up before heavy hinging — you want the erectors switched on for that, not switched off.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
Asked and answered
Is this actually stretching my lower back?
Not in the usual sense. Your lumbar erectors shorten in extension, so they are not being lengthened here — what you get is decompression, a stretch through the abdominal wall and hip flexors, and a position in which the erectors can finally stop guarding. That is worth having, but call it what it is.
What size ball do I need?
One that puts your hips higher than your shoulders and head when you are draped over it. As a rough guide, 55 cm suits people under about 1.70 m, 65 cm suits most people up to about 1.85 m. If the ball is too small you end up folded rather than arched.
Can I do this if I have a disc problem?
Ask whoever is managing it. Extension-based positions suit some presentations and aggravate others, and the honest answer depends on which direction eases your symptoms. If leaning backwards makes things worse, this position will too.
How is this different from lying over the ball on my back?
Face-down over the ball loads the front of the trunk and keeps your hands and feet as brakes, so you control exactly how much arch you get. Face-up gives more thoracic extension but far less control, and it puts your neck in an unsupported position.