Exercise Comparison
Ball Leg Curl vs Good Morning
Side-by-Side
Muscle Analysis
Shared
Only in Ball Leg Curl
Only in Good Morning
Instructions
Ball Leg Curl
Begin on the floor laying on your back with your feet on top of the ball.
Position the ball so that when your legs are extended your ankles are on top of the ball. This will be your starting position.
Raise your hips off of the ground, keeping your weight on the shoulder blades and your feet.
Flex the knees, pulling the ball as close to you as you can, contracting the hamstrings.
After a brief pause, return to the starting position.
Good Morning
Begin with a bar on a rack at shoulder height. Rack the bar across the rear of your shoulders as you would a power squat, not on top of your shoulders. Keep your back tight, shoulder blades pinched together, and your knees slightly bent. Step back from the rack.
Begin by bending at the hips, moving them back as you bend over to near parallel. Keep your back arched and your cervical spine in proper alignment.
Reverse the motion by extending through the hips with your glutes and hamstrings. Continue until you have returned to the starting position.
Verdict
Both exercises target the hamstrings. Ball Leg Curl is a beginner exercise using exercise ball, while Good Morning is intermediate and uses barbell. Choose Ball Leg Curl if you're looking for a more accessible option, or Good Morning for a greater challenge. Good Morning is a compound movement working multiple joints, making it better for overall strength. Ball Leg Curl isolates the target muscle for focused development.