Medicine Ball Workout

What Is A Medicine Ball?

Look around your local gym. What piece of equipment do you think has been used for so long that it's older than Jesus Christ himself? (Hint: it's not the treadmill or rowing machine.) It is in fact the medicine ball, first used in ancient Persia by wannabe wrestlers. Granted, it no longer takes the form of an animal bladder filled with sand, but is still just as useful some 3,000 years later.

The weighted medicine ball is a roughly the diameter of the shoulders (approximately 13.7 inches) and is often used for rehabilitation and strength training. They come in varied weights often between 2–25 lb (0.91–11 kg) and are very effective in plyometric weight training, which helps increase explosive power in all sports. A medicine ball can be purchased online or at any fitness store for between £20-£30.

Benefits

Medicine balls are excellent in improving the strength of abdominal muscles and core strength, as well as strengthening arm, chest, and leg muscles. The key area in which they improve is proprioception, which is the ability of a person to understand where all the parts of the body are in relationship to one another.

Medicine ball training helps hone proprioception by teaching the body to react to sudden changes in stimuli. Engaging in medicine ball catch with a partner, passing the ball from hand to hand or performing partner torso rotatations all help improve proprioception. Core strength also benefits by allowing you to train in ways not achieved through crunches. 

The explosive nature of much medicine ball training teaches your body to use your core as part of whole movements, rather than to work only in isolation.

The Workout: The Medicine Ball Chest Throw

Standing in athletic position with your core braced, position yourself about 3-4 feet away from your partner holding a medicine ball in front of you, with your chest with arms straight. Bring the medicine ball to your chest and immediately throw it as hard as possible at your partner and await the return from your partner. Repeat 10-15 times.

Ensure your posture and stomach remain braced at all times to make the most out of the throw, and do not pause with ball at your chest. You should feel this in your chest and arms as well as your core. Increase the weight of the ball to make this a little harder or throw from a side facing position to engage the obliques and shoulders further.

Other exercises

Big circles: An excellent way to work the shoulders, abs and obliques as well as building the perfect posture. Hold the medicine ball above your head and rotate your arms anticlockwise. Use the ball to draw large imaginary circles in front of your body. Do 10 circles and then reverse the direction and do 10 more.

Standing Russian twist: Excellent for increasing the power in your rugbypass and increasing core strength. Without dropping your arms, pivot on your right foot and rotate the ball and your torso as far as you can to the left. Then reverse it. Pivot on your left foot and rotate all the way to the right.