Medicine Ball

S

Steaksauce

0
I just picked up a medicine ball, mostly for my ab routines, but Im curious as to some other good exercises I can do with this thing. I will mostly be working by myself, but I may be able to get my roomate to throw it around with me on occasion, though thats very iffy to get on a consistent basis.

So what kind of exercises would you recommend?
 
Depends on the weight of the ball.I favor the heavier medicine balls (20-25 pounds) and you can easily make your own for less than $10 with nothing more than a basketball, some playground sand and some glue.

One of the best exercises I know of that utilizes a medicine ball is called "wall ball" and works best if you have at least a 20-pound ball.Holding the ball at chest level while standing two feet from a tall wall, squat down (full squat position) and then explode up simultaneously extending the arms.Catch the ball on it's descent and return to the squat position and repeat.Doing this for lots of sets of moderate reps and short rest intervals is a great workout and develops total body explosiveness.

Another good one that doesn't require such a heavy ball is "recoveries".You do these on a grassy field.With the ball held at chest level, perform a chest pass and then sprint after the ball and recovery it.Continue this passing and sprinting for a set distance, say 100 meters.This is another good total body explosive exercise.

Another good one is "slams".With the ball held overhead and with arms straight, slam the ball straight into the floor, pick it up and repeat.

"Power-overs" is another one.Assume the push-up position with one hand on the floor and the other on a medicine ball.Now explosively push off so that the hand that is resting on the floor lands on the ball and the hand that was on the ball rests on the floor.You are basically doing lateral hops back and forth over the ball.

Ross Enamait has an excellent book on medicine ball training at his website:



-Matt
 
Medicine Balls are great for more "explosion" exercises... Medicine Ball Slams, Over Head Throws, Woodchops, Single Leg Woodchops, Push-Ups with hands or feet on the ball, Dead Bugs, Crunches, Iso-Abs, Russian Twists, etc...
 
I have a set of weights that I use for most of my strength exercises, Im just looking for some supplemental workouts to do along with those.

Ill give some of these a try this weekend. Ive got an empty yard next to my house, so I will try out some of the slams etc. I will try the recoveries at the park sometime next week, those sound like they could benefit me quite a bit.

Thanks for the input, gave me a few ideas. Also, the woodchops...do I just hold the ball and do a chopping motion while holding onto the ball? Or do I do a chopping motion ending with slamming hte ball into the ground?
 
Also, the woodchops...do I just hold the ball and do a chopping motion while holding onto the ball? Or do I do a chopping motion ending with slamming hte ball into the ground?
Click to expand...
There are multiple ways of doing them... Basic woodchop exercise is just holding onto the ball on the sides, squating down (maintaining proper form) and bringing the ball to the top of your left foot, then standing up and rotating your upper torso perpedicular to your lower torso with the ball above your head and arms extended (then of course, right foot rotating to left)
 
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