There’s a chance you’ve walked into a gym and seen those weighted round balls in the corner more than likely gathering dust. That neglect ends now. These colorful weighted balls are med balls, and when incorporated into your daily workout routine med ball training exercises will supersize your core strength and power.
But first, a quick history lesson on medicine balls. The Persians supposedly used med balls 3,000 years ago as a method for their wrestlers to become stronger.
Just across the road in Ancient Greece, Hippocrates is believed to have stuffed animal skins for people to toss for “medicinal” uses. Hippocrates considered these ‘balls’ to be great for helping injured people regain their mobility and strength and a way for people to stay healthy.
Then in the early 1900s, med balls became popular because of a game called Hooverball, an activity similar to volleyball but with a med ball tossed over the net. President Herbert Hoover’s doctor suggested his patients use a medicine ball to get in shape.
Now, medicine balls are in almost every gym in the land for your benefit. Here we will get med ball training benefits and five exercises for you to become bigger, faster, and stronger.
Benefits of Med Ball Training Exercises
Med balls are a great tool to add variety and some pop to your training. Here are four critical benefits of adding med balls to your workouts.
Better Calorie Burn: Because med balls use fast-twitch muscle fibers, this may increase the number of calories burned during the workout up to 14 hours later.
Simple To Use: Olympic lifts and the big three are fantastic exercises to develop full-body power and strength. But there is a trade-off because it takes time to master the technique. Med ball power exercises are easy to perform, and the learning curve is quick.
Increased Strength: Med ball power exercises like slams involve rapid contractions of “fast-twitch” muscle fibers, and these have the most significant potential for improved hypertrophy and building strength. Med ball power exercises set the table for this to happen.
Improved Athleticism: Med ball drills improve the speed and accuracy of your movements in and out of the gym, like when twisting or changing direction. The med ball’s freedom of movement and multi-planer ability will prepare your body for realistic motions; because of this, you’ll be better protected against injury.
5 Med Ball Training Exercises For Strength and Power
Med ball slams and crunch-type variations are excellent exercises and ones that should be included in your workouts from time to time. But you will need help finding them here. Here are five med ball exercises that will help you see the med ball in a different light.
Yeah, you can thank me later.
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Med Ball Single Leg Hip Extension
Ohh, if you have never felt your hamstrings during a hip extension, that’s about to change. The combination of med ball instability, the reduced base of support, and the elevated surface give your hips and hamstrings all they can handle. This variation is hamstring dominant over other hip extension variations, so if your hamstrings are weak, this exercise will expose them.
Muscles trained: Obliques, glutes, and hamstrings.
How to do it:
Place one foot on the med ball with your knee bent at 90 degrees.
Bend the opposite leg and take the knee toward you.
Dig your heel into the ball and raise your hips until lockout.
Slowly lower down on the eccentric and reset and repeat.
Then repeat on the other leg.
Set & reps: This is best performed as an accessory exercise on leg day. 8-12 reps per side for two to four sets will have you screaming enough.
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Med Ball Pass The Bell
If you’re tired of side planks and their variations, you are in for a treat. The med ball pass the bell with a reduced base of support, with the weight transferring from side to side will test your core stability and the strength of your hip flexors. This exercise will have you feeling the burn.
Muscles trained: Hip flexors, lower back, obliques, rectus abs, and shoulders.
How to do it:
Sit on the floor with your knees bent, heels on the ground, and your torso upright.
Hold a light med ball and take both arms laterally at shoulder height with the med ball in one hand.
Take your heels off the ground, pass the med ball over your head to the opposite hand, and bring it down to shoulder height with both elbows slightly bent.
Pass back and forth over your head for reps or time.
Set & reps: Keep your chest up and pass the ball slowly from side to side. Do not throw the ball, as this reduces the exercise’s effectiveness. One to three sets of 30 to 60 seconds will have you loving life.
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Med ball Push Up
Med balls are a great way to add intensity to push-ups without adding load. The offset position, combined with the greater ROM and the med ball’s inherent instability, trains more of your shoulders, chest, and triceps muscles and the core. If regular push-ups are not challenging, the med ball becomes your best friend.
Muscles trained: Triceps, anterior deltoid, chest, core, and glutes.
How to do it: (Close grip push-up)
While down on your hand and knees, place your hands on either side of the med ball.
Get into the push-up position with your feet wider than hip-width apart.
Engage your glutes, grip the ball tight, and lower your chest to the med ball.
Once your chest is above or touching, push back to the push-up position, rest, and repeat for desired reps.
Set & reps: Depending on your strength level, performing anywhere from eight to 15 reps in two to four sets as an upper body accessory exercise.
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Med ball Shot Put Throw
If you want to improve your performance throwing a ball or looking for a challenging exercise to do, look and feel like an athlete, this is it. The med ball shot put throw trains the chest, triceps, and shoulders unilaterally and explosively. Training your upper body’s fast-twitch muscle fibers will help if you’ve plateaued with pressing exercises.
Muscles trained: Obliques, shoulders, chest, and triceps.
How to do it:
Stand side-on, two to four feet from a wall, and hold a med ball in both hands at chest height.
Keeping your elbows up, transfer your weight from the back to the front hip by taking a step forward and taking your front hand off the ball.
Shot put the ball to the wall while bringing the entire body forward during the follow-through.
Catch the ball on the full or bounce, reset, and repeat.
Note: If you’re unfamiliar with carioca initially, take a side-on stance and ensure you transfer your weight from your back to your front hip.
Set & reps: Six to eight reps per side for one to two sets at the beginning of your training works well.
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Med Ball Rotational Throw
Your core will get strong by lifting big, but it doesn’t get powerful. This is where the med ball rotational throw comes in. It is a power exercise targeting the obliques, glutes, adductors, and upper back. Transferring power from your lower body to your upper body in an explosive fashion will be like the cherry on top for your core.
