18 medicine ball exercises worth trying
Miscellaneous / / December 18, 2021
This projectile will help you lose weight, develop strength endurance and power.
What is medicine ball
A medicine ball (wall ball) is a sports equipment weighing from 2 to 14 kg, consisting of a PVC shell with lacing and a filling of crumb rubber or other materials.
These balls are larger than medballs - about 35 cm in diameter. At the same time, they are not so hard, they are easier to catch and can be thrown into a wall without fear of breaking it.
Most often in gyms there are shells weighing 6 and 9 kg. They are used in crossfit-complexes for throwing into a wall or a target.
What qualities can be developed by working with medicine ball?
Depending on the exercise, the medicine ball can increase:
- Power. First of all, the projectile is used for various throws. These exercises develop upper limb power - the ability to exert maximum effort in minimum time. This quality is useful in almost any sport, including team sports like American football or basketball, weightlifting, and martial arts.
- Strength endurance. Working with a moderately heavy apparatus with a large number of repetitions develops the ability of the muscles to stay under load for longer.
- The generalendurance. If you use the ball in conjunction with other movements, such as burpees, run, pedaling on an air bike or working with a kettlebell, you can pump your heart and lungs well. And the more intense the complex, the faster you will develop overall endurance.
- Body strength. A medicine ball can be used for many effective movements to strengthen the rectus and oblique abdominal muscles.
In addition, wall-ball complexes allow you to spend a lot of calories, and for beginners, they can have a positive effect on muscle strength.
What exercises to do with medicine ball
1. Throwing the ball at the target
This functional movement works well on all muscle groups, including the hips and buttocks, arms, shoulders and abs. In CrossFit, the ball is thrown into a special target set at a height of 3 m (for men) or 2.7 m (for women). If there is no such equipment in the hall, you can aim the projectile high at the wall, as far as the ceilings allow.
Stand at arm's length from the wall, place your feet shoulder-width apart. Take a medicine ball and hold it in bent arms in front of your face.
Squat below the parallel of your hips to the floor, then straighten and use the momentum gained during the lift to throw the ball up. Catch the projectile and go back to squat. At the bottom, make sure that the heels are pressed to the floor, and the back is not rounded.
2. Side throws
This exercise develops explosive strength in the upper limbs and loads the core perfectly, including the obliques.
Stand sideways against the wall, turn around and throw the ball so that it bounces and returns to you in arms. Work sharply and powerfully, as if you were trying to pierce the surface with a projectile. Do it an equal number of times on both sides.
You can also try the throws with a change of position - after each change the side, taking two steps to the side.
3. Knee or seated throws
This design partially or completely excludes the legs from work, so that the entire load falls on the body, arms and shoulders. Perform throws while standing on your left knee with your right side facing the wall.
If this option is easy, try sitting on your butt sideways to the wall to completely eliminate the hips from the work. Bend your knees and place your heels on the floor.
4. Pleated throws
This exercise provides a good load on the muscles. press.
Lie on your back 1–1.5 m from the wall, with your feet toward it. Extend your arms with the ball above your head. From this position, throw the projectile into the wall, then sit down to catch the bounced ball and start over.
5. Passing the ball from hand to foot
Perfect movement for pumping core muscles - works both rectus abdominis and hip flexors.
Lie on your back, take the ball in your hands and extend them over your head. At the same time, lift the body and legsbending at the hip joints. Place the ball between your legs and straighten on the floor again. During the next fold, pass the projectile back into your hands.
6. "Rock climber" with hands on the ball
By doing the exercise in this way, you increase the load on the core muscles due to the instability of the support.
Place your hands on the ball and take turns bringing your knees up to your chest.
7. Double throws
Perfectly pump the upper body and core muscles.
Sit on the floor 2 m apart, bend your knees slightly and lift your heels off the floor. Each time you catch the ball, carry it over your body on the other side of your hips - this will dampen the momentum, give the swing for the next throw and pump the oblique muscles of the abdomen.
8. Gallop with throws
Good exercise to warm up or relax in an intense setting.
Move with an additional step along the wall, accompanying each jump with a throw.
9. Push-ups with changing hands on the ball
Cool exercise for pumping arms and chest from different angles.
Stand upright with your left hand on the ball and right on the floor and do push up. Then raise your right hand to the apparatus, and, on the contrary, lower your left hand to the floor and repeat the exercise.
Alternate limbs every other time and watch the shape of the movement: strain the abs so that the body remains rigid.
10. ABC-bar
The exercise will properly pump the muscles of the body and load the shoulder girdle.
Stand in a plank with your forearms on the ball, tighten your abs so that your body is stretched out in one straight line. Imagine drawing the letter A with your elbows on the floor, then print B and C and start over.
11. Russian crunches
Movement to the abs and hip flexors with emphasis on the obliques.
Sit on the floor, straighten back, bend your knees and lift your heels off the floor. Rotate the body to the side and use the medicine ball to touch the surface near the thigh. Then move the projectile over the body and do the same on the other side.
Do not lower your legs to the floor until the end of the exercise and try not to bend your back too much.
12. Woodcutter
A popular core building exercise.
Holding the ball in outstretched arms, carry it diagonally from top to bottom, while rotating the body. At the top, straighten, at the bottom - lower into lunge.
13. Swing Jump Lunges
Such a bunch of movements will simultaneously load both the upper and lower body, quickly accelerate the pulse and pump strength endurance. Great for intense short workouts.
While jumping, alternate your legs in a lunge while carrying the medicine ball over your head. Lower the projectile to the thigh that is currently in front.
14. Throwing lunge to the floor
In this exercise, the legs are tense isometrically - without movement, and the arms and body work in an explosive manner.
Lower into a lunge, describe a semicircle with the ball, gaining momentum, and throw it on the floor to the side of your body. Catch the projectile and repeat the movement. Perform the same number of times on both legs.
15. Jump to squat with ball throw
Another explosive exercise to develop the power of the limbs.
Take the ball in your hands, put your feet on your knees in turn, and then suddenly jump into a squat. Raise your arms with the ball over your head and hit the floor with force, as if you are about to punch a hole. Catch the bounced projectile and repeat.
16. Throws on the floor
When performed intensively, this exercise loads the muscles of the whole body, develops the power of the arms and back.
Place your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees slightly, and tighten your abs to maintain a firm core. Raise the ball over your head, roll it a little further back and stand on your toes. Then, with a powerful exhalation, throw it under your feet, while bending them at the knees.
Catch the bounced projectile and repeat the exercise from the beginning. Imagine you are about to poke a hole in the floor or rip a medicine ball. Do your best to do this.
You can also increase the load on oblique abdominal musclesperforming a pivot exercise.
Before you throw, turn your body and hips to the right and try to pierce the floor next to the toe of your right foot with the projectile. After catching the bounced ball, sweep it in a circular motion over your head and do the same on the other side.
17. U-turn throw
In this exercise, you are not easy develop powerbut also working on the coordination of movements.
Stand sideways to the wall, catch the ball, step to the side and hit the wall as fast and hard as possible.
18. Throws and sprints
These exercises are useful for athletes in team sports such as basketball or football. They will develop explosive strength in both the upper and lower extremities, as well as the speed of reaction.
Try different options: with a straight and bottom throw, a preliminary jump and a side throw from one knee. You can choose one variety or alternate them through the session.
How to add ball exercises to your workout
It all depends on your goals, training intensity and the exercises you intend to use.
Movement for pumping the press like Russian crunches, "lumberjack" or passing the ball from hand to foot can be added to the program at least every day. Explosive exercises - no more than one or two times a week, so as not to overload the nervous system.
You can also try vigorous workouts, doing them separately from strength training twice or three times a week. Below are some examples.
Throwing and raising legs to the horizontal bar
Follow in a row, trying to finish as quickly as possible:
- 30 throws of the ball into the wall or target (women - 6 kg, men - 9 kg).
- 30 lifting legs to the horizontal bar.
- 20 throws of the ball.
- 20 leg raises to the horizontal bar.
40/20 with ball
Set a timer and do each exercise for the first 40 seconds, and rest for the rest of the minute.
- Throwing the ball into a wall or target.
- Burpee.
- Jumping rope (double, if you can).
- Russian crunches with a ball.
At the end of one lap, rest for the prescribed 20 seconds and start over. Do five circles.
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