MEDICINE BALLS – How to Incorporate them into your Routine.
Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just entering into the world of fitness, medicine balls are an effective and versatile tool that can be used to train your full body and help build overall strength. Medicine balls are insanely durable and they come in a variety of different weights, so the possibilities for functional ways to use them are endless. Medicine balls can be used to help improve strength, stability, power, and your cardiovascular conditioning by targeting different muscle groups through some of the various movements we have outlined below.
Medicine Ball Workouts for the Lower Body
Training with medicine balls activates several muscle chains with every movement. A popular and foundational medicine ball exercise that will target your lower body is the medicine ball squat. This move will engage your lower body while simultaneously activating your core and upper body for stabilization. The weight of the medicine ball adds resistance to your squat, but when you squeeze the medicine ball, you also engage your core and upper body. The extra tension required to keep the medicine ball between your hands helps activate more muscles than simply squatting with weights. Medicine ball deadlifts, good mornings, and reverse lunges will also induce muscle activation in your core and arms while you effectively train your hamstrings, glutes and lower back.
Medicine Ball Exercises that Target your Full Body and Cardiovascular System
One of the benefits of incorporating medicine balls into your routine is the ability to throw them, which gets your cardiovascular system working, but is still pretty low impact. If you’re looking to gain and improve power and explosiveness, medicine ball slams and overhead throws are a great option. These movements will target your arms, shoulders, and back muscles, but also help with overall conditioning.
Wall ball shots are another cardio workout that will work your full body. For this movement, you will throw the medicine ball to a target on the wall at your desired height. As the ball falls from the target, you will descend into a full squat as you catch it, then throw it back to the target as you extend back into a standing position. Medicine ball burpees are another great way to work your full body while conditioning. All of these movements can be done on their own, or incorporated into your existing program.
Medicine Ball Exercises for your Core
In addition to all the core activation you will get from the other medicine ball exercises we mentioned, there are several movements designed to put more focus on your core. Sit ups are one of the most commonly known core exercises, but try sit ups while holding a medicine ball either overhead or at your chest to get even better results. Russian twists are another great option. For this movement you get into a seated position, stabilize your torso by engaging your core, then hold a medicine ball in front of you and rotate it from side to side. For added difficulty, raise and maintain your feet 6-12 inches off the ground.
When selecting a medicine ball, make sure it is heavy enough to create resistance but not so heavy that your form is negatively impacted. As always, focus on proper form before you increase weight and if your form is compromised, reduce the weight to avoid injury.
