The medicine ball is nifty piece of exercise equipment – relatively inexpensive and doesn’t take up space. The “problem” with the ball is that we get trumped by their simplicity – so simple that we do not know what to do with them, sometimes. Why use a medicine ball? Balls are what we use for athletic sports. They bounce and roll. The spherical shape, plus weight of this equipment makes it versatile. Workouts with the medicine ball allows for development of strength, flexibility and balance. With high intensity style training, it also provides for endurance building and mobility. If you want to build full body fitness with out much equipment, a heavy ball will just do the trick. Here are some workout videos specializes in medicine ball workouts. There are also screenshots, but the videos, if you can load them, do better to demonstrate the moves.

Medicine Ball Home Workout – AthLEAN X

8 Exercises for full body workout including core exercises

• Rolling push-ups x20
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• Triceps push-ups x20
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• Shoulder tosses x15
• Wiper crunch combo x10 each side
• Rolling squats x15
• Lunges overhead twists x10 each leg
• Medball RDL x 10 each leg
• Curl x 30

You can do these exercises in different variations of reps and sets, or you can do these with a HIIT timer. Notice that Jeff squeezes his muscles with each move, getting more engagement.  Interesting to note what Jeff says, these workouts are better than extreme workouts like the P90x. He’s right. He’s talking “Build, don’t burn”.

Top 6 Medicine Ball Exercises

This is a good video because it demonstrates clearly some essential medicine ball exercise moves suitable for beginners. Here demonstrates the rolling push ups -more slowly, the plank – toe touch : hands on the ball in plank position while toe touching on the side Ab twist : Hand on the ball in crunch position, legs up and twist crunch Lunge and twist : ball in hand in front and twist in the lunge position. Core twists: Standing and twisting Squat Press [symple_divider style=”solid” margin_top=”20px” margin_bottom=”20px”]

Scott Herman Medicine Ball Madness! Workout Video

10 exercises – he recommends 3 sets 12-15 reps Tricep toss – knees slightly apart, toss the ball and catch. Squat toss – Squat, toss ball and squat when ball comes back to hand Alternating lunge twist – walking lunges style Torso ball throws – against the wall. Throw the ball with flipping the hips and not entirely on the arms. If you do not have the wall, use a partner or do a woodchop. Alternating high knee – back lunge, and pull knee to outstretched hands with ball. Alternating bicep curls Floor crunches – hands outstretched holding ball and crumch Hamstring curls – ball on the ball of feet, back on the floor and lift the hips. Alternating push-ups – seems to be everybody’s favorite [symple_divider style=”solid” margin_top=”20px” margin_bottom=”20px”]

Why the medicine ball?

It is harder to hold on to a med-ball than, say, a dumbbell. The balls are heavy and there is no grip. The act of gripping actually strengthens the muscles in the chest, shoulders, forearms and wrists.  Traditional hard rubberized medicine ball – comes in 4lbs – 12lbs variety. Books on Med Ball Training: