Medicine Ball Workouts

At first blush, entire medicine ball workouts may seem unrealistic. How much can you do with just a heavy ball, really? Granted, medicine balls may require a little bit of imagination to get started, but the benefits tend to become obvious pretty quickly once you get the hang of it.

The Whole-Body Workout

The simplest and perhaps best use of the medicine ball is making it a part of a circuit training routine, borrowing the best of resistance training (the medicine ball) and calisthenics training (bodyweight as resistance). Here is a sample workout for an intermediate circuit trainer; do one set and move on to the next exercise, then start from the beginning. Repeat three to five times (sans warm-up, obviously)

• Running in place - five minutes warm-up
• Medicine ball alternating push ups - Like regular push-ups, except you alternate keeping one hand on the ball, switching between each rep.
• Triangle push ups - Same as the previous, except you put your thumbs and index fingers together so as to form a triangle on the floor. No ball involvement in this one.
• Ball toss - sit on the floor facing a flat wall with knees bent and back straight for good balance. Raise the ball over your head and toss the medicine ball against the wall and catch it on the rebound.
• Sitting twists - Sit in the floor with knees bent and your upper body reclined while holding the ball straight out in front of you (over your knees) for balance. Twist your waist to the sides, touching the ball against the floor to your right, then left, then right again and so on. Keep your butt and feet firmly planted against the floor -- the action should be all in your waist.
• Chins - Grab a bar, chin handles, tree branch or whatever you have that will support your weight and pull yourself up until your chin is parallel to your thumbs. There's no ball involvement in this one either.
• Squats - Stand straight with a balanced stance, hugging the ball in front of your chest. Slowly squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor, then straighten up to the starting position. Imagine pushing your heels through the floor.
• Lunge crossovers - Like regular lunges, except you start with the ball over your head and lower it to the outside of the front leg as you descend into the lunge. Alternate legs between each rep.

The Core Workout

The core workout is much quicker than the full-body circuit routine outlined above. Among medicine ball workouts, this one is great as a finisher to another sport or perhaps a session on the ol' treadmill.

• Rollerball - Put your hands on the ball and your toes on the floor, so that you're balancing your bodyweight entirely on the ball. Now roll the ball down, towards your feet so that your body is jackknifing upwards.
• Ball toss - As described above.
• Sitting twists - As described above.

Do two or three sets to failure of each exercise.

Closing Thoughts on Medicine Ball Workouts

As is often the case, you get the best results from mixing and matching to fit your specific needs. Add a large exercise ball and you can try several great ab exercises that incorporate both brute abdominal strength and balance/coordination.

Likewise, medicine balls can be a boon to sports-specific training. An obvious example is the baseball pitcher hurling a heavy medicine ball against the wall again and again to get that arm some seriously explosive power.

Then there's basic comfort. Some people prefer the feel of cold steel, while others are more comfortable with a heavy leather or rubber ball. There's nothing wrong with going with the form of exercise you like -- the important thing is to keep yourself active. Some gyms even arrange classes around medicine balls, which has the added benefit of providing a motivational boost. Good luck!

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