Benefits of Medicine Ball Workouts

This article discusses the benefits of medicine ball workouts.

If you’re looking for a simple form of exercise to help you tone and strengthen your core muscles, improve your balance, coordination, and endurance and promote explosive power, medicine ball workouts fit the bill.

Medicine balls were one of the first fitness tools.

Dating back to at least 1000BC, they were used by athletes in Ancient Greece.  They were also used by Persian wrestlers, and gladiators preparing for combat.

Fast forward to more recent times, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point has been using medicine balls as part of their training for over two hundred years.

Along with looking at the benefits of medicine ball workouts, this article discusses the various types of weighted balls.

It also covers how to choose one that will be safe to use and give you the most benefit.

What is a medicine ball?

Medicine balls contain weights that add resistance to workouts.

Approximately the size of a basketball, most weigh between 2 and 25 pounds, but they can be heavier.  This weight variation means there is one suitable for everyone, even those who haven’t exercised before.

Medicine balls are typically leather, gel, dense rubber, or nylon filled with sand, another filler, or air.  They are usually round and may have a textured surface to enhance grip.

Some have attached ropes or handles for easier gripping and handling.

Main Benefits of Medicine Ball Workouts

• Inexpensive & Portable 

Medicine balls are inexpensive, making them a great option if you are on a tight budget and looking for a simple and effective tool that will help you improve your fitness.

• Versatile

They are a versatile training aid, valuable for indoor and outdoor training.

Usually associated with exercising the core – including the abs, back, hips, and buttocks – some medicine ball workouts focus on the upper and lower body muscles.  So by varying the way you use the medicine ball, you can get a total body workout.

Weighted ball exercises include Squats, Lunges, Jumps, Deadlifts, Shoulder Presses, Push-Ups, and Chest Tosses.

Regularly throwing a medicine ball will improve your hand-eye coordination, balance, and flexibility.

• Develops explosive power 

Medicine ball workouts are excellent for developing explosive power, the ability to exert maximal power in the shortest possible time.  This is something all professional athletes work on honing. 

It is just as advantageous for amateur athletes to develop this skill, as doing so will enable them to get the most from their exercise or sport and perform at their best.

• Useful for rehabilitation 

Medicine ball exercises can be helpful during rehabilitation from injury or after surgery.

They are beneficial for recovering from spinal, shoulder, and knee injuries.

A lightweight ball can be employed early on and a heavier one as the recovery progresses.

• Training partner-friendly

Group medicine ball workouts involve passing the ball back and forth between two or more training partners. 

Depending on how the passes are made, different muscle groups may be engaged.

To help develop their conditioning, boxers and martial arts practitioners may choose to have a weighted ball dropped onto their abdomen to simulate an opponent’s punch.

Total Body Medicine Ball Workouts Demo

Types of Medicine Balls

Next, we will look at some of the most popular kinds of medicine balls available today, along with their best use.

Leather medicine balls: 

The first medicine balls were leather.

Still popular with many fitness trainers, leather medicine balls are widely used in boxing circles.

Coming in a wide range of weights, they are primarily useful for medicine ball workouts that focus on the core.

Soft gel medicine balls: 

Gel-filled medicine balls do not float or bounce, making them well-suited to throwing exercises that incorporate a trampoline.

They are also an excellent choice for activities that don’t require that the ball rebounds.

Very economically priced, soft gel medicine balls come in various sizes and weights, making them ideal for rehabilitation exercises.

Medicine balls with grip:

Some medicine balls have a textured surface that improves grip.  These typically have a polyurethane or rubber composition.

This type of ball rebounds when dropped onto the ground or thrown against a wall or other solid surface.

Suitable for just about any kind of medicine ball workout, being favored by many fitness trainers, you will find them in most gyms.

Unlike most other types of medicine balls, those with grip can float.  This makes them a popular choice for aquatic workouts and sports such as water polo.

One such weighted ball I like and recommend is the Valeo Medicine Ball.  (Click the previous link to read a review.)

Air-filled medicine balls:

The air-filled medicine ball can also float and bounce.  The more air the ball contains, the bouncier it will be.

These balls are excellent to incorporate in general resistance and plyometric workouts.

Easy to deflate and reinflate, they are popular with people who want to stick to their regular fitness program when they travel.

Medicine balls with handles:

Some weighted balls come with one or two handles.  Providing a very dynamic workout, this type of medicine ball can act as a dumbbell or kettlebell.

If desired, you can use two at the same time.

Suitable for throwing and far safer than tossing a dumbbell, this versatile medicine ball is excellent for developing explosive power.

The handles on some are removable, further expanding their use.

Some golfers use this style of weighted ball to practice their golf swings.

The balls are also suited to Wood-Chop exercises.  Some even come with an optional ab-roller attachment.

Medicine balls with a rope:

Medicine balls with a rope are perfect for swinging exercises and core rotations.

Some balls of this type have a fixed rope.

Others have a removable rope to increase their use.

How to Choose the Right Medicine Ball

Along with choosing a medicine ball to best suit your requirements, you’ll need to determine the correct weight to get.

It’s common for people to buy a medicine ball that is too heavy.

The ball you choose should not negatively affect your form or reduce your control. Still, it should be weighty enough to slow your movements and work your muscles without overly fatiguing them.

Consider the type of exercises you will be doing with the ball.

Many medicine ball exercises are done with the arms extended.  A manageable weight when doing exercises involving the ball being held close to your body can be too heavy to control when held at arms’ length.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to buy two or more medicine balls of differing weights.  You will then be able to swap balls to suit the exercise you are doing.

As a rough guideline, a medicine ball weighing 4 to 6 pounds should be suitable for most women and exercises.

Most men should find a ball weighing 10 to 12 pounds manageable.

Start with a lighter weighted ball if you haven’t exercised before or lack upper body strength.

As your strength and fitness improve, you can progress to a heavier medicine ball if desired.

However, building bulk is not the aim of medicine ball workouts.  Using a too heavy ball for you to control could result in injury.

Keep in mind that when working with a training partner who will be throwing the ball to you with all of their might, the ball will feel far heavier when you catch it than if you are making light passes.

When using a weighted ball for group training, use one of a weight that suits the person with the least amount of strength.

Final Thoughts on the Benefits of Medicine Ball Workouts

If you’re looking for a way to inject variety into your exercise program and make it more interesting, challenging, and fun, adding medicine ball workouts to your fitness regimen would be a great place to start.

In a day and age when many people opt for high-tech fitness equipment, the low-tech medicine ball is still an essential part of many elite athletes’ training programs.  This is because it provides as effective a workout today as it did the day it was invented, all those years ago.

Medicine ball workouts provide an excellent means of toning the core and increasing strength, balance, coordination, and endurance.  They also offer one of the best ways to develop explosive power.  This makes them well worth including in any fitness program.