Why Medicine Ball Is So Popular With Athletes?

The other names for this ball are exercise ball, gym ball, stability ball, fitness ball, fit ball, therapy ball, balance ball or medicine ball. The exercises with this ball are known by different names as exercise ball exercises, fitnessball exercises, fitnessball workouts, medicine ball exercise, etc. The size and weight make the medicine ball the ideal piece of exercise equipment for people of all ages and fitness levels. 

Medicine balls are available in various weights and styles...

The other names for this ball are exercise ball, gym ball, stability ball, fitness ball, fit ball, therapy ball, balance ball or medicine ball. The exercises with this ball are known by different names as exercise ball exercises, fitnessball exercises, fitnessball workoutgs, medicine ball exercise, etc. The size and weight make the medicine ball the ideal piece of exercise equipment for people of all ages and fitness levels. 

Medicine balls are available in various weights and sizes, perfect for all ages and fitness levels.

The medicine ball is used to develop different forms of strength, such as, eccentric strength and concentric strength. Concentric strength is used when throwing a medicine ball, pushing a medicine ball or pressing a medicine ball. Eccentric strength is used to catch a medicine ball and slow it down.

These general medicine ball drills develop strength and power throughout the torso, laying the foundation for the future use of specific medicine ball drills. Likewise, bench-press strength advanced by 23 % for the weight-trained athletes but inched upward by just 9 per cent for medicine-ball users.


Weight training proved to be far superior to medicine ball workouts, both in terms of bench-press power and throwing speed. Weight-trained athletes upgraded their baseball throwing velocity by 4.1 per cent, while medicine-ball men enhanced throwing by a statistically insignificant 1.6 percent. Control individuals also failed to improve their throwing.

Many weight-training group work out twice a week, utilizing barbell bench press and barbell pullover exercises. For the first four weeks, weight trainers completed three sets of eight- to 10-repetition max exercise per workout for both the bench presses and barbell pullovers (in other words, they used weights which could be lifted only eight to 10 times per set). For the final four weeks, employ three sets of six- to eight-RM for each exercise. All weights were lifted in a slow, controlled manner - not explosively. Medicine-ball, weight-trained, and control athletes all participated in their regular baseball workouts during the eight-week period. After eight weeks, all athletes were tested for maximal baseball throwing velocity and bench-press strength.

When you activate your II-B fibers with this explosive medicine-ball workout, you'll see big gains in strength, size and speed. The medicine ball will help you achieve fitness that emphasizes not just strength, but also explosive power, core stability and split-second responses.

Damian@ufitnhealthy 

Core Fitness With Crossfit Wall Balls

One of the popular exercises used in Crossfit(r) is 'Wall Balls'. Wall Balls are both very simple and crazy hard. Wall Balls are a full body weight bearing exercise and are great for rapidly strengthening the core muscles of the abdomen and lower back while improving overall conditioning. They are also plyometric (more on that later). While no doubt previously done informally by many, Crossfit seems the first to have formalized it as an exercise sequence.

In sports such as basketball or lacrosse wall balls are traditionally a series of drills done against a wall. Here they are done with a definite Crossfit burnout (metabolic overload) twist. The Crossfit idea of a Wall Ball is to throw a medicine ball upwards against a wall, catch it in a squat position and then explosively spring back out of the squat throwing the ball back up. Then squat catch, spring up and throw, squat catch, spring up and throw - and repeat sequence as many times as specified.

Medicine ball training is one of the oldest forms of strength and conditioning training. A medicine ball is a weighted ball and is traditionally roughly the diameter of the shoulders - 14 inches. Medicine balls were a staple of 18th and 19th century English gyms and early references to Persian wrestlers training with sand filled bladders date back almost 3000 years.

To do a Wall Ball start out facing the wall about 12-18 inches back. The throwing motion is much like basketball - start out by sinking down and keep your elbows down with the ball held evenly close to the chest. Unlike basketball, you descend all the way into a squat position, and then explode into a throw. It is important to do a full squat - your rear should hit a medicine ball if one was placed on the floor behind you. Whether you take one breath per throw or two, breathe deeply and calmly, synchronizing your breath with the throws. Keep your movements even and smooth on both the ascent and descent.

The extension of the leg muscles as you catch and sink into the squat, then their rapid contraction with the throw is the plyometric part. Plyometric exercises are designed to develop and increase muscle power. Plyometrics emphasize the rapid stretch of a muscle followed by a rapid shortening of the same muscle. Simple bouncing jumps are a good example. Like the Crossfit-style squat-thruster, the Wall Ball is basically a squat-push press combination done continuously with a light weight as a plyometric exercise.

In Crossfit workouts Wall Balls are often done as part of a couplet or triplet series along with sit-ups, pull-ups, or some Olympic lift such as push-press in a 21-15-9 sequence. For example a triplet of 21 Wall Balls followed by 21 pull-ups and 21 weighted push-presses, 15 Wall Balls, 15 pull-ups, 15 weighted push presses, and finally 9 Wall Balls, pull-ups, and weighted push presses.

Originally the goal was to throw the medicine ball up 8-9 feet, but with the advent of the Crossfit games the standard became 10 feet for men and 8 feet for women. The usual specified Rx weight ("Rx" is short for 'as prescribed' in Crossfit terms) is a 20lbs for men and 14lbs for women. You often now find lines at these heights scribed on the walls of Crossfit gyms. Check out your local one and see..!

  CrossFit is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc.

Source : John Harker / Ezine

The Medicine-Ball Clean