Weighted Spheres for Weight Loss
Medicine balls, for those of you who haven’t been to a gym or never accidentally kicked one thinking it was soft like a soccer ball, are heavy weighted spheres that come in a variety of sizes and weights, and have a diverse range of fitness applications. Gym goers have seen them being slammed, tossed, and bounced on both floors and walls. But why? What are they doing and why are they called medicine balls when, at their core, medicine balls are just a big heavy ball?
For starters, medicine balls are noted as being one of the most diverse pieces of exercise equipment, useful for toning almost every part of the body by allowing you to provide resistance and added weight while performing dynamic movements. These challenging movements will target your body from head to toe, and force your heart rate to skyrocket.
While details are sparse on the history of medicine balls, we can reliably track their usage back around 3,000 years; ancient drawings suggest that Persian wrestlers used to train with sand-filled bladders, and gladiators used them to prepare for their battles in the arena. In ancient Greece, the physician Hippocrates is said to have had his patients carry and toss stuffed animal skins for “medicinal” purposes—to help rehabilitate them.
The term “medicine ball,” however, was coined by one, Professor Roberts, way back in 1889. According to a Scientific American article from the time, Roberts coined the term in reference to the fact that using the ball “invigorates the body, promotes digestion, and restores and preserves one’s health.“ As “health” and “medicine” were considered to be synonymous terms at the time, calling it a “medicine ball” was natural enough.
Then, in the 1930s, American President Herbert Hoover was encouraged by his physician to use a medicine ball to lose weight. By throwing a medicine ball over a net, the President started a whole new sport craze called Hooverball. This sport looked something like volleyball, however the medicine ball was caught and thrown back and forth over the net, and scored like tennis.
From gladiators to American presidents, people have tapped into the health and strength-building benefits of weighted ball training, and today, fitness trainers everywhere are still discovering benefits. All of this led Reuters to dub medicine balls as the “ancient fitness tools that keep bouncing back.”
Wanna be a gladiator and learn how to do a few exercises with a medicine ball? Then read on…
MEDICINE BALL SLAM
Even though the movement looks upper-body focused, your lower body and core also have to engage to provide the power and spring for the lift and throw. Medicine ball slams require a coordinated effort between your upper and lower body to maintain the flow of the exercise.
This exercise requires your core muscles—including your glutes, hips, abdominals, low back, spinal erectors, and even your rotator cuffs—to work together to power the movement. Done regularly, this means medicine ball slams can help enhance your stability and core strength.
Stand tall with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart, your knees and hips slightly bent, holding a medicine ball in both hands at your torso. Engage your core, drawing your abs toward your spine and rolling your shoulders back to start with perfect posture.
Squat down slightly to load the spring. Then, in one powerful motion, inhale and press through your heels before rising up on the balls of your feet. Extend your knees and hips as you rise to power the upward swing of your arms and lift the medicine ball overhead. The ball should be almost straight overhead with your arms extended at the height of the movement. Keep your arms straight.
Use your core and your arms to slam the medicine ball straight down between your feet with as much force as you can. Press your hips back and bend your knees to further power the slam. Exhale as you slam the ball down.
Squat down to pick up the ball from the floor, then immediately move into the next slam by powerfully using your calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes to rise up to standing. Come up on the balls of your feet again as you lift the medicine ball overhead.
Continue for a full set of slams.
RUSSIAN TWISTS
This seated oblique twist exercise is very effective for strengthening your abdominal muscles. Using a medicine ball adds tension to the core muscles, really giving them a workout.
Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor (easier) or raised up off the floor (more difficult).
Contract your abs and sit at about a 45-degree angle.
Hold the medicine ball with both hands, directly in front of you.
Contracting your abs, twist slowly from your torso to your right and touch the medicine ball to the floor beside you. Pause to hold the position a moment.
Quickly, but smoothly, contract your abs and twist your torso back to the center position, and then proceed on to touch the medicine ball to the floor on the other side of you.
Repeat for the desired number of reps.
ALTERNATING ROTATIONAL THROW
Rotational throws are the best technique for developing power in the core and hip muscles. These exercises are particularly good for hockey, golf, tennis, baseball, and any other sport that requires explosive rotary action.
1. Start in a very slightly staggered stance with your side to the wall.
2. Holding the ball in both hands, reach the ball back toward the hip of your back foot. Then, throwing it underhanded, toss it straight against the wall as hard as possible.
3. As you throw, bring your back foot forward and switch to face the other direction and catch the ball, bringing it back toward your other hip. Then throw the ball against the wall and switch back to the first side.
4. Keep rotating and alternating back and forth. The harder you throw the ball and the quicker you move, the harder the exercise will be.
MEDICINE BALL WOODCHOP
This is a functional movement used in everyday activities like shoveling and lifting a child in and out of a car. It simultaneously challenges the stability of multiple muscles in your trunk, hips, and shoulders.
Stand with your feet wider than shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent.
Hold the medicine ball in both hands and keep your arms straight.
Rotating at your waist, explosively lift the ball up above your shoulder to the left. Control it at the top and bring the ball back down to waist height on your right.
Perform all your reps on one side, then swap.
If you want to start working with a heavy weighted sphere, click the button below for a complimentary assessment with a Success Studio personal trainer. Our trainers can show you countless exercises with a medicine ball that will get you back in shape!