The medicine ball is one of my favorite tools to have in the gym and a go-to piece of equipment for coaching people.
When people ask, “I do mostly bodyweight workouts, so what is an easy piece of equipment I can add to my workouts?”
The medicine ball is always my first suggestion because there isn’t much of a learning curb as you would have with a dumbbell or kettlebell, and I always tell them go for one that you can slam as well. Why? Because it feels good – especially during quarantine.
Medicine balls are super versatile and provides resistance for many bodyweight movements, in multiple planes of motion, and varying tempo speeds.
If you are looking for the best medicine ball exercises to start off with, here are 6 you can begin with:
LUNGE ROTATION
The lunge rotation is an exercise that works lower body strength and stability while engaging the core through rotation. The reason I like this movement so much is because of the rotation component that increases the instability of the movement and it gets your torso twisting which could help with improving your posture.
PLANK MOUNTAIN CLIMBER
By performing a mountain climber while using the medicine ball, you increase the difficulty as well as engage the core even more. Do not rush through the reps. When you perform controlled mountain climbing steps, you increase the time under tension while also making sure you are able to stabilize your body during the exercise
MED BALL SQUAT
The medicine ball squat is also a great progression into learning the goblet squat with a dumbbell or kettlebell. While squatting with a front load, you have to keep your torso more upright and not allow your back to round.
RAINBOW SLAM
The Rainbow Slam is actually one of my favorite medicine ball exercises that I do and have many of my athletes and clients perform. The reasons being are for the rotational component, the weight transfer from side to side, and because it feels good to slam something into the ground. Just make sure you understand how fast the medicine ball will rebound off the ground if it does. You don’t want to have a surprise with the medicine ball flying off the ground and waking you in the face.
SINGLE LEG DEADLIFT
This movement helps with strengthening knee and ankle stability while engaging the posterior chain, particularly your glutes. This exercise can be done as part of a warm-up, even throughout the day to activate your posterior chain, or part of a full body medicine ball workout.
DEAD BALL ISO HOLD
The medicine ball dead bug is a drill used to strengthen the muscles of the abdominals. The key to this move is to keep your lower back from arching and your rib cage for rising up. Go only as far you can before that happens.
