What is a medicine ball?
Medicine balls are spherical, weighted balls with a history dating back thousands of years. They are a staple in the gym, although sometimes overlooked by other equipment, such as barbells, kettlebells, and machines.
Not all medicine balls are created equal. Launched in 1985, Dynamax was the first soft-shelled ball to enable explosive training without risk of damaging a training partner or property—previous medicine and fitness balls were all much harder and didn’t maintain their shape. As well as being comfortable and safe to use, the Dynamax design also keeps shoulders in a safer position, as they’re specifically designed to match the average adult shoulder width. Being slightly bigger, they were also easier to catch, so coaches, athletes, and training partners could train together more effectively.
Why do they call it a medicine ball?
Medicine evokes images of pills or syrups to recover from sickness, so if you’re wondering why this fitness equipment is called a medicine ball, you’re not the only one. To get the answer we’re looking for, we need to step back in time to Ancient Greece. It’s believed Hippocrates used sand-filled pouches made from animal skins to support recovery from injury.
Considered the founder of modern medicine, due to his extensive books on diseases and treatments, these weighted skins prescribed for rehabilitative purposes eventually evolved into the ‘medicine’ ball of today. That, and the fact that exercising with a medicine ball carries many physical health benefits, makes this name pretty apt.
Why use a medicine ball?
Medicine balls are not only an essential training tool for athletes and coaches but also a great option for youth and active ageing.
Staple strength training tools, including kettlebells, barbells, dumbbells, and cable machines, are great for strength training but can’t maximize skills like speed and power like medicine balls can. Medicine balls offer the whole package. Agility, balance, core strength, speed, power, and training fast-twitch muscles are all physical benefits of medicine ball exercises. In fact, the medicine ball opens up training potential that may be tricky to fulfil with other fitness equipment.
With plenty of standing, sitting, solo, and locomotion-based partner exercises, they can spice up your training and complement competitive sports activities.
Being portable and suitable for outdoor use makes them an accessible tool for training in pairs and small or large groups. Easy to set up for a boot camp workout, and portable so you’re not limited to a location—wherever you prefer to train is fair game.
How do you use a medicine ball?
Our advice? Select the right weight and size for you. Make sure the width is an appropriate diameter—no wider than your shoulders. The weight should be less than 10% of your body weight, so exercises are slightly slowed, but don’t restrict your movements. You can also move faster, performing throwing exercises without risk of damage to people or property.
Most training is performed with lighter balls—4–8Ib medicine balls are the most commonly used. These are ideal for speed work—you have enough weight to slow your movements without distorting them.
Contrary to other strength training equipment, such as weights, you don’t necessarily progress by getting heavier and heavier. It’s about improving your movement patterns while introducing just the right amount of resistance for feedback to get stronger and faster.
Pick too heavy a ball, and you will get an altered movement pattern that’s not necessarily beneficial. Some exercises lend themselves to heavier balls, such as squatting and lunging drills that keep the ball close to your core. However, for explosive movements, lighter balls are best.
Medicine balls are one of the most functional fitness training tools on the market, but don’t just take our word for it; try one out for yourself with the exercises listed below.
How to exercise with a medicine ball
The beauty of the medicine ball is that it offers full body training while also being a great complement to competitive sporting activities.
What exercises can you do with a medicine ball?
There are an abundance of exercises you can do with a medicine ball. From sit-up throws to chest passes. With various drills, you can engage all your muscles while also having fun. Not familiar with using a medicine ball? No problem. We’ve cherry-picked some suitable exercise videos for beginners:
Sit-up Throws
Sit-up throws are a cornerstone exercise that targets the core muscles.
High Knee March
The high knee march is a great way to support better posture and sprint mechanics.
D-Frogs
D-Frogs mimic the movement of a frog leaping—it’s ideal for working your core and boosting stability in your shoulders.
Cowboy Squat
This lower body and shoulders exercise can be performed with a heavy ball of around 14-20 Ibs.
Squat Toss
This is an ideal solo activity that helps improve agility, hand-eye coordination, and stamina.
Bucket Toss (Single)
Also known as a scoop throw, this is a rotational throw that generates power!
Bucket Toss (Partner)
The bucket toss is also a fun drill to do with a training partner.
Chest Pass
This exercise is perfect for performing solo by throwing into a wall, or a fun one to do with a partner.
Ready to level-up your home gym training?
Dynamax medicine balls can be used outdoors or indoors and are made in the USA to strict standards to ensure they maintain their shape and structure. In fact, we’re the preferred choice of over 90% of all NFL, NBA, MLB teams! Explore the shop online today to find your first medicine ball.