Ultimate Medicine Ball Guide: Benefits Explained

Medicine balls are very versatile and they can take your fitness routine to a whole new level. They come in various sizes and weights, so they’re suitable for a lot of different exercises. 

In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of incorporating medicine balls into your workouts.Medicine balls will offer functional training that can improve your coordination, build strength, enhance stability, and target different muscle groups at the same time. 

We’ll dive into different exercises you can do with a medicine ball, as well as tips for choosing the right weight and size for your fitness level. Ready to add a dynamic element to your workouts?

What are the Benefits of Medicine Balls?

✅ Helps Develop Power

There are many benefits of using a medicine ball, one such being power and explosiveness training. When it comes to your lower body, you can work on explosive power through various plyometric movements and simple exercises like sprinting. However, for your upper body, it can be more difficult to properly develop explosive power.

You have your basic clap push-ups or plyo push-ups, but other than that, you’re limited in your exercise choices.

That’s where a medicine ball comes in handy. You can perform several different variations of medicine ball throws to work the power in your chest, shoulders, and back. A medicine ball allows you to maximize the energy you can release by throwing the ball up or horizontally or along a wall.

✅ Improve Balance & Coordination

A major benefit of incorporating medicine balls in your workout program is that they will help with your coordination skills. Many medicine ball workouts require you to use your body as one instead of separating it into different muscle groups, as it’s common with free weight and machine exercises.

So, because you’re working on generating power through your legs, while also rotating your core and using your upper body to throw the ball, you’re teaching yourself to move as one unit.

Additionally, there are plenty of ways to work on your balance with a medicine ball. There are many exercises you can perform on one leg or by standing on top of the medicine ball, which forces you to improve your balance.

Tips From the Champ

If you’ve been working out for a while, then you’re probably used to the same movements, exercises, and machines. This type of training can after a while become stale. But a good way to keep your exercise routine fun and challenging are to use medicine balls.

Oleksiy Torokhtiy

Olympic Weightlifting Champion

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✅ Versatile Workout

You can use them lying down, standing up, sitting down, on either leg and even from a kneeling position. Plus, training for explosivity is often neglected because it’s hard to do with free weights and machines. So, by adding medicine balls, you can have a new dynamic workout day or block in your training routine.

There are also weighted exercise balls with handles, which can add even more versatility to the workout by making it easier to do rotational movements or faster repetitions.

✅ Cardio Benefits

As mentioned above, medicine ball workouts tend to work your entire body as a singular unit. This also means that you’ll be burning more calories. Not only are you participating in a full body workout, but you’re working several different types of training such as power, explosiveness, and strength, all of which demand a higher energy output from you and so, the cardio workout can be as challenging as your typical run, rowing, or bike training.

Plus, with the right medicine ball workouts, you’ll not only get the fat-burning benefits during, but also after, which is very common with metabolic workouts.

When Do You Need a Medicine Ball?

1. For Training Power

There aren’t too many workout tools better for training power and explosiveness than a medicine ball. You’re forced to use your body as one unit for most of the medicine ball workouts, so you develop power in your entire body.

Also, medicine balls can put less stress on your joints. Another way to develop power is by doing explosive movements with barbells. However, you can’t always drop the bar, so, when you’re forced to hold on to it, you’re not transferring as much power as you can and you can potentially hurt your joints.

But with a medicine ball, you can safely toss it or throw it, without fearing for your floors or damaging the equipment itself.

2. For High-Intensity Interval Training

High-intensity interval training is a great cardio workout that mimics sprinting more than a long, even-paced run. This means you’ll have a higher energy output when performing this workout. A medicine ball is ideal for this because you’re using your entire body and demanding it to move explosively and with power. This combination exerts a ton of energy and can spike your heart rate quickly.

So, you can incorporate medicine balls in your circuit training or simply do timed rounds of throws and tosses with limited rest and get a great HIIT workout.

3. For a Time Efficient Workout

Some people prefer to have a shorter workout and for others, they have to adapt their workout to their work schedule. So, not everyone can spend over an hour in the gym. When you’re limited on time, it can be hard to figure out what exercises or movements to pick to give you a complete workout. That’s where a medicine ball can be very effective because you can easily work out your entire body. With a medicine ball, you’ll be working different parts of your legs and upper body, along with pushing your cardio limits in about 20 or 30 minutes.

What to Look for in Medicine Balls?

1. Size

Medicine ball sizes can vary depending on the company or the weight. Like most weighted equipment, you want to buy something that is challenging right now, but not too light or too heavy. Also, the weight should allow you to perform versatile movements with the ball.

For example, you might be able to use a 10-pound medicine ball for your upper body movements easily, but find it too light when you incorporate your lower body.

The general range of a medicine ball is between 2 to 20 pounds and the weight best suited for you will depend on your experience level and what kind of workouts you wish to do.

2. Durability

Durability is also very important because the last thing you want to do is buy something that will fall apart quickly. That way you’ll end up wasting your money. One way to ensure the medicine ball has longevity is to buy one made of the correct material. Another is to get one that has reinforced stitching. Double-stitched lacing is ideal.

3. Material

Speaking of material, a medicine ball can be made of leather, soft gel, rubber, and even plastic. Leather is the best material as it is tougher and more durable than others. But, it’s likely that a leather ball will be more expensive than the other options. A soft gel or a rubber ball works great as well. Especially if they come with reinforced stitching. 

4. Price/Quality

The price and quality of a medicine ball go hand in hand. The higher the quality, the higher the price tag will be. But the price will also fluctuate depending on the size of the medicine ball and whether you’re buying a modified ball or not. A modified medicine ball comes with ropes or handle to grab onto.

Recommended Medicine Ball

Yes4All Wall Ball

• Weight: 6 to 30 lbs
• Diameter: 13.6″
• Material: Plastic
• Color Palette: Vibrant, Navy Camo, and Black
• Design: Vintage

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We highly recommend the Yes4All Wall Ball, which comes in a large range of weight sizes from 6 pounds to 30 pounds. But the diameter of the ball doesn’t change. Although the ball is made of plastic, which isn’t the most durable material, it does come with a double-stitched seam.

It also has a soft texture to it, so it doesn’t damage the walls. This texture is achieved by the PVC covering and the cotton inside the ball. While the weight of the ball is determined by iron sand, which is wedged inside.

However, as the name suggests, this is a wall ball meant to be used for your walls rather than your floors. So, be carefully pounding it down even if you have rubber mats. The ball can get damaged doing that.

So, at the end of the day, you have a ball that is very easy to use, comes in dynamic vibrant colours, and has plenty of reinforcement and material perks to increase the durability and longevity of the product.

FAQs

Are Medicine Balls Worth It?

If your goal is to develop your full athletic capacity, then medicine balls are definitely worth it. Functional strength and explosiveness are often neglected in a typical workout because they are hard to program and difficult to exercise. A medicine ball can fix both these issues as it’s simple to use and there are plenty of exercises to pick from.

Are Medicine Balls or Slam Balls Better?

There are several differences between the two, which means both have their usefulness. A medicine ball is typically made of leather and comes with reinforced stitching, which makes it ideal for throwing and other dynamic movements.

While a slam ball is made of rubber, whose insides are filled with sand or related material. This allows you to slam the ball safely.

Both movements work your power and explosiveness, but just in different plains of motion.

Do Medicine Balls Build Muscle?

If your goal is to maximize muscle building then no, a medicine ball isn’t the ideal workout tool. But, that doesn’t mean that a medicine ball can’t build muscle. Muscle is built through resistance and hard training and you’ll get both of that with a medicine ball. But in general, a medicine ball will help with strength more so than muscle building. 

Conclusion

Using a medicine ball during your workouts has a lot of benefits, like improved strength, balance, and flexibility. They’re versatile and engage multiple muscle groups. You can use them for all sorts of exercises, from basic squats and lunges to advanced rotational movements and plyometric drills.

Before you choose a medicine ball, make sure to think about your fitness goals and current strength level to select the appropriate weight. A medicine ball will add variety and challenge your body in new ways, which will result in an overall better fitness.

The Yes4All Wall Ball checks all the right boxes, so if you’re in the market for a new fitness tool, we suggest you give it a go.

What’s your favourite workout to do with a medicine ball? Any unique exercises you prefer? What is the best benefit you think you’ve gotten from medicine ball workouts?

Let’s discuss all of this and any other questions you might have in the comment section below!

References:

1. Fun With Your (Med) Balls! // Bodybuilding:
   https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/elitefts6.htm
2. November/December 2022 – Volume 26 – Issue 6 // American College of Sports Medicne:
   https://journals.lww.com/acsm-healthfitness/pages/default.aspx
3. Photo by shoppingkinglouie, Canva; photo by Maridav; photo by Slatan, Canva.