Medicine Ball Training
Exercise Equipment for All
-- By Joe Downie, Certified Physical Fitness Instructor
Medicine balls are a great way to exercise any area of your body, whether upper, lower, or core. There are different sized exercise balls from 2-12, that you can use for numerous different exercises.
Medicine ball training is suitable for all ages, fitness levels and sizes. There are many advantages to training with medicine balls. They allow for improved range of motion, core strength, coordination, flexibility, joint integrity, and upper and lower body strength. The great thing is that you can involve a partner or simply use a solid, sturdy wall.
Core Benefits
Improving core strength should be a goal for everyone. Movement and stability begin with the core – abdominals, lower back, hips and spine. The core is the body’s center of power. Using a medicine ball to train the core is perfect because you can perform so many functional movements similar to those that you do in everyday life.
Instead of isolating certain muscle groups, you are able to train many different core muscles at once with the medicine ball. As an example exercise, stand approximately 6 feet from a wall and face it, knees slightly bent, with your abdominals contracted and your hips out so your back is completely upright. Then toss a medicine ball against the wall like you’re making a chest pass in basketball.
