Strength and Conditioning
Coaches for college/professional teams as well as top tier personal trainers are integrating perhaps the oldest exercise equipment into cutting edge fitness routines.
Medicine ball training is one of the first recorded forms of strength and conditioning training. There are pictures of wrestlers training with sand filled bladders from Persia nearly 3000 years ago. The physician Hippocrates in ancient Greece had animal skins stuffed with sand and ordered his patients to throw them back and forth for injury prevention and rehabilitation. In the late 1800s, there was the, “Four Horsemen of Fitness” were the dumbbell, the Indian club, the wand and the medicine ball.
Some of the most popular exercises with a medicine ball are described below. It is important to select a weight that is comfortable and that you can do at least 10 reps comfortably. Be sure to warm up your entire body first, these exercises work all main muscle groups.
Medicine Ball Sit-up: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and lie on your back on the floor. Bend your knees 90 degrees, place your feet flat on the floor, and hold the medicine ball against your chest. Now perform a classic sit-up by raising your torso into a sitting position. Lower it back to the start. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat. Try to do 3 sets of these repetitions.
Big Circles: Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent; hold a medicine ball with your arms extended directly above your head. Without bending your elbows, rotate your arms counterclockwise, using the ball to draw large imaginary circles in front your body. Do 10 circles, and then reverse direction to clockwise and do 10 more. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat. Try to do 3 sets of these repetitions.
Squat to Press: Stand holding a medicine ball close to your chest with both hands, your feet just beyond shoulder-width apart. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body until the tops of your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. Then simultaneously drive your heels into the floor and push your body back to the starting position as you press the ball over your head. Lower the ball back to the start. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat. Try to do 3 sets of these repetitions.
Woodchopper: Stand with your feet just beyond shoulder-width apart. With your arms nearly straight, hold a medicine ball above your head. Now bend forward at your waist and mimic throwing the ball backward between your legs, but hold onto the ball the entire time. Quickly reverse the movement with the same intensity, and return to the starting position. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat. Try to do 3 sets of these repetitions.
Standing Russian Twist: Hold a medicine ball with both hands in front of your chest and your arms straight. Without dropping your arms, pivot on your right foot and rotate the ball and your torso as far as you can to the left. Then reverse direction: Pivot on your left foot and rotate all the way to the right. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat. Try to do 3 sets of these repetitions.
A great site for basic information about the medicine ball can be found at exerciseball.net. There are short, informative articles also about the cousins of the medicine ball – the Swiss Ball, Fitness Ball and Gym Ball. They all make great workouts if you are looking for cardio, strength, pilates, yoga and general strength and conditioning. Surprisingly, there appears to be a current trend in offices to sit on exercise balls rather than traditional office chairs. Some of the physical and medical benefits are detailed at exerciseball.net. with some cool pictures!