Medicine Balls have been around since 1876 when Hippocrates stuffed animal skins for their patients to throw for ‘medicinal’ purposes (hence where the name Medicine Balls originate). In the modern-day, mostly everything gets replaced by a better version of itself, so what makes these ‘med balls’ so effective and ensures they last through the ages?
Their Versatility
When you walk into a gym, you see everything from cross-trainers, free weights, bench presses and so many other exercise equipment. But if your home gym is too small for all of this equipment or you don’t like the thought of hitting the gym, Medicine Balls have your back as you can do full-body exercises with them.
When you think about it, all you are doing is moving a weighted ball, surely it can’t be that beneficial? Wrong. Whether it is your upper body or lower body, the benefits of using a medicine ball have been widely researched and confirmed.
Confirmed By Sports Stars…
In 2017, former Pittsburgh Steelers & New England Patriots NFL Linebacker James Harrison conducted an interview for GQ’s fitness coverage. In the interview, Harrison spoke fondly on his love for Medicine Balls, mentioning how he involved hops, tosses and even bench presses into his vigorous NFL workout.
If you’re a big fan of Golf, Baseball, NFL, Hockey etc. then it might be cool to know that a lot of players in these sports would focus a lot of their weight training with Medicine Balls. This is because if you just use traditional weightlifting methods in the gym, then you are focusing on the amount of weight you are lifting.
This methodology of thinking neglects the exercises that build up your power and ability to exert your force incredibly quickly. Using Medicine Balls gives golfers the power to hit a long drive down the fairway, baseball players the ability to hit a home run, NFL Quarterbacks to throw a touchdown.
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A post shared by James Harrison (@jhharrison92) on Sep 26, 2017 at 5:34am PDT
Ex Stoke City player Rory Delap said in an interview before that “The Derby fitness coach had me throwing medicine balls, trying to get a little more out of me, but it started hurting my shoulders and neck”, which shows that multi-million Premier League clubs trust Medicine Balls to launch the ball into the opposition box.
Using Medicine Balls in the same way as kettlebells boost the power you generate and can even benefit you in strength training on the bench press and shoulder press, giving you the ability to progress if you’re stuck in a rut.
Home-Workouts Have Never Been Easier…
Home-workouts don’t just have to be cardio workouts. If you are new to the gym or just want to learn some new exercises, then the only place you could do that is by hitting the gym and learning from the trainers or watching and replicating others. However, nowadays it is easier than ever to achieve the workout you want, without leaving your own home (without a mountain of fitness equipment as well).
With the rise of Instagram, Facebook & Twitter, it is now easier than ever before to find and replicate new workouts. Just scrolling through the hashtag #MedcineBallWorkout on Instagram gives you unrivalled access to almost 30,000 fitness fanatics sharing their tips and tricks on how to have a good workout.
Even now, you can buy gym sets that include weight plates, punching bags, adjustable dumbbells and pull up bars as well as medicine balls and kettlebells for way less than what it would cost for a yearly gym membership.
The Workouts Are Fun
Whilst lifting weights releases endorphins after your weight lifting session, exercises such as the Medicine Ball Slam release built-up stress instantly. Whilst lifting weights the traditional way is fun, there is something different that only throwing something heavy as hard as you can onto the floor can bring.
Medicine Ball Slam
Here, we see a video from Youtuber Tony Cress, showing you how to effectively do a Medicine Ball Slam. We’d tell you ourselves but we think seeing a video is more beneficial than a paragraph. Anyway, Medicine Ball Slams are used for developing power, but also work your triceps, abdomen, shoulders, calves, back, glutes, quads
Burpee To Med Ball Press
For the next video, we’re looking at Bodybuilding.com. They are showing you how to do a Burpee through to a Medicine Ball Press, an exercise that we’re sure will get your heart beating whilst training your legs, chest, arms and shoulders
Wall Balls
Wall Balls are a favourite in the CrossFit community, they use a variety of muscles such as shoulders, upper back, biceps, chest, core, quads, hamstrings, and glutes.
BUT SOME PEOPLE TAKE IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL,
Some of the workouts you’re going to see below are next-level, they take the basic concept of Medicine Ball workouts and incorporate their own twists to promote balance, posture and soo much more.
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A post shared by Erik Long (@elevatefitperformance) on Sep 10, 2019 at 3:42pm PDT
This guy is using three medicine balls at once whilst doing a press-up!
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A post shared by Brian Orr (@b_orr21) on Nov 18, 2019 at 10:06am PST
Putting your own spin on a core and upper body workout.
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A post shared by Simone Baseball Performance (@simone_baseball_performance) on Sep 17, 2019 at 5:52pm PDT
Do you think you could catch a medicine ball?
In The Market For A Medicine Ball?
Well, you’re in luck. Here at SS Healthfoods, we have a wide variety of Medicine Balls to suit all tastes and strengths. From Synthetic Leather through to Rubber and 1kg up to 20kg, we have one for you.
See our extended range here: Full Range of Medicine Balls.
Or keep scrolling for our picks!
Ironman Medicine Ball Dual Colour 5KG – £15.99
Designed for people with medium strength, it’s outer coater gives you a better grip, especially if you’re thinking about undertaking some Wall Balls.
SSS Medicine Ball Leather 2kg Black/Yellow – £13.99
Perfect for those who want to use a lightweight ball to add some weight to some aerobic movements.
SSS Medicine Ball Leather 20kg Red/Blue – £55.99
For the strongest of the strong, a stylish Red/Blue Leather finish makes you look even cooler.
SSS Medicine Ball PU 20kg Red/White – £31.99
Again, for the strongest of the strong but with a Synthetic Leather finish and the cheaper option.