Likes:
- Versatile
- Inexpensive
- Great for resistance
- Can be used in limited space
No Dislikes
I don’t think any good workout is complete without the use of a medicine ball. The medicine balls I’ve used for sports or fitness activities are either dense rubber or leather or a softer rubber stuffed with a heavy material (like sand). Some bounce and some do not. I prefer rubber medicine balls that bounce but some believe the leather ones are easier to grip. There are so many different exercises that can be done with a medicine ball, making it one of the most versatile pieces of fitness equipment around. In my opinion, they are fitness essentials. I was once very angry at a previous gym I belonged to because both of their 10-pound medicine balls broke (do not ask me how but they split wide open) and they did not replace them for over a month.
I’ve seen people doing exercises where they bounce the medicine ball but I don’t ever do this. I just find the hard rubber medicine balls easier to work with. They’re great for a variety of pushups, where you can place both hands on the ball (which makes for a high level of instability and therefore a lot harder) or have one hand on the ball and the other on the ground. I also like to use medicine balls for abdominal exercises. Whether holding the medicine ball between my feet, or holding it in my hands as I twist from side to side, or doing crunches on an incline bench while holding the ball above my head. There are so many possibilities for a great abdominal workout.
The medicine ball can also be used as a weight instead of dumbbells. I think a medicine ball is more ergonomic than dumbbells for certain exercises. One of my favorites is to hold a medicine ball above my head while performing standing split squats. Another is to hold the medicine ball while performing single leg squats on a step or box. The ball is not only comfortable to hold but it also provides a place for the hands, which can sometimes be awkward in certain exercises. I think squats are just more comfortable if the hands are gripping something (a bar, a dumbbell, a medicine ball, etc.) rather than grasped together behind my neck or straight out in front of me.
Another great benefit of a medicine ball is that you can transition easily between exercises and thus get a better cardio workout. For instance, you can do a set of standing split squats while holding the ball above your head and then immediately drop down for a set of pushups on the ball. This is especially important for circuit training.
Medicine balls are easy to cart around the gym with you from one area to another (depending on how the gym is set up). Sometimes I like to perform exercises in one area and then move to another area for stretching or abdominal work. The medicine ball is extremely transportable for intra-gym use. Although it’s not so convenient for traveling between home and gym. They are relatively inexpensive, so I would definitely recommend having a medicine ball that stays at home.
Medicine balls are an effective way to work through a variety of cardio, resistance, and circuit workouts. I can only think of the advantages to adding medicine balls to any fitness regime, especially the hard rubber, bouncy version.
