What Do Medicine Balls Do?

Medicine ball is currently a routine fitness tool in gyms for its simplicity, low-cost and versatility. It not only helps develop core strength and mobility, it is also great for cardiorespiratory functions, coordination improvement, rehabilitation. Furthermore, it is a personal workout that requires little and limited space. Hence, there is no wonder that medicine ball becomes more and more prevailing in the general public.

What is a medicine Ball?

MEDICINE BALL is also called gravity ball and fitness ball. It has a wide range of uses. In the field of sports medicine to assist patients in injury recovery, health treatment and strength training; in professional boxers and wrestlers to improve abdominal muscle strength and core strength, and beauties to improve body control. It can strength and exercise the abdominal muscles, chest muscles, buttocks and other parts. Workouts with a medicine ball engage a lot more muscles in the ABs, glutes and lower body than traditional strength workouts. 

What is a medicine ball made of?

Leather

Durable PU leather material is water resistant and scuff resistant for a long-lasting ball that is perfect for home or gym. The weighted ball made by soft leather material always has a soft and comfortable grip, and sawed with double-stitched seams for a easy and convenient fitness ball workout. The interal filling is always sand, but some of them are also fed with iron sand, which is more expensive than others. 

Eco-friendly Rubber material

Medicine ball made of ECO-friendly rubber material ensures its sturdy and durable which is featured with textured basketball-like surface to offer more comfortable and easier grip during the workout. Due to the complex process to dispose this material, Rubber material medicine ball is expensive than other types. 

PVC

PVC is a polymer of vinyl chloride. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a synthetic material with many advantages and is an ideal material for engineering plastics.(Learn more about PVC material)The medicine ball made by PVC material feature a grooved and textured PVC shell to help you get a firm grip on the ball even with sweaty hands. The picture below is a fitness ball made by PVC material. Due to its solid and sturdy surface, it has no bounce, and specifically designed for conditioning workouts, wood chops, overhead throws, or general athletic training. It has different sizes in various weight. And what is the inner filling? The weight ball is filled with sand to prevent it from bouncing or rolling and enhance the balance and firmness of the ball. 

The following are some medicine ball exercises to develop strength and burn calories and bring more benefits than we even know.

1. Squat with a Medicine Ball

The squat is one of the most common exercises for core training and muscle building through engaging almost all the full-body muscles. To start, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold the medicine ball right in front of your chest. Push back your glutes, brace your abdomen and bend your knees over slightly while keeping your back and spine straight and tight. Reverse the movement and complete 6 reps.

2. Push-ups with a Medicine Ball

Balance training is great to develop and stimulate the deep muscle tissues because the body needs more support from the muscles when off-balance. Thus, Medicine ball push-ups is a good way to push the limits in your strength capacity and balance control. To start, Kneel on a TPE yoga mat and place the medicine ball right in front of you. Hold the medicine ball with both hands and bend forward until your shoulders are right stacked over your hands with fully extended arms and body. Push your hands into the ball as bending your arms over until your chest almost touches the ball. Return to the starting position and repeat.

3. Throw-Ups with Medicine Balls

This move is great for developing the back muscle and improve overall speed and strength. To start, stand with your feet a little bit wider than shoulder-width apart. Lower your upper body until your hips almost reach your knee height. Jump and throw the balls up as fast as possible and let the ball drop and bounce on the floor before catching.

4. Overhead Medicine Ball Rotation

Medicine ball rotation has always been a great exercise for the upper body and core training. To start, stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold a medicine ball with both hands with extended arms right over your head. Performing a circular motion slowly while keeping the ball overhead and your body extended straightly.

5. Medicine Ball crunch

Lie down on your back with your knees curved upwards and feet placed together and flat on the floor. Rise up your arms until they are extended and parallel with your body and the floor. Hold the medicine ball. Pull the ball form your overhead to your chest as you brace your abdomen and roll up into a crunch. Reverse the move and complete 10 reps. It is great to start with a light medicine until you get used to this movement.