The reemergence of medicine ball training in fitness classes and personal training centers proves that everything old eventually does become new again. The American College of Sports Medicine, in its brochure "Selecting and Effectively Using Medicine Balls," advises that the 3,000-year-old method effectively enhances muscle power and endurance. Most medicine balls weigh between 2 and 15 lbs. The lighter medicine balls often have more bounce than the heavier balls. They suit agility training and some flexibility exercises, whereas the heavier balls are best for power training.
History
Fitness historian John Wood provides a brief medicine ball history on his Old Time Strongman website. Wood explains that the balls originated about 3,000 years ago in ancient Persia, where they were used for military training. The Greek physician Hippocrates also incorporated medicine ball training for rehabilitation.
Time Frame
Throughout the centuries, medicine ball training reappeared in different parts of the world. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum website details humorous anecdotes about the "Hoover Ball." While returning from a 1928 trip to South America, President Hoover observed a "bull-in-the-ring" medicine ball game, often played on battleships. Players formed a circle and tossed a medicine ball, while one player stood in the middle and tried to intercept it. When Hoover returned to Washington, his doctor suggested a variation of the game. Every morning, a group of VIPs, called the Medicine Ball Cabinet, gathered on the White House lawn to play the game. Hoover probably didn't realize that the Eastern Block Olympic athletes were already using medicine ball training to enhance their power and agility. Author David Fleming, in an October 2009 ESPN article titled "The Ball That Wouldn't Die," explains that after the Cold War, Eastern European training manuals made their way into the United States, and American coaches adopted the training method.
Benefits
The ancient Persian soldiers, Hippocrates, Hoover and Eastern European athletes were cognizant of medicine ball training's agility enhancing benefits. Whether performed solo or with a partner, this type of workout requires a level of concentration that may improve functional and sport-specific reaction time. The balls also moonlight as balance, Pilates, and flexibility training tools. A study published in a 2007 "Journal of Applied Research" detailed the benefits of performing abdominal exercises on a small exercise ball. Lead author Jerrold S. Petrofsky, Ph.D found the ball increased the exercise range of motion, thereby recruiting additional abdominal muscle fibers.
Types of Workouts
Trainer Joseph M Warpeha of the National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends medicine ball throws for upper body plyometric or explosive power training. He suggests lying supine on a weight bench, tossing the ball into the air, and catching it with both hands. The Sport Fitness Adviser website details volley ball specific medicine ball workouts, which incorporate upper and lower body plyometrics. These exercises involve toss the ball into the air and catching it as you land in a squat. The weight of the ball encourages deeper leg flexion during the landing. This increases hamstring activation, and may correct hamstring/quadriceps muscle imbalance.
Potential
Rotary sports, such as tennis, golf baseball and bowling requires strong obliques, which are the muscles that make an "x" across the abdominal area. While many oblique exercises use a supine position, medicine ball workouts, such as the wood chop and the standing Russian twist, facilitate oblique muscle training from an upright position, enabling you to train the muscles using movements that simulate your sport.
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