A weighted ball, also called a medicine ball, is a basic workout tool that gives you resistance training when you lift it, sharpens your coordination when you play catch with it and focuses your attention when you roll on it, say trainers at Middle Management. Free online videos can show you how to take advantage of the weighted ball's versatility.
Oblique Twists
Watch Sarah Dussault, the lead trainer with Diet.com, on her YouTube video as she firms and strengthens her abdominal muscles with a simple floor exercise and a medium-size, medium-weight ball. This exercise has a special twist to it. Seated on the floor with her torso tilted back about 45 degrees, Dussault lifts her legs at about the same angle, letting her knees bend just enough that her calves are parallel to the floor. Just holding this position tightens abs, but if you try it holding a medicine ball on your chest, you will get an extra workout. The twist comes from holding the ball out at arm's length, then twisting to almost touch it to the floor on your right and left, then hoisting it over your head. A series of these cycles gives you the Oblique Twist exercise.
"8 Is Enough"
Follow Jeff Cavalier of AthleanX.com as his YouTube video takes you through a cycle of eight medicine ball exercises designed to work out just about every part of your body and add coordination training too. Jeff advises novices to progress from a 2-lb. ball up to a 16-lb. ball, as strength and stamina increase. Rolling push-ups and triceps push-ups rely on a medicine ball placed between the hands and floor for coordination-building support. Shoulder tosses and a wiper crunch combo strengthen the arms and upper body. Rolling squats and lunges with an overhead twist add strength and flexibility to the torso, hips and legs. The cycle wraps up with RDL and curl catches.
"Medicine Ball Madness"
Play It Fitness presents "Medicine Ball Madness" to show you how to move the weighted ball as if you were playing power basketball, volleyball and tennis in a sort of muscle-bound ballet. Some of the throws -- powerful forward chest throws, side-tosses and diagonal slams -- need a catcher who will toss the weighted ball back to you or a wall that will bounce it back. Other exercises need only you, among them the walking medicine ball slam, which bounces the medicine ball on the ground so hard you have to look up to catch it. Medicine ball scoops and overhead throws require equally intense hurling of the weighted ball. The size, weight and number of reps you do determine the overall intensity of your workout.
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