A medicine ball is a simple, weighted exercise tool designed to help you get a workout that emphasizes development of your strength, power, body balance and stability. You can use a medicine ball exercise routine to gain these benefits in various parts of your body, including your chest, legs, arms and core or abdomen.
Benefits
Because medicine balls are relatively light, they help athletes develop a quality called explosive power, which relies on rapid muscle contraction during physical activity. In addition to engaging your primary muscles, they force you to engage supporting muscles in your body called stabilizers. Also, the durability and softness of most medicine balls allow you to engage in intense workouts without hurting yourself or damaging the ball. The portability of medicine balls also makes it easy to perform your exercise routines.
Leg and Gluteus Exercises
If you want to exercise your gluteus muscles and the muscles in your legs, you can hold onto a medicine ball while performing lunges, which force you to lower your body while extending one foot forward. To increase the effort and benefit of a medicine ball lunge, you can also add a torso twist, which requires you to engage your abdominal muscles while rotating your torso to the side. If you're an experienced exerciser, you can raise and lower your body repeatedly while in lunge position or perform multiple torso twists during each lunge, says Askthetrainer.com.
Chest Exercises
To strengthen your abdominal muscles or core, you can hold a medicine ball to your chest while performing a standard situp. You can also perform this exercise with a partner who can throw a medicine ball to you and catch it as you proceed through each situp's range of motion. In addition, you can perform a medicine ball twist, which requires you to rotate a medicine ball from side to side in a sitting position while holding your feet slightly off the ground. If you want to exercise your chest, you can perform pushups while balancing a small medicine ball beneath each of your hands.
Triceps and Back Exercises
If you want to work out the triceps muscles in your arms, perform a triceps pushup, which requires you to do pushups with both hands balanced on a single medicine ball. Alternatively, you can perform a medicine ball triceps press, which requires you to lift a medicine ball from your lower chest while concentrating on squeezing your triceps muscles. If you want to exercise the latissimus muscles in your back, you can get some benefit from performing medicine ball pullovers, which require you to raise a medicine ball from your chest over your head while lying down.
Considerations
Consult your doctor before starting a medicine ball exercise routine. Not all exercises are suitable for everyone. You may need to modify specific movements to safeguard your health or avoid certain exercise altogether. Warm up before each medicine ball routine and emphasize proper technique during each exercise. Consult a fitness instructor for detailed information on specific exercises.
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