Home Baseball Content Medicine Ball Workouts: Not Just for Athletes

Medicine Ball Workouts: Not Just for Athletes

Written on June 10, 2011 at 9:44 am, by Eric Cressey

Q: I know that you work a ton with baseball players and that medicine ball workouts are an integral part of their training at Cressey Sports Performance.  However, I'm not a baseball player - or a competitive athlete in any discipline, for that matter - and I'm wondering if I should still consider adding medicine ball workouts to my strength and conditioning program.  Are there benefits that I can't get from a traditional strength training program with comprehensive mobility drills?

A: This is a great question - and I'll start off by saying that we actually have quite a few athletes at Cressey Sports Performance who aren't baseball players.  Plus, we firmly believe that everyone has an athlete in them, so our training mandates a functional carryover to the real world for everyone.  Integrating some medicine ball workouts - even if the volume and frequency aren't as high as in our rotational sport athletes - can definitely add some benefits to a strength and conditioning program.  Here are seven of those benefits:

1. Real World Transfer - Regardless of how effectively a strength and conditioning program is designed, it'll usually be very sagittal plane dominant.  Integrating some rotational medicine ball training immediately increases the number of movements from which you can choose in the transverse and frontal planes.

2. Low-Impact Fat Loss Medleys - Look at all of the fat loss programs out there, and the overwhelming majority of them require a lot of impact - whether it's from sprinting/jogging, jumping rope, or taking step aerobics.  Performing medleys of various medicine ball throws not only allows you to increase volume in a program while minimizing stress on the lower extremity, but also affords some much appreciated variety in a program that might otherwise be dominated by a lot of boring cardio equipment.

3. Better Integration of the Core -With a correctly executed rotational med ball throw, the power should come predominantly from the lower half - which means that it should be transmitted through a stable core so that the energy will be appropriately utilized with thoracic rotation to get to the arms and, in turn, the ball.  This sequencing is no different than lifting a bag of groceries, swinging a golf club, or going up on one's tip-toes to grab something on the top shelf.  If you move in the wrong areas (lumbar spine), you'll eventually wind up with back pain - but if you've handled the rotational challenges of medicine ball workouts with perfect technique, you'll be protected in the real world.

4. Improved Ankle, Hip, and Thoracic Spine Mobility - When performed correctly, medicine ball exercises serve as an outstanding way to "ingrain" the mobility you've established with a dynamic warm-up prior to training.  Additionally, we utilize mobility and activation "fillers" between sets of medicine ball drills to not only slow people down between sets, but also address issues they have that might warrant extra attention.

5. A Way to Train Power Outside of the Sagittal Plane - Research has demonstrated that the biggest problems with folks as they grow older are not just the loss of strength, muscle mass, and bone density, but the loss of power - or how quickly they can apply force.  It's this reduction in power that makes elderly individuals more susceptible to falls.  We can't always train power "optimally" in some older adults because of ground reaction forces being too stressful, but most can learn to apply a significant amount of force to a medicine ball - whether it's rotationally or with an overhead stomp/throw variation.  Everyone should obviously build a solid foundation of strength and mobility before undertaking these options, but when the time is right, they are great additions. On a related note, here's a video I filmed a while back that shows how medicine ball workouts fit into our overall approach to developing power in athletes.

6. Reduction of Asymmetry - Most of us are very one-side dominant, and while I have no aspirations of ever expecting folks to be completely symmetrical, I think that training with rotational medicine ball drills can go a long way in ironing out prominent hip and thoracic spine asymmetries. This has been one reason why they comprise such an integral part of our off-season baseball training programs; these players spend their entire lives in an asymmetrical sport.

7. A Way to Blow off Some Steam - Lifting weights is great for letting out some aggression after a bad day, but throwing a medicine ball is on a whole different level.  In most cases, I encourage folks to try to break the medicine balls on every single throw.  As you can see, we've broken quite a few...

When we integrate medicine ball workouts with our adult fitness clients, it's usually a matter of three sets two times per week between the mobility warm-ups and strength exercises.  If it's used for fat loss, though, we'll include medleys at the end of the strength training programs.

As for a specific brand of medicine balls that we use, we've now made the switch to the Perform Better Extreme Soft Toss Medicine Balls. I've found that the rebound is optimal on these, and they still provide great durability (which has been an issue with not only other "padded" options, but also other rubber models that are using more filler materials). This is what our preferred option looks like:

 

With all that in mind, how many you break will be heavily dependent on how much you incorporate medicine ball workouts and how powerful your clients are.  The medicine ball lifespan will be a lot longer in a facility catering to middle-aged women than it will be at Cressey Performance, where 85% of clients are baseball players executing 240-360 medicine ball throws per week during certain portions of the year.

If you're looking for a lot more detail on the specific medicine ball exercises and workouts we do with our clients, be sure to check out my Medicine Ball Master Class.

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22 Responses to “Medicine Ball Workouts: Not Just for Athletes”

  1. Chris Krattiger Says:

    Eric,

    Great topic. What size medicine balls do you recommend for rotational type throws?

  2. Rick Kaselj Says:

    EC,

    The goal of destroying the MB is great.

    MB companies must love you.

    Rick Kaselj of http://ExercisesForInjuries.com

    .

  3. Rick Says:

    Eric

    As an old guy (age 53) starting to get back in shape, should I address my mobility issues for several weeks before adding medicine ball throws?

    Thanks

  4. Tony Says:

    How many reps per set per side? Is this highly variable or tailored to whether it’s a power, rehab/corrective, or fat loss type medley?

    Thanks, Tony

  5. Rees Says:

    Great piece.

  6. Travis Reid Says:

    Nice post EC.

    I don’t have access to my gym on the weekends, but I do have a medicine ball at home. Can I do a seperate medicine ball only workout? If yes, what would it consist of?

    Thanks mate.

  7. donald antonangeli Says:

    I swear by Mb workouts.

  8. Tony Says:

    Great article Eric! A few questions I didn’t get…

    1) What rep scheme do you use for the med ball sets? Are you using a rep count based on the objective, e.g. something like:
    Power–3-5 slams
    Medley–10-20
    Rehab/Torso Integration–?

    I want to begin utilizing this for the integration “core rehab” with the specific intent of stabilizing the pelvic-lumbo-thoracic continuum. Any feedback would be greatly welcome!

    Thanks,
    Tony
    Yucaipa, CA

  9. Steve Says:

    We use them quite frequently with our athletes and our adult fitness classes as well. Our clients love them. There is just so much opportunity for variety.

    I absolutely love them for the low impact circuits that may be performed.

  10. John Says:

    Eric,

    Great article, as always. Just like Tony above, I was wondering what rep ranges you tend to use? Also, any chance you could give us a list of some of the Med Ball exercises you use with your athletes?

    Thanks!

  11. Eric Cressey Says:

    @Chris – We use everything from 2kg to 4kg for our rotational throws. Overhead stuff ranges from 2-5kg.

  12. Eric Cressey Says:

    @Rick – Yes, I’d give it a few weeks and then integrate them slowly.

  13. Eric Cressey Says:

    @Tony – it really depends. Sometimes, it might only be a set of three; this would be if we were going for peak power and wanted to really unload on the ball.

    If it’s for fat loss, the individual sets may be up to 15-20 reps – and the medley itself could be as many as 80 throws.

  14. Eric Cressey Says:

    @Travis – Yes, you could do that. I usually pick a rotational and overhead drill for most folks. 3-4 sets of each should do.

  15. Rob King Says:

    Eric

    Great video, love it.

    I have a wall at my gym we use for med ball work all the time.

    Love it.

    Thanks for this, tons of great info.

    Rob
    http://www.RobKingFitness.com

  16. Andy Whitney Says:

    Eric,
    Thank you for the good work.
    In the last month you have but together great info and video in all you pieces. And all free for anyone who will listen.
    Keep up the good work it is appreciated.
    Andy

  17. Glynn Loeb Says:

    Thanks for some great info…always looking for new ways to use old tools!

  18. Conor Says:

    Great stuff Eric! Would you be able to post a video of a medicine ball medley?

  19. Tim Peirce Says:

    Med balls can be just plan old fun. The quality in their durability has gone down. I also find it hard to find gyms with 1. wall space that isn’t covered with a mirror and 2. is willing to let you let go on it. Oh well. Fantastic post.

  20. Josh Says:

    Love this post. I’m a high school pitcher and was wondering if you give give me a list of medi ball exercises to do throughout the offseason?

  21. Eric Cressey Says:

    Josh,

    Check out my YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/ecressey

    There are a lot of them featured there.  You can also find some in my recent anterior core presentation:

    http://ecressey.wpengine.com/understanding-and-coaching-the-anterior-core

  22. Eli Says:

    Ima glad you like the PB soft med ball. I am on the market for a soft med ball. Now I have a review. Ill get mine this week.


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