By Neal Prokop, Sport Performance Specialist
Medicine balls are great training tools for a variety of reasons! The main benefit is that they can provide just the right amount of load to train upper body explosiveness. Typically when targeting the ‘athletic ability’ of muscular ‘power and explosiveness’, you’ll start at a load within 30-40% of your 1 rep maximum, and potentially increase that up to 60-80% as you progress to target more explosive and strength-based characteristics. For example, on a common cable torso rotation, you might only be able to move a resistance of 50-60~lbs with optimal technique, meaning that to start training explosively, you’d likely chose a medicine ball between 12-20lbs.
Medicine balls are meant to be thrown around, fast, and hard! We go through a few medicine balls every year or two, but athletes use them daily. Try incorporating some of these movements into your workout, or warm-up to get your nervous system engaged!
Reactive MB Side Toss
Supine Explosive MB Chest Pass
V-Sit Russian Twist with MB Side Toss
Rotational MB Slam
MB Loaded Diagonal Skaters Bound to Unloaded Skaters Bound
MB Chest Pass with Quick Switch
MB Rotational Pass – Hips Square to Target
Kneeling MB Chest Pass to Push Up
MB Single Arm Chest Pass with Step
To try some of these exercises in our training center, or if you have questions, you can contact us at performance@sportmanitoba.ca
Happy Training!
