The medicine ball exercises below can be done on their own or as part of a circuit workout. It’s good to alternate between lower body, core movements and upper body.

As the weight of the Dynamax ball you train with increases, the exercises you choose should move closer to your core. The drills we’ve chosen have been carefully selected to give you more control and also protect your lower back.

Before you get started, make sure you bag a 20Ib medicine ball, an exercise mat and an area with plenty of space. We recommend using either our Elite 14″ MMA Medicine Ball, Elite 14″ Medicine Ball or our Standard 14″ Medicine Ball.

1. Cowboy Squats

A good start for your medicine ball workout, cowboy squats provide a total body strength move. For those who haven’t attempted this before, it’s a squat with an overhead reach. Squat with the ball resting on your head and your elbows out to the sides. Then, press overhead as you stand, finishing on your tiptoes.

Muscles it targets: Calves, quads, hamstrings, deltoids and the shoulder complex.

2. Lateral Toe Taps

Lateral toe taps are great for taking a break from upper-body training. In other words, they’re ideal for targeting lower body muscles. We recommend this medicine ball exercise for improving speed, agility and quickness training.

Muscles it targets: Glutes, hip flexors, calves and quads.

3. Russian Twists

Give your core strength, power and endurance a boost with medicine ball Russian Twists. This move involves tapping the ball each side of your body on alternating sides.

Muscles it targets: Obliques and core.

4. D-Frogs

The exercise is like a frog leap, hence its name. It’s ideal for building up your core strength, shoulder stability and giving your legs a good workout. In fact, this locomotion based medicine ball exercise offers a total body move. Pick up the ball, place it in front of you, and then hop your feet forward – simple, but effective.

Muscles it targets: Core, shoulders, calves and quads.

5. Lateral D-Frogs

Similar to regular D-Frogs, the lateral variety encourages you to move the ball laterally. Travel sideways with the ball across a mat.

Muscles it targets: Core, shoulders, calves and quads.

6. Air (Wall) Ball

Similar to the Cowboy Squat, an air (wall) ball packs more power and is great for building coordination and accuracy. Performed without the need for a wall, this front squat offers an explosive stand and pass, throwing the ball over your head. Stand tall, throw the ball, catch it and immediately start the next rep. You throw it in the air rather than at a wall.

Muscles it targets: Calves, quads, hamstrings, deltoids and the shoulder complex.

7. Reverse Log Toss (Stone Throw)

This power exercise involves throwing the ball overhead backwards. Start in a squat position, throw the ball back over your head. Drop to the ball wherever it lands. Repeat and alternate directions.

Muscles it targets: Posterior chain, quads, back muscles.

Total body circuit workout using the Dynamax Wheel format

For a High Intensity Training (HIT) workout, we recommend performing these exercises back-to-back. For maximum intensity, complete without any rest for 5–10 minutes. However, if you’re just starting out or building your endurance and stamina, a break of 30–60 seconds after every spoke exercise could offer a welcome rest and chance to catch your breath.

For an example total body circuit workout, use our tried-and-tested Dynamax Wheel format:

Featured Hub Exercise: x 5 repetitions to be performed at the beginning of the workout, between each chaser (spoke) exercise, and at the end.

• Cowboy Squats x 5
• Chaser Spoke Exercises: all x 10 repetitions
• Lateral Toe Taps: x 5 repetitions each toe
• Sit Up Taps
• D-Frogs: alternate 5x forward / 5x reverse
• Air (Wall) Balls
• Lateral D-Frogs: alternate 5x left / 5x right
• Reverse Log Toss: 5x each direction

We hope this total body medicine ball workout has given you all the tools you need to get started. Tap into these strength and power moves, get your heart pumping and enjoy the benefits for your physical health and wellbeing. Need more inspiration? Explore more of our exercise videos.

The post Level Up Your Training: Intense 20lb Medicine Ball Exercises appeared first on Dynamax.

Standard medicine balls often range in weight from 2 lbs. to 30 lbs.

You’ll want to make sure you’re ready for the next level. Ideally, you want to feel some resistance without compensation. The goal is to slow, not distort, the movement when using a medicine ball.

Leveraging a heavier medicine ball can encompass a wide range of benefits and outcomes. Below, we’ve listed how they can help you take your athletic training goals to the next level…

• Build muscle

Lifting heavier weights can help you build muscle. Muscle gain, aside from making you look and feel stronger, is good for supporting bones and joints, boosting mental wellbeing and strengthening your immune system. It can also boost how your body processes nutrients. In turn, this will give you increased power and strength for all your sporting activities.

• Burn more calories

It probably goes without saying, but a heavier medicine ball can help you burn more calories as you add load to patterns like squats, lunges, presses, and rotations. This is because it requires more energy and engages more muscle fiber to move the medicine ball.

• Versatile exercises to engage your muscles

Medicine balls aren’t just for your core muscles. They can also work your entire kinetic chain. Heavier or larger balls might not be quite as versatile as their lighter counterparts, but you can still throw them against a smooth, reinforced wall and incorporate them while performing drills such as sit-ups and squats.

What weights are available?

The heaviest medicine ball is the Dynamax Atlas Medicine Ball, which goes up to 150 lbs. and is designed for high-intensity, odd-object weight training. That is for experienced athletes at the peak of their performance.

When selecting a standard Dynamax heavy ball option, we recommend adding 10-14 lbs. to your light ball weight. For example, if you’re used to training with a 6-8 lb ball for explosive speed work, adding a 16-18 lb ball to your arsenal will be the perfect strength complement to help you achieve your training goals.

This also opens up contrast training opportunities, like our Heavy on Light and Heavy to Light exercises. Grab a partner and give them a try with a light and heavy ball.

Heavy on Light

Heavy to Light

Shop medicine balls online at Dynamax

The post Benefits of Incorporating Heavy Medicine Balls – Taking Your Athletic Training to The Next Level appeared first on Dynamax.

D-Ball Rainbow Slam

Ideally, you’ll want to use a Dynamax D-Ball as it is built to handle stronger, explosive overhead throws on any surface. When you throw a Dynamax D-ball ball, it will have limited bounce, no matter how fast the velocity or how hard the impact. This forces the athlete to retrieve the ball in a squat pattern, which engages the posterior chain on the way up, making it a true total-body exercise.

By incorporating a variety of drills and exercises with a medicine ball, you can engage the following muscles by performing ball slams:

• Shoulders
• Lats
• Triceps
• Pecs
• Calves
• Back
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Quadriceps
• Calves
• Core

Due to the higher intensity and impact of the movements, you can build muscle that little bit faster.

Need inspiration for your next workout? Take a look at the Dynamax website and browse our extensive exercise video library.

Pick up your own Dynamax D-Balls online today! The Dynamax D-Ball is available in a range of weights and is approved for outdoor and indoor use. Every ball is made in the USA to the same strong manufacturing standards as our regular soft-shell medicine balls. It’s why we’ve been the No.1 supplier for professional athletes and teams for more than three decades.

The post What Muscles Are Medicine Ball Slams Good For? appeared first on Dynamax.

• Improved intermuscular coordination, agility, and balance
• Enhanced mobility
• Greater muscular strength and power output
• Improved cardiovascular and muscular endurance

The science behind muscle growth

In the aftermath of a workout where you’ve engaged and broken down your muscles, your body goes into repair mode, forming new muscle protein strands. This is how you grow muscle. Without getting too technical, the more muscle cells you engage and recruit, the more muscular strength and growth you will experience. When training explosively, where you recruit the larger, more metabolically active type II muscle fiber, there’s an even greater physiological response.

If you’re just starting out with medicine balls, you don’t need to go all out in your first training session. As for the weight, less than 10 Ibs. is a good starting point. Once you’re comfortable with the drills, it’s worth trialling several options.

The sweet spot for muscle strength training is to have a slight resistance in the speed of your movement. That’s how you know that your muscles are having to work harder. What you want to avoid is struggling to perform the moves – that means you’ve chosen a weight that’s too heavy.

Versatility is also key. You want to ensure that your muscles are consistently challenged. Switching up your moves can help. If you’re ready, you could also ramp up the weight.

Get started with your muscle strength training

If you want to build your muscular endurance, check out our medicine balls for sale. We’re approved by leading American athletes and craft medicine balls that are built to endure even the most intense workouts

The post How Does Medicine Ball Training Improve Muscular Endurance? appeared first on Dynamax.