It’s not uncommon for high school or college coaches to schedule a team conditioning workout around in-season practices or games and find the weight room already overcrowded or in use by another team. Whenever it happens, there’s no reason to walk away and reschedule a session. Make medicine balls your go-to choice for athletes and teams—especially when the weight room is inaccessible. But, they’re also an effective training alternative even when the weight room is available for your team!
Coaches can convince athletes that they can derive equal if not greater training benefits by performing sports-relevant multidirectional/multiplanar forward, reverse, lateral, twisting/turning movements, and balance-boosting exercises with medicine balls in the hallway, auxiliary gym, or outdoors. Athletes can do these in place of what they might have done in the weight room that day, such as conventional, one-dimensional standing, seated or supine barbell, dumbbell, or machine exercises.
Using... medicine balls can promote prized sports performance gains like strength, size, power, endurance, and core- strengthening—all in one workout, says Jim Carpentier. Share on XHow? Using light, moderately-heavy, and heavy medicine balls (depending on each athlete’s strength level) can promote prized sports performance gains like, size, power, endurance, and core- strengthening—all in one workout—such as doing compound (multi-joint) and multiplanar combination side lunges and ball twists, or forward lunges and overhead ball presses to simultaneously build upper and lower body size and strength; reducing rest time between sets of different exercises to enhance endurance; and doing single-leg balancing exercises.
Balance is underestimated in sports, yet frequently required during practice and game situations (e.g., keeping feet in bounds when catching a football or passing a basketball to a teammate).
Bonus: Athletes will even have more fun performing the medicine ball exercises when partnering up with their teammates!
Other Med Ball Advantages
- Their portability makes them a convenient conditioning element for workouts outside the weight room, such as school hallways, basketball gyms, or outdoors (as previously mentioned).
- For coaches and athletes scheduling workouts around practices and games, med balls are time efficient (a workout time-saver without spending added time changing weight plates or adjusting resistance with dumbbells, barbells, weight machines, or cables between sets). And with less time spent changing resistance, med balls thereby can enhance endurance going from set to set, or exercise to exercise with minimal rest—simulating the continuous action with brief rest periods in sports like football, hockey, basketball, hockey, tennis, wrestling, and lacrosse.
Med balls’ portability makes them a convenient conditioning element for workouts outside the weight room, such as school hallways, basketball gyms, or outdoors. Share on X
The Only Plan-B Workout Equipment Your Athletes Will Need
Have your athletes bring the right sized balls either into the hallway, to a more spacious area such as the gymnasium, or outdoors when the weather is conducive. The balls are the only equipment needed to perform the following two anywhere, anytime, brief-but-intense 30-minute full-body workouts!
During my years as a high school strength and conditioning coach and YMCA personal and group trainer, medicine balls were my go-to option.
Overall Guidelines
- Ensure the athletes have water bottles and hydrate before, during, and after workouts.
- Have them do a dynamic upper and lower body warm-up (e.g., arm circles/lateral or forward walking lunges).
- Finish with cool-down upper and lower body stretches promoting flexibility.
- Sets/Reps: 1 x 10.
- Rest 30-60 seconds between exercises to enhance size/strength for athletes using heavy balls.
- If the goal is building endurance, use lighter balls with less rest between each exercise (15-30 seconds).
- Have your team perform the med ball workout every other week or every few weeks for a refreshing change from doing standard weight room exercises such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses—either in-season or during off-season conditioning.
8 Medball Exercises to Include in the Workout
1. Partner Squat and Ball Press-Out. Begin in an athletic stance (knees slightly bent, hips back, feet shoulder-width apart) facing each other about five feet apart. Hold the ball close to the chest. Slowly lower to a squat, pause two seconds, and rapidly rise while explosively pressing the ball out to the teammate. The teammate performs the same technique and throws the ball back to their partner. That’s one rep. Repeat nine more times before each does the next exercise.
- Sports-Specific Benefits: An effective upper and lower body combo muscle-building exercise—especially in sports using pushing movements (e.g., blocking in football, quickly passing a basketball across court, pushing away a hockey opponent to get to the puck, or pushing off a wrestling foe during the match).
2. Single Leg Bent Over Row. Have your athlete hold the ball below their waist with arms extended. Next, lean forward with one knee bent and the opposite foot off the ground. Pull the ball to the waist, pause two seconds, and slowly lower to start position, and continue until 10 reps. Rest and do 10 reps with the other foot off the ground.
- Sports-Specific Benefits: This is an excellent balance-enhancing exercise that also strengthens back, arm, leg and hip muscles while continuously maintaining balancing with one foot off the ground for an extended time before switching with the other foot off the ground. The exercise transcends to a football game—picture a wide receiver pulling in a pass low to the ground, then trying to stay on both feet while trying to escape a tackler whose arms are grabbing the receiver’s leg.
During my years as a high school strength and conditioning coach and YMCA personal and group trainer, medicine balls were my go-to option, says Jim Carpentier. Share on X
3. Foot Elevated Ball Push-Up. Assume a push-up position with both hands grasping the sides of the ball—palms facing each other, arms extended, and one foot airborne. Slowly descend a few inches from the ball, pause, and explosively press back up to the starting position, and repeat nine more times.
- Sports-Specific Benefits: Athletes will find this is a tough exercise requiring core strength and stability, while taxing chest, back, shoulder, and arm muscles. Whether you’re a strength coach or a team coach, always stress the importance of equally building strong core muscles (abdominal, back, groin, hips) besides focusing on upper and lower body strength. Any athlete who falls to the ground wants to quickly push up and become upright as play continues. Example: A baseball or softball outfielder dives to catch the ball and needs to rapidly rise and throw to the infield to prevent a baserunner from tagging up and advancing to the next base.
4. Partner Side Lunge, Ball Twist and Pass. Both athletes should be spaced about five feet laterally apart. Teammate A: Assume an athletic stance while holding the ball with arms extended at chest level and lunge laterally left while simultaneously rotating the body with the ball to the left and passing it to Teammate B. Teammate B then lunges and twists laterally right and passes back to Teammate A. That’s one rep. Continue for nine more reps. Then switch positions as Teammate A now lunges/twists/passes the ball laterally right and Teammate B is now lunging/twisting/passing left—each doing 10 more reps.
- Sports-Specific Benefits: This upper and lower body combo exercise especially targets abdominal muscles and builds core strength with the ball twists—so it’s applicable for sports that require twisting/turning like swinging a bat in baseball or softball, turning around to catch a football or basketball pass, lunging right or left to hit a tennis ball, or a lacrosse player turning and passing the ball sideways to a teammate. The exercise also transcends to sports such as baseball/softball, football, and basketball that require athletes to rotate left or right to toss the ball to a teammate. Examples: A quarterback turning sideways and passing the ball laterally to a running back; a shortstop fielding a groundball, turning, and tossing the ball to the second baseman to force out an advancing runner; a basketball guard lunging right or left, turning and passing the ball to an open teammate for a three-point shot in the corner.
5. Walking Forward Lunge and Ball Raise. Hold the ball at waist level with arms extended. Lunge forward with your right leg and simultaneously raise the ball overhead. Bring the ball down to the start position while still in a lunge position. Lunge forward with your left leg and raise the ball overhead. That’s two reps. Continue for 10 reps, alternating right/left lunges and ball raises.
- Sports-Specific Benefits: Builds leg, hip, arm, and shoulder muscles and mimics a basketball center lunging for a rebound and raising the ball overhead away from an opponent.
6. Partner Ball Rolls From Push-Up Position. Both athletes begin in a push-up position—spaced about two feet laterally apart from each other—with their back straight, core tight, and preventing hips and the lower back from sagging during the exercise. Teammate A: With the right hand atop the ball, left hand on floor, roll it sideways to the right to Teammate B. Teammate B then places left hand on the ball, right hand on the floor, and laterally rolls it back to Teammate A (one rep for each athlete). Continue for 10 reps, switch positions, and Teammate A now rolls the ball with the left hand to Teammate B/Teammate B rolls the ball back with the right hand.
- Sports-Specific Benefits: The exercise thoroughly works core, arm, chest, shoulder, and back muscles and simulates underhand lateral passing the ball motions in sports such as baseball/softball, football, and basketball.
7. Alternating Ball Chop and Squat. From an athletic stance and ball held overhead, drive the ball down and across your body toward the right ankle while lowering into a squat. Rise and bring the ball back overhead; then, quickly bring the ball down toward the left ankle as you’re squatting. That’s one alternating ball chop. Do nine more and rest.
- Sports-Specific Benefits: The core, upper body, and lower body muscles are all engaged during the movement. If you’re a baseball or softball coach, tell players—particularly infielders—that this is a terrific exercise that mimics reaching overhead to catch the ball and quickly bringing the glove down to tag a baserunner.
8. Single Leg Overhead Press. Hold the ball in front at shoulder level, bend the right knee with the left foot off the floor, and press the ball overhead, back to start position, and overhead for 10 reps. Rest; then, switch with the right foot off the floor and press overhead 10 reps.
- Sports-Specific Benefits: While enhancing balance and core stability, this exercise also engages the lower body muscles (leg and hip) when one foot is off the floor, while building arm, chest, and shoulder muscles, and mimics a basketball player balancing on one foot while shooting the ball before the shot clock expires, for example, or a volleyball player off balance and passing the ball overhead to a teammate for a spike.
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