Medicine ball exercises are great for building strength and power. What's great is that they take up minimal space, are low-cost and are suitable for all fitness levels. This makes them versatile pieces of equipment and very popular amongst the fitness community. 

So, do you want to build strength and power? If so, stick around, this post will cover why and how you should incorporate medicine balls into your programme, provide safety tips, and provide the most popular '10 medicine ball exercises to build strength and power at home'.

Why Train with Medicine Balls?

Medicine balls are compact, versatile pieces of equipment. You can incorporate them into many different exercises, making them useful for building functional strength, explosive power, and core stability. Furthermore, including them in your training will add variety to your programme, which is crucial for enjoyment and engagement in your training. 

You can use medicine balls to mimic real-life movements, making your adaptations functional to achieve your fitness goals. For instance, mixed martial artists may want to enhance their punching power. Such movements require a complex interaction to produce force through your lower limbs (pressing into the ground), through your core and through the chest, shoulders and arms. Thus, if you were to complete compound movements with barbells, you often only hit one section of this chain. With medicine balls, you can perform rotational ball throws, mimicking a punch, building task-specific strength. In fact, research has shown that medicine balls can significantly improve rotational power and athletic performance in a range of sports. You can replicate this for many movements, to build strength, power and core stability. 

It's also important to know that medicine balls can come in different styles, with different variations of ball type equipment. For instance, our standard medicine balls also come with an option for handles (medicine balls with handles), allowing greater control for rotational movements, such as russian twists. In addition, wall balls and slam balls are also other variations, great for throws (wall balls) and floor slams (slam balls); both are great for building explosive power. 

Check out our previous blog for more information on which ball variation best suits your fitness goals: "Medicine Balls vs Wall Balls: Which Should You Use?"

How to Create a Medicine Ball Workout Routine

So, now you know some of the benefits, how do you create your medicine ball routine?

Similar to any training programme, you should incorporate medicine ball training 2–3 times per week. Medicine ball exercises are typically best incorporated into super-set or circuit-style training. If you choose to incorporate it into circuits, it would be recommended to complete 3 rounds with about 4-5 exercises per round. When incorporating medicine ball exercises into supersets, they can be paired with more traditional modes of training. This will not only help improve power and strength, but also target muscular endurance. 

You should incorporate longer rest periods when performing power-based exercises to restore energy stores. This is because power exercises utilise fast-twitch muscle fibres to complete the movement, which typically rely on quick energy systems. Thus, you need to restore these energy stores, with the majority of stores replenished in around 2-3 minutes. 

Just like traditional training, it is also important to progressively overload your medicine ball training by increasing the reps, the weight of the ball or even the speed at which you complete the exercises. This will massively help you adapt and improve strength and power. 

Safety and Preparation Tips

Your safety when completing any form of exercise is crucial for your wellbeing, but also for you to progress. So, how can we help avoid this? 

Warming up is crucial for improving safety when exercising. This is due to it increasing muscle temperature, making the muscle more elastic, which also improves flexibility and limits the chance of strains. Warming up also activates stabiliser muscles to improve coordination and movement mechanics, thus limiting injury risk. 

You should also be considerate of the weight you lift and the speed at which you complete the exercise. Especially if you are new to medicine ball training (even if you are well resistance trained), you need to start light and slow. By doing so, you are allowing for more intrinsic stabiliser muscles, especially those that support the spine (i.e., multifidus that runs along the spine), to adapt and build strength. This is crucial to prevent injury during rotational movements. Secondly, you will also get a greater sense of the movement and be able to learn the proper form to then progress to heavier weights or more explosive contractions. 

Lastly, as with any gym, the correct flooring and storage should be incorporated into your space. Flooring will prevent slips, but also protect your equipment. By choosing rubber flooring, it will offer protection for your floor and the medicine ball you decide to use, allowing you to perform slams, etc. Furthermore, proper storage will help keep your space clutter-free and prevent unnecessary trips. 

The Top 10 Medicine Ball Exercises to Build Strength and Power

Strength-Focused Exercises:

1. Medicine Ball Squat to Press - Great for strength production from the quadriceps to the shoulders. 
2. Medicine Ball Russian Twist - Build strength in the core and obliques
3. Medicine Ball Push-Ups - Increase pectoral and tricep strength and growth. This exercise adds a balance aspect that also engages and strengthens the core. 
4. Medicine Ball Wall-Sits - Builds lower limb strength and muscular endurance.
5. Medicine Ball Lunge - Builds strength unilaterally and improves motor control (balance).

You should complete these exercises with a heavier ball and at a controlled pace. This will ensure you optimise time-under-tension to build strength and muscle size.

Power-Focused Exercises: 

1. Medicine Ball chest Press/pass - Upper body rate of force development 
2. Rotational Throws - Core power and strength 
3. Overhead Throws - Power generation of the back, core and arms
4. Medicine Ball Cleans - Improves triple extension (power through extension of the ankle, knee and hip)

These movements should be completed with lower relative loads to complete movements at the velocity end of the force–velocity profile. This refers to the relationship between your maximum force and the velocity at which you complete the movement. By targeting loads (forces) that fall towards the velocity end of the profile, it is thought to improve the rate of force development/power (Source). 

Considerations at home

Understandably, some of these movements, especially those involving slamming or throws, may be tricky to do at home. The most ideal situation for slams is to purchase Slam Balls and have gym flooring, such as rubber tile flooring or a more affordable alternative, like the Jigsaw mat flooring. But we know that placing flooring may not be accessible for all, especially those using spaces for multiple purposes, such as garage spaces. If this is the case, thick folding gym mats are a great alternative to ensure you protect your equipment and floor. Outside of this, you should be creative; for example, when completing throws, you could do so on a grassy area, which will help soften contacts and protect your equipment.

Conclusion

Ultimatley, medicine balls provide a dynamic option to improve strength and power at home. You should try out the top 10 recommended exercises and see how they feel. Like with any programme, stay consistent and you will see results over time. 

So, if you're ready to jump into the world of medicine balls, check out our collection on our website www.exersci.co.uk.