How to Train with Medicine Balls

Medicine ball exercises will help your athletes learn the basic body positions, develop specific athletic abilities and  can enhance technique. Medicine ball training can serve to assist with training objectives in sports performance.

Medicine ball training is extremely versatile enabling the athlete to develop athletic performance abilities in many different ways.

Similar to plyometric training, medicine ball training needs to be systematically organized and used as an additional training stimulus to help the athlete maximize competition performance.

Medicine ball training like all elements in the training program has to have a purpose related to improving performance.

 10 best throws for track and field athletes

• Step into side discus throw
• Shot put shuffle throw 
• Hammer throw from 270 degrees 
• Overhead javelin style throw
• 3 way slam downs
• Overhead back throw
• Forward throw for height 
• Forward throw for distance
• 1 forward jump to forward throw for distance 
• 1 backward jump to overhead back throw

Medicine Ball Training

Medicine ball training is a commonly used training modality for track and field athletes to improve performance. Medicine ball exercises can be used to train the metabolic energy systems, neuromuscular system, musculoskeletal system and a variety of other athletic performance abilities and needs. 

Types of Throws

Medicine ball training is divided into two main categories; intensive and extensive.

Intensive medicine ball exercises are speed based high intensity movements often paired with explosive strength, reactive strength, plyometric exercises and other movements that focus on high rates of force development. Intensive movements train the neuromuscular system and the musculoskeletal system with simple and complex explosive exercises that require high levels of force and velocity. Skill specific throws develop specific strength, specific speed and the technical patterns for track and field, especially in the throwing events. Since intensive medicine ball training requites high output from the neuromuscular, at least 48 hours of recovery between sessions is required.

Extensive medicine ball exercises focus on general strength development, strength endurance, body control, postural stability, injury prevention and recovery. Extensive work include low intensity exercises with multiple planes of movement for the musculoskeletal system to handle the workloads during track and field training. When using extensive medicine ball training, the terms ‘toss’ or ‘pass’ is used to signify a lower intensity release. Extensive medicine ball training will often involve non-throwing exercises in the warm up routine or with circuit training. For example, in most warm up routines, athletes start with general movements to warm up the body and prepare for the rigors of training. Adding a medicine ball to some of the basic active warm up exercises can add an extra element of strength, stability and balance.

Extensive medicine ball tosses can be used in track and field to reinforce movements patterns for specific throwing events with an emphasis on technique. Extensive training involves lower intensity movements, therefore shorter recovery periods are needed, typically 24 hours is sufficient.

MB Combinations

Medicine ball training involving one movement is considered a simple exercise. Medicine ball throws are often paired with other movements such as jumps or sprints. The combination movements are considered complex movements because they incorporate multiple skills. The complex movement sequences improve coordination and optimizes the summation of forces during movement that results in a higher accumulation of force output.

Medicine Ball Types

Simple Extensive

• Simple skill with minimal movement
• General or event specific exercise
• Low intensity effort 
• Volume range from low to high (20-60 throws)
• Musculoskeletal development

Simple Intensive

• Simple skill with minimal movement
• General or event specific exercise
• High intensity effort 
• Volume range from low to medium (20-40 throws)
• Musculoskeletal development
• Neuromuscular stimulation

Complex Extensive

• Complex skills with multiple movements chained together
• General or event specific exercise
• Low intensity effort 
• Volume range from low to medium (20-40 throws)
• Musculoskeletal development

Complex Intensive

• Complex skills with multiple movements chained together
• General or event specific exercise
• High intensity effort 
• Volume range from low to medium (20-30 throws)
• Musculoskeletal development

Medicine Ball Training Design

Medicine ball training starts with low intensity simple movements during the initial training cycle, followed by a gradual progression to more complex higher intensity exercises.

Limiting the intensive throwing sessions will provide the full recovery of the neuromuscular system necessary to optimize performance.

Extensive throws (general and skill specific) can be programmed together with intensive throws on speed based or explosive training sessions. Intensive throws are not compatible with lower intensity training days or recovery days.

Extensive throws can be performed in every training session because the intensity levels don’t require long recovery periods. As more complex higher intensity medium throws are added into the program after the first few weeks, extensive throws will remain in the program during lower intensity sessions. 

Medicine Ball Training

Medicine ball training is extremely versatile enabling the athlete to develop athletic performance abilities in many different ways. The workout plan for medicine ball training needs to be systematically organized and used as an additional training stimulus to help the athlete maximize competition performance.

Like all elements in the training program, medicine ball work has to have a purpose related to improving performance. 

Intensive Throws

Intensive medicine ball work has a positive transfer of training stimulus for most track and field events, but the effects are not specific enough to devote significant training time except for the throwing events.

Olympic lifting, primary explosive strength exercises along with intensive medicine ball throws are an important of the training program as specific preparation exercises. Specific preparation exercises typically make up 30-35% of program during explosive training sessions. Intensive medicine ball training should be incorporated into explosive training sessions with limited volume (20-30 throws) at very high intensity levels twice a week.

Non-event specific intensive medicine ball exercises thrown at a high rate of speed are used to improve speed based power for track and field athletes. General extensive medicine ball work without throws can be improve flexibility or body awareness. Extensive medicine ball work with an easier throwing motion can be used to improve technique in the throwing events.

Acceleration training, speed training, and resistance runs should be trained in conjunction with explosive movements such as weight training, plyometric jumps, and intensive medicine ball throws. As part of the strength training system, plyometrics and medicine ball throws are often used to improve speed, strength, endurance and other athletic abilities (Enoka, 2015).

Medicine ball throws are often paired with other movements such as jumps or sprints, the complex movement sequences improve coordination and optimize the summation of forces that results in a higher accumulation of force output in movements. Olympic lifting, primary explosive strength exercises along with intensive medicine ball throws are an important of the training program as specific preparation exercises.

Intensive Throws and Performance Measurement

Intensive simple and complex throws can be measured to quantify the progress of the training response and provide feedback on effort. High effort throws are important to develop force and improve maximal power. Athletes are more likely to give high effort if the exercise is measured or a minimal performance is marked to achieve based on individual performance.

Specific exercises can be measured based on quality of technique, coaches can evaluate performance based on the movement patterns with extensive and intensive medicine ball throws.

Extensive Throws

Extensive throws will serve as another exercise modality during the all of training cycles to enhance the athletic qualities needed to improve performance based on an athlete’s event area and individual needs.

Extensive medicine ball exercises are general preparation movements for body control, overall strength or less significant athletic abilities related to competition performance.

General preparation exercises should only compromise of 15-20% of the total training volume, medicine ball training is only a portion of that percentage. It is recommended to use extensive medicine ball training in circuit format on lower intensity training sessions and during recovery periods. Typically, athletes perform 30-50 repetitions of extensive medicine ball exercises in a low intensity session once or twice a week.

The day after high intensity speed training should be a recovery day without explosive movements. After speed endurance training, athletes should have a recovery day with limited activity which can include extensive medicine ball work.

Circuit Training and Medicine Ball Training

In the video, medicine ball work is used in circuit training. Circuit training is often used to used improve general bodyweight strength, balance, coordination with low intensity resistance. The majority of exercises in circuit training are ground based, multi-joint exercises, using various planes of movement to improve strength, balance, and coordination.

View more videos

Favorite Medicine Ball Exercises 

Simple Intensive Exercises

• Overhead back throw
• Forward throw for height
• Forward throw for distance
• Shot put style stand throw
• Hammer wind and throw
• Kneeling chest pass
• Arch and overhead throw

Complex Intensive Exercises

• 1 forward jump to front throw for height
• 1 forward jump to front throw for distance
• 1 backward jump to overhead back throw
• Box drop to forward throw for distance
• Clean and throw forward
• Clean and throw for height
• Shuffle into shot put style stand throw

Simple Extensive MB Throws

• Hammer toss
• Side toss
• Split squat to chest pass 
• Kneeling chest pass
• Squat to chest pass forward 
• Squat to chest pass for height
• Seated twist with long arm toss

Complex Extensive MB Non-Throwing Exercises

• Seated twist with arms out
• V up with arms up
• Squat to press
• Split squat to press
• Single leg pistol squat
• Single leg RDL to hold
• Side lunge to twist

Complex Intensive MB Tosses with Running

• Forward toss 5 meters to jog (repeats)
• Chest pass toss 5 meters to jog (repeats)
• Overhead back toss - turn and run (repeats)
• Side toss to run (repeats)
• Clean to toss forward to run

Conclusion

A proper training plan for strength and conditioning should include weight training, plyometric jumps, medicine ball work, and running. Medicine ball training is a commonly used training modality for track and field athletes to improve performance. Medicine ball exercises can be used to train the metabolic energy systems, neuromuscular system, musculoskeletal system and a variety of other athletic performance abilities and needs.

 Medicine ball exercises can help prepare athletes by developing specific athletic performance abilities with a variety of effective movements. According to Medicine Ball Training, A Complete Book of Medicine Ball Exercises for Coaches of All Sports, medicine ball training has a “large number of possibilities for combinations of exercises and exercise variations, it is relatively simple to create training sessions that are continually challenging, different enough to be interesting, and effective enough to guarantee continual fitness improvement” (Tenke, Higgins & Little, 2003, p. 11).