We provide step by step medicine ball exercise instructional guides for the best medicine ball exercises. Each instructional exercise page will show you how to properly perform a specific medicine ball movement. We offer detailed exercise photos and workout instructions for each exercise!
ABDOMINALS (ABS):
Exercise Name: Ab Crunches
Exercise Advice: Lie on your back on an exercise ball with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent. Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it on your chest. Begin to roll your shoulders off the exercise ball. Continue to push down with your lower back. Your shoulders should come up off the ball only about four inches, and your lower back should always remain on the ball. As always, make sure you let your abs do the work in a slow and controlled fashion!
Exercise Name: Leg Crunches
Exercise Advice: Lie flat on your back on a mat with your arm and legs stretched out. Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold above your head. Begin to crunch up while bringing your legs up also. Place the ball in between your knees and extract back to the starting position. Then crunch again and pick up the ball from your knees. As always, make sure you let your abs do the work in a slow and controlled fashion!
Exercise Name: Twist Crunches
Exercise Advice: Place a medicine ball in between your knees while also holding a ball in your hands. Keep your knees up in a crunch position and hold your hands above your chest. Slowly twist your legs to one side while twisting your upper body to the opposite side. Repeat with the other side while keeping all the tension on your abs.
Exercise Name: Lying Torso Twists
Exercise Advice: Lie in the floor with knees pulled in over the chest. Place a ball between knees. Contract the abs and twist the hips to the right, bringing knees towards the floor (keep your shoulders flat on the floor). Don’t touch the floor, but use the abs to bring knees back to start and go to the other side.
Exercise Name: Ball Rotation
Exercise Advice: Lie face up with exercise ball under your lower back. Hold a medicine ball and place your arms straight up over chest. Hold your body in a straight line from hips to knees, knees at a 90 degree angle. Tightening your glutes and abs, slowly twist your body to one side, sweeping arms parallel to the floor, then back up, repeating on the other side. Keep your hips straight (don’t turn them when you turn your body) and abs pulled in.
Exercise Name: Standing Oblique Twists
Exercise Advice: While standing, hold a medicine ball in your hands with your arms at your sides and your hands positioned just above your waist. Twist the ball around your body to one side while keeping your lower body fixed and really feeling the tension on your sides (obliques). Repeat by twisting to the other side.
Exercise Name: Floor Crunches
Exercise Advice: Lie flat on your back on a mat with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent. Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it on your chest. Push the small of your back down to the floor to isolate your ab muscles. Begin to roll your shoulders off the floor. Continue to push down with your lower back. Your shoulders should come up off the floor only about four inches, and your lower back should always remain on the floor. As always, make sure you let your abs do the work in a slow and controlled fashion!
Exercise Name: Long Arm Oblique Twists
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it out to one side of your body, about lower-chest level. With your feet just beyond shoulder width apart, slowly rotate your trunk to the right and then back to the left as far as you can twist. Be sure to really focus on flexing your abdominals throughout the entire exercise.
Exercise Name: Standing One Legged Twists
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it out in front of your body, about lower-chest level. Balance yourself on one foot and slowly rotate your trunk to the right and then back to the left as far as you can twist. Repeat this movement for the desired number of repetitions and then repeat standing on the opposite foot. Be sure to really focus on flexing your abdominals throughout the entire exercise.
Exercise Name: Medicine Ball Leg Raises
Exercise Advice: Start off with a very light medicine ball to get the form of the movement down. While Laying down on an exercise mat, securely hold a medicine ball over your head and stretch out your arms and legs. Crunch upwards keeping your arms straight and raise your feet to your hands. Slowly place the medicine ball in between your feet and lower your body into the starting position while keeping your feet just off the ground and the medicine ball between your feet. Crunch back up, raise your legs and grab the medicine ball from your feet. Finally, lower your legs and upper body to the starting position. This is a very tough ab exercise, so make sure to start off very light and focus on perfect form.
BICEPS
Exercise Name: Biceps Curls
Exercise Advice: While standing, hold a medicine ball in your hands with your arms at your sides and your hands positioned just below your waist. Curl the ball up to your chest while keeping tension on your biceps. Slowly lower the ball and repeat.
CHEST
Exercise Name: One Arm Pushups
Exercise Advice: Position yourself in a regular pushup position. The only difference is that you will place a small medicine ball underneath one of your hands. Execute as many pushups as you desire and then move the medicine ball underneath the opposite hand for the next set of pushups.
Exercise Name: Chest Pass
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it against your chest while kneeling on a mat on the floor. Execute a two-handed chest pass and toss the medicine ball against a solid wall. Repeat this movement for the desired number of repetitions.
SHOULDERS
Exercise Name: Front Deltoid Raises
Exercise Advice: Stand with your legs about shoulder width apart and hold a medicine ball with both hands letting the ball hang straight down in front of you. Slowly lift the medicine ball up to where your arms become parallel to the floor. Hold the medicine ball for a one-count at the top of the movement and return to the start position and repeat. Be sure to keep both arms fully extended throughout the entire exercise.
TRICEPS
Exercise Name: Overhead Triceps Extensions
Exercise Advice: Stand or sit in an upright position holding a medicine ball with both hands back behind your head. Slowly extend the medicine ball upward, keeping your elbows locked in place. Once your arms are fully extended, flex your triceps for a one-count. Return to the start position and repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.
LEGS
Exercise Name: Front Reach
Exercise Advice: Begin with ball at belly button. Step out and reach out with your ball in hand and try to touch the ball to your foot. Slowly step back to the starting position and repeat on the other side.
Exercise Name: Side Reach
Exercise Advice: Begin with ball below your belly button. Step out to the side and reach out with a ball in hand and try to touch the ball to your foot. Slowly step back to the starting position and repeat on the other side.
Exercise Name: Walking Lunges
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it out in front of your body, about belly button level. Step/lunge forward with one foot while simultaneously rotating the medicine ball from out in front of your belly button to the hip of your lunging leg. On your next step/lunge with the opposite leg, rotate the medicine ball over to the opposite hip. Continue for as many steps as desired.
Exercise Name: One Legged Squats
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it straight out in front of you. Stand on one foot and slowly execute a full squat as though you are sitting in an imaginary chair. Repeat the movement for the desired amount of repetitions and repeat with the opposite leg.
Exercise Name: Squats
Exercise Advice: Stand with a wide stance while holding a medicine ball with both hands. Fully extend your arms straight out in front of your body at shoulder level. Next, simply perform a full squat so as to imagine that you are sitting down in a chair. Return to the start position and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Exercise Name: Overhead Lunges
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it at about belly button level. Step/lunge forward with one foot while simultaneously raising the medicine ball from your belly button to as high above your head as possible. Keep the medicine ball held high above your head throughout each lunge and continue for as many steps as desired.
Exercise Name: Wall Squats
Exercise Advice: Position yourself with your back against a smooth wall while holding a medicine ball with both hands. Fully extend your arms straight out in front of your body at shoulder level. Next, simply perform a full squat so as to imagine that you are sitting down in a chair. Return to the start position and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
OTHER EXERCISES
Exercise Name: Figure 8s
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it out to one side of your head. With your feet about shoulder width apart, slowly move the medicine ball in a continuous motion forming the pattern of the number 8. Repeat the movement for the desired amount of repetitions in one direction and then repeat the exercise in the opposite direction.
Exercise Name: Giant Zeros
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it high above your head. With your feet just beyond shoulder width apart, slowly move the medicine ball in the continuous motion forming the pattern of a giant number zero. Repeat the movement for the desired amount of repetitions.
Exercise Name: One Legged Cross Body Chops
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it out and above the right side of you head. Balance yourself on one foot and slowly bring the medicine ball down and across your body as though you are chopping wood. Repeat the movement for the desired amount of repetitions and then repeat the exercise on the opposite side.
Exercise Name: Overhead Chops
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it high above your head. With your feet just beyond shoulder width apart, slowly bring the medicine ball down in between your legs, just above your feet. Repeat the movement for the desired amount of repetitions.
Exercise Name: Shot Put
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it back and to the side of one shoulder. Point your opposite hip and shoulder toward your workout partner (or a firm wall) and throw the medicine call like a shot put, up and out as far as you can. You can also perform this exercise without a partner and simply toss the medicine ball against a solid wall. Repeat this movement for the desired number of repetitions and repeat with the opposite side.
Exercise Name: Shuttle Pass Sprints
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and position yourself in a four-point football stance with both hands securely on the medicine ball on the ground. Explode out of the four-point stance and simultaneously execute a two-handed chest pass to your workout partner standing 10 feet away. Follow your pass by continuing to sprint for 40 yards. Repeat the exercise for the desired amount of repetitions.
Exercise Name: Side Throws
Exercise Advice: Position yourself 90 degrees either to a wall or to a partner. The ball will be level with right hip and your arms will be slightly bent. Initiate the throw by swinging the ball around your torso and to the other side. Release the ball against the wall and repeat.
Exercise Name: Squat Throws
Exercise Advice: Start with ball positioned at waist level with knees slightly bent. Quickly squat lowering ball to calf level and explode up throwing the ball as high as possible directly overhead. Let the ball bounce once, reposition and repeat drill.
Exercise Name: Two Handed Hammer Throws
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it on your right hip with your back facing your partner (or a firm wall). With your feet just beyond shoulder width apart, toss the medicine ball from your hip up over one of your shoulders to your workout partner by twisting your trunk. You can also perform this exercise without a partner and simply toss the medicine ball against a solid wall. Repeat the movement for the desired amount of repetitions and repeat with the opposite hip and shoulder.
Exercise Name: Wall Throws
Exercise Advice: Grab a medicine ball with both hands and hold it high above your head. With your feet just beyond shoulder width apart, execute an overhead throw to your workout partner standing about 10 feet away from you. You can also perform this exercise without a partner and simply throw the medicine ball against a solid wall. Repeat the movement for the desired amount of repetitions and repeat.
