The medicinal ball is an element that we can easily find in a gym or why not, take it home or make it with our own hands. It allows a very intense and functional work and therefore, today we show how we can work the whole body using a single medicinal ball.

A medicinal ball: Different uses

We find medicinal balls of different sizes and weights, and we can use them not only as ballast or load, but also as an unstable support point, to launch or to roll.

Given its circular shape that prevents a precise grip and all the forms of use it admits, with medicinal ball we will achieve a functional training that prepares us for everyday gestures such as lifting objects, moving them from one side to another or throwing and picking them up.

Of course, the more weight of the balloon, the greater the effort of our body, although if we use it as a point of support we will achieve a great instability that also intensifies the work.

With only one medicinal ball we can achieve a hard and complete workout to exercise the whole body.

Medical Ball Exercises

To work different parts of the body and make the most of this element as versatile as functional, we propose to perform the following exercises …

  • Wall ball shot : it is one of the most used exercises in Crossfit because it demands strength and power to our body while it allows to burn calories. The best: exercises buttocks, quadriceps, hamstrings or femoral and also, pectorals, shoulders and triceps. It is not just throwing the ball, but requires a good run technique to work the correct muscles safely, you can see how it is done in Vitonica .
  • Burpees : as we would a traditional burpees , we can take a medicinal ball in the hands and when we lower the body to lie on the ground, we will lean on the same instead of on the ground. This unstable support will demand a greater effort to the core but also we will work shoulders, arms, pectorals, legs and we will burn calories. In the following video you can see this movement:
  • Abdominal bridge or plank on medicinal ball : a variant of the classic isometric on medical balls. We will support both the hands and the feet on them and we will achieve an intense work in instability that above all, requests the effort of all the muscles of the middle part of the body, as you can see in Vitónica .
  • Jumping jacks with medicine ball : to burn calories and work muscle power with the help of a medium-weight balloon, we can perform this exercise that mobilizes the legs, arms and works different muscles throughout the body. In the following video you can see its execution:
  • Slamball or throwing the ball to the ground : to work lower and upper train muscles at the same time and also, request the contraction of the abdominals, we can go to this movement that consists of throwing the ball with sufficient weight to the ground.
  • Alternative ball ballooning : to work primarily on the chest, triceps and core while burning some calories, we can perform the movement shown below …

These and many more exercises can be performed with a medicinal ball to work the whole body to the full, and the best, we can elaborate a circuit with these movements realizing by time each one of them and resting briefly before moving to the next one or, we can apply a Routine HIIT.

For example, with four of these exercises we can apply a Tabata routine to burn fat, tone muscles and gain strength at the same time. We would do four intervals of 20 seconds each with 10 seconds of rest between them and we would repeat with the exercises selected.

We have different options for working the whole body with a medicine ball and here you have a selection of the most complete exercises that you can use.