Medicine Ball Workout

There's really no excuse for not being able to do a workout in your own home these days. There are loads of simple bodyweight exercises you can do and you can find basic pieces of equipment quite easily. Supplier of sports clothing and equipment, MilletSports, contacted me recently and asked if I would like to write a product review for them. Now I'm a sucker for a bit of kit but as I'm trying to build up my collection of equipment it seemed a perfect opportunity to fill a couple of gaps. I already own a weighted hula hoop, BOSU ball, skipping rope, kettlebell, dumbbells and yoga mat but there's a couple of other pieces I'd like. They have a huge range of kit and equipment for all manner of sporting endeavours at competitive prices with free delivery on orders over £50. They produce a nifty magazine that you can read online to boot.

Now the title of this post has probably given away the fact that one of the items I chose was a medicine ball. A 5kg medicine ball to be precise, that arrived just 2 days after ordering. It's a versatile bit of kit that I'm hoping to get a lot of use out of. To kick things off I've put together a little workout that you can try yourself either in the gym or at home. Try 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps of each exercise. Oh and please excuse the quality of the photos. I was trying to do them with a timer in a small space...

Squat with overhead reach - Start by holding the medicine ball at chest height. Perform a normal squat but as you rise back to a standing position, raise the medicine ball overhead. As you squat down again, bring the medicine ball back to chest level.

Shoulder press - Start by holding the medicine ball at chest height and then extending the arms up and pressing it towards the ceiling. Return to start position. Remember to brace your core and step one foot slightly behind to stop yourself swaying too much.

Chest Press - Lie on the floor and hold the medicine ball with both hands just above the middle of your chest. Extend both arms straight up and press the ball away from your chest towards the ceiling. Lower back to the start position.

Glute bridge - Lie on the floor with both feet on the medicine ball. Push down through the heels and raise the hips to a bridge position. Hold briefly then carefully return to the start position. Make this even tougher by balancing on one leg at a time and keeping the other leg raised.

Bicep curl - Hold the medicine ball with both hands, elbows tucked into your sides. Starting with the hands at your thighs, curl the arms up until the ball almost touches your chest and lour back down again.

Tricep Press - Hold the medicine ball above your head with both hands. With the elbows pointing forwards bend the arms so that the ball drops behind your head. Extend the arms back up to the start position, concentration on keeping the elbows still.

Russian Twists - Sit on the floor with legs and hips bent at 90 degrees and body leaning back at around a 45 degree angle, holding the medicine ball with both hands. Twist your body to one side, moving the ball with you. Return to centre and repeat on the other side.

Crunches - Lie on the floor with knees bent at 90 degrees and feet on the floor. Lift the medicine ball   towards the ceiling with straight arms. As you curl up into a crunch, keep your eyes looking towards the ceiling and arms straight, lifting the ball slightly. 

Pressups - Adopt a standard press up position but with one hand on the medicine ball. Do a press-up then roll the ball to the opposite hand and repeat.

Plank - Place both hands on the medicine ball and hold a plank position. This pose is more unstable than a regular plank so don't fret if you can't hold it for very long to begin with. Work up to 3 x 30 seconds.

Happy workout! Keep your eyes peeled for another workout featuring another piece of new kit soon!


Disclaimer: MilletSports allowed me to choose products up to the value of £50 in return for a review on my site. All views are my own. The 5kg medicine ball was priced at £29.99 at the time of writing.