Intro:
Are you tired of those boring and lengthy cardio workouts for fat loss and you are looking to add-up something new to your workout routine? Medicine ball slams can be a great add-on.
Have you ever included medicine ball in your workout routine? If not then it’s time to try awesome workouts with the use of medicine balls. Stay tuned with us and we will be discussing many things medicine ball, like how to perform medicine ball workouts, different variations, benefits and precautions that needed to be taken care off.
Medicine balls these days are available in verity of sizes depending on the purpose. Through this article, we will be covering about the smaller and heavier version of medicine ball which is also known as SlamBall.
How to do:
This shorter ball also got its name “Slam Ball” because you have to slam it on a surface as a process of the workout.
These medicine balls are available in various sizes from 10 pounds to 150 pounds.
Medicine ball slams can be a great addition to your home work out, it compound movements targets various muscle groups of your body.
Let’s discuss how to perform medicine ball slams.
- Stand with your feet shoulders wide apart.
- Pick the ball up and bring it up to full overhead position (make sure ball is non-bouncy).
- Throw the ball down vertically on the floor with your full force.
- Catch the ball while it bounce and bring it back in overhead position
- Repeat the process.
Breathing tips while Medicine Ball Slams :
- Inhale while you get the ball in overhead position
- Exhale when you perform the medicine ball slams
Precautions-
- Make sure the medicine ball is non bouncy, else you might end up with broken nose
- Check the bounciness before trying out medicine ball slams.If your ball is moderate bouncy then don’t slam it vertically, instead slam is in
- If your ball is moderate bouncy then don’t slam it vertically, instead slam is in forward direction towards some wall or anything else.Try beginning with low weighted medicine ball
- Try beginning with low weighted medicine ball
Benefits-
Doing medicine ball slams is not just fun but it’s packed with lots of benefits too. let’s discuss how this simple ball can give you more strength, energy and raise your metabolism.
1# Versatile
I believe versatility is the best benefit of medicine ball slams. You can’t make many excuses to perform this wonderful exercise.
The versatility of this exercise makes sure that you don’t miss your workout.
Medicine ball slams can be done anywhere, whether you workout at the gym or outdoor or at home, you can perform this wonderful core clenching exercise anywhere.
2# Strength and Speed
Medicine ball slams is a great way to activate your fast-twitch muscle.
Those who are not aware of fast- twitch muscle fibers and slow twitch muscle fiber, let me just summarize you the difference.
Slow-twitch muscle fibers
– These are muscle fibers who are responsible for longer endurance
– Example distance running Fast-twitch muscle fibers
Fast-twitch Muscle fibers
– These muscle fibers are used for powerful bursts of movements like sprinting.
– Helps in elevating testosterone levels
– Promotes muscle gain.
So due to targeting your fast twitch muscle fibers, you are promoting your body to gain more strength and agility to move faster.
3# Multi-joint Movement
I promote compound movements throughout my every article because they are responsible for better and faster results in muscle building and fat loss.
Medicine ball slams is a functional movement which promotes stronger and healthier joints.
4# HIIT
Medicine ball slams are a part of HIIT workout which makes it a better alternative to slow and boring cardio, additionally, it also helps in elevating the metabolism for next 16- 24 hours.
Try medicine ball slams in Tabata style, which means you will slam the ball hard for 20 seconds and then 10 seconds of rest. Repeat the process 8 times that means for 4 minutes.
I can bet you that after those 4 minute your cardiovascular system and will be begging you for rest.
5# Variations
To make the workout exciting you can choose over 20 variations of full body medicine ball slams workout.
Through different variations, you can target different body parts, so no need to complete home gym setup when you can have great body using medicine ball only.
We will be attaching a YouTube video about the different variations of medicine ball workout below in this article so please stay tuned.
6# Faster Fat Loss
Why faster fat loss? Because you won’t need those hours of slow cardio to burn few hundred calories.
Like all HIIT workout, medicine ball slams also improves body metabolism and get your body into state known as “afterburn effect”
What is afterburn effect? This happens because of the depletion of your body’s oxygen stores, as a natural tendency of the body, your body automatically starts working to improve the blood oxygen level of body and start stacking up oxygen in the body.
A research has shown that high-intensity workout forces body to work for another 16-24 hours to maintain the optimum oxygen level of the body. Another study has also shown High-intensity exercise (like burpee or sprinting medicine ball slams) improves the body’s ability for better consumption of oxygen in comparison to low-intensity exercise.
So we can summarize, that HIIT workout (like medicine ball slams) can improve your body’s capability to burn more calories throughout the day and improves your capability to utilize oxygen.
7# Endurance
Medicine ball slams is ultimately a cardio exercise, which means it improves your cardiac system capabilities.
Medicine ball slams is a great tool to improve your body’s endurance when you perform those fast burst movements your body start feeling out of oxygen.
8# Perfect Vacation Partner
For those who love to travel, this is a perfect portable solution to fitness.
Whenever I am on my vacation I always keep some of my favorite full body workout fitness equipment. I always keep a resistance band, a skipping rope, and a medicine ball.
Workouts
Medicine ball slam with Burpee
This is for someone who wants to add difficulty level to their burpee.
- Perform a burpee and when you get on your feet after a jump squat perform a medicine ball slam for a single time.
- Again perform a burpee
Medicine ball slam in Tabata style
Workout in Tabata style is my favorite. It is time-saving and transforms your body into calory burning machine. Here is how to do it
- 20-seconds of medicine ball slams
- 10-second rest
- Repeat for 8 times.
15-minute medicine ball slam madness
The workout will be divided into 15 sets. You are required to perform 30 seconds of medicine ball slams and 30 seconds rest. For example
- Set-1
- Start a stopwatch
- Perform medicine ball slams for 30 seconds
- Rest for 30 seconds
- Get your self ready for set 2
- Set-2
- Repeat the process of set-1
- Repeat the process till 15th
Centurion Workout
You need to perform a string of workouts, try to perform as many rounds as you can.
- 40 medicine ball slams
- 30 bodyweight squats
- 20 push-up
- 10 pull-up
Have a look at a video showcasing 18 type of exercises with a medicine ball.
Major Muscle Groups Affected While Medicine Ball Slams
- Core
- Traps
- Oblique
- Shoulders
- Quads
- Glutes
- Calves
Read More:
12 Variations Of Ab Exercises With Medicine Ball..
11 Burpees benefits and all about burpees exercise.
Amazing Burpee Workout for Muscle Growth & Fat loss
