Medicine Ball

[[old] boppers]

I was just wondering if anyone uses a medicine ball in their training and what sort of things they use it for...

[[old] Porkchop]

<!--QuoteBegin-boppers+Jan 14 2006, 11:25 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(boppers @ Jan 14 2006, 11:25 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I was just wondering if anyone uses a medicine ball in their training and what sort of things they use it for... <br /> </td></tr></table><br />I do, but not directly for rowing-related purposes. It's part of a more generalized exercise program. There are many, many exercises that can be done with MB's: situps and crunches on the ground; "wood-choppers" while standing; they can be thrown in many different positions -- if you have access to a rebounder, you can throw and catch them as they bounce back to you. You can throw then vertically against a wall (as you would shoot a basketball). You can use them for innumerable partner drills. You can use them as unstable support(s) for pushups. (My favorite: elevate your feet on a Swiss ball, and put a medicine ball under each hand it gives a whole new meaning to stabilization.) You can do lateral plyometric pushups -- do a pushup with one hand on the MB and one hand on the floor and switch hands by moving your upper body laterally as you explode off the ground. I have two commercial models (4 & 12 pounds), and one home-made one (an old basketball filled with sand and closed with duct tape --23 pounds). You are only limited by your imagination.