Willow Bend Family Medicine Robert Cook

The variety it adds can take you to the new fitness levels when you are trying to improve sports performance, prevent or rehabilitate injuries, build muscle or burn body fat.The exercises consist of movements requiring a blend of balance, stabilization, strength and coordination of the entire body similar to everyday and/or sports related movements and speeds.Medicine ball exercises can either be used alone or with a partner.Here is a great med-ball workout for improving explosive power, quickness, muscular and cardiovascular endurance and burning body fat:

Warm-Up: Perform the exercises listed in a circuitPush-Up Hold x 30 seconds- Place your hands on the ground and one foot at a time on the medicine ball. Keep your back straight and you'll feel your abs working hard to keep your body stable. This is a simple yet highly effective core strength and stabilization exercise.Seated Rotations x 20 total repetitions (10 to each side)- Begin sitting holding the ball in front of you at arms length and mid chest height. Rotate to one side keeping the ball and your arms in front of your chest at all times. Do not allow your elbows to bend. The idea is to move your entire upper body not just your arms. Return to starting position and repeat to the other side.This is an excellent exercise for developing trunk rotation mobility that is specific to many movements such as running, swinging a golf club, tennis racket or baseball bat, getting in and out of a car, picking up groceries or a laundry basket and putting it on a table at your side. These are only some examples.Workout: Perform all exercises in order moving from one medicine ball exercise to the next in a circuitSquat Press x 10 repetitions- Stay on your heels at all times and keep your trunk up 'tall'. Squat down and then explode up using your hips while simultaneously pressing the ball overhead. The key is to use your hips to create momentum (power) that pushes the ball overhead. You do not want to simply use your arms to push the medicine ball.This exercise helps to develop total body explosive power.Toe Touch Lunges x 20 total repetitions (10 to each side)- Begin standing with feet together holding the ball overhead. Lunge forward with one leg and at the same time touch your front toe with the ball. Quickly return back to starting position by explosively driving off of your front leg. Alternate legs each repetition. This is a great medicine ball exercise for developing speed and quickness, balance and lower body coordination, cardiovascular conditioning and burns lots of calories.

Toe Touch Crunch x 20 total repetitions (10 to each side)- Begin lying on your back on the ground with legs out in front of you and arms back behind your head. Bring the ball and one leg off the ground together. As you do this try to sit up as far as you can reaching to touch the ball to your toes.Get your trunk off the ground as much as possible on this. This movement develops core strength during upper and lower body movements. It also mobilizes the trunk in flexion and extension based movements that are part of our everyday life.Complete 3-5 CircuitsMedicine ball exercise provides an almost unlimited number of unique training options you can use to achieve any fitness goal.