A small weighted ball that can add an extra dimension to toning exercises – particularly for the core. These days a high proportion come with handles, but traditionally medicine balls were all held in the hands, just like a sports ball.
The size, weight and materials of weighted balls vary. Smaller 1KG balls can be as little as 20cm in diameter while the larger 10kg balls measure around 75cm – similar in size to a basketball. Traditionally weighted balls and bags were made of leather but rubber, vinyl and nylon are the most common outer layers today. Those without handles tend to be textured rubber to aid a good grip.
The weight element of a weighted ball varies from model to model. Some have a heavy inner half sphere, others contain a thin rubber ‘bladder’ with a rubber outer which contains an air valve to pump up the ball to the required bounce level.
Weighted balls with handles offer the greatest variety of uses as you can do single-arm exercises. In fact, pretty much anything you can do with a kettlebell you can do with a handled weighted ball in addition to the established medicine ball exercises.
If you’ve got a buddy to train with a weighted ball or bag is a great ingredient for a fun interactive and effective workout. Toe-to-toe sit-ups where the ball is passed over each rep are highly effective back and stomach strengtheners. Throwing and catching weighted balls is also a fantastic exercise for the arms, shoulders and chest.
What’s great about medicine balls is they're low cost, easy to store, highly versatile and genuinely effective. Because they’re free weights you do need to have good posture, control and technique to use them effectively but these days there are so many free examples and so much great advice online that a relative novice could confidently create a program that gave them real results.
