These 3 Medicine Ball Exercises Create Champions!!!

With the start of the Outdoor season, I wanted to implement more ballistic and plyometric exercises with the athletes that train at Garage Strength. Since March 10th, we have implemented these three medicine ball exercises on every program leading into championships and so far we've added several feet to our athlete's personal bests. In today's blog I am going to reveal the three exercises that had made our athletes successful!

Well....Slight Disclaimer

I throughly believe that the three exercises that I am going to talk about in this blog have allowed our athletes to find that next gear when it comes to training but I don't want to discredit the other parts of our training that lead them to this point. In our training system, we prioritize developing strength and power through exercises like cleans, back squats, single leg squats, and many more. Those exercises were the foundation of our success. We wouldn't be in the spot we are in if it wasn't for those exercises. If you want to learn more about our training systems, pick up our online course The Perfect Throws Season!

Now For The Good Part

Alright, I will get straight to the point. The three medicine ball exercises that I implemented that have garnered significant results are Med Ball Bench, Med Ball Overhead Tosses, and Med Ball Side Tosses!

These three exercises are great for developing the qualities to be an explosive powerful thrower. These three exercises are very specific to throwing, as they create similar stimulus' as throwing. Med Ball Bench is very similar to the delivery of the shot. Med Ball Side tosses are similar to rotating around and pushing the implement out like discus. Med Ball Overhead tosses are similar to the summation of forces working from the ground up into the implement as in both events!

Medicine Ball Bench

The goal of this exercise for the athlete is rapidly accelerate the ball back to the partners hand after the ball is dropped. This exercises focuses on concentric power, which is great for developing an explosive finish!

For our male athletes, I will work with weights ranging from 10 to 14 pounds. With our female athletes, I will work with weights ranging from 6 to 10 pounds. We will do 3-4 sets of 5 repitions.

Medicine Ball Side Tosses

The goal of this exercise for the athlete is to decelerate/accelerate the ball back to the hands of the partner. This exercises is great for developing rotational power needed to work an implement around and out into the finish!

For our male athletes, I will work with weights ranging from 10 to 12 pounds. With our female athletes, I will work with weights ranging from 6 to 10 pounds. We will do 3-4 sets of 5 repetitions.

Medicine Ball Overhead Tosses

The goal of this exercise for the athlete is to toss overhead as high as physically possible. This exercise is great for learning the rhythm/sequencing of working the ground/lowerbody into the delivery of an implement!

For our male athletes, I will work with weights ranging from 10 to 14 pounds. With our female athletes, I will work with weights ranging from 6 to 10 pounds. We will do 3-4 sets of 5 repetitions.

Since implementing these three exercises into the programming for the athletes that I train, we've seen significant improvements on personal bests, with one athlete going from throwing 43 feet indoors to 55 feet outdoors. As previously mentioned, these exercises are supplements to the strength training that we do. If you are someone who wants to make MAJOR improvements in your performance, get yourself a custom program!

"Our aim is to provide concise and concrete education and training on the throws, helping coaches and athletes learn what they need to do to succeed and become champions."

                                                     - Dane, Trevor, and Sam