Tuesday, 26 February 2013

Medicine ball training

The medicine ball is a great functional training tool for upper and lower body power as well as rotational power of the torso. As we know rotational power is a a key aspect to performance in many sports such as; baseball, ice hockey, rugby and golf.

The key to medicine ball training is velocity so therefore your main target when doing medicine ball training should be speed. Selecting the appropriate weight of the medicine ball is important so you get the most from your training. If you are struggling to throw the ball then the chances are its too heavy so you need to reduce the weight. Reduce the weight so that you can increase the speed at which you perform the exercise and you will benefit from this and develop your rotational power.

Some examples of rotational power training with a medicine ball are:

- Front twist throw
- Alternating front twist throw
- Side throw
- Side throw with step
- Back twist throw
- Single leg front twist throw

Start with the basic exercises before progressing onto more complex movements. Also build up the effort over a 3 week training period so by the end you are performing 100% efforts. This will not only develop your rotational power if performed correctly but also reduce the risk of injury in training and competition.

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