medicine balls: heavier isn’t better

When you’re working hard in the gym, we want to see your weights increase. It’s a sign that you’re making progress and getting stronger.

With medicine balls exercises, however, more weight isn’t always better - let me explain.

When we’re lifting heavy weights, in movements like goblet squats, back squats, bench presses or deadlifts, the main purpose is to increase our strength.

Strength is your ability to create force. The more strength you have, the more force you can create, and therefore, the stronger you are.

When we train with medicine balls (mb’s), the goal isn’t necessarily to get stronger. Instead medicine balls are a tool to develop and increase power.

Power is the ability to exert force in minimal time or how quickly you can display your strength.

Because of that, when we do mb side tosses, slams, chest passes and the like, we NEED to move fast and throw them hard to get the proper adaptation.

A heavy ball might change your mechanics, or make you move slowly, so you’re not getting the high velocity display of power on each rep.

In other words, 10 mb slams done sluggishly with a 20 pound ball is NOT more effective than 10 snappy, hard hitting slams done with an 8 pounder.

When squatting, heavier is better, but with medicine balls, faster is better. Remember that the next time you’re selecting a medicine ball in the gym!

Justin Miner

@justinminergain