Conditioning

Program of Medicine Ball Exercises

Rob Thickpenny provides an overview of a program of medicine ball strength and conditioning exercises for all track and field event groups in the general and specific phases of training.

Depending on the training age and developmental age of the athlete, the medicine ball should range from 2 to 8kg. Coaches should ensure that the athlete has no pre-existing injuries before using this form of training and that a correct movement pattern (technique) exists before increasing the load.

Dynamic warm-up

The following exercises can be completed with a light medicine ball in the hands (1-3kg) or just with bodyweight until the athlete has a competent movement pattern.

• Squats x 12
• Lateral lunge x 6 left & 6 right
• Sumo squat to overhead press x 12
• Lunge x 6 left & 6 right
• Walking single leg Romanian Deadlift (stiff leg) over 15m
• Sumo squat with 180 degrees rotation over 15m
• Press-ups x 12
• Kneeling lawnmower pulls x 8 left & 8 right
• Supine leg lifts (free leg bent) x 10 left & 10 right
• Supine crucifix (Iron Cross) – opposite foot to hand x 8 left & 8 right
• Standing leg swings – side to side x 8 left & 8 right

A selection of the following exercises should be completed after a thorough dynamic warm-up or after a drills/technical session. See guidelines in Table 1 below for training parameters.

• Seated backward throw
• Chest pass (perform exercise standing on one leg to improve balance and co-ordination)
• 3 touch Russian twist to side throw (increase intensity by elevating feet)
• Overhead throw from kneeling position (kneeling lunge)
• Side throws (against wall or with partner)
• Underhand throw (forwards throw)
• Overhead throw from standing – single leg balance
• Standing backward throw for distance
• Vertical toss for height
• Superman toss
• Plyometric sit-up with overhead throw or chest pass (increase intensity by lying supine on Medicine ball or foam roller – positioned at mid back)

Advanced Exercises

• Power drop (coach releasing the ball from a 12 to 42 inch box)
• Medicine ball shoulder press throw (increase intensity by performing vertical jump on release)
• Supine medicine ball kicks for distance
• Two handed Neider throw followed by 15 metre sprint forwards or backwards
• Jump squats to medicine ball chest pass
• Overhead slam to vertical jump
• V-sits with medicine ball
• Backwards throw with jump to box and stabilise in quarter squat position (box 12 to 42 inches high)
• Medicine ball walkover press-up (explosive)

Complex Training

A more advanced method of training would be to perform explosive medicine ball exercises after a weight lifting exercise, i.e. Cleans or Back Squats followed by a medicine ball vertical toss. This method of training is more commonly known as complex training. As a guideline this type of training should only be employed with athletes who have at least 5 years experience of performance lifting, other compound lifts and have a competent movement pattern.

Table 1 - Training parameters for ballistic method

Bompa et al. (2005) suggests the following loadings:

Referenced Material

1. BOMPA, T. et al. (2005) Periodisation Training for Sports. 2nd ed. USA: Human Kinetics

Page Reference

The reference for this page is:

• THICKPENNY, R. (2009) Program of Medicine Ball Exercises [WWW] Available from: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article056.htm [Accessed

About the Author

Rob Thickpenny is a level 3 Performance Coach in Jumps and holds an honours degree in Sports Science from Brunel University. He was an elite level Pole Vaulter for 12 years. Rob has considerable experience as a Strength and Conditioning Coach with Athletics, Professional Squash, Rugby Union and Hockey. Rob has been involved in coach education for 3 years as tutor for UKA and currently works for England Athletics where he is responsible for coach support and development in Essex.

Associated Pages

The following Sports Coach pages should be read in conjunction with this page:

• Arm Plyometrics
• Complex Training
• High Intensity Plyometrics
• Leg Plyometrics
• Medicine Ball Training
• Plyometrics & Complex Training - example program
• Plyometrics