Medicine Ball Slams

In this lesson you will learn how to do medicine ball slams. The slam is a typical medicine ball exercise, that improves the reactive strength of your back and abdominal muscles. All you need is a non-bouncy medicine ball and the right technique. Click here, to read more about medicine ball exercises in general. Find more reactive strength exercises at track & field main.

Description: Medicine Ball Slams

• Stand on the balls of your feet (at shoulder width), and elevate your heels. Hold a non-bouncy medicine ball over your head and look straight forward. The back, the knees and the ankles are fully extended. Hollowing the back OK, if you don't arch back too much. However, the back must not be hollowed when you reach the lowest point of the movement. The elbows are almost extended. Look straight forward and inhale before you slam your medicine ball down the first time.
• Throw the ball down, so that it touches the floor 0,5 to 1 meter from your feet. Exhale at the same time. You have to round your back as you move down, so that your abs work like if you were doing a crunch. Moving down with a hollowed back is wrong ! Keep your arms quite straight, but don't fully extend your elbows. At the end your heels should be on the floor and your knees should be bent. The movement of the arms comes from the back muscles.
• Let the ball bounce off the floor and catch it when it comes back up. By now, there should be no air in your lungs.
  • If your ball doesn't bounce at all, maintain this position for a second and keep your abs contracted. Then pick it up and lift it again.
  • If the ball bounces too much, don't throw it too close to your feet. It could bounce right into your face. Let the ball jump up in front of your head and catch it when it falls again.
• Lift the ball to the same position where you started from and inhale. Extend legs, lift heels etc. Then do another slam, exhale, round your back and contract your abdominals.

Advice: Medicine Ball Slams

• Before you do your first set, test the bounciness of your medicine ball
• Be aware that if you are not doing this with a non-bouncy medicine ball, the ball could bounce back up into your face. So if you are doing your slams with a normal medicine ball, don't throw it straight down. (throw it forward a bit)
• Some people start with the arms fully extended and the legs, the trunk, the arms and the ball aligned in a perfect, straight line, so that the ball is held as high as possible. That's a good variation if you are a gymnast and also want to work on your straight posture. Always make your exercises a little sport-specific. Little variations like the this are ok.

Related instructions: Medicine Ball Slams

• The Back Muscles
• Abdominals
• Overhead Wall Slams
• Plyometrics

Videos: Medicine Ball Slams

• None

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