Most people are still familiar with it from their school days: The medicine ball. The formerly somewhat dusty training tool is currently experiencing a true renaissance, medicine balls are valuable aids in functional training and provide a lot of variety in functional muscle training. The heavy solid balls are available in a wide variety of designs: from the classic leather ball to balls made of the latest materials in fresh colors, the range is virtually limitless. Leather balls have low bounce properties and are therefore ideal for support exercises, plastic balls, on the other hand, have much better bounce properties, but they are much more demanding to handle during support exercises. Medicine balls are available with weights from 500g to 10kg and with or without handles. Thus, training with medicine balls today allows a very wide variety of exercises. The selection of the appropriate ball depends on the individual performance level of the trainee, the type of exercises, the targeted number of repetitions and depends on the training goal. Beginners should start with lighter balls, the weight can be slowly increased as the individual's performance level improves.
What are the relevant brands of medicine balls for professional use?
The cheapest medicine balls cost between 14 and 20 euros net. Trendy Sport, Megafitness and ATX place themselves in this segment in terms of price and offer good all-round balls made of plastic or rubber . The inexpensive medicine balls are excellent for all applications in which the medicine ball is not subjected to any special loads. In the middle price segment between 20 and 50 euros net, you will find products from Trendy Sport, Gymstick, ARTZT Vintage and Megafitness. Here you will find above all medicine balls made of high-quality materials and with special grip properties. For example, ARTZT's cowhide models provide style and a good portion of nostalgia, while Trendy Sport, Megafitness and Gymstick offer variants with practical handles for a particularly wide range of exercises in this price segment. In the proven quality of Togu, on the other hand, you will find medicine balls from the high-priced segment between 50 and 60 euros net. The medicine balls made of high-quality ruton are available in fine weight gradations up to 5kg. The smooth surface and make are ideal for all support and holding exercises.
What are the differences between medicine balls?
Filling
Classical medicine balls are solid balls. This means that the skin of the ball is filled with a material, not air, or the ball is made entirely of the material, such as solid rubber balls. In addition, there are modern air-filled medicine balls, where the bounce of the medicine ball can be adjusted by filling or releasing air.
Handle variations
Traditional medicine balls are round, the special challenge during training is gripping the relatively smooth, round ball and performing the exercises with the unusual weight. For more exercise variety , there are medicine balls with integrated handles, which thus allow the use more similar to a kettlebell.
Materials
The most commonly used material for medicine balls today is rubber. Rubber allows for nice, grippy surface textures, is extremely durable and simply feels good in the hand. Other common materials are artificial leather, which creates a very smooth surface, or classic cowhide. Ruton is a latex-free plastic based on PVC. All synthetics have in common that they are of course extremely easy to clean and disinfect while the open-pored genuine leather offers a very special training experience in terms of feel and smell , but is more difficult to clean.
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Use and application
Medicine balls are used primarily in functional training and in courses . Medicine balls can also be used for great circuit training . Since many people still associate the medicine ball with the often unpopular school sport, the inhibition threshold to use this training tool is often quite high. This is where guided training or appropriate courses come in handy to reawaken the enthusiasm of the trainees for this classic.
In order to meet the needs of as many exercisers as possible, a complete set of medicine balls weighing between 1 and 10 kg should be available. Ideally, exercisers can use both classic, filled medicine balls for support and holding exercises as well as the modern, air-filled version. In principle, medicine balls with handles can be used in the same way as medicine balls without handles, but the variants with handles are somewhat more expensive to purchase than conventional medicine balls.
If a lot of work is done in the context of courses or group training, a number of medicine balls corresponding to the size of the group should be kept on hand. Mainly medium weights between 3 and 6kg should be chosen and fewer copies of each lighter and heavier version.
Special requirements for professional use
As always, training equipment in the gym is naturally exposed to completely different loads than in a HomeGym. Therefore, pay attention to the workmanship and materials. Easy cleaning makes everyday life in the gym much easier, if the medicine balls are primarily used for lifting and swinging and throwing exercises, a good grip on the surface is an advantage. For support exercises, on the other hand, smooth surfaces are more suitable.
With discount items, especially with medicine balls, there is often a risk that harmful plasticizers and skin-damaging dyes have been used. When choosing, you should go for well-known brands. Due to the use of high-quality materials, skin irritations and intolerances are almost impossible here.
Current developments
Medicine balls are currently experiencing a great renaissance and are therefore available in a variety of different designs. In addition to textured surfaces, there are above all sophisticated shapes that enable intensive, ergonomic, functional strength training and allow a far greater variety of exercises than a conventional medicine ball.
Find now your suitable medicine balls in the fitnessmarkt.de store at an unbeatable price!
Editorial fitnessmarkt.de (DG)
Photo credit: #282340104-opolja-AdobeStock
Published on: 24 October 2019