Medicine Ball Workouts for Abs – Introduction
What are the best medicine ball exercises for abs?
Fitness technology has come a long way in the last few decades, and most commercial gyms are full of state-of-the-art training equipment.
While these machines and devices can produce good results, a lot of them are unnecessary, not to mention VERY expensive, which is why it costs so much to join a gym.
The good news is that getting fit, building muscle, losing weight, and transforming your body, don’t have to be expensive or complicated.
In fact, you have everything you need right at your fingertips – your own bodyweight.
Exercises like push-ups, dips, pull-ups, chin-ups, lunges, and squats are unbeatable for building strength and muscle, and you can do them anywhere, anytime, and for free.
That said, a few well-chosen items of basic exercise equipment can make your workouts even more effective.
Good choices include:
- Barbells
- Bumper plates
- Adjustable dumbbells
- Resistance bands
- Suspension trainers
- Jump ropes
Medicine balls are another traditional exercise tool worthy of your consideration.
You can use medicine balls for a wide range of exercises, including upper body and lower body.
They’re especially useful for core training.
This article reveals the seven best medicine ball exercises for abs and provides you with a workout to try so you can experience the power of medicine ball abs training for yourself!
What is a Medicine Ball, Anyway?
Like all the best workout equipment, medicine balls have been around for many years.
In fact, there are reports that ancient Greek philosopher and father of medicine Hippocrates stuffed sand into animal skins to make something akin to the modern medicine ball. ¹
Similar devices were used in Persia in the early 1700s. ²
The first recorded use of the term medicine ball was in America in 1866 by Harvard athletic coach Aaron Molyneaux Hewlett ³, as they were initially used for injury rehabilitation.
Traditional medicine balls were made from leather and stuffed with horsehair and other dense materials.
More modern balls are more likely to be PVC or rubber and may contain sand, gravel, or a heavy gel.
However, leather balls are still popular and available.
Some medicine balls are designed to bounce, while others are “dead balls” and do not bounce at all.
Medicine balls vary in weight from just a few pounds to 50 pounds or more.
So, what medicine ball weight should you use?
Most exercisers will benefit from training with a 10 to 25-pound ball.
Medicine balls can be lifted like free weights or thrown to develop explosive muscle power; medicine ball throwing exercises are especially useful for athletes.
Medicine balls are also perfect for abs training.
7 Best Medicine Ball Exercises for Abs
Bored of bodyweight abs training?
Liven up your midsection workouts with these amazing medicine ball abs exercises!
Note: The following exercises work all your major abs muscles, including the rectus abdominis, obliques, and transverse abdominis.
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- Medicine ball Saxon side bend
- Medicine ball slam
- Serratus Crunch
- Russian Twist
- Medicine ball stability ball crunch
- Plank Rolls
- Medicine ball sit up and throw
However, depending on the movement, these exercises may emphasize one particular abs muscle over the others.
The primary muscle is mentioned within the exercise description.
Your Abdominal Muscles – Image Credit Antranik.org
Medicine Ball Ab Workout Exercise Descriptions
#1. Medicine ball Saxon side bend
Target muscle: Obliques
Arthur Saxon was a late 19th/early 20th-century German strongman.
Famed for his incredible lifting prowess, Saxon also invented several exercises, some of which are still performed today.
Saxon side bends are a great way to train your obliques (waist muscles) using just a medicine ball.
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.
- Raise your medicine ball above your head, so your arms are straight.
- Without twisting your shoulders or hips, lean over to the left as far as you can and then return to the center.
- Next, lean over to the right.
- Continue leaning from left to right for the required number of reps.
- Make this exercise a little easier by lowering the ball and resting it on your head.
Medicine Ball Saxon Bends Demonstration – Dr. Brad Murray
#2. Medicine ball slam
Target muscle: Rectus abdominis
Medicine ball slams aren’t just an effective abs exercise; they also work your arms, shoulders, and upper back.
Even better, slams have additional benefits:
- develop upper body strength, speed, and power
- utilize your whole body to generate force
- build rotational power through various planes of motion
A set of medicine ball slams will raise your heart and breathing rate, too, so they’re ideal for HIIT and circuit training workouts.
They’re also a lot of fun!
How to do it:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.
- Lift your medicine ball above your head, so your arms are straight.
- Rise up onto your tiptoes.
- Putting your whole body into the movement, hurl the ball down at the floor just in front of your feet.
- Catch the ball as it rebounds and repeat.
- Do NOT use a gel-filled medicine ball for this exercise, as it will probably split.
Medicine Ball Slam Progression
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#3. Medicine ball Serratus crunch
Target muscle: Rectus abdominis
The serratus crunch is so-called because as well as working your abs, it also works your serratus anterior, which is the muscle between your pecs and your upper abs.
So-called because it looks a little like the edge of a serrated knife, when you are lean, this muscle will add a lot to the appearance of your six-pack abs.
How to do it:
- Lie on the floor with your legs bent and feet flat.
- Hold your medicine ball over your chest with your arms straight.
- Push your shoulders forward into protraction.
- Push your lower back into the floor and lift your head and shoulders.
- Push the ball straight up toward the ceiling while keeping your arms extended.
- Lie back down and repeat.
#4. Medicine ball Russian twist
Target muscle: Obliques
The Russian twist works all your core muscles but emphasizes your oblique or waist muscles.
It’s a challenging move, so don’t go too heavy too soon.
It’s better to do fewer reps correctly than more reps with bad form.
How to do it:
- Lie on the floor with your legs bent and feet flat.
- Sit up so your upper body is inclined to around 45 degrees.
- Hold your medicine ball in both hands.
- Without leaning back or sitting up, rotate your upper body and lower the medicine ball to the floor outside your left leg.
- Turn and lower the ball to the floor outside your right leg.
- Continue for the prescribed number of repetitions.
- You can also do this exercise with your feet in the air and balancing on your butt.
#5. Medicine ball stability ball crunch
Target muscle: Rectus abdominis
Floor crunches are a reasonably good abs exercise for beginners.
But, when you can do 20-30 reps, they are no longer challenging enough to increase core strength.
Using a stability ball means you can work your abs through a greater range of motion and adding a medicine ball allows you to overload your abs making this a much more challenging and effective exercise.
How to do it:
- Sit on a stability ball with your feet flat on the floor.
- Hold your medicine ball across your chest.
- Walk your feet forward and lean back until the stability ball fills the curve of your lower back.
- Keeping the medicine ball on your chest, lift your head and shoulders off the stability ball, and contract your abs as hard as you can.
- Pause for 2-3 seconds in this position and then lie back down, making sure you gently extend your spine and stretch your abs between reps.
- Do NOT bounce back up, as this will take tension away from the target muscles.
#6. Medicine ball plank rolls
Target muscle: Rectus abdominis
Planks are another of those abs exercises that can soon become too easy to be effective.
This variation reduces the number of contact points on the floor to increase core muscle activation.
How to do it:
- Adopt the push-up position with straight arms and legs and core braced.
- Place one hand on your medicine ball.
- Without lowering your hips or losing core tension, roll the ball under your shoulders and place your other hand on top of it.
- Roll the ball back again.
- Continue rolling the ball from hand to hand for the duration of your set.
Plank with side-to-side medicine ball rolls (plank rolls)
#7. Medicine ball sit-up and throw
Target muscle: Rectus abdominis
Your final medicine ball abs exercise is a little different.
Most core exercises are done very slowly and deliberately, but for this one, you will be working quickly and explosively to develop muscle power.
This is a fun exercise that challenges your abs in a very unique way.
You can do it with a partner or alone against a wall.
How to do it:
- Lie on the floor with your legs bent and feet flat.
- Hold your medicine ball and lower it behind your head, so it touches the floor.
- Using your arms for momentum, sit up and throw the ball at a wall or to a training partner.
- Catch the ball as it’s returned to you can lie back down.
- Ideally, you should receive the ball at arm’s length above your head to maximize leverage and tension on your abs.
- You can also do this exercise by pushing the ball away from your chest, but this is not as abs-centric as the overhead throw described above.
Medicine Ball Six-Pack Core Workout
To get a six-pack, you need to be lean enough for your abdominal muscles to become visible.
Six-packs are made in the kitchen as much as they are the product of training!
That said, this workout will develop your core muscles so that, when you ARE lean enough, your core muscles will be strong and toned.
Do this workout twice a week on non-consecutive days, e.g., Monday and Thursday.
Before you start, do a few minutes of easy cardio followed by some dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your hips, spine, and shoulders to ensure you are warmed up and ready to go.
Do each exercise in turn as a circuit.
Rest 10-20 seconds between exercises and 1-2 minutes between circuits.
Do 2-4 rounds in total.
Regarding reps, do as many as it takes to reach failure.
The number of reps you need to perform will depend on the weight of your medicine ball.
- Medicine ball plank roll
- Medicine ball Saxon side bend
- Medicine ball Russian twist
- Medicine ball serratus crunch
- Medicine ball slam
7 Best Medicine Ball Exercises for Abs – Wrapping Up
While bodyweight abs exercises can be effective and are undoubtedly convenient and time-efficient, limited overload may mean that your workouts become overly long if you have to do lots of reps to fatigue your core muscles.
Using a medicine ball means you can exhaust your muscles faster, saving you valuable training time.
Also, using a medicine ball means you can hit your abs from multiple angles, making your abs workouts even more productive.
Medicine balls work really well with bodyweight and barbell training and are ideal for home exercisers.
They’re so versatile that you can use them to add an extra dimension to all your workouts, even cardio.
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Footnotes
¹ Ancient fitness tools that keep bouncing back – REUTERS
² The modest little sphere that changed the world – ESPN
³ A. Molyneaux Hewlett [photographic portrait], circa. 1860 – Harvard University Archives
Rich is a NASM-CPT (Certified Personal Trainer),