Core Exercises with Medicine Ball

Strong bodies make for strong minds. I believe in that statement all the way through. If you don't have a strong, healthy body and are therefore plagued with diseases and ailments, how can you think right and make proper judgments and reach good decisions? That's why, keeping our bodies fit is imperative. And although we need to focus on all parts of the body, carrying forth certain exercise types that build our core strength is really really important. The core muscles do not merely include the abdominal muscles as is usually perceived, but also include the spine and the pelvis. It is on these muscles that the entire body's strength and functioning depends because they are the base and therefore core muscles. While there are several strength training exercise forms that are undertaken to strengthen the core muscles, it has been found that a medicine ball does wonders for this cause. In the following article we shall be focusing on some core exercises with medicine ball and taking you through some key exercises of several muscle groups that make up the core muscles.

Ab Exercises with Medicine Ball

Doing abdominal exercises is a key part of the core exercises with medicine ball. Here are a few examples of these exercises that you can start out on.

Russian Twist

1. Sit on the ground and bend your knees for this workout. Make sure that the feet are flat on the ground.
2. Now take the medicine ball into your hands and hold your hands in front of the body parallel to the ground.
3. Now recline onto your back at a 45 degree angle and hold the position.
4. Twist to the right with the ball and then to the left.
5. You'll feel a strong pull at your abdominal muscles. Make it more intense by leaning further back and lifting up your legs 1-2 inches off the ground.
6. Do about 10 sets of this.

Leg Raises

1. Lie flat onto the ground on your back.
2. Now take a very light medicine ball, because this exercise is a little tough to pull off.
3. Take the medicine ball and hold it in your hands. Stretch out your legs and hands straight out.
4. Now with a firm grip on the ball, crunch up till your hands touch your feet.
5. Transfer the ball in between your legs and hold firmly.
6. Go back to the starting position with the legs and hands stretched out.
7. At the next crunch transfer the ball back into the hands. And then the feet.
8. Repeat in sets of 10.
9. This works very well with your abs and strengthens them like not many other exercises. Just make sure that you start out with a light ball and learn the technique before increasing the difficulty level.

Back Exercises with Medicine Ball

Some of the most effective core exercises with medicine ball are the ones that work on strengthening the back. Here are examples of these back exercise types.

Back Stretch

1. You'll need a stability exercise ball for this one. There are several exercise ball workouts that focus on building core strength.
2. Lay down on the stability ball and position it under your upper back.
3. The feet must be firmly flat on the ground.
4. Now take the medicine ball into your hands and extend your arms over your head.
5. Make sure that the arms are locked.
6. Next take the ball over your head to the ground, till you get a stretch in your shoulder and side trunk.
7. Stay in this position for about 8-10 seconds and return to the over-the-head original position.

Figure Eight

1. Stand with your feet apart at shoulder width and hold the medicine ball in your hands.
2. Now extend your arms and hold the ball above your right shoulder.
3. Then in one continuous motion do the following - Take the ball from the right shoulder to the left foot in one swift motion (bend at the back) and then take the ball to the right foot and come up taking the ball to the left side and ending at the left shoulder.
4. Do this on the other side as well. That is starting at the left shoulder and reversing the action.
5. Repeat 10 times on both sides.
6. This is one of the most effective shoulder exercises with medicine ball as well.

There you go. Try out some of these core exercises with medicine ball and you'll notice a change in your core muscles very soon. All the best!