Medicine balls are a creative (and cheap) way to add resistance to your weight loss workout when no other weights are available.
The following abdominal workouts target one or two specific muscles by working those particular muscles. As you increase the intensity of your abdominal workouts, circuit training causes you to challenge your strength while pushing your body aerobically. You should be progress through the workout and keep your heart rate up. This allows you to reap the same benefits as the guy who mindlessly logs all those miles on the treadmill. Also, fewer rest periods help your muscles grow.
These medicine ball exercises are excellent training exercises. Complete each of the following abdominal exercises one after the other, with approximately 10 seconds of rest between each.
Use these guidelines before you start a medicine ball routine that will count as your abdominal exercises.
• Medicine ball exercises, as with other forms of power training, should be completed when you are fresh before heavy aerobic or anaerobic training if completed in the same day.
• Focus on speed of movement but not at the sacrifice of technique.
• Do not choose a ball that is so heavy it slows the movement of the exercise down.
• If you don’t own a medicine ball, consider starting with a basketball or soccer ball.
Medicine Ball Exercises:
Medicine Ball Obliques
1. Starting Position: Lie on your back and raise your legs with your knees bent.
2. Holding a medicine ball between your knees rotate your legs to the side and then return to the starting position. Repeat to the other side.
Chops
1. Start with ball overhead at arms length
2. Stop the ball when its between your feet
3. Repeat
Slams
1. Stand with feet parallel and knees slightly bent.
2. Pull medicine ball back behind head and forcefully throw ball down on the ground as hard as possible.
3. Catch the ball on the bounce from the ground and repeat according to prescribed repetitions.
Lunges
1. Begin by standing with the medicine ball held at your waist (approximately at belly button height).
2. Take a step forward with one leg, lowering yourself until the top of your leg is parallel to the floor. Make sure that your knee does not extend past your toes to avoid injury.
3. Either return to the starting position and repeat the movement with the opposite leg, or perform a “walking” lunge by continuing forward by alternating legs and “walking” across the floor.
Standing/Seated Triceps Extension
1. Begin by standing (or sitting) in an upright position.
2. Using both hands, hold the ball behind your head.
3. In a controlled motion, extend your arms upward, keeping your upper arms stationary.
4. Flex your triceps for a count of one before lowering the medicine ball back to the starting position.
Complete your weight loss workout by stretching for 10 minutes. Ensure you stretch the muscles around your shoulders, hamstrings & quads.
There’s more fat burning workouts at Workouts that Burn Fat and Tone Muscle
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I forever wonder about stuff like this in the gym.. I have great form and I always pay extreme attention to all the exercises to make sure that (to the best of my knowledge) i am doing them to get the best final results.. im always afraid though that if i drop my weight a bit that i wont be able to eventually get my weight higher and or get bigger (since my body wont think the weight is to much and not seeing a need to grow??)