A Functional Training Workout Using Medicine Balls

Training clients with medicine balls is one of my favourite things to do. Back in 2002 I walked into Esporta Chiswick Park and, like most clubs at the time, the medicine balls sat next to the ab rollers — remember those? — untouched and unloved.

Over the following years the medicine ball got better designed and far more used. CrossFit pushed that along, on top of the broader arrival of functional training into the industry. These are three of my favourites, filmed a while back with a good friend.

The principle first

A medicine ball workout isn't about throwing things around for the sake of it. Each exercise should train a clear principle. Get the principle right and the ball becomes a genuinely useful tool rather than a novelty. Here are three exercises, each chosen for a different reason.

1. Transverse lunge — a carry exercise

A simple carry. The ball adds load and, just as importantly, positions it, while you lunge across the body in the transverse plane. It teaches the body to accept and control load through a rotational step rather than a straight-line one.

2. Push-up jump to the ball — changing ground reaction

Placing a hand on and off the ball changes the ground reaction through the upper body. That shift alters how force is absorbed and produced at the shoulder and trunk, which is a far richer stimulus than a flat, symmetrical push-up.

3. Squat with rotation — using momentum

Adding rotation to the squat lets you build momentum and then redirect it. Instead of simply moving a fixed load up and down, the client learns to manage forces as they change direction — which is much closer to how the body works outside the gym.

Putting it together

Three exercises, three principles: carrying load, changing ground reaction, and using momentum. Coach each one for its purpose and you've got a compact, genuinely functional medicine ball session — not just a corner prop gathering dust.