By Paul Chek, HHP, NMT
Founder, C.H.E.K Institute
When chicken soup was the preferred antidote for the common cold
and Rocky Marciano was boxing's heavyweight champion (1952-56),
medicine ball training was the method of choice for power
development. This seemingly forgotten conditioning tool is on
the comeback, and rightfully so.
Medicine balls are those spherical, heavy objects traditionally
made from leather and often found tucked in the corner of a gym
covered in cobwebs. Newer versions are made of rubber or vinyl
and are filled with air, water or a gel.
Varying in size from a tennis ball to a small beach ball, these
are some of the most versatile pieces of equipment available.
Unlike the machine training rage of the 90s that concentrated on
isolating muscles in a specific plane of motion, medicine ball
training promotes integration of muscle actions and allows the
exerciser to condition the body in all planes of movement.
Simply speaking, you can do things with medicine balls that are
just not possible on machines, or even free weights!
Building Strength
Let's suppose you want to develop explosive strength and power
for throwing a baseball. Following the Principal of Specificity
of Training, you'll get the best results when you overload the
muscles in the exact pattern of movement. Most gyms, however,
will not appreciate your membership if you start to throw
dumbbells across the weight room. Compare this to training with
a partner or rebounder and a medicine ball.
In this case, an exercise like the medicine ball throw would
meet the requirements of the Principle of Specificity of
Training (see Figure 1) and improve your throwing power greatly.
Or, if you are training quick, explosive movements, most weight
machines can be tricky, dangerous and generally not very
effective. Remember what happened last time you did an explosive
hamstring curl on a machine? Is the leg curl machine still in
one piece, or is there a hole in the ceiling of the gym?
Using a medicine ball can be more effective and you don't
necessarily have to be lying on your stomach (see Figure 2 for
the standing dynamic leg curl). Fact is, machines are neither
designed, nor sensible, for explosive high-speed resistance
training but medicine balls are!
This sort of explosive training is extremely important.
Explosive medicine ball training integrated into a bodybuilding
program will give your nervous system a jump-start. I have seen
weightlifters increase their bench press by as much as 15 pounds
in two days, after performing explosive push passes and kneeling
push passes in just one session (see Figures 3 and 4).
Medicine ball training provides a much-needed stimulus for the
high threshold motor units and wakes up those fast twitch muscle
fibers – the ones responsible for greater strength and
size. This type of training also improves start strength,
allowing you to get those big weights moving more easily.
If your goal is to increase strength and size and you have been
lifting weights for over one year, you should vary the speed of
movement at least every four weeks for optimal strength or size
gains. Medicine ball training can be extremely helpful in making
these changes in movement speeds.
Getting Faster, More Agile
Training with a medicine ball can be helpful for coordination
and speed as well. Have you ever seen a bodybuilder attempt
speed, agility or quickness drills with other athletes such as
wrestlers, football players or boxers? It becomes very obvious
that too much machine-based isolation training and not enough
integrative exercise makes you slower and hampers coordination.
One of the favorite sayings of Al Vermeil (strength and
conditioning consultant for the Chicago Bulls) is "Train slow,
be slow." If you lift weights with the intent of improving
sports performance, your speed of movements in training must
approximate those of your sport, at least during some phases of
your program.
By training exclusively on machines or free weights, you may be
limiting your ability to reach full potential.
In general, all good strength coaches cycle speed of movement,
contraction types, rest period length and exercise selection
throughout their athletes' programs, and almost always include
doses of explosive plyometric and medicine ball training to
stimulate the nervous system and activate fast twitch muscles
fibers.
The oblique toss, squat push press and back toss (see Figures 5,
6 and 7 respectively) are three medicine ball exercises I use
for this purpose. Not only does this kind of training increase
speed, but also allows for increased strength during regular
weight training.
Charles Poliquin, one of the world's most successful strength
coaches, uses medicine ball training and, as a consequence, has
bobsled racers weighing less than 220 pounds squatting more than
390 pounds. Strong and fast is a winning combination in the
sports arena.
Finally, while there are all sorts of in the gym benefits,
medicine balls have a definite leg up on other training
equipment when it comes to practicality. One of the great
benefits of medicine ball training is that it can be done
practically anywhere.
You can pull out a medicine ball at the beach, in the park, in a
squash court – the choice is yours. This makes a wonderful
change from always training in the gym.
I highly recommend you add a medicine ball training session to
your workouts one or two times a week. After only four weeks,
you will be amazed at the difference in your lifting, sports
performance and overall health.
For more equipment for and information on medicine ball
training, I highly recommend the following C.H.E.K
products:
- Dynamic Medicine Ball Training, Vols. 1-3
(video)
- Paul Chek's Medicine Ball Workout (video)
- Dynamic
Medicine Ball Training (correspondence
course)
- D-Balls
- Dynamax balls
Paul Chek, Holistic Health Practitioner and certified
Neuromuscular Therapist, is the founder of the C.H.E.K Institute
in Vista, Calif. He is also sought-after consultant to sports
organizations, his services have benefited numerous professional
sports teams, athletes and individuals seeking optimal health
worldwide.
Paul has produced more than 60 videos, 17 correspondence courses
and is the author of several books, audio programs and articles.
For more information on Paul's popular "You Are What You Eat"
audio/workbook program, or for any of his other health/exercise
courses, videos and books, call 800/552-8789, 800/552-8789 (New
Zealand or Australia), 44 (0)1273-856-860 (Great Britain) or
visit the CHEK Institute Web site. To learn more about Paul and
his upcoming Personal Professional Spiritual (PPS) Mastery
Program, visit his new Web site at
www.paulchek.com.
About the author:
This article is reprinted from Mercola.com, the world's #1 most
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