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Exercises

Medicine ball exercises: slams, throws and chops, with sessions for where you train

Published October 19, 2026

The medicine ball exercises worth doing are the ones that use what a ball can do that a dumbbell cannot: be thrown. The slam, the wall ball, the overhead throw, the chest throw and the rotational throw train your legs, trunk and arms to produce force fast, and the woodchop works the obliques with the ball held. Keep reps low, stop each set while every rep is still fast, and use a dead-bounce slam ball for slams and a softer wall ball for throws you catch.

  1. Medicine Ball Slam Lats, Abs
  2. Wall Ball Quads, Glutes, Shoulders
  3. Med Ball Rotational Throw Abs
  4. Medicine Ball Overhead Throw Shoulders, Abs
  5. Med Ball Chest Throw Abs
  6. Med Ball Woodchop Abs

Medicine ball slams and overhead throws

Both start with the ball overhead and use the whole body to move it hard. The slam drives it into the floor, which flexes your abs and pulls through your lats; the overhead throw sends it forward or up for distance, using the hips and the back of the arms. A slam ball that does not bounce is the right tool for slams.

Abs, lats and shoulders, power

Medicine Ball Slam

Lats, Abs

You reach the ball overhead and drive it down as hard as you can, so the abs flex fully and fast with the lats pulling. It is the simplest throw to learn and needs only floor space.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet shoulder width, ball held in both hands at your waist.
  2. Reach it overhead and rise onto your toes.
  3. Brace and drive the ball down into the floor just in front of your feet.
  4. Bend your hips and knees as the ball leaves your hands.
  5. Pick it up with a flat back and repeat.

Cues

  • Get tall, then crunch
  • Throw through the floor
  • Stop when it slows

Common mistakes

  • Throwing only with your arms: the trunk should fold hard as you throw.
  • Using a bouncy ball that rebounds at your face: use a slam ball.

Swap for: Medicine Ball Overhead Throw, Med Ball Woodchop

Build a session with Medicine Ball Slam

Hips, shoulders and triceps, power

Medicine Ball Overhead Throw

Shoulders, Abs

Lowering the ball between your legs and throwing it up and forward uses the hip snap of a jump, so it trains your posterior chain to be fast. Outdoors or in a large room you can throw for distance.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet wider than your hips, ball held in both hands.
  2. Swing it down between your knees with a quick hinge.
  3. Drive your hips forward and swing the ball up.
  4. Release it overhead and forward as your body straightens.
  5. Collect the ball and reset before the next throw.

Cues

  • Hips snap first
  • Arms finish the throw
  • Full reset each rep

Common mistakes

  • Squatting the ball up instead of hinging: knees bend only a little.
  • Throwing with tired legs: each rep is a single, all-out effort.

Swap for: Medicine Ball Slam, Wall Ball

Build a session with Medicine Ball Overhead Throw

Wall balls and chest throws

These need a solid wall. The wall ball is a full squat followed by a throw up to a target, so your legs and shoulders work together for many reps; the chest throw is a sit-up that ends with the ball pushed hard into the wall, so your abs start the throw and your arms finish it.

Quads, glutes and shoulders, squat and throw

Wall Ball

Quads, Glutes, Shoulders

A full squat with the ball at your chest, then a throw to a target above you: your legs and shoulders get a lot of work per rep, and catching the ball into the next squat links the reps together.

How to do it

  1. Stand an arm's length from the wall, ball held at your chest.
  2. Squat down until your hips are below your knees.
  3. Drive up hard and throw the ball to a target on the wall.
  4. Catch it as it comes down and sink straight into the next squat.
  5. Keep the rhythm even until the set ends.

Cues

  • Squat deep
  • Push the ball from the legs
  • Catch into the squat

Common mistakes

  • Throwing before you stand: the legs push the ball, the arms finish.
  • Standing too far from the wall: the ball comes back out of reach.

Swap for: Med Ball Chest Throw, Medicine Ball Overhead Throw

Build a session with Wall Ball

Abs, chest and triceps, sit-up throw

Med Ball Chest Throw

Abs

Sitting up and pushing the ball into a wall in one motion makes your abs start the throw and your chest and triceps finish it, so the whole front of your body learns to work fast together.

How to do it

  1. Sit facing a solid wall, knees bent and feet flat near its base, holding the ball at your chest.
  2. Lie back until your shoulders near the floor, keeping the ball at your chest.
  3. Curl up hard and, as your torso rises, push the ball straight into the wall with both arms.
  4. Catch the rebound at your chest, roll back down with it and repeat.

Cues

  • Sit up and push in one move
  • Elbows wide
  • Catch soft, roll back slow

Common mistakes

  • Throwing with only the arms while your torso stays down: the sit-up starts every throw.
  • Dropping back to the floor after the catch: lower your back under control.

Swap for: Wall Ball, Med Ball Rotational Throw

Build a session with Med Ball Chest Throw

Medicine ball core exercises: rotational throws and chops

Yes, a medicine ball helps your abs when you use it to rotate and chop. The rotational throw trains the turn of your hips and trunk at speed against a wall, and the woodchop moves the ball diagonally from high to low from a half-kneeling position so the obliques control it the whole way.

Obliques and hips, rotational power

Med Ball Rotational Throw

Abs

Throwing sideways into a wall trains the turn of your hips and trunk at full speed, which a cable or dumbbell cannot do. It is the throw athletes in rotational sports use most.

How to do it

  1. Stand side-on to a solid wall, an arm's length or two away.
  2. Hold the ball at your far hip, feet wide.
  3. Turn your hips toward the wall and throw the ball into it hard.
  4. Catch the rebound and take it back to the hip.
  5. Finish the set, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Back foot pivots
  • Hips before arms
  • Absorb the catch

Common mistakes

  • Throwing with your arms alone: the turn of your hips does most of it.
  • Rushing the reset: each rep starts from the loaded position.

Swap for: Med Ball Woodchop, Med Ball Chest Throw

Build a session with Med Ball Rotational Throw

Obliques, controlled rotation

Med Ball Woodchop

Abs

Moving the ball from above one shoulder down to the opposite hip from a half-kneeling position works the obliques slowly, and kneeling keeps your hips from helping. It is the slower partner to the throws.

How to do it

  1. Kneel on one knee, the other foot in front.
  2. Hold the ball with both hands above the shoulder on the kneeling side.
  3. Bring it down diagonally across your body to the outside of your front hip.
  4. Keep your hips facing forward as your trunk turns.
  5. Lift it back up the same path.

Cues

  • Hips still, ribs turn
  • Smooth path
  • Arms long

Common mistakes

  • Letting your hips rotate: squeeze the glute of your kneeling leg.
  • Rushing: two seconds down, two seconds up.

Swap for: Med Ball Rotational Throw, Medicine Ball Slam

Build a session with Med Ball Woodchop

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

A slam ball and no wall

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentMedicine Ball

You have one slam ball and a driveway, yard or garage floor, but no wall you can throw into.

Every pick works without a wall: the slam and overhead throw use the floor and open space, and the woodchop is slow and controlled. Sets stop with 3 reps in reserve on the throws because a slow rep teaches you nothing; the woodchop goes closer to failure because it is a strength exercise.

Slams and Chops
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Medicine Ball Slam 4 × 6–10 3 90 s
Medicine Ball Overhead ThrowReset fully each throw. 4 × 4–6 3 2 min
Med Ball WoodchopPer side. 3 × 8–12 2 1 min
How to run it
Twice a week, on its own or before strength work. Throw on grass or a mat.
How to progress
Add a rep until you reach the top of the range, then use a heavier ball. If you only own one ball, slow the woodchop to three seconds each way.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

A gym wall, conditioning

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentMedicine Ball

You train at a gym with a wall ball target and want hard, short conditioning on top of your lifting.

The wall ball carries the work for your legs and shoulders, the chest throw and rotational throw add pushing and turning, and the slam closes it. Higher reps on the wall ball at 1 to 2 reps in reserve make it a conditioning block; the throws stay lower.

Wall and Throws
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Wall Ball 3 × 12–20 2 90 s
A1 Med Ball Chest Throw 3 × 6–10 3 1 min
A2 Medicine Ball Slam 3 × 6–10 3 1 min
Med Ball Rotational ThrowPer side. 3 × 5–8 3 90 s
How to run it
Once or twice a week at the end of a lift. Superset the chest throw and the slam and rest after the pair.
How to progress
Add reps to the wall ball first, then raise the target or move to a heavier ball.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Power work before a lifting session

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets27 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentMedicine Ball

You lift three or four times a week and want five minutes of fast throws before your main lifts, for sport or just to be quicker.

Three throws, one per direction: forward from the chest, up from the hips, and around from the trunk. Low reps and 3 reps in reserve leave you fresh for the barbell, and the rests are long because speed is the target.

Throws
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Med Ball Chest Throw 3 × 3–5 3 90 s
Medicine Ball Overhead Throw 3 × 3–5 3 90 s
Med Ball Rotational ThrowPer side. 3 × 3–5 3 90 s
How to run it
Before your first lift on two or three days. Pick a ball you can throw fast for every rep.
How to progress
Keep the ball and the reps the same for a few weeks and focus on throwing harder; change to a heavier ball only when the throws feel easy.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

Does a medicine ball help with abs?

Yes. Slams and rotational throws work your abs and obliques hard and fast, and the woodchop works them slowly. For the most ab growth, add a loaded ab exercise as well, since throws train speed more than size.

How do you use a weighted exercise ball?

Throw it. A medicine ball's advantage over a dumbbell is that you can let go: slam it, throw it at a wall, or pass it from your chest. Use a dead-bounce slam ball for the floor and a softer ball for throws you catch.

What weight of medicine ball should I use?

One you can throw fast for every rep of the set. Start lighter than you expect and go heavier only when the last rep is still as fast as the first.

Can you build muscle with medicine ball exercises?

Not much. Throws stop well before failure to keep them fast, so they build power, not size. Pair them with lifts that go close to failure if muscle is the goal.

How many medicine ball exercises should I do?

Two to four per session, three to five sets each. The plans above use three or four, which is enough to train each direction without the speed fading.

What is the difference between a slam ball and a wall ball?

A slam ball is hard and does not bounce, so it can be thrown into the floor. A wall ball is larger and softer so it can be thrown high and caught safely. A standard medicine ball sits between them and suits chest and rotational throws.