Benefits of A Medicine Ball

!±8± Benefits of A Medicine Ball

A medicine ball can be good for your health. Typically used for strength training and rehabilitation, this particular type of ball provides a practical alternative to using free weights and exercise machines. Here are some of the key benefits of incorporating it into your workouts:

1. Balance

Balance is a key component of any type of exercise. For instance, when an exercise includes a pulling motion, a pushing motion should follow it (and vice versa). In terms of balance, two of the main benefits of medicine balls are its round shape, and the ability to keep it close to your body. This helps to provide more overall balance than free weights allow. Why is balance important? First, it uniformly works your various muscles. Balance is also crucial in helping to prevent injuries from occurring.

2. Progression

This is one of the keys to an effective workout. After using a certain amount of weight, reps, or sets, you'll hit a "plateau". Yes, you can increase the number of reps that you do. But who has the time and patience to do 200 reps of every exercise? When using balls, you can boost the weight of the ball that you use, after a certain weight is no longer challenging. While some medicine balls are absolutely huge at 10 kilograms, you can start out with varieties that weigh just one or two kilos.

3. Portability

Just because we hit the road doesn't mean that we have to take a vacation from our workout routines. While it's not practical to haul a treadmill and a thousand miles of extension cord with you, you could bring portable exercise equipment, such as the ball. Since it's small and lightweight, it's easy to tote with you--whether you're taking a car, train, bus, plane, or ship.

4. Affordability

Let's face it. Exercise equipment can cost a small fortune. While exercise machines aren't affordable for most of us, even free weights can be somewhat pricey. But you can easily buy a quality medicine ball for less than ! Even if we're not on a shoestring budget, most of us don't mind saving money, right?

5. Flexibility

Medicine balls can provide a workout for virtually every muscle group in your body. There are exercises for the upper body, exercises for the lower body, and exercises that work both the upper and lower body. Contrast that with most exercise equipment, which is only useful for doing a few types of exercises.

6. Variety

While you won't find any square balls, they're still available in a wide variety of styles and colors. There are medicine balls with a rubber or leather exterior, and those with a blend of multiple materials. Basically, you should consider your exercise needs, when choosing a medicine ball type.

Although you can't ingest a medicine ball, it can definitely help to improve your health. Instead of spending too much money on equipment that you might not use, choose a medicine ball instead. It's just what the doctor ordered!