The multipurpose 40-pound medicine ball from BalanceFrom is appropriately named — it’s the workout equivalent of taking your medicine. Most 40-pound weight packages arrive coated in unwieldy configurations of steel and iron. But the spherical design and rubberized texture of this ball, which is currently on sale at Amazon for $41.50, allows you to perform a full battery of exercises using a more practical, real-world approach, akin to the old-timey, 19th century strongmen of a bygone era.
As for that price, medicine balls of inferior quality often cost at least 1.5 times as much as this one, and you’d expect to pay two to three times the price for similar medicine balls. Not to mention, a single 40-pound dumbbell is at least $55 (or more than 100 bucks for a pair). Essentially, the BalanceForm medicine ball is less expensive while contributing far more versatility to your training.
In terms of versatility, you can wrap your arms around it and perform your squats while holding it in a tight bearhug. The distribution of the weight through your body is far more serviceable. You can use it to administer additional weight to your upper body during crunches, as well as for deadlifts and lunges, and to add some variation to your military presses and tricep extensions. You can even employ it to add a twist to your push-ups by keeping one hand elevated on the ball.
Finally, medicine balls are designed to be tossed around — that’s what the rubber exterior is for. If you want to train ballistically by exploding through a full range of motion and hurling this ball into the air, you won’t need to worry about it being damaged if it smashes into walls or crashes into the ground (That said, be absolutely certain that the wall and floor you’re targeting are designed to take the abuse!)
Remember, there will be very few real-life situations in which you’ll be asked to crouch over and remove a steel beam weighing hundreds of pounds from the floor. But 40-pound boxes materialize on every moving day, and every time you have to move something heavy from one room to another. So scoop this ball up today and make those tasks as effortless as possible.
Ian Douglass
Ian Douglass is a volunteer firefighter, lackadaisical Concept2 rower and SkiErger and is the worst masters swimming All-American in recorded history. He also helps professional wrestlers publish their autobiographies, assists businesspeople with the writing of coherent thoughts and has overhyped degrees from Michigan and Northwestern.
