Exercise Profile
- Target Muscle Group
- Exercise TypePlyometrics
- Equipment RequiredMedicine Ball
- MechanicsCompound
- Force TypePull (Bilateral)
- Experience LevelIntermediate
- Secondary Muscles
Abs, Triceps, Upper Back
Target Muscle Group
Lats
Overhead Medicine Ball Figure 8 Slam Overview
The overhead medicine ball figure 8 slam is a variation of the medicine ball slam and a power style exercise used to increase one’s explosiveness.
In particular, the overhead medicine ball figure 8 slam will work the muscles of the core, lats, and legs.
The exercise would be predominantly used by athletic populations looking to improve their on-field performance capabilities, but might also be used by other populations looking to build power, or even as a form of conditioning in some gyms.
Overhead Medicine Ball Figure 8 Slam Instructions
- Setup in an athletic base position while holding a medicine ball at your chest with a soft bend in your knees.
- Rise up tall on the toes and extend the arms overhead with the medicine ball.
- Exhale, pull the arms down towards the toes, and aggressively slam the med ball into floor on one side.
- Rise up tall on the toes again and repeat the process on the opposite side.
- Catch the med ball as it returns from the floor and repeat step #2 for the desired number of repetitions.
Overhead Medicine Ball Figure 8 Slam Tips
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With med ball drills, the goal is speed throughout the movement. There are only a few rare instances where one might want to move slowly through a weighted plyometric drill with a medicine ball.
- A good rule of thumb - if the weight is so excessive that it affects the technical execution of the movement then it is too much.
- You can use these drills as “fillers” in between your large compound movements or you can implement them within your warm up as a method of potentiating your central nervous system for heavier strength based work in your accompanying training session.
- Keep the torso rigid and ensure some tension through the core to help transmit force out through the extremities.
- Initially you may want to focus on pausing in between reps to ensure proper positioning but over time you can eventually progress to more rhythmic (i.e. back to back) repetitions.
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If you are using a denser medicine ball which will react with “an equal and opposite reaction”, then you may want to stand a little ways back from the wall to allow yourself time to react.
- However, if you’re using a more absorptive ball then you can stand closer and catch the ball as it comes directly off the wall.
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