Lying Medicine Ball Chest Throw

How to do it

1. Lie on your back on the floor with a medicine ball held over the chest in both hands, knees bent and feet flat.
2. Have a partner stand at your feet ready to catch, or lie under a high point on a wall.
3. Lower the ball to the chest with the elbows out.
4. Throw the ball straight up as hard as you can, straightening the arms fully.
5. Catch it on the way down with bent elbows, letting it come back to the chest.
6. Throw again straight from the catch.

Common mistakes

• Throwing the ball forward instead of up. It goes straight up over the chest; a ball thrown towards the feet lands on the legs.
• Catching with straight arms. The elbows are bent as the ball arrives and give as it lands; a locked catch jars the shoulders.
• Lifting the head and shoulders to throw. The upper back stays on the floor and the arms do the throwing.
• Using a ball too heavy to throw high. It should leave the hands fast and rise well clear; a ball that barely clears the hands is too heavy.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Pecs

Secondary

• Shoulders
• Triceps