Single-Arm Medicine Ball Slam

How to do it

1. Stand with the feet about shoulder-width apart holding a soft medicine ball in one hand at the side.
2. Bring the ball up overhead in one arm, rising onto the toes and reaching tall.
3. Slam the ball down into the floor in front of you as hard as you can, folding at the hips and bending the knees as the arm comes down.
4. Let the trunk drive the slam, with the arm following through.
5. Catch the ball as it bounces, or pick it up, and bring it back overhead.
6. Finish the set on one arm before swapping.

Common mistakes

• Slamming with the arm alone. The trunk folds and the whole body drives the ball down; an arm-only slam is a throw at the floor.
• Rounding the back to slam lower. The fold is at the hips with the knees bending; the spine stays long.
• Using a ball that bounces. A slam ball is dead; a bouncing medicine ball comes back at the face.
• Twisting towards the slamming arm. The trunk drives straight down; a twist puts the slam beside the foot rather than in front.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Abs

Secondary

• Lats
• Shoulders