Abs exercise
Medicine Ball SlamHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Front delts, Glutes, Cardio
- Equipment
- Medicine ball
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Medicine Ball Slam?
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding the ball in front of you.
- Lift the ball straight overhead and rise onto your toes.
- Push your hips back, bend your knees and slam the ball into the floor in front of your feet.
- Squat with a flat back to pick it up, stand tall and repeat.
Cues
- Reach tall, then slam hard.
- Hinge from the hips, flat back.
- Ball overhead, not behind you.
Common mistakes
- Arching back with the ball behind your head: stop with it above your head.
- Rounding your back on the pick-up: squat down to the ball.
- Using only your arms: drive the slam with your hips and stomach.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
Standing overhead slam with a non-bouncing (dead) slam ball: reach tall overhead, hinge and slam the ball into the floor just in front of the feet, squat to pick it up. Breaking Muscle's and Healthline's pattern; ACE's version adds a swing between the legs first, which is not shown.
Starting position
Standing tall, feet hip-width apart (20–30 cm), toes forward, knees soft. Ball held in both hands by its sides in front of the waist, arms relaxed and nearly straight. Abs braced, shoulders down.
The movement
Raise the ball overhead with straight arms while extending the legs and rising onto the balls of the feet to stand as tall as possible. Without pausing, brace and drive the ball down: hips push back, knees bend and the trunk folds forward from the hips with a flat back while the straight arms throw the ball into the floor 20–30 cm in front of the toes. Arms follow through towards the floor. Then squat with a flat back, pick the ball up from the floor and stand to the start.
Breathing
Breathe in as the ball goes overhead, out hard as you slam.
Tempo
0.8 s ball up and onto the toes, 0.4 s slam, 0.3 s follow-through, 1.5 s squat, pick up and stand (3 s).
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Overhead: shoulder elevation about 170°, ball directly above the head, never behind it; heels lift 3–5 cm; knees and hips straight.
- Ball lands 20–30 cm in front of the toes, rolls or settles with little bounce (dead ball).
- Spine neutral throughout; no arching back at the top.
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Medicine Ball Slam is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
