12 Medicine Ball Ab Workouts You Can Do Anywhere

Medicine balls have long been recognized as invaluable tools in fitness due to their versatility, effectiveness, and ability to target multiple muscle groups simultaneously. From ancient Greek athletes to modern-day fitness enthusiasts, the medicine ball remains a staple for enhancing strength, power, and functional movement patterns. Whether you're a beginner or an elite athlete, incorporating medicine ball core exercises into your fitness routine can yield significant benefits.

Today, we’ll show 12 challenging medicine ball exercises to build the abs you’ll want to show off. Each exercise will accompany detailed instructions on proper form and insightful variations, creating seamless integration into your existing workout regimen. 

What are Medicine Balls?

Medicine balls are versatile fitness tools used in conditioning exercises and strength training at home and in gyms. Typically, they are spherical and come in various weights, ranging from a few pounds to 50 pounds, and sometimes even more! These balls are often made of rubber or vinyl and filled with materials such as sand or gel.

In fitness, medicine balls are employed for a wide array of exercises targeting different muscle groups. They can be used for throwing, catching, slamming, or holding during exercises, providing resistance and adding an element of instability to movements. They boost muscle strength, power, coordination, and stability. These training practices have been shown to improve core strength, functional movements, injury rehabilitation, and sports performance in gyms and if you have home gym strength equipment.

Benefits of Working Out with a Medicine Ball

Working with a medicine ball offers several advantages. Similar to working with a suspension trainer, medicine ball exercises often involve dynamic movements that require the engagement of multiple muscle groups simultaneously, making them highly effective for building functional core strength. 

Unlike static exercises like planks or crunches, which primarily target isolated muscles, medicine ball exercises promote coordination and stability throughout the entire core region, including the abdominals, obliques, and lower back. Moreover, TRX medicine ball workouts can be tailored to suit individual fitness levels and goals, as the weight of the ball can be easily adjusted. This versatility allows for progressive overload, essential for continuous improvement in core strength and stability over time. Additionally, the nature of medicine ball exercises often involves rotational movements, which are crucial for sports performance and everyday activities that require twisting and turning.

12 Best Medicine Ball Core Exercises

Take a look at our favorite exercises below to work your core with a medicine ball. Not sure which medicine ball exercises match your current fitness level? Take our quick assessment quiz to get a personalized core workout plan tailored to your goals.

12. Medicine Ball Plank

The medicine ball plank offers a multifaceted approach to core strengthening and stability training, integrating the benefits of both planking and weight resistance exercises. By incorporating a medicine ball into the traditional plank position, individuals engage not only their core muscles but also recruit stabilizing muscles throughout the body, including the shoulders, arms, and legs. 

This added challenge not only enhances overall strength but also improves balance and coordination. Additionally, the dynamic nature of the medicine ball introduces an element of instability, requiring constant adjustments to maintain proper form, thus intensifying the workout and stimulating deeper muscle engagement. 

Here’s how to do a Medicine Ball Plank:

1. Assume a plank position with the medicine ball positioned on the floor beneath you. Ensure your hands are aligned directly under your shoulders and your body forms a straight line from head to heels, maintaining proper alignment
2. Position your palms firmly on the surface of the medicine ball, maintaining a stable grip. Distribute your weight evenly to prevent imbalance.
3. Activate your core muscles by contracting your abdominal region. This action stabilizes your body, promoting optimal form and balance during the exercise.
4. Maintain the plank position with hands placed on the medicine ball for a prescribed duration.
5. Keep proper alignment throughout the exercise, preventing sagging or raised hips. 

11. Russian Twist with Medicine Ball

The Russian twist with a medicine ball primarily targets the obliques, which are crucial for trunk rotation and lateral movements. By twisting the torso from side to side while holding a medicine ball, you engage the entire core, including the rectus abdominis and transversus abdominis, promoting greater functional strength and muscular endurance. The dynamic nature of the movement challenges coordination and balance, activating and stabilizing muscles throughout the body. Russian twists with a medicine ball can also improve spinal mobility and posture by encouraging proper alignment during rotation. The medicine ball increases the intensity of the exercise, leading to greater calorie expenditure and potential for fat loss.

Here’s how to do a Russian Twist with a medicine ball:

1. Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground, hip-width apart. Hold the medicine ball with both hands, positioning it close to your chest.
2. Lean back slightly, keeping your spine straight and your core engaged. This starting position helps activate your abdominal muscles.
3. Begin the twist by rotating your torso to one side, bringing the medicine ball across your body towards the floor beside your hip. Keep your arms extended and your gaze following the movement of the ball.
4. Pause briefly at the end of the movement, then reverse the twist to the other side, bringing the medicine ball across your body to the opposite hip.
5. Continue alternating sides in a controlled, fluid motion, focusing on engaging your core muscles throughout the exercise.
6. Aim for a full range of motion while maintaining proper form and control. Avoid using momentum or swinging the ball, as this can reduce the effectiveness of the exercise and increase the risk of injury.

10. Medicine Ball Crunch

Performing medicine ball crunches offers several benefits for core strength. This exercise targets the rectus abdominis, commonly known as the "six-pack" muscles, as well as the deeper core muscles. By adding resistance with the medicine ball, you increase the challenge to these muscles, leading to greater muscle activation and development. Additionally, the dynamic movement of lifting the upper body off the ground while holding the medicine ball engages the entire core, including the obliques and transverse abdominis, promoting a strong and balanced midsection. Medicine ball crunches also improve spinal flexion and mobility, contributing to better posture and reducing the risk of lower back pain.

Here’s how to do a Medicine Ball Crunch:

1. Start by lying flat on your back on an exercise mat with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Ensure that your lower back is pressed against the mat to maintain stability.
2. Hold a medicine ball with both hands, positioning it against your chest or extending your arms overhead, depending on your preference and comfort level.
3. Engage your core muscles by drawing your belly button towards your spine. This helps stabilize your torso throughout the exercise.
4. As you exhale, slowly lift your upper body off the mat, crunching forward towards your knees. Keep your gaze focused on the ceiling to avoid straining your neck.
5. Simultaneously, raise the medicine ball towards the ceiling, maintaining a slight bend in your elbows and keeping it in line with your chest or slightly above it.
6. Inhale as you slowly lower your upper body and the medicine ball back toward the starting position, maintaining control throughout the movement.

9. Medicine Ball Mountain Climber

By incorporating a medicine ball into the traditional mountain climber movement, this exercise intensifies the challenge by requiring greater stabilization and coordination. As you alternate driving your knees towards your chest while balancing your hands on the medicine ball, you engage not only your core muscles but also your shoulders, chest, and arms. This full-body engagement leads to improved muscular endurance and functional strength, making it an efficient exercise for toning multiple muscle groups simultaneously. Additionally, the rapid pace of the movement elevates your heart rate, providing a cardiovascular workout that enhances endurance and calorie burn.

Here’s how to do a Medicine Ball Mountain Climber:

1. Start in a plank position with your hands resting on a medicine ball, arms extended, and wrists directly beneath your shoulders. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your heels, with your core engaged and your hips level.
2. Engage your core muscles and maintain a stable plank position throughout the exercise to support your body weight and prevent sagging or arching of the back.
3. With your hands firmly gripping the medicine ball, begin by driving one knee towards your chest while keeping the other leg straight and extended.
4. As you return the first leg to the starting position, immediately switch and drive the opposite knee towards your chest, alternating legs in a fluid and controlled motion.
5. Continue alternating legs at a steady pace, mimicking the movement of traditional mountain climbers.
6. Aim to keep your movements smooth and controlled, avoiding excessive swinging or bouncing.

8. Medicine Ball Woodchopper

The Medicine Ball Mountain Woodchop is a highly effective exercise that offers a range of benefits for strength, power, and functional movement. By simulating the chopping motion of chopping wood, this exercise engages multiple muscle groups simultaneously, including the core, shoulders, arms, and legs. As you rotate your torso and arms while lifting the medicine ball overhead and across your body, you activate the muscles responsible for trunk rotation and stabilization, promoting improved core strength and stability. 

Here’s how to do a Medicine Ball Woodchopper:

1. Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and holding a medicine ball with both hands. Engage your core muscles and maintain a slight bend in your knees to stabilize your lower body throughout the exercise.
2. Begin the movement by raising the medicine ball above one shoulder, keeping your arms extended and your torso facing forward.
3. With control, rotate your torso and arms diagonally across your body in a chopping motion, lowering the medicine ball towards the opposite hip.
4. Pivot your back foot and shift your weight onto the back leg as you rotate, allowing your hips to follow the movement.
5. Keep your core engaged and maintain a smooth, controlled motion as you lower the medicine ball towards the hip, feeling a stretch in your obliques and core muscles.
6. Pause briefly at the bottom of the movement, then reverse the motion by engaging your core and rotating back to the starting position, raising the medicine ball diagonally across your body towards the opposite shoulder.
7. Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions on one side, then switch sides and perform the exercise in the opposite direction.

7. Reverse Medicine Ball Plank

The medicine ball plank presents a dynamic challenge that enhances core strength, stability, and overall muscular endurance. This variation intensifies engagement of the core muscles, including the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and obliques, fostering greater functional strength and postural stability. By introducing an unstable surface, the exercise also activates deeper stabilizing muscles throughout the body, promoting improved balance and proprioception. Through consistent practice, the medicine ball plank cultivates a resilient core, enhances overall muscular coordination, and contributes to enhanced performance in functional movements.

Here’s how to do a Medicine Ball Plank:

1. Begin by getting into a plank position on the floor, with your forearms resting on the ground and your elbows positioned directly beneath your shoulders. Your body should be level from your head to your heels, with your core engaged.
2. Place a medicine ball on the floor and position your feet on top of it, ensuring that the balls of your feet are resting securely on the surface of the ball.
3. Once you feel balanced and stable, hold the plank position, maintaining proper form and alignment throughout the exercise.
4. Keep your core muscles engaged and your body steady as you hold the plank for a predetermined amount of time, typically between 20 to 60 seconds, depending on your fitness level and goals.
5. Focus on breathing steadily and evenly throughout the exercise, keeping your shoulders relaxed and your neck in a neutral position.

1. To increase the intensity of the exercise, you can try incorporating small movements, such as lifting one foot slightly off the ball and then alternating with the other foot while maintaining the plank position.

6. Medicine Ball Boat Balance

The Medicine Ball Boat Balance is a highly beneficial exercise in fitness for several reasons. It intensifies the challenge of traditional boat poses by adding instability, requiring greater engagement of the core muscles to maintain balance. This results in enhanced strength and stability in the abdominals, obliques, and lower back. Mastering this exercise improves proprioception and coordination, which are essential for functional movement and injury prevention.

Here’s how to do a Medicine Ball Balance:

1. Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Keep your back straight and shoulders relaxed.
2. Grasp the medicine ball with both hands, holding it in front of your chest at arm's length. Ensure a firm grip on the ball.
3. Slowly lean back, simultaneously lifting your feet off the ground. Your body should form a V-shape, with your torso and thighs creating a 45-degree angle.
4. Balance on your sit bones (the bones at the base of your pelvis) while keeping your spine straight. Avoid rounding your back or slouching.
5. With control, extend your arms forward, parallel to the ground, while still holding the medicine ball. This adds an extra challenge to your core muscles and stabilizers.
6. Maintain the Boat Hold position for the desired duration, keeping your core engaged and breathing steadily.
7. Ensure your knees and toes are pointed upward, and your chest is lifted. Avoid letting your shoulders hunch forward.
8. When you're ready to finish, gently lower your feet back to the ground and bring the medicine ball back to your chest.

5. Superman with Medicine Ball Pass

The Superman with Medicine Ball Pass is a valuable exercise in fitness for several reasons. It targets the muscles of the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings, promoting strength and stability in the posterior chain. The addition of the medicine ball pass engages the core muscles more intensely, requiring coordination and control throughout the movement. This exercise not only strengthens the back and core but also improves posture and spinal alignment, reducing the risk of injury. Incorporating the Superman with Medicine Ball Pass into a workout routine can lead to improved strength, stability, and spinal health.

Here’s how to do a Superman with Medicine Ball Pass

1. Start by lying face down on a comfortable mat with your arms and legs fully extended.
2. Hold a medicine ball with both hands, arms stretched out in front of you, and the ball positioned above the ground.
3. Engage your core muscles and lift your chest, arms, and legs simultaneously off the ground. Imagine you're Superman flying through the air, creating a gentle arch in your back.
4. While in the lifted position, roll the medicine ball from one hand to the other by smoothly transferring it with control.
5. Focus on maintaining a steady pace and controlled movements throughout the exercise.
6. Repeat this sequence for the desired number of repetitions, ensuring each movement is deliberate and controlled.

4. Medicine Ball Twist

The Medicine Ball Twist is a valuable exercise in fitness due to its ability to target and strengthen the obliques, core muscles, and hip flexors. By dynamically rotating the torso while holding a medicine ball, this exercise enhances rotational stability and mobility, which are essential for various daily activities and sports movements. Additionally, the Medicine Ball Twist improves posture and spinal alignment, reducing the risk of injury and promoting overall spinal health. 

Here’s how to do a Medicine Ball Twist:

1. Sit comfortably on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground, ensuring your back is straight and your core is engaged.
2. Hold the medicine ball with both hands in front of your chest and your arms extended.
3. Activate your core muscles by gently pulling your navel towards your spine, creating a stable base for the exercise.
4. Rotate your torso to one side, leading with your chest and shoulders while keeping your arms extended.
5. Exhale as you twist, focusing on contracting your oblique muscles to facilitate the movement.
6. Inhale as you slowly return to the starting position, maintaining control and stability.
7. Continue alternating sides in a controlled manner for the desired number of repetitions or time duration, maintaining proper form throughout the exercise to maximize its effectiveness in targeting the obliques and core muscles.

3. Medicine Ball Toe Touch

The Medicine Ball Toe Touch is important in working the core muscles, particularly the rectus abdominis, obliques, and hip flexors. This exercise involves a dynamic movement, where reaching the medicine ball towards the toes from a supine position requires coordinated activation of these muscle groups. By challenging both the upper and lower abdominal regions, it promotes comprehensive core strength and stability. The inclusion of the medicine ball adds resistance, further enhancing muscular endurance and strength.

Here’s how to do a Medicine Ball Toe Touch:

1. Lie on your back on a mat with your legs fully extended and your arms stretched out overhead, holding a medicine ball in both hands.
2. Activate your core muscles by gently pulling your navel towards your spine. This will stabilize your torso and protect your lower back during the exercise.
3. Simultaneously lift your legs and upper body off the ground, keeping them straight. Your arms should be reaching towards the ceiling, holding the medicine ball.
4. While keeping your legs straight, engage your abdominals to lift your shoulders off the ground and reach the medicine ball towards your toes. Exhale as you reach.
5. At the top of the movement, focus on squeezing your abdominal muscles to fully engage them.
6. Slowly lower your upper body and legs back to the starting position, maintaining control throughout the movement. Inhale as you lower down.
7. Perform the desired number of repetitions, aiming for a smooth and controlled motion with each repetition. Ensure your lower back stays in contact with the mat throughout the movement to avoid straining your back.

2. Medicine Ball Figure 8's

When doing Medicine Ball Figure 8’s, the dynamic, rotational movement engages the core in various planes of motion, promoting functional strength and enhancing muscular endurance. The twisting and rotational movements involved in the Figure 8 motion activate the obliques, which play a crucial role in trunk rotation and lateral stability. As you navigate the ball in a figure-eight pattern around your body, you must coordinate your movements to maintain control and fluidity. This coordination translates to improved agility and body awareness, which are beneficial for athletic performance and injury prevention.

Here’s how to do a Medicine Ball Figure 8’s:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a medicine ball in both hands in front of your body.
2. Activate your core muscles by gently pulling your navel towards your spine. This will stabilize your torso and protect your lower back during the exercise.
3. Initiate the movement by twisting your torso to one side and passing the medicine ball through your legs from one hand to the other.
4. As the ball comes through your legs to the front, switch directions by twisting your torso to the opposite side. Pass the ball behind your body and through your legs again, this time crossing your arms in the opposite direction.
5. Continue this figure-eight motion, smoothly passing the medicine ball between your legs and behind your body in a continuous flow. Keep your movements controlled and fluid.
6. Throughout the exercise, focus on keeping your core engaged and your back straight. Avoid leaning too far forward or backward as you twist.

1. Medicine Ball Overhead Squat

Engaging in Medicine Ball Overhead Squats targets multiple muscle groups simultaneously, including the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, core, and shoulders, promoting overall strength and stability. Adding the medicine ball overhead enhances the challenge to the upper body, particularly the shoulders and arms, fostering muscular endurance and coordination. Moreover, Medicine Ball Overhead Squats improve mobility and flexibility in the hips, ankles, and shoulders, thereby enhancing functional movement patterns and reducing the risk of injury.

Here’s how to do a Medicine Ball Overhead Squat:

1. Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, holding a medicine ball with both hands in front of your chest.
2. Lift the medicine ball overhead, fully extending your arms. Ensure your elbows are straight and your shoulders are stabilized.
3. Tighten your core muscles to maintain stability throughout the exercise.
4. Initiate the squat by bending your knees and pushing your hips back, as if sitting back into a chair. Keep your chest up and your gaze forward.
5. Continue lowering your body until your thighs are parallel to the ground, or as far down as your flexibility allows. Ensure your knees track over your toes and do not collapse inward.
6. Press through your heels to return to the starting position, extending your legs and straightening your hips.

How to Pick Out a Medicine Ball

Selecting the right weight for your medicine ball is a pivotal step in preparing for your exercise regimen. To pinpoint the optimal weight, it's advisable to visit a local gym or sporting goods store where you can experiment with various medicine ball options. Keep in mind that as fatigue sets in, especially towards the end of your routine, your motor skills may diminish, impacting your ability to handle a weighted ball correctly. If you begin with a medicine ball that feels overly heavy, you may find it increasingly challenging to maintain control as you progress through each exercise. This can potentially compromise your form and technique, diminishing the effectiveness of your workouts and elevating the risk of injury.

Takeaway

The medicine ball stands as a versatile and invaluable tool in any workout routine. Its adaptability allows for a wide range of exercises targeting various muscle groups, fostering strength, stability, and coordination. Whether used for dynamic movements like throws and slams or static exercises such as planks and squats, the medicine ball adds an element of challenge and intensity to workouts of all levels. Its accessibility and portability make it a convenient option for gym workouts or gym sessions alike. By incorporating the medicine ball into your fitness regimen, you can elevate your workouts, enhance overall strength and athleticism, and achieve your fitness goals more effectively.