Medicine Ball Side Throw

A rotational power exercise: standing side-on with a medicine ball held at your hip, you turn your hips and torso and throw the ball out to the side with both hands. The obliques and the rest of the trunk turn the body, and the hips start the rotation.

How to do it

1. Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width, holding a medicine ball with both hands in front of your torso.
2. Turn your torso and the ball toward your back hip, bending your knees slightly and keeping your chest up.
3. Start the throw by turning your back hip forward and pivoting on the ball of your back foot.
4. Let your torso and arms follow, throwing the ball out to the side with both hands.
5. Finish facing the direction of the throw with your arms extended.
6. Retrieve the ball, reset, and repeat for the planned repetitions, then switch sides.

Tips

• Start the throw from the hips, not the arms; the trunk and arms should follow the hip turn.
• Throw explosively, but keep your back neutral as you rotate rather than bending sideways.
• Use a ball light enough to throw fast; a heavy ball slows the rotation and turns it into a push.

Muscles

Primary: Obliques

Secondary: Front deltoid, Glutes (max), Chest, Abs