The slam ball is an effective, yet underutilized training tool. Unlike the name suggests, there is a lot more to the slam ball than, well… slamming it on the ground. Long-lasting, versatile and with a wide range of full-body exercises that can be done with it, the slam ball makes a great accessory to any gym space.
Whether you’re unsure how to use a slam ball or are looking to add some new slam ball exercises to your workout regime, this article is for you! Read on for 9 great exercises you can do, as well as an example full body slam ball workout for you to try out.
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9 Slam Ball Exercises Anyone Can Do
If you google ‘slam ball exercises’, lists of 100’s come up. Because really, you can do most exercises with the addition of a slam ball, instead of a dumbbell or barbell for example. But in this article, I’m going to be focussing on the exercises that you need a slam ball to be able to do – the originals, if you like!
Slam balls are available in a range of sizes and weights. The exercises below can be done with light, medium or heavy ones, according to your current strength and fitness levels.
1. Wall Balls
Like the standard medicine wall ball, only extra challenging! Where the medicine ball bounces back off the wall into your arms, the slam ball creates more of a dead weight effect. Ultimately, the throw and catch are made that much harder by utilizing a slam ball.
Muscles worked: full body
How to:
- Start standing roughly 1m to 1.5m from a wall with your feet shoulder-width apart and a slam ball in between your hands.
- Your hands should be under the ball with your elbows by your sides. You shouldn’t be holding the ball on its sides with your elbows flaring outwards.
- Go into a squat position, keeping your chest up and weight in your heels.
- As you stand up out of the squat position, explosively throw the ball against the wall above your head as high as you can.
- Absorb the impact of catching the ball as you simultaneously go into your next squat.
2. Side Throws
Side throws will have you throwing the ball against the wall, side-on. I love the fact that this exercise works your left and right sides equally!
Remember to start on your weaker side. As this exercise requires a lot of core output, you’d start on your weaker core side, which normally corresponds to your stronger arm side. For example, if you are right-handed, you’ll find that the right side of your core is weaker in comparison to your left. As a result, you should add slam ball side throws into workouts that target the core because they strengthen your weaker core side.
Muscles worked: full body with core emphasis
How to:
- Start standing roughly 1m to 1.5m away from a wall with your shoulder to the wall, i.e. standing side-on.
- Have your feet shoulder-width apart and a slam ball in between your hands.
- Your hands should be on the sides of the ball and your elbows by your sides.
- Rotate through your core, away from the wall, to create momentum for your wall throw.
- Then explosively throw the ball against the wall at about chest height, rotating your body towards the wall (mostly through your core).
- Your front foot should remain in the starting position, whilst your back foot can rotate with you as you throw/twist.
- Pick up the ball off the ground and return to starting position before going into your next throw.
- Note, this exercise should be done quickly and explosively, throughout.
3. Slams
Ok, so this is one of few exercises that sees you slamming the ball on the floor! The good old faithful ball slam. This exercise will get your heart rate pumping and allow you to let off any steam you may have accumulated during your day!
Muscles worked: full body
How to:
- Assume a shoulder-width stance with your feet and have a slam ball between your hands.
- Lift the ball up overhead, fully extending your arms and going onto your tip toes.
- Explosively slam the ball down onto the ground in front of you.
- As the ball does not bounce high enough for you to catch it in a standing position, your throw is proceeded by a squat to catch the ball.
- Once the ball is back between your hands, return to starting/standing position with the ball going overhead for your next throw.
- The time between your slams should be minimal and you should concentrate all your force into the slam.
4. Russian Twists
One of my favorite core exercises of all time! I love the deep burn on the sides that this exercise creates. It’s going to get your heart pumping too! Don’t wimp out with weight on your Russian twists – you’re not crunching the weight, you’re twisting the weight and can handle more than you think!
Muscles worked: core and arms
How to:
- Sit on the ground with your legs out in front of you. Have a slight bend in your knees and your ankles crossed.
- Hold a slam ball between your hands with your elbows by your sides.
- Keeping your spine neutral, lift your ankles off the ground and balance on your tail bone.
- From here begin rotating through your core (keep your legs still) to tap the ball on the ground on your left side, followed by your right side.
- Think about creating as much twist through your core as possible.
- Each tap on the ground counts as 1 repetition.
5. Carries
You may be familiar with the farmers carry. This exercise is essentially the same thing, but you’re carrying a slam ball, holding it against your body in front of you. Whilst the farmers carry hits your back hard, the slam ball carry has more of a focus on your arms and lower body.
To get the most out of this exercise, do it with as much weight as you can safely hold.
Muscles worked: full body
How to:
- Squat down to pick up the slam ball off the ground safely.
- Stand up and hold it against your torso with your arms wrapped around it.
- Standing straight and strong without leaning back, walk for the set amount of distance, for example, 20m.
- Keep your hips tucked under/avoid letting them tilt backwards during the carry to ensure your core remains engaged and protects your lower back.
6. Chest Toss and Catch
The chest toss and catch involves lying on your back and throwing and catching the slam ball directly above your chest. Like a chest press, but instead of just a press, it’s a throw! You can perform this exercise on the ground or on the bench, though my preference for placing the most load on my chest is to do it on the ground.
Muscles worked: chest and arms
How to:
- Lie on your back with your knees bend and feet flat on the floor.
- Hold a slam ball between your hands just above your chest with your elbows on the floor or close to, to begin with.
- Push the slam ball upwards away from your body, tossing it at the top of the movement.
- Catch the ball, absorbing the impact by bending your elbows and simultaneously lowering the ball back down to starting position.
- Your throws should be powerful and quick with minimal rest time in between each throw.
- The height the ball reaches will depend on the weight of the slam ball you are using for the exercise.
7. Rotational Slams
Where the standard ball slam sees you slamming the ball on ground directly in front of you, this variation will see you slamming the ball from side to side. Therefore, these rotational slams are great for creating balanced strength and power on both sides of your body.
Muscles worked: full body with core emphasis
How to:
- Hold the slam ball on its sides between your hands with your elbows by your sides.
- You should be standing with your feet hip-width apart.
- Lift the ball up overhead until your arms are fully extended. You can go onto your toes to create extra downward force in your throw.
- Slam the ball on the ground on your right side as hard as you can.
- Pick the ball up, lift overhead again, but this time slam the ball down on your left side as hard as you can.
- You can do the repetitions alternating from left to right or you can try doing all the repetitions on the one side before doing the other side, for an extra challenge.
8. Underhand Toss and Catch
There are two ways to do this exercise. You can underhand toss and catch, or underhand toss and pick up off the ground. Each have their own benefits. Where the catch part of the exercise gives your body a good workout when the ball is on its way down, not having the catch allows you to put all your effort into the toss itself.
Muscles worked: full body with an upper body emphasis
How to:
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding the slam ball on its lower sides so that your hands are semi-underneath it.
- Bend your knees and push your hips backwards into a quarter squat, lowering the ball between your knees.
- As you push back up powerfully into standing position, underhand toss the ball up as high as you can.
- If you’re planning on doing the toss and catch, make sure your throw is safely catch-able. If you’re planning on not catching it, toss the ball as hard as you can, allowing it to fall to the ground afterwards before going into your next repetition.
9. Ground to Shoulder
If you have watched (or participated) in any CrossFit competitions, you would have surely come across this exercise! A strong man favorite – the ‘Ground to Shoulder’. As the name suggests, this exercise involves you lifting a (heavy) slam ball from the ground onto your one shoulder. A perfect exercise for building functional strength.
Muscles worked: full body
How to:
- Squat down to pick up the ball correctly.
- Use your hips to help drive the ball up and onto your shoulder as you reach standing position.
- Finish with locked hips and squeezed glutes before letting the ball roll off your shoulder on the floor behind you.
- Return to the beginning of the movement again by squatting down to pick up the ball and driving it up onto your other shoulder.
- Like the rotational slams, this exercise can be done on one side at a time or in an alternating fashion, going from left to right side.
Full Body Slam Ball Workout
Now that you have an idea of a bunch of slam ball exercises that can be performed (and you can’t wait to try them), here is an example workout that you can use to brush up on your slam ball skills.
This workout is designed to be done in a circuit with minimal rest in between exercises. The circuit is to be repeated a total of 3 or 4 times.
This workout will work your whole body – no muscles will go untouched!
CIRCUIT
Wall Balls x 15
30 seconds rest
Russian Twists x 30
30 seconds rest
Chest Toss and Catch x 15
30 seconds rest
Underhand Toss and Catch x 20
30 seconds rest
Rotational Slams x 20 alternating
30 seconds rest
Ground to Shoulder x 8 each side
Rest for 2 minutes – repeat x 3 or 4
Wrapping Up
So, there you have it, a list of some of the greatest slam ball exercises that you can do!
I love utilizing slam balls throughout my weekly training as they are a fantastic strength and conditioning tool and provide so much variety. Not to mention, there aren’t many things you can throw around with all your force without getting weird looks, so why not make the most of the opportunity to do so!
The exercises and workout contained in this article are suitable for all fitness levels based on the correct weight being selected for each exercise. As slam balls come in a wide range of weights and sizes, they are great for progressing your exercises as your overall strength improves.
Do you have a favorite slam ball exercise? Let us know what it is in the comments section below!
