Why You Should Throw a Medicine Ball Around Outside For 30 Minutes Today (2024)

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The workout demonstrated in the video above by Men’s Health Fitness Director BJ Gaddour, C.S.C.S., develops total-body power—and it’s probably the most fun you’ll ever have by yourself in an empty field.

You’ll throw a medicine ball as far as you can, run to it wherever it lands, and repeat for 30 minutes.

Tossing the ball strengthens the muscles throughout your hips and core in addition to building total-body power, Gaddour says.

You’ll use three different throwing patterns to target different parts of your upper body: Tossing the ball backward hits the muscles on your back; tossing it overhead hammers your lats and triceps, and tossing it to the side targets your chest, he says.

You’ll also get a great cardio workout running to the ball between throws.

Related: THE 21-DAY METASHRED—an At-Home Body-Shredding Program From Men’s Health That Strips Away Fat and Reveals Hard Muscle

Gaddour recommends Dynamax’s medicine ball for this workout because of its size and padding. Start with a 6 to 10-pound ball, like this one.

Here’s how it works:

Set a timer to go off every 10 minutes for 30 minutes. For each 10-minute period, perform the corresponding throwing pattern. Throw the ball, run to where it lands, and repeat.

When the timer goes off, move on to the next throwing pattern.

Minute 0 to 10: backward toss
Minute 10 to 20: overhead toss
Minute 20 to 30: rotational toss