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Exercise library · Full body

Slam ball

Explosive lift for the whole body with other equipment.

How to do it

1 of 4

Ball in front of your body

  1. Starting position

    Stand shoulder-width and hold the ball with both hands in front of your body.

  2. The movement

    Lift the ball overhead, extend your body, throw it hard into the floor and bend your knees to pick it up again.

Most common mistake

Don't round your back as you pick up the ball, bend your knees and keep your chest lifted.

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Muscle group
Full body
Equipment
Other
Where
Gym
Logged as
Weight × reps

Muscles worked

The slam ball is an explosive throwing exercise. As you lift the ball, your legs, glutes and back extend your body upwards. The throw itself comes from your abs and lats, which pull your arms down and fold your torso forward, helped by your shoulders and triceps. When you pick the ball up, your legs and glutes work again while your back stays straight. The exercise trains power and fitness rather than strength, since the ball is light and you never have to slow it down.

Common mistakes

  • You use the wrong ball. A bouncy medicine ball can come back up towards your face, and a soft wall ball can split. Use a slam ball, which is made to bounce as little as possible.
  • The throw comes only from your arms. Without extending first, the throw is weak. Rise onto your toes with the ball high overhead, then pull it down with your abs and back so your whole body follows.
  • The ball lands too far forward. You then have to chase it with a bent back, and if it lands too close it can hit your toes. Aim at the floor just in front of your feet.

Variations and alternatives

  • The wall ball throws the ball up at a wall and puts more work on your legs with a full squat.
  • Battle ropes give similar intervals for arms and trunk, with no bending down.
  • Burpees need no equipment when you want to keep your heart rate up in a similar way.

Sets and reps

For power: 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 8 throws, each as hard as you can, resting until you feel fresh again. For conditioning, intervals of 20 to 40 seconds suit, or sets of 10 to 20 throws with shorter rest. The guide to sets and reps can help you pick an approach.

Choose a ball light enough to throw hard; a heavy ball slows the throw and kills the explosiveness. Then add throws in the same time, cut the rest or go slightly heavier, one change at a time. That is progressive overload with a piece of kit that does not weigh much. If your back hurts when you lift the ball, stop and ask a doctor or physiotherapist to examine it.

Swap for

Taken, or missing the equipment? The same movement with something else.

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