The Medicine Ball Chops is a ballistic exercise for beginners to improve neural pathways for explosive shot production, body control and coordination.
The focus of the Medicine Ball Diagonal Chops is powerful core activation and explosiveness of upper extremities thereby emulating the movement mechanics during shot production.
Before you engage in ballistics you may want to take a look at Ballistic Training: How To Optimize Explosiveness for maximum results and a sample ballistic training workout for advanced athletes.
Medicine Ball Chops Progression
If you use additional weights…make sure you use appropriate weight so you can control the action throughout the entire range of motion. Otherwise you defeat the purpose of the exercise.
Very often, people use too much resistance and they become sloppy. Especially when it comes to maintaining dynamic stability and hitting in the same spots repetitively.
Also, don’t just progress with adding more weight. First, maximize the speed while maintaining perfect form.
Here are the progression levels:
- Beginner: look down during throwing
- Advanced: look up during throwing and change to lunge position
- Professional: standing on one leg only
Medicine Ball Chops Description
- Hold the medicine ball (MB) in both hands close to the trunk
- Take on athletic stance position (feet are in line with shoulders); look forward during exercise
- Take MB behind the head and fully extend the trunk
- Explosively flex the trunk and slam the MB into the ground; get head out of the way during MB rebound
- Catch MB and use speed of the MB rebound to accelerate trunk extension/flexion
Related Ballistic Exercises
Training Zone
We provide you with some more workouts and training tips you may be interested in to optimize your training.
Also, make sure that you warm up properly before and stretch out after your training session.
