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Written by Jake BolyUpdated by Tim Hill on January 12th, 2024 Mini Bosu Ball
Medicine balls are a fantastic, dynamic training tool that can be used in nearly every style of workout. Whether you’re a true beginner or a weathered gym rat, it’s more than likely that medicine balls will find a way into your programming. For beginners, medicine balls are awesome tools for developing movement mechanics, while advanced athletes can use them to develop power and improve conditioning.
There are multiple ways you can use medicine balls in workouts, and like their diverse uses, there are multiple types of medicine balls on the market. For example, there are firmer medicine balls that have a ton of bounce and are great for slams, then there are softer medicine balls that are useful for conditioning workouts and things like core exercises and wall balls. In this round-up, we broke down the best medicine balls on the market into multiple categories to help you find the perfect fit for your home gym.
This synthetic leather medicine ball by Titan Fitness is an ideal choice not only for wall balls, but for any exercise you may use a medicine ball — not to mention it looks classically cool.
The outer covering is soft, but also decently grippy, so this ball shouldn’t slip through your hands if you’re sweaty. The inside is filled with polypropylene cotton which ensures the weight is well distributed and doesn’t skew one side of the other. Finally, the double-stitched, reinforced seams maximize durability. Just bear in mind this ball isn’t a slam ball. Here’s a helpful list for those on the hunt for a solid slammer.
This leather medicine ball from Titan Fitness is perfect for developing explosive power on a budget. In comes in a variety of different weights, and has a classic look to it.
Great value for money and ideal for conditioning and power workouts, this ball is on the softer side but is well reinforced nonetheless.
A lot of the exercises you’ll perform with medicine balls involve throwing them as violently and powerfully as possible. In order to do this, you need a ball that you can actually hold on to when you’ve worked up a good sweat in the gym.
One of the most grippy medicine balls we’ve come across is this rubberized ball by Rogue. With a textured tread-pattern rubber outer, these balls are ideal when you’re fatigued. They also exhibit great durability, and have been approved for the new Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) should you have any questions about the beating it can withstand from an intense workout.
Eminently affordable and reliably grippy, the Rogue Rubber Medicine Ball is extremely durable. While it may be no-frills, it’s textured rubber surface is undeniably helpful when training sessions get hot and sweaty.
A workhorse, while this Rogue Rubber Medicine Ball isn’t fancy, the devil is in the details with its durability and attention to a grippy design.
If you’re particularly sweaty, or if your training regime requires you to do exercises that require handles to be completed, our recommendation is the ZELUS Medicine Ball with dual grip.
The outer layer of rubber that covers this ball and handles is anti-slip, giving you the ability to perform many exercises that other balls can’t. The rubber is also eco friendly, non-toxic and odorless. Our sole gripe is that there are only two weight options – 10 and 20lbs – which might be a little restrictive for some. Aside from that, this ball is a solid option if you want a medicine ball with handles that can also open up other exercise options.
The addition of handles on this ZELUS Medicine Ball with Dual Grip opens up some great training options. If you want to break away from the traditional exercises, this is a solid choice.
We love the new exercise avenues handles on a medicine ball can open up. Hard wearing, this ball from ZELUS is built to survive everything you can throw at it.
At the end of the day, it can be extremely helpful to have more weights available to you than less. More options mean, well, more options. Whether for progression within your training, or to help you ensure that you keep your technique on point rather than muscling through exercises and suffering the consequences, we find these medicine ball sets from Fringe Sport to be a solid addition to the accessory corner of any gym.
These medicine ball sets by Fringe Sport are ideal for that exact reason. Giving you a great deal on a variety of weights, you can buy a pair with different weights or a set of 3 balls giving you a light, medium and heavy option. The balls themselves have an eye-catching design that is also paired with some solid engineering. Finally, the one year warranty is incredibly generous and has you covered should any problems arise.
A great design and a great deal, these Fringe Sport Medicine Ball sets are ideal for people who want to make sure they have all aspects of their training covered.
Good looking and smartly engineered, these well priced medicine ball sets help you cover all bases going forward in your training.
For many, standard weights are all they’ll ever need. However if you’re an advanced athlete or a big person who can naturally move a lot of weight, you may want to go heavier. That’s where these MK-D balls from Rogue come in. Available in weights from 14lbs all the way up to 150lbs, they allow you to truly push the limits in your training.
Made from a very durable rubber shell and with a textured grip, these balls are able to put up with (and also inflict) some serious punishment. The dead bounce also means they’re ideal if you need a quieter option. 10lb increments all the way to 100lbs is also a solid progression if you’re looking for specific weights to toss around.
For those looking to push the limits, these Rogue MK-D balls are available all the way up to 150lbs. They’re also incredibly tough, and perfect for slamming. If they don’t give you a hell of a workout, we don’t know what will.
There aren’t many balls available above 30lbs, let alone 50lbs. If your workouts have been getting a little stale, these will definitely add some spice.
Slamming a ball is not only a great exercise to develop explosive power, it’s also very therapeutic. With a very low risk of injury, the thing you really need to worry about is whether or not your ball will be able to withstand it. That’s why we love these MK-D balls from Rogue.
The heaviest of heavy duty balls, these rubberized balls are 14 inches in diameter because of their extra thick outer layer that keeps them intact — no matter how hard you push them. They are admittedly more expensive than other options, but if you need a durable ball for slamming, look no further.
For those looking to push the limits, these Rogue MK-D balls are available all the way up to 150lbs. They’re also incredibly tough, and perfect for slamming. If they don’t give you a hell of a workout, we don’t know what will.
More expensive than the other options on this list, these balls from Rogue are nonetheless worth it if you are going to put them through the ringer.
Which medicine ball you choose is going to depend heavily on what you want to do with it. Here are some of the factors you want to think about before you purchase.
The type of training you do is going to be one of the biggest determinants when it comes to which ball you buy. For example, for CrossFitters doing a lot of wall balls, a soft ball in the 14 to 20lbs range is probably what you’re looking for. If you’re an athlete who likes to train for a sport like Strongman, you may opt for heavier medicine balls up in the 70 to 150lbs range. Generally it’s going to be better to pick a ball that is less specialized if you aren’t a competitor, as you’ll be able to perform a larger variety of movements.
Weight is probably the most important decision when it comes to a medicine ball. Too heavy and you won’t generate enough speed, power output, or maintain the proper positioning throughout a movement. Too light and you simply won’t feel challenged. Beginners should consider lighter balls, but for intermediate and advanced lifters, you also need to consider that the heaviest balls may not be what you need. There’s a fine line to tread here, so tread carefully!
Regardless of whether you want to slam your medicine ball or not, you will care about the durability. Obviously if you are planning on doing ball slams, it’s worth shelling out extra for a more durable ball, but generally we’d recommend erring on the more durable side even if you don’t. Balls will get dropped and many of the best exercises require throwing of some description.
Hard balls should last longer than soft options. However, if you are doing wall balls regularly, you may not appreciate a rubber ball to the face. Harder balls can be smaller since you can condense more weight into less space. A smaller ball may open up certain movements to specific trainees, but makes them a little worse for others. You’ll also want to consider how the ball will work with your flooring surface. Softer balls will stay put, while harder balls will inevitably roll around.
Budget is always going to play a role when buying gym equipment, but thankfully medicine balls are relatively affordable pieces of equipment in the grand scheme of training implements. Granted if you need a very heavy option, (over 30lbs) they can become moderately expensive, but for everybody else, money shouldn’t be too big an obstacle in this case.
There are generally three primary materials used to make medicine balls. Here’s the list.
Very durable, these balls do tend to be more dense than other options. They will survive almost anything though, so if you are planning on heavy usage, this is probably the material for you.
A popular choice, synthetic leather balls will be larger and less dense and will also be less durable than rubber options. The plus side is that they will usually be cheaper, softer, and more forgiving during training.
Similar to leather, balls wrapped with PVC are going to be larger and less durable than rubber balls. Equally, you can generally expect them to be more affordable and softer. Some people prefer the feel of PVC to leather, but there are also plenty in the opposite camp.
Not all medicine balls are created equally, so we selected our top picks with two main criteria in mind. First, we assessed the overall construction and build of the ball. Second, we looked at the ball’s best uses and how one can excel with the implement in their gym.
A quality medicine ball can be a huge deal for commercial and home gyms. Why? If you buy a poor quality medicine ball and it breaks open (we’ve seen it happen before), you’re going to have a big mess to clean up. More importantly, you’ll be out a medicine ball.
Quality medicine balls that should stand the test of time all have three major construction traits in common including:
A strong outer construction is a must for athletes that want to slam their medicine balls and throw them for power-based activities. On top of the outer construction itself, durable seams are useful for preventing premature breakdown and material leakage from the inside.
A firm interior is great for ensuring medicine balls maintain their overall structure when being used in multiple activities. After all, lopsided medicine ball is not exactly ideal for supporting performance.
On top of a medicine ball’s construction, we also consider how it can be used to the best of its abilities. Medicine balls can be filled with sand, air, or other materials designed to decrease impact. All three of these factors will cause a medicine ball’s performance to be different for the user.
When it comes to best uses, none of the above medicine balls top their counterparts when it comes to what’s best overall. The best way to consider these characteristics are to scale them to your activities. If you consider what type of workouts you perform the most, then you can make an educated decision accordingly.
Medicine balls are a wonderful piece of equipment that give you the ability to train skills, planes of motion, and parts of the body that are often neglected by barbells and machines. They’re an excellent addition to the equipment arsenal for many people, and their wide range of applications and affordability compared to many other equipment means that they are a great value option for many workout warriors. If you buy a quality ball (or balls) like the ones we’ve listed in this article, you should be very happy with your investment.
Yes! Medicine balls are great whole body training tools for users of any skill level. While you may need to get a couple of different weights to ensure that you give yourself some range to progress into, the humble medicine ball is a great place to start with your training.
Honestly one of the beautiful things about medicine balls is that there are hundreds, maybe thousands of great exercises to do. We have put together a few articles about slams, power training and whole body conditioning , but these are just the tip of the iceberg. Start with these and expand your repertoire as necessary.
It’s hard to say for sure, but based on the mechanisms behind them, you are unlikely to be working on strength and pure endurance with just a medicine ball. Outside of these two categories, medicine balls are also unlikely to be great for working on hypertrophy . That being said, medicine balls are surprisingly adaptable, so if you’re creative, you may be able to find ways to train these qualities.
Jake holds a Master's in Sports Science and a Bachelor's in Exercise Science. Jake formerly served as BarBend's Fitness and Training Editor.
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