Build muscle like a real baller

If you love meeting your mates at the bar (free weights bar that is), switching up your game plan and introducing medicine balls and dead balls into your workouts can absolutely boost your muscle growth.

We talk to Aquanation personal trainer Chris Pattison on the best ways to become a real baller.

Same thing different name

First up, nope - medicine balls and dead balls are not the same. But what they do have in common is bringing bring huge benefits to your fitness goal party.

“Medicine balls and dead balls are two very different things and sometimes get confused,” says Pattison.

So what’s the deal with each? Pattison explains there are a couple of variations of medicine balls, which is probably why there’s a bit of confusion. The personal trainer describes medicine balls as the soft, padded medicine balls - not the bouncy medicine balls. And for dead balls, Pattison says you might hear them referred to as slam balls.

Okay lets get into the commonality between medicine balls and dead balls. As Pattison explains, both “dead balls and your soft medicine balls are great for ballistic, explosive movements - throws, twists and slams.”

He adds that if you’re looking to develop speed and power, these balls are dynamite for sport specific movements. Dead ball slams (here’s where the slam ball nickname comes in) in particular are a great conditioning movement. “Dead ball slams a compact movement on steroids, purely based on the speed that you need to perform it at and like anything the faster you do it the more energy required, so you’re looking to build speed, those sorts of movements are ideal,” says the personal trainer. 

Where to start

Do not underestimate the fire these balls bring to your workout. Pattison explains many movements that you do with a dumbbell and a barbell can be replicated with a rubber medicine ball and just as challenging. “When using a hard, rubber medicine ball obviously you’re holding the load and you can shift that load out from your centre of gravity, so that will involve a lot more core activation.”

And don’t worry, it’s not all light weights either. “Medicine balls can range from 4kg to 65kg, so you can still put quite a heavy load through and it’s all about the grip too, by holding a heavy load in your arms and controlling it versus holding a dumbbell with your hands, so it makes that movement a lot more challenging,” the personal points out.

When it comes to which exercises to incorporate, the Pattison says there are a bunch of options. “I recommend Russian twists, the explosive progression of that would be a rotational twist and throw into the wall (just make sure your wall can handle it, otherwise use a softer ball), you can also squat and press with a medicine ball, or a wall sit and touch the medicine ball on the ground and touch it up above your head.”

We’re sweating just thinking about those moves. The personal trainer says you can even step it up a notch by performing single leg exercises where you’re trying to control the load. “Neurologically it’s more challenging because it’s wobbling around a bit more and then you’ve got your motor skills with catching and throwing single handed or double handed and if you want to make it harder you can start on a bosu ball and balance on one leg,” instructs Pattison.

The personal trainer adds that these moves are also great for developing motor skills, which is why they’re also great for older adults. And if you are at the gym with your mates, medicine balls are perfect for gym buddy moves. “We also have small 1kg - 2kg medicine balls can be used with your buddies, you can do a sit-up and throw and try and catch it with one hand. It’s super challenging neurologically, core activation and motor skills all at once,” Pattison explains.

And don’t sweat it, we haven’t forgotten about dead balls which to be honest, will leave you feeling a little deadzie! That’s because these bad boys originated from strongman comps. So yeah, you’ll be working hard.

“To physically lift up a 55kg or 65kg is really challenging functional movement and there’s a technique to it versus a barbell, where you lift it up quite easily and use your legs and lift it up and everything is nice and balanced, whereas with your dead balls there’s that mix of strength versus speed and power,” says Pattison. And if you’re focussed on your triple extension for a bar bell clean, the personal trainer recommends using a dead ball and lifting that to your waist as an accessory to your Olympic movements.

And if you like to dabble in higher intensity workouts, dead balls are a match made in gym heaven for HIIT fans. “Take a ball that’s 35-40% of your bodyweight six minutes on the clock and you do six dead ball the ground to shoulders or ‘up and overs’ and then hold it on your shoulder and walk 30 metres up and back and repeat and relay over and over - it looks so simple becomes super challenge” the personal trainer recommends.

Avoid these mistakes 

Just like any piece of equipment, anyone can make mistakes. For daed balls, Pattison says the most common mistake is loading up your load. “One of the most common mistakes I see is when somebody tries to do a deadball slam and they’ve just gone far too heavy and it basically becomes a deadball drop.”

Pattison adds this really cuts your lunch when it comes to making the most of the move. “They’re working one way by getting up above their head, but when they get it to the top and they just drop it so they’re not getting the full benefit of the movement, you want to get the full slamming motion.”

And to avoid any injuries to your back, get your technique right. “You don’t want to be slamming it down too far in front of you and you want to be picking it up in a proper squat or hip-hinge so you’re exploding from the ground because if you don’t do this properly that’s where back injuries can occur,” warns the personal trainer. And for a cherry on top of the caution cupcake, be careful if you do ball slams in case the ball bounces back up!

For medicine balls, “a common mistake going too heavy with a medicine ball, if it’s too heavy you are actually hindering the movement by slowing it down,” says Pattison. The personal trainer explains the main benefit of using a medicine ball “is to increase speed so you don’t want to slow yourself down, you want to be fast.”

Russian twists are another fav for this piece of equipment, and again going to heavy hampers your workout. “A lot of people are using a ball that’s far too heavy and instead of locking themselves in and twisting from the trunk, they’re lifting their arms but there’s no rotation through the torso and not getting the full benefit of the movement,” says Pattison. He advises that it’s important to about why you’re doing the exercise with the ball before you start to make sure you use it effectively.

Overall, the personal trainers top recommendation is to choose your load based on what you want the outcome to be. “If you’re working a strength phase absolutely go a big heavy one, if you’re working speed and power, it’s that tipping point of having enough load to challenge you but not slow your movement down too much as well.”