The medicine ball is a solid, filled, spherical ball, traditionally fabricated with stitched leather panels but now most commonly made of synthetic materials, weighing between 1 – 10 kg (2 – 25 lbs). It is used in rehabilitation, sports training and strength programs.
This versatile modality has a long history, being used for strength, power, stability, and coordination work since Hippocrates in ancient Greece. Records exist documenting Roman gladiators and Persian wrestlers using sand-filled animal pelts or bladders for training, the precursor of today’s medicine balls. Used for military training in the First World War, the medicine ball, along with dumbbells, has outlasted two other key elements of fitness routines of the day: the weighted wand and Indian clubs.
The popularity of the medicine ball in gyms and clinics has waxed and waned over the years, threatened by all-in-one weight machines and the like, yet the dynamic strength and coordination that are required when using a medicine ball makes this type of equipment an essential ingredient of many physiotherapy rehabilitation programs.
Description provided by Sarah C Marshall of Canada.
