Single Small Medicine Ball Baseball Throw Against Wall

This exercise provided courtesy of Billy Polson, founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Body training gym, voted best personal training gym in San Francisco by CitySearch in 2006.

Benefits
A simple yet great warm-up exercise for your shoulders, core, and legs—work your shoulders and core by throwing a small medicine ball overhand at a wall, and then work your core and legs as you absorb the catch on the return.

Muscles Worked
Shoulders
Core
Legs

Starting Position
Stand upright facing a wall at a distance of five or six feet, with a medicine ball held at waist level, cupped in the palm of one hand. Your legs should be slightly staggered, with the leg on the same side as the throwing arm back (see Photo 1).

Exercise

1. From the starting position, bring the medicine ball up and behind your head in a baseball throw and throw the ball at the wall, pushing with the shoulder and extending the arm out in front of you as you throw (see Photo 3).
2. As the ball bounces off the wall, reach out both hands to catch the ball. Engage your core and your legs to absorb the ball, bringing it in at gut level (see Photos 4 and 5).
3. Repeat with the same throwing arm for 12 reps, and then switch arms and leg stance and repeat with the other arm for another 12 reps.