8 Wall Ball Exercises For Muscle Power

Wall ball workouts can offer you impressive benefits for many muscles but what are some exercise examples you can do with a wall ball?

A wall ball is a medium-sized weighted ball with a small bounce. It is typically padded with soft material for comfort which makes it a great option for throwing exercises against a wall.

The exercises on this list are examples of more typical wall ball exercises. You can also make a variety of regular bodyweight exercises like lunges, squats, crunches,… weighted with a wall ball.

How heavy your wall ball should be, varies from exercise to exercise and individual to individual. If you are not sure which weight would be right for you, you can start with a light wall ball and slowly build up from there.

Keep in mind that even though there are upsides, your injury risk is generally also higher when you do exercises with more weight/resistance. You may want to talk to your primary care provider before starting a new workout routine.

1. Wall ball toss exercise

The wall ball toss exercise is confusingly also just called wall balls. It is one of the most standard exercises for this fitness equipment. For this exercise you will also need a sturdy wall. To do a wall ball toss take the following steps:

1. Stand at about an arm’s distance or slightly more away from a sturdy wall with your face towards that wall. Hold a wall ball right in front of your chest with your hands on the sides of the ball. Put your feet about shoulder width apart.
2. Slowly lower your hips by bending your knees. How far depends on different factors like knee health but at your lowest point you ideally want your hips to be at or lower than your knee height.
3. Push yourself up with your legs in an explosive way. At the same time push the wall ball upward and slightly forward away from your body.
4. Let go of the wall ball at the top of the movement so that it flies in the air against the wall.
5. Catch the ball with slightly less than stretched arms.

This wall ball exercise will help you train leg muscles like glutes, quadriceps, calves, and upper body muscles like your shoulders, triceps, core, biceps, etc.

2. Sit-up throw

For sit-up throws you preferably want a yoga mat or other soft surface to lie on. You also preferably want a partner or a wall to throw to. To do a sit-up throw with a wall ball take the following steps:

1. Sit on your butt with your legs folded and feet on the ground in front of a sturdy wall with your face towards the wall. Hold a wall ball above your head.
2. Slowly curl down your body. Your lower back reaches the ground first and gradually more of your upper body touches the ground.
3. Curl up your body until your chest is close to your knees. Start with your shoulders and as you get closer to your knees more and more of your upper body gets off the ground. At the same time swing your arms with the ball forward.
4. Let the ball go at the top of the movement so that it flies against the wall.

Keep in mind that the sit-up throw can be hard on your lower back. This wall ball exercise is not for everyone.

That aside, two of the benefits of wall balls are that they are bouncy and that their softness makes them more comfortable to catch.

This makes them a great equipment choice for doing explosive sit-up throws with a partner or against a wall.

Because they bounce back, you will have to spend less time getting the wall ball back. This allows you to spend more time training your core muscles which is what this exercise is mainly for.

The throwing part will also engage your latissimus dorsi and tricep muscles.

3. Wall ball chest press

Similar to many other exercises on this list, for the wall ball chest press you want a sturdy wall or a partner. To do a wall ball chest press take the following steps:

1. Stand one or two arm lengths away from the sturdy wall. Put your feet about shoulder width apart and hold a wall ball right in front of your chest. Your hands should be slightly more towards yourself on the ball instead of just on the sides.
2. Push the wall ball sightly up and forward in an explosive manner by stretching your arms.
3. Let the ball go so that it flies against the wall.
4. Catch the ball.

The way you train your muscles influences what fitness component you improve. Regular chest press variations at a slower pace will train either muscle endurance or muscle strength.

The wall ball allows you to work on the muscle power fitness component of your chest muscles.

You can also push the wall ball slightly more upward to focus more on your upper chest muscles or slightly more downward to focus more on your lower chest muscles.

4. Wall ball push press

For push presses you want a somewhat heavy wall ball. Once you have that, take the following steps to do the exercise:

1. Stand one to two steps away from the wall with your feet at about shoulder width, the wall ball at about shoulder height, and your hands under the ball. Point your elbows slightly more forward than just a horizontal line with your shoulders.
2. Lower your hips a bit by going through your knees.
3. Push up your hips explosively by stretching your legs and push the wall ball up explosively with your arms at the same time so that you launch the ball upward and against the wall.
4. Catch the wall ball in your hands with slightly less than stretched arms and legs

The wall ball push press exercise looks and is very similar to the wall ball toss but you go less through your knees. This changes a few small things.

First of all, you need less weight to make the movement challenging enough for the shoulder and tricep muscles which you work.

Additionally, the wall ball will not go as high. This can be helpful if you don’t have a lot of room or want the catch to be more comfortable.

5. Side throw

For this next wall ball exercise you want a sturdy wall or friend. To do a side throw take the following steps:

1. Stand one or two arm lengths away from the sturdy wall with one side toward it. Hold a wall ball with your hands more on the bottom of the ball. Besides this let your arms hang down.
2. Move the wall ball slightly and slowly away from the wall to prepare for the actual throw. Then move the wall ball towards the wall fast. You can throw it slightly upward so it is easier to catch.
3. Let the ball go so that it flies against the wall.
4. Catch the ball.
5. Repeat the same number of repetitions on the other side.

Wall ball side throws will mainly engage muscles like your biceps, obliques, shoulders, and core. Try to give each side a similar workout to avoid muscle imbalances.

You can also do a variation of side throws with certain wall ball alternatives if you don’t let the piece of equipment go.

6. Underhanded throw

To do an underhanded wall ball throw against a sturdy wall take the following steps:

1. Stand at about an arm distance or slightly more away from a sturdy wall with your face towards that wall. Hold a wall ball with your hands more on the bottom of the ball. Besides this let your arms hang down. Put your feet at about shoulder width apart.
2. Slowly lower your hips by bending your knees. How far depends on different factors like knee health but at your lowest point you ideally want your hips to be at or lower than your knee height.
3. Push yourself up with your legs in an explosive way. At the same time swing the wall ball upward and slightly forward away from your body.
4. Let go of the wall ball at the top of the movement so that it flies in the air against the wall.
5. Catch the ball with slightly less than stretched arms.

Similar to the wall ball toss this underhanded throw will engage a variety of leg muscles. This exercise does focus on different upper body muscles. With the underhanded throw, you will focus more on shoulders, biceps, lower back, and forearm muscles.

If you don’t have a sturdy wall or friend available you can also do the underhanded throw straight in the air.

7. Overhead throw

To do an overhead throw take the following steps:

1. Stand one or two arm lengths away from the sturdy wall with your face toward it. You can put one foot forward and one foot back for more balance. Hold a wall ball behind your head and tilt slightly backward with your upper body.
2. Move your upper body forward and at the same time stretch your arms and move them forward.
3. Let the wall ball go at a point where it will follow your desired trajectory. If you throw it more upward it will be easier to catch without having to bend forward.
4. Catch the ball.

At first sight these exercise look very similar but if you do them you will notice that they focus on different muscles. The overhead throw focuses more on your tricep, latissimus dorsi, and ab muscles.

8. Backward throw

You can do the backward throw against a sturdy wall but if you do make sure there is enough distance between you and the wall so the ball doesn’t fall on your head. Other options include with a partner or on a field.

To do an overhead wall ball throw take the following steps:

1. Stand up straight with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Hold a wall ball with your hands more on the bottom of the ball. Besides this let your arms hang down.
2. Lower your hips by bending your knees. How far depends on factors like knee health.
3. Stretch your legs while at the same time swinging your arms forward and upward. Try to time it so your arms are completely up at the same time as your legs are fully stretched. You can lean slightly backward throughout the movement.
4. At the top of the movement let go of the wall ball to throw it behind you.

The focus of overhead wall ball throws is more on the lower back, erector spinae, shoulder, bicep, and leg muscles.