Wall balls look like and are interesting exercise tools. The workouts below can offer some inspiration about how to use them for different goals in different locations.
These first two sequences do require you to have a wall and some space. The name implies differently but many wall ball exercises can also be done with a partner instead of a wall.
You do still preferably have some space, especially in terms of height.
Next, make sure you do the warm-up exercises mentioned in each of the workouts. Especially when using the wall balls to train muscle power.
1. Power wall ball workout
Wall balls really stand out positively in terms of their ability to help you train muscle power. This is how much force muscles can generate in a short amount of time.
You train muscle power by doing exercises fast, and with relatively high weights. The first movement below is the wall ball push press.
Wall ball push presses involve going through your knees a small amount with the wall ball at about shoulder height. After that, you push the wall ball up and slightly forward explosively by stretching your legs and pushing with your arms.
Next, the workout implements the classic wall ball exercise but a more leg-focused version to avoid too much fatigue in the shoulder and tricep muscles.
Instead of really pushing up with your arms, most of the power comes from the initial squat movement. At the same time, you will still have to push with your arms to guide the ball against the wall.
After that, there is a wall ball chest press. In this exercise, you push the wall ball forward and slightly upward against a wall and catch it for the next repetition.
Lastly, there is an underhanded wall ball throw. This movement also starts with the squat down but instead of holding the wall ball at shoulder height, you hold it at waist height with your hands under the ball.
After squatting upward explosively you throw the wall ball underhanded. This will focus more on your biceps, front deltoids, and lower back muscles.
- 15 forward arm circles that start small and gradually become bigger as you do bodyweight squats to warm up
- 15 backward arm circles with squats in a similar way to warm up
- 2 to 5 sets of 5 wall ball push presses with 2 minutes rest between each set
- 2 to 5 sets of 5 leg-focused wall ball exercise/toss repetitions with 2 minutes rest between each set
- 2 to 5 sets of 5 wall ball chest presses with 2 minutes rest between each set
- 2 to 5 sets of 5 underhanded wall ball throws with 2 minutes rest between each set
First of all, to train muscle power you really want to focus on moving the wall ball very fast. Additionally, you want to use a weight where you can just barely complete the 5 repetitions of each set.
If you are relatively new to muscle power training you can start with 2 sets per exercise and build up from there. You do still want to do the 5 repetitions to see significant progress.
Besides that, implementing workout sessions specifically for building muscle mass on top of this wall ball workout on other days can benefit muscle power too.
2. HIIT wall ball workout
Many people also like to use wall balls as a tool for HIIT cardiovascular workouts that engage their upper body muscles a nice amount.
HIIT (high-intensity interval training) are workouts where you alternate between short periods of intense exercise with light recovery periods. These can be great for training cardiovascular health and things like burning calories.
To be able to keep up these intense cardiovascular movements you want to use a lighter wall ball. If your muscles fatigue before you get out of breath, you need to choose a lighter model.
The first movement, the wall ball exercise was explained in the first workout. This time you do use your arms to a large extent on top of the explosive squat.
Wall ball chest presses with lateral shuffles are similar to the chest press in the previous workout but you make small sideways jumps in between each press. When you reach the end of your wall, keep going but in the other direction.
Side backward throws involve standing with your back toward the wall, turning your body and your hips to one side to throw the ball against the wall, catching it, and repeating the same to the other side.
For this last exercise, you really want to make sure you turn your hips too to avoid any back discomfort.
- 15 forward arm circles that start small and gradually become bigger as you do bodyweight squats to warm up
- 15 backward arm circles with squats in a similar way to warm up
- 30 seconds of as many wall ball exercise repetitions as possible with good form
- 90 seconds of active rest by walking around
- 30 seconds of wall ball chest presses with side shuffles
- 90 seconds of active rest by walking around
- 30 seconds of as many alternating side backward throw repetitions as possible with good form
- 90 seconds of active rest by walking around
- Repeat starting at the wall ball exercise 3 to 5 times
- 2 minutes of slow pace walking to cool down
The guidelines for cardiovascular workouts like HIIT are not as strict as weight lifting exercises. You can get creative yourself with other exercises and intervals.
For example, as you get fitter, you can consider gradually increasing the time of the high-intensity sessions up to 60 seconds and reducing the duration of the rest periods to 60 seconds.
Additionally, the total number of times you want to go through the sequence depends on things like your fitness level, how much time you have, your fitness goals, etc.
Keep in mind that not pushing yourself too hard is important for avoiding injuries. At the same time, pushing yourself hard enough is important to get the health benefits to the largest extent possible.
3. No wall partner workout
The name implies differently but there are a good number of wall ball exercises that can also be done without a wall if you have a partner. This allows you to go in a good muscle power workout without a wall.
First of all, there is the leg-focused wall ball exercise. By mainly using your legs the wall ball does not go as high which makes it more comfortable to catch for your partner.
Wall ball sit-ups are an exercise for your abs and obliques where you throw the wall ball to your partner after each sit-up.
This exercise can be done with both people sitting down if you have good coordination. The alternative is one person standing up and throwing the ball back to the person on the ground.
Lastly, there are wall ball push presses which were discussed in the first workout. Similar to the wall ball exercise, by using your legs less, the ball stays lower which makes it more comfortable to catch.
- 15 forward arm circles that start small and gradually become bigger as you do bodyweight squats to warm up
- 15 backward arm circles with squats in a similar way to warm up
- 3 to 6 sets of 5 leg-focused wall ball exercise/toss repetitions with 2 minutes rest between each set
- 3 to 6 sets of 5 wall ball sit-ups with 2 minutes rest between each set
- 3 to 6 sets of 5 wall ball push presses with 2 minutes rest between each set
To make this workout train muscle power you want to do the exercise fast, use a weight where you can barely do 5 repetitions per set, and stick to these 5 repetitions.
If you are interested in training muscle endurance you can go for a lighter wall ball weight and do up to 20 repetitions per set.
These are not the only wall ball exercises that can be done with a partner. Other examples include side throws, underhanded throws, side backward throws, overhead throws, etc.
How heavy should your wall ball be
What model you pick from the wall ball storage rack should depend on your training goals and the exercise you do.
To train muscle power you want to choose a weight where you can barely do the exercise for 5 repetitions. This will be a different weight for wall ball push presses than sit-ups.
For muscle endurance, you want a weight that allows you to do up to about 20 repetitions per set.
In HIIT workouts, the wall ball should be light enough so that you get out of breath faster than your muscles fatigue.
