Best Medicine Ball For Under $100 (2024)

I’ve used quite a few brands of Medicine Balls over 20 years of working as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in collegiate weight rooms.

I even recently bought and tested out 10 of the most popular medicine balls for my garage gym so I could do a full-on side-by-side comparison.

The problem is, some of my favorites were over $100 and, as awesome of a tool as a Medicine Ball can be for your workouts, I understand not wanting to spend that kind of money if you don’t really have to.

So, in this guide, I’m going to focus on the best medicine balls that you can grab right now for less than a hundred bucks. Because going budget doesn’t mean you have to go cheap if you know what I mean.

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Why Trust My Reviews? I’ve spent 20 years as a collegiate sports performance coach and have been lifting personally even longer. I’ve bought and used equipment for both 14,000 square foot weight rooms and for my own garage gym. Finally, I only review products I’ve personally tested.

Medicine Ball Types

Not all Medicine Balls are created equal. There are actually three different types of Medicine Ball, all with their own unique pros and cons.

I’ve picked my favorite ball of each type (and why) below. For more on the differences between each type of medicine ball, check out the guide at the bottom of this page.

Pros

The Rep Fitness is my favorite looking medicine ball. Most wall balls are made with synthetic leather and most wall balls look like they’re made with synthetic leather.

Rep Fitness’s wall ball is also made with synthetic leather, but it actually looks more like a canvas material. That, combined with a great black and blue color scheme and it’s a great-looking medicine ball.

The material is also rather grippy. Where some of the balls felt pretty slick at first, the Rep Fitness ball had a great feel and grip straight out of the box.

From a performance standpoint, it wasn’t the best at anything, but it wasn’t bad at anything either. It’s a very well-rounded (no pun intended) med ball.

The price is very competitive. When you consider Amazon’s free shipping the ball cost me under $100 in total.

Cons

The Rep Fitness ball held its shape much longer than some of the other low-cost budget-friendly balls, but it has started to lose its shape a little.

Not bad, it’s still very usable and still has a bit of a bounce to it, but you can notice it starting to break down just a bit.

In fairness, if I wasn’t slamming the ball quite so much I’m pretty sure it would still in perfect shape.

Final Verdict

The Rep Fitness ball is a solid value. Price-wise it was lower than the PB Extreme, Dynamax and Rogue but it also has started to lose its shape before those three as well.

If you don’t plan on beating the crap out of your ball (maybe combo it with a Slam Ball), it can be well worth the buy in my opinion (if for nothing else than purely based on the look which was my favorite of the whole group).

Pros

The look. It’s very minimalistic. All black with small white lettering and a cool geometric design.

It has a good predictable bounce and hasn’t really shown any signs of wear thus far.

The price is solid. $50 is much less than the higher-quality wall balls that I tested (even when you include shipping costs).

Cons

Came out of the box covered in some kind of grease or oil. Like, a lot.

Did it wear off? Yes. Was it an issue going forward? No. But, it definitely wasn’t pleasant.

Unless this was a rare issue with my ball, be prepared to clean it off immediately after opening.

Final Verdict

If you need a budget-friendly medicine ball, this is the one I recommend.

Why?

At $50, it’s a great price for a great looking medicine that has performed exceptionally well for me so far.

In my experience testing medicine balls, the budget-friendly wall balls (I’m talking under $50) just donn’t hold up from a performance and durability standpoint.

By going with this Rogue Hard Rubber Ball, you can still get a really good quality medicine ball at a much lower price point.

My full review of the Rogue Rubber Medicine Ball

Pros

The all-black look is sharp. There is a thin strip that has the Titan name on it, but overall the design is very sleek and minimal.

The price is amazing. It’s almost a third of what another slam ball cost me. Actually, when you consider Titan’s free shipping it pretty much was a third of the total price.

Cons

The ball has a large diameter, at least compared to the Rogue Echo Ball (the other Slam Ball I bought). I don’t mind the size of the ball, but because it’s larger the sand on the inside shifts around a good bit because it doesn’t fill up in the interior of the ball.

So, when you slam the ball, as you start bringing your arms down the sand will shift toward the front of the ball away from the body. Not the end of the world, but its not optimal in my opinion.

Titan’s shipping was free, but the two med balls I bought from Titan did take (by far) the longest to show up. If you’re a patient person and/or not in a rush to get your ball, then this isn’t really much of a con at all and therefore the “free” part of the shipping is even better.

Final Verdict

Slam Balls don’t have the level of versatility that a Wall Ball or Rubber Ball has. I wouldn’t throw this ball against a wall for example.

But, if you want to get a second medicine ball just for slams to take a lot of the pounding and wear and tear off of your primary medicine ball, this Titan Slam Ball is a great option.

It’s a great price and has shown so far to be extremely durable. And, as the name suggests, is literally built to be slammed.

Medicine Ball Buyer’s Guide

You could easily take one of the recommendations above, buy a medicine ball with confidence and carry on with your day.

But, I know some people (myself included) like to have a little more information to help them make an informed decision. This section is for you.

I’m going to go over the differences between the different types of medicine balls so you can make an informed decision on which type is a better fit for your workouts.

Medicine Ball vs Wall Ball vs Slam Ball

If you’ve been doing your own research on medicine balls you’ve likely come across not just medicine balls, but also wall balls and maybe even slam balls as well.

So, what’s the difference?

Medicine Ball is really a broad term that covers all the different varieties of medicine ball. It simply refers to any weighted ball that is used to workout with.

Wall Ball

A Wall Ball is a type of medicine ball that has a synthetic leather cover, filled with a soft(ish) material and is larger in diameter (typically 14″). This style of medicine ball has become extremely popular due to its use in CrossFit.

They’re great for doing Wall Balls (the exercise for which they get their name), throws with a partner and core exercises. You have to be careful with doing slams though, as cheap Wall Balls can tear up quickly and the warranty can be voided if they’re being used for slams.

The first ball I recommend above, the Rep Fitness Med Ball is a Wall Ball. It, however, has made it through a few hundred slams with me so far and held up well.

Rubber Medicine Ball

Rubber Medicine Balls are smaller in diameter than a Wall Ball, have a thick rubber shell and are typically hollow in the middle. They typically have way more of a bounce than other types of medicine balls.

They’re generally cheaper than Wall Balls and their smaller diameter can make them easy to use for some exercises.

On the downside, they’re not as good for throwing with a partner because they don’t have the give that a softer Wall Ball has.

Some people also have the misconception that Rubber Medicine Balls are ‘indestructible’, but this isn’t true. I’ve seen my fair share of rubber medicine balls split open – making them pretty useless.

The Rogue Rubber Medicine Ball that I have listed above is an example of a rubber medicine ball. While it has its drawbacks, it also has it’s benefits – one of which is being a lot lower in price than most Wall Balls.

Slam Ball

Slam Balls are the third variation of medicine ball. This type of medicine ball, as the name suggests, is designed to be slammed.

They are made with a thick, but pliable, rubber shell and are generally filled with sand to the desired weight of the ball.

While they are designed to take a beating, they are not designed to have any bounce whatsoever. Throwing a Slam Ball against the ground produces the effect you would expect if you dropped a bag of sand on the ground, because that is essentially exactly what they are.

If you’re just looking for a Medicine Ball for slams then a Slam Ball may be exactly what you’re looking for.

Final Thoughts

Medicine Balls may not be as expensive as a Squat Rack or a Barbell, but most of the higher end Med Balls will run you over $100.

However, you don’t have to break the bank to get a quality Medicine Ball for your home gym.

Any of the three options I have listed above can make a great addition to your workout regimen. It’s just a matter of what style of ball fits best with what you plan to do with it.

Finally, if you want to see more Medicine Ball options, make sure to check my full review of all 10 Medicine Balls I tested out.

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