Medicine Ball Situp and Throw (Form Tips, Muscles Worked)

The Medicine Ball Situp and Throw is one of my favorite exercises with a medicine ball. It’s an excellent dynamic core development movement that allows the athlete to be able to generate as much power as possible through the abdominals.

In this guide, I’ll teach you how to do Med Ball Situp and Throws, what muscles it works and a few alternative exercises.

How To Do Medicine Ball Situp and Throw

Equipment Needed

Medicine Ball
Partner or a sturdy wall to throw the ball against

Muscles Worked

Abdominals
Serratus Anterior
Latissimus Dorsi
Teres Major

Step-by-Step Instructions

Find a partner (or wall) and sit down an appropriate distance away*.
Lay on your back holding the medicine ball overhead on the ground.
Brace the core, engage the lats, aggressively begin to raise off the ground and throw the ball as hard as possible for distance.
The follow-through of the throw should bring you to a full situp position.
Allow your partner to throw the ball back (or retrieve the ball coming back from the wall) and repeat.

Coaching Points

*The distance away from your partner should be far enough that the ball will hit the ground before reaching your partner so they do not have to catch the ball out of the air. If using a wall, the distance away will be dependent upon the amount of bounce the ball gets off the wall. Find a distance so that you do not need to move between reps.

The biggest mistake I see with athletes trying to learn Sit-up and Throws involves the timing of the movement. The throw should initiate the sit-up, not the other way around. If you try to sit up first, the movement will turn into more of a sit-up followed by a chest pass – not the intention of the movement.

I cue my athletes to just concentrate on the throw. If they throw the ball hard enough the situp will happen naturally.

Med Ball Situp and Throw Alternatives

Don’t have a medicine ball? Looking to add variety to your workout? Whatever the reason, here are a few Medicine Ball Situp and Throw Alternatives that you may be able to try out.

Med Ball Slams

Medicine Ball Slams are a very similar movement but involve standing and throwing the ball into the ground versus laying down and throwing the ball for distance. The muscles at work though are very similar.

Med Ball Slams can be a great alternative if you don’t have a partner or a solid wall to be able to throw the ball into.

Sledgehammer Slams

If you have access to a Sledgehammer and a Tractor Tire, then you could use Sledgehammer Slams as an alternative. They have always been an extremely popular exercise with athletes that I’ve coached because… well… they’re a lot of fun to do.

Although the exercise looks very different, the actual movement and the muscles at play are actually very similar. If you want to inject some variety into your training program, Sledgehammer Slams can be a great alternative.

Knees to Elbows

The first two alternatives I gave you require equipment that you may not have in your garage gym – a medicine ball and a sledgehammer.

Knees to Elbows are a great core exercise that also works the core dynamically to improve both strength and power. They also require a pull-up bar – either on a squat rack or a wall-mounted version which is something most of us probably have access to.