Med Ball Madness

Med Ball Madness is one of the many workouts I bought at Mindy Mylrea’s one day $3.99 sale. And I am glad I didn’t pay more for it. I was not impressed with this one. Which really disappointed me. I bought quite a few of her workouts that use a medicine ball at her sale and I really want to like them. I really enjoyed the medicine ball segment in her All Out Cardio DVD. This one just didn’t do it for me.

Med Ball Madness is a cardio conditioning workout that uses a medicine ball for every single move (including the cool down/stretch) and has a long core section. I have no idea the weight of Mindy and crew’s medicine ball but it didn’t look heavy–between 4 and 6 pounds. Due to the nature of the moves I doubt very seriously their balls were any heavier than that. I used a 4 pound medicine ball. First, the cardio wasn’t as intense as I was expecting it to be (especially after doing All Out Cardio). Using my 6 pound medicine ball could have fixed that, but as I mentioned–the nature of the moves would have made a heavier ball not only awkward, but difficult (if not impossible) to do the moves at the same speed as Mindy and crew did them (which is what makes me think that they weren’t using heavy balls–plus they didn’t look like heavy balls; they looked exactly like my 4 pound ball, just a different color). Another issue I had was dancy footwork. It wasn’t overly complicated or complex footwork. I was able to catch on pretty quickly, but dancy footwork might be fun for some people but it is not intense. Personally, I did not find it fun, plus it lowered the intensity of the workout a lot. I much preferred the more athletic moves in this workout. The dancy stuff bored me. I did like the floor/mat work. I didn’t love it but it was very effective.

That’s just my opinion. I won’t be returning to this workout.

Med Ball Madness is 57 minutes; 30 second intro; 4:30 minute warm up and 5 minute stretch. The only equipment you need is a medicine ball and a fitness mat. There is a modifier who does easier versions of the majority of the exercises.

Crazy Cardio (18 minutes):

1. Side squat side to side; and side lunge and circle leg w/ ball
2. Lunge forward then reverse lunge, circling leg w/ ball
3. Keep repeating 1 & 2, reducing reps
4. Squat side to side, passing ball from hand to hand; changes to squat jacks; alternate these two moves
5. Combine 1, 2 & 4 into a combo
6. Ski forward and back “scooping” with the ball; add a V step (2 scoop/skips + V step)
7. Mambo cha-cha side to side; add low double kicks
8. Knee raises alternated with hamstring curls
9. Combine 6-8 into a combo
10. Alternating knee pull/raises
11. Mindy calls it a boxer shuffle but (a kind of dance step forward and back, turning to the side as you step)
12. Side squat to side kick
13. Low kicks to side, high kicks to front
14. Combine 11-13 into a combo; end with alternating front kicks
15. Cross step to side while raising ball overhead to side then down to other hip (she calls it karaoke)
16. Box step (Mindy calls it a jazz square, but if you’ve done step aerobics, it is a box step); add a pony step
17. Hamstring curls; add fast feet while passing ball around waist

Strength & Cardio Intervals (11:30 minutes)

1. Forward lunge and when you step back, bring foot up to “kick your butt” (slow then fast)
2. Alternating curtsy lunges
3. Lunges to side while rotating torso and ball (so at 3 levels–ball at waist, then lower, then low near feet); you start at a fairly brisk pace but then Mindy increases it to fast
4. Single leg squat; changes to hoping to other leg and holding in one leg squat–hop back and forth but hold one leg squat w/ each hop
5. Jump lunges twisting ball to side
6. Cross step forward then cross step back (Mindy calls it rock step)
7. Alternating side lunges; add a jump in the middle
8. Power chops (wood chops w/ ball); slow than fast

Floor Muscle Madness (15:30 minutes):

Cardio Cool Down/Standing Core:

1. Side bends holding ball over head; changes to passing ball from hand to hand, lowering ball slightly as you lean to side
2. Standing crunch (lift one knee while passing ball under thigh)
3. Swing ball from side to side overhead while doing hamstring stretch to side
4. Circle ball overhead

Supine Core:

1. Circle ball overhead while sitting on mat
2. C crunch, raising ball overhead then to chest level; changes to rotating ball side to side, arms out straight; combine these two moves–overhead then to side; alternate sides
3. Lay on back and raise one straight leg, raising ball to meet shin; alternate legs
4. Hold the ball to ceiling with head/shoulders lifted and lift leg to meet ball; alternate legs
5. Full sit up w/ knees bent, raising ball overhead at top
6. Russian twists; add a small circle with the ball between twists

Side Lying Core:

1. In side elbow plank, raise and lower hips w/ ball on waist
2. In straight arm side plank, set ball on ground in front of you and place top hand on top of ball; do a push up on this position; add arm raise at top of push up
3. Repeat on other side

Prone Core:

1. Get in straight arm plank and roll ball from hand to hand; add a push up each time you roll the ball (one hand on the ball while doing pushing up)
2. Straight arm plank with both hands on the ball: lift one straight leg then extend straight leg to side then bend knee so leg is in tree pose then rotate knee so it points under body toward other side, open knee back out to side, extend leg straight to side again and lower to floor; repeat on other leg
3. Push ups while holding ball between knees
4. Lay on stomach with arms straight in front of you and ball on backs of knees–raise and lower legs; add arms so you are doing weighted supermans
5. Still on stomach with hands on ball–roll torso up and down; changes to lifting and lowering ball as you raise torso
6. Kneel w/ ball between knees and rotate arms back to feet so you are in a modified camel then rotate your arms around in front of you to touch ball between knees