This post is a review of the medicine ball from Rep Fitness that I’ve been using lately in a few of my workout videos. As you know I like to thoroughly try out new equipment before I give it a review and as I’ve had this med ball for about 5 weeks, not counting time out at IDEA world fitness convention, it’s definitely been used a lot! Rep Fitness graciously provided this medicine ball free of charge in return for my honest opinion, which I give anyway, as you know I tell it like it is 😉 I’ve already shown this medicine ball in my 5 minute medicine ball workout and my 15 minute medicine ball workout, so check those out for videos.
Firstly Ryan at Rep Fitness has been awesome to correspond with, if all the staff are like him then they are onto a winner in the employee stakes. Secondly, wow speedy shipping! We’d agreed on the 14lb ball as I already have a 4lb, 10lb and 12lb standard Cap Barbell medicine ball, and an 8lb sand filled Reebok medicine ball. I wanted to move UP baby, give me more of a challenge and Rep Fitness provided. As I said I’ve already got a few medicine balls but they are mostly ‘bouncy’ this one isn’t. It does have a little bounce but this soft type of medicine ball isn’t used for slams, it’s used for wall balls and weighted moves.
For me a big selling point is it’s grippy synthetic leather. No animals harmed! Awesome! The best thing is the quality though. Handmade, and double stitched. Even the logo is stitched rather than cheap print that wears off. Now obviously due to the weight of the ball, 14 lbs, it’s my biggest ball at 14″ in diameter. I actually like that though as it meant I could use it for more than just standing exercises. My smaller balls are so tough to use for abs, yet this one was PERFECT!
The fact that it’s heavy and soft meant it’s less likely to roll off on it’s own, yet still mobile enough to provide a balance challenge when on the ball. I’ve done so many workout exercises with this ball, and I admit that even though it’s not recommended I did slam it on the floor during one workout 😉 What can I say, I’m a rebel. The ball is still in one piece though.
I loved doing ab exercises with this ball though. Much better than a stability ball and more versatile than a bosu. Usually I’d get the TRX out for these knee tucks but they were HARDER on the medicine ball! Guess I found a new ‘go-to’ piece of equipment! One thing I noticed from their website is that the balls are color coded by weight and they are all the same size! I really like that they are same size, that’s the one thing I really didn’t like about the bouncy medicine balls as once you move up to a heavier weight the ball is bigger and the exercises feel weird. Having the balls all the same size avoids that weirdness.
As I said mostly I’ve been using it for my own workouts but sometimes I just play around and after each workout I stretch or do some yoga. Usually I bring out the yoga blocks but I thought “hey this is about the same height as a yoga block!” so I used the medicine ball instead.
Definitely made the stretching more fun, and provided something to reach for. Handy to have when my yoga blocks are in the car or at a clients house. The ball never rolled off, and was easy to move to make the stretches easier or more challenging.
I especially liked the ball for the hamstring stretch as that’s an area I am particularly right in and having the ball to reach forward on was very helpful post-workout. Plus it made a good support for runners lunges.
I’m trying to remaster some yoga moves I used to do, one of which is the advanced bridge or wheel pose. I used to be able to do this so easily years ago but as with all fitness if you don’t use it you lose it. It might not seem like much but I liked the fact I could lie on the ball, get in position then raise up into wheel. I’m working on my hand/foot positioning as I get better and more mobile but it’s a start.
My honest review is that these medicine balls are awesome and I would definitely recommend them, plus Rep Fitness has been a great company to work with so check them out for home gym equipment at Rep Fitness.