This Creative Slam Ball Workout Will Up-Level Your Bodyweight Routine

Build strength, stamina, stability, and power with our Spartan-approved quick-hit Workout of the Day, NEW each week. Our SGX coaches share their favorite go-to exercises and workout gear to blast your bod and improve performance — without fail. Click here to view our complete workout database.

When it comes to advancing your favorite bodyweight moves, think beyond iron. Getting your hands on rubber can sometimes be the most fun way to go.

Slam balls are versatile tools that provide an awesome opportunity to make any compound total-body movements more dynamic. They’re particularly great at adding a level of instability to bodyweight exercises to make every muscle—especially those of your core—quake. 

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Here, Spartan SGX L2 coach and obstacle specialist Courtney Waterbury demos two of her favorites: the offset ball squat and the hand-raised ball push-up. To put them together into a simple yet effective total-body workout, simply perform each exercise for 60 seconds, then rest for 60 more. Repeat for five rounds, and we promise you’ll be wiped. Choose a weight that just barely allows you complete your 30-second bouts of each exercise with proper form.

Related: The 15-Minute Plyobox Bodyweight Workout to Up-Level Your Lifting Game

Featured Gear: Spartan Slam Ball

This WOD features the Spartan Slam Ball. With a diameter that’s smaller than most med balls, it’s perfectly sized for more efficient maneuvering. Carry it, roll it, slam it in any of eight different available weights.

2 Epic Slam Ball Exercises to Build Strength and Power

Offset Ball Squat

Stand tall with your feet spread hip-width apart and anchored into, and gripping, the floor. Hold a slam ball on one shoulder, keeping the opposite arm outstretched straight in front of you for balance. Resist the urge to lean to one side to counterbalance the weight of the ball. Pretend there’s a string pulling the crown of your head straight toward the ceiling. Brace your core to point your ribs straight down toward the floor. You’ll feel the dip in your lower back flatten out some. Go ahead and squeeze the rest of your body while you’re at it. 

Keeping your back in neutral and maintaining total-body tension, initiate the squat by hinging your hips back behind you. At this point, your shins should still be vertical. Now finish off the squat by bending your knees to sink your torso straight down toward the floor. Descend as far as your range of motion comfortably can without causing your heels to lift from the floor or your back to fall out of neutral. Drive through your heels and midfoot to return to standing, still keeping all of your muscles, from head to toe, engaged.

Halfway through your set, switch sides.

Related: 4 Essential Bodyweight Exercises You've Probably Never Tried

Hand-Raised Ball Push-Up

Get in a high plank position with your hands directly below your shoulders, one on the floor and the other on top of a slam ball. The raised arm will be bent in this position. Engage your lats to corkscrew your hands into the floor and draw your shoulders away from your ears. Brace your core and squeeze your glutes to form a rigid line from head to heels. 

Row your chest to the floor, letting your elbows flare out diagonally from your sides, and then press through your chest and triceps to raise out of the push-up. Focus on maintaining total-body tension to reduce how much how your shoulder shakes and body wobbles with each rep.

Halfway through your set, switch sides. 

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