Medicine Ball Supine Chest Throw
What Is the Medicine Ball Supine Chest Throw?
Medicine Ball Supine Chest Throw is a compound exercise that primarily targets the chest and also engages the triceps and front shoulders. It is a beginner-level movement in which you lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent, hold a medicine ball at your chest, throw it straight up as high and fast as you can, and catch it on the way down.
The point of the exercise is speed, not load. Releasing the ball lets you accelerate all the way through the press instead of slowing down at the top the way you must with a dumbbell or barbell, which makes it a simple way to train upper-body power for sports and activities that involve pushing or passing with the arms. It usually sits early in a session, after the warm-up and before heavy pressing, while you are fresh enough for every throw to be fast.
Lying on the floor changes the exercise in two useful ways. The floor supports your trunk, so the legs and hips cannot add to the throw and the chest, front shoulders and triceps have to produce the speed on their own. The ball also travels straight up and comes back to you, so you need no partner and no wall. That sets it apart from the Medicine Ball Wall Chest Pass and the Medicine Ball Half-Kneeling Chest Push, which push the ball forward from an upright position and ask the trunk to hold that position as you throw.
Coaches also use the supine throw as a simple field test of upper-body power, because the lying position keeps the legs and trunk out of the result and the same throw with the same ball is easy to repeat over a training block.
Because the ball is light and your back is supported, it suits newer lifters as well as experienced athletes. If catching a ball over your chest feels uncomfortable, build pressing strength first with a Push-Up or the Dumbbell Floor Press, which uses the same lying position without a release.
Muscles Worked
- Pectoralis Major
- Primary
- Deltoid
- High
- Serratus Anterior
- Medium
- Flexor Carpi Radialis
- Minimal
Instructions
- Lie on your back on the floor or a mat with your knees bent and your feet flat, about hip-width apart.
- Hold a medicine ball at the middle of your chest with both hands on the sides of the ball, fingers spread and elbows pointing down beside your torso.
- Brace your abdominals and keep your head, upper back and hips on the floor.
- Push the ball straight up as fast as you can, driving your arms to full extension so they finish vertical above your chest.
- Let the ball leave your hands at the top and keep your arms up with your hands open and your eyes on the ball.
- Catch the ball with both hands as it comes down, letting your elbows bend to slow it as you bring it back to your chest.
- Reset your grip and position, then repeat for the desired number of throws.
Common Mistakes
Using a ball that is too heavy
A heavy ball slows the throw into a press and turns the catch over your face into the riskiest part of the set, so pick one you can throw fast and catch easily.
Throwing back toward the face
Pushing the ball up and back over the head instead of straight up over the chest brings it down on your face, so finish each throw with your arms vertical above your chest.
Pressing instead of throwing
Pushing the ball up at a comfortable, controlled speed removes the power the exercise is meant to train, so drive it up as fast as you can on every rep.
Catching with stiff arms and fingertips
Meeting the ball with locked elbows and pointed fingers jars the shoulders and can jam a finger, so catch with open hands and let the elbows bend as the ball comes down.
Arching off the floor
Lifting the hips or arching the lower back to get extra height takes the work away from the chest and arms, so keep your back and hips on the floor and your feet planted.
Taking your eyes off the ball
Looking away or closing your eyes as the ball falls leaves you guessing where it will land, so watch it all the way back into your hands.
Injuries
Medicine Ball Supine Chest Throw is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The load is light and the floor supports your back, so the main risk is not the throw itself but the catch: a ball that drifts back over your face, or one that lands on stiff fingertips and jams a finger.
Keep the ball over your chest. Hold it at the middle of your chest, push straight up so your arms finish vertical, and throw only as high as you can track with your eyes and catch cleanly. Use a soft-shell medicine ball of 1 to 3 kg to start, keep your hands up and open with the fingers spread while the ball is in the air, and let your elbows bend as you catch so the ball slows over a few inches instead of stopping dead in your hands. If the ball comes down over your face, do not reach for it with your fingers; bring your forearms together in front of your face and let the ball land on them. For a heavier ball or a maximal-height throw, have a partner stand behind your head and catch the ball for you.
To regress, press the ball up to full arm extension without letting go, or build pressing strength with the Dumbbell Floor Press. To progress, add height or a slightly heavier ball, then move to catching and throwing again in one quick motion, or to upright throws such as the Medicine Ball Wall Chest Pass and a Clap Push-Up.
Stop the set if a finger becomes painful, swollen or hard to bend after a catch, if you feel pain at the front of the shoulder as you press or catch, or if you start losing track of the ball. Anyone with a recent shoulder, wrist or finger injury should get it cleared before catching a medicine ball overhead.
- Primary Focus
- Chest
- Equipment
- Medicine ball
- Modality
- Plyometrics
- Difficulty
- Beginner
Alternative Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: How is the supine chest throw different from a wall chest pass?
In the Medicine Ball Wall Chest Pass you throw the ball forward into a wall from an upright position, so the ball rebounds back to you and your trunk has to hold its position as you throw. In the supine version the floor supports your back, the ball goes straight up, and your chest, shoulders and triceps produce the throw on their own.
- Q: How heavy should the medicine ball be?
Start with a soft-shell ball of 1 to 3 kg. Move up only when every throw stays fast and every catch stays easy, because a ball that slows the throw or is hard to catch over your chest is too heavy.
- Q: Do I need a partner?
No. The ball goes straight up and comes back to you, which is why the exercise is useful when you have no partner or wall. A partner standing behind your head to catch is worth having when you use a heavier ball or throw for maximal height.
- Q: How many sets and reps should I do?
Keep sets short so every throw is fast, for example 2 to 4 sets of 5 to 8 throws, and rest long enough between sets that the last throw is as fast as the first. Stop the set as soon as the throws start to slow.
- Q: Can the supine chest throw be used to test upper-body power?
Yes. A study of 20 young women who exercised regularly found that peak force and rate of force development from this lying throw were repeatable across two sessions, so repeating the same throw with the same ball is a fair way to track progress.