[Note: I was going to put this into GQ but then decided it was more like IMHO thread].
For about the past four months, in order to add another dimension to my upper body training, I’ve been tossing a 5kg med ball from hand to hand, two sets of 10, while sitting on a stability ball. As you might guess, I’m doing this in between crunch sets. For the third set I step it down to a 3kg ball. My thinking was that the movement would be a good multi-muscle excercise involvoing most of the arm as well as the deltoids, and that the catching phases would be a good negative resistance movement.
But I notice it hurts a bit sometimes, and I’m not sure if I should just work through it, or if my body is telling me to stop doing it. Usually only the first set hurts, then the second is more comfortable. To put these med ball weights into perspective, my general strength level is adequate, but not spectacular. For instance, I do 90# on the seated shoulder press machine and low-incline bench presses with 55# or 65# dumbbells.
I know that being able to do a thing doesn’t mean you necessarily should. Baseball pitchers may throw a 90-mile-an-hour fastball, but they pay for it later. Any thoughts or experiences to share?
Well, you’re at about the same strength level as me, but I don’t think that’s really relevent.
My gym rule of thumb is that if something is hurting, you stop doing it until you figure out why it’s hurting (incorrect form, just a bad exercise, whatever). So, that’s my recommendation.
Body mechanics vary quite a bit from person to person. For example, I find that doing dips, especially high rep and/or weighted versions rip the crap out of my shoulders. Other people can do them endlessly with no problem.
So, basically I agree 100% with Neurotik–you’re the only person who can really tell. If it hurts, stop doing it.
Well there’s different kinds of hurtung. Is it a muscle ache or a joint ache? If it’s a muscle ache it might be part of the normal tear down - build up process. If it’s a persistent joint ache you should probably stop.
I was doing this with a basketball under the supervision of a physical therapist to rehab a bad shoulder (or two). If your shoulders are in the right place, then it should be good. Try with a smaller ball and see how that works. People have a tendency to pull their shoulders up and that makes the muscles that keep your shoulder blades in place work harder than they should.
I honestly can’t tell what kind of pain it is. But I can tell you that when I get to this part of my routine, I’ve just done several sets involving arms, shoulders, chest, and upper back, as well as the crunches. While doing those, I hold the med ball above my head for some added resistance.
I can also tell you that there is definitely a bit of reaching going on as I catch the ball, so it sounds like maybe if I try to keep the ball closer in that might solve the problem.
I see very little reason to do the exercise you’re describing. If you want to build chest, shoulder and arm strength, you have any number of exercises that you can do without stressing your joints to the degree you seem to be doing. Pushups, curls, shoulder presses, tri presses, dips. The latteral pressure you’re putting on your rotator and elbow joints are simply not beneficial for anything and your body is clearly telling you as much.
In my case, which is from an unhealthy shoulder to begin with, this excercise was important to strengthen specific small stabilizer muscles that aren’t particularly emphasized with traditional strength training excercises.
SoP, I usually kept my elbows near my sides unless a toss was errant. Remember if you lose control, to let the ball drop rather than to reach too far. I would not recommend doing the toss and catch at arms length, but IANAPhysical Therapist.
