CrossFit’s wall ball exercise is an example high functionality and the marked carryover of cardiorespiratory benefit to sport and human performance in general, writes Coach Greg Glassman.
Description
-Grab your wall ball (at the respective weight for you) and approach the wall. When determining your wall ball position, the general rule of thumb is to hold the wall ball out in front of you at chest height with straight arms until the ball touches the wall. This is your starting to position, but you can adjust as necessary in order to efficiently perform the movement and hit the target every time. - Once you have your position, begin by holding the ball at chest height in a ‘goblet position’, with your hands placed on the side of the ball towards the bottom, much as you would for a kettlebell goblet squat. - Next comes the squat portion of the movement. While keeping your shoulders back, chest high and feet shoulder-width apart, descend into a full squat with the aim of achieving the same depth as you would in a barbell squat (you should actually be able to get lower more consistently as there is far less resistance). - Immediately upon reaching your full squat, drive through your heels and stand up explosively, using that energy to drive the medicine ball upwards (much like in the thruster), striking the target on the wall. - Absorb the ball as it rebounds off of the wall with your hands ready in the “goblet position” and immediately squat down to repeat the previous steps.How to do a "wall ball"