Back · Medicine Ball
Medicine Ball Slam
How to do the medicine ball slam, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Medicine Ball
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Extension
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart holding a medicine ball overhead with arms extended. Drive your hips and brace your core as you slam the ball straight down into the floor with full force. Squat to pick it up and reset, keeping each slam explosive.
- 1Your lats and core driving the ball down hard
- 2A powerful hip and trunk crunch on the slam
- 3Full overhead extension before each slam
Common mistakes
- Slamming with only your arms instead of your whole trunk
- Rounding your back when you pick the ball up
- Catching the bounce instead of controlling the reset
Muscles worked
The medicine ball slam mainly works the lats, upper abs, and lower abs, with the obliques, glutes, triceps, forearms, lower back, upper traps, quads, hamstrings, and front delts assisting.
- LatsPrimary
- Upper AbsPrimary
- Lower AbsPrimary
- ObliquesSupport
- GlutesSupport
- TricepsSupport
- ForearmsSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- Upper TrapsSupport
- QuadsSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- Front DeltsSupport
- Mid ChestMinor
- Mid TrapsMinor
- Lower TrapsMinor
- CalvesMinor
- Side DeltsMinor
- Rear DeltsMinor
- Internal RotatorsMinor
- Hip FlexorsMinor
Kovo programs the medicine ball slam for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More back exercises
- How to do the archer pull-up
- How to do the resistance band assisted pull-up
- How to do the machine assisted pull-up
- How to do the back extension bench back extension
- How to do the machine back extension
- How to do the back lever
Last reviewed June 2026.