Those dusty, tough heavy spheres we all love to gate are the ideal companion to any home gym. They don’t take up much space (especially if you go for a medicine ball with a stand), and have an almost infinite number of exercises you can undertake to improve core strength, explosive movement and much more.
In this guide we’re looking at some of the better options if you’re looking for somewhere other than the floor to stash your slam balls.
What are some good medicine balls with stands you can buy in the UK?
If you want to jump to some of the products for storing those balls and tidying up your home gym, here are some of the better ones on the market. We’ve included options for larger gyms as well as home work out spaces. If you’re looking for a quick space saver, check out the vertical ones which tidy your gym without taking up much space.
5 Reasons Your Home Gym Deserves It’s Own Slam Ball Rack
#1 – Different weights for different exercises
It’s worth having multiple weights of ball, even if you’re the only ‘member’ in your home gym. The weight you’ll need for ab work will likely be very different from what you’ll use for slams. It’s handy having any kind of rack to be able to grab the one you need.
#2 – They keep your gym tidy
Depending on how many medicine balls you have, you can actually get away with a tiny footprint storage space. Some racks, like the Jordan single storage, take up little more than a foot or so squared. A good medicine ball rack won’t hog too much of your gym space.
#3 – Never worry about picking the right medicine ball
If you’re completely new to the wonderful world of medicine balls but don’t have a clue which weight you’ll need, getting a set of balls and storage might save you a headache down the line. Some stands can be bought with the balls, saving a bit of cash too.
#4 – They look awesome
If you’re like me, you take a pride in how your home gym looks! Medicine racks like Jordan’s set here rewrite the rules on dusty old boring medicine balls and offer a super modern looking rack that might just brighten up your home gym as well as give you a good set of medicine balls to torture yourself with.
#5 – You can adjust your weight depending on your current condition
If you’re recovering from illness, injury or just not at peak physical condition, it’s helpful being able to drop the weights down until you’re back at full strength. A good medicine ball rack will let you pick the right weight for your current condition or mood.
Related Guides
- Free weights: How much weight should I be lifting?
- Reehut Exercise Mat Review
- IsoGym Adjustable Kettlebell Review
- What Does A Medicine Ball Do?
- Easy Medicine Ball Exercises You Can Do At Home
What are some of the better brands of medicine balls and stands?
There’s a good selection of medicine balls on sale in the UK on places like Amazon and other sports shops. If you’re wondering what some of the ‘proper’ brands are, you can’t go wrong with:
- Pro-Active
- Jordan
- Primal Strength
- Escape
- York Fitness
Vertical ball holders ideal for saving space
Unless you’ve got an absolute monster of a home gym, with lots of space to store, you’ll want to pick a rack which will store as many balls as possible, in as compact space as you can get.
One of the best designs for this is the vertical style racks, like this one from Jordan. They might only store 5 medicine balls at a time, but that’s likely enough for most home gyms.
And you can always swap out ones you’re not using for heavier ones as you go.
This set comes with 5 bright and colourful balls and the stand has a teeny footprint that take up little more space than one medicine ball would.
Check out this absolute monster wall ball storage
Love your med balls? I mean really love them? Then you might like this absolute beast of a stand. More suited to a multi-user gym (or simply someone who has a LOT of medicine balls to store, this rack can hold around 18 balls, depending on their size. It’s got some meaty casters on it too which can be wheeled out of the way easily.
Ideal for larger home gyms, commercial gyms or just someone with a serious medicine ball fetish.
What even are medicine balls, and why do you need one?
While medicine balls might seem like a modern invention, they’ve actually been around for thousands of years, in one form or another. Hippocrates was said to use a weighted ball to help train and improve the health of his patients in hundreds of years BC.
Main reasons to use a med ball in your workout
- Improve explosiveness – Develop your power and speed.
- Hand-eye co-ordination – Co-ordination is a huge part of athleticism and med balls can be used to work on this.
- Improve movement
- They target all muscle groups
- You’ll get a completely different kind of workout and vary your program
- They are perfect for interval training
The medicine ball (which gets its name from the original use by physios to help people recover from injury) has grown into an all-round training too. And whether you own one, or your own rack of med balls, they can do all kinds of different exercises.
Everyone knows what a medicine ball is. They often sit around in the gym, neglected in favour of other more obvious forms of exercise. But ignore these deceptively simple training tools at your peril – they offer an awesome form of exercise and do a job that other training gear just can’t.
Can you just buy the stand, without the balls?
There are a number of cool medicine ball trees and racks available on their own
Many people will already have one or two medicine balls kicking around their gym. I say kicking. If you’ve ever tried kicking one, you’ll know they don’t skitter away across the floor. Getting a rack to keep them in will save your toes and keep the place looking neat and tidy.
For those with a growing collection of medicine balls, needing a home, there’s some good sturdy racks around that don’t cost a load of money. Amazon has some good choices and one you should have a look at is the Mirafit one.
We’ve written about Mirafit on Home Gym Experts in the past and they’ve got a rep for some seriously robust and sturdy gym gear. Their single column ball stand will hold 5 medicine balls and takes up a small footprint.
Medicine ball resources and further reading
- Like everything, there’s a page on the humble medicine ball on Wikipedia. Who doesn’t want to dive into the history of the medicine ball?
- There’s a good thread on medicine balls and why you might want to use one on the SpeedBagForum.
- Read more about the benefits of training with a medicine ball on the Domyos blog here
- NCBI – The effect of ball exercise on the balance ability of young adults
- Harvard – The right stuff: These simple items can help you strengthen your core
