I Have Huge Balls!

A few months ago I ordered 5 D-Ball medicine balls (10,20,30,40,50). Heavy med balls are great for safely teaching cleans, front squats and overhead presses. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite exercises is a combination of all three of those moves. Nothing works more muscle and elevates your heart rate like a clean/squat/press!

The nice lady from D-Ball mentioned that they had some blemished balls, if I were interested. She explained that the blem balls were 100 lbs and priced 50% off. I thought about it for a millisecond- I gotta have one!

You should have seen the UPS guy roll that box out of his truck, across the sidewalk and into our facility. He is really funny and always comments on the weight of our packages. He did not seem too amused with this monster.

I couldn't wait to rip off the package and get started. My enthusiasm soon wained as I realized that while a 100 lb barbell is really light, a 100 lb soft blob is an absolute beast to handle. The shape and texture make it feel 3 x heavier than it is. I have a whole new respect for the guys that lift the Atlas stones in the World's Strongest Man contests.

It turns out the blemish is simply that the ball is marked as a 10 lb ball instead of 100lbs. No big deal, but comical when people try to lift it only to find that it is "glued" to the floor. I decided to mark it correctly (to prevent anyone from ruining their entire spine) and then nickname the bastard appropriately- Lil Evil.

My first experiment was with a clean from the floor. Again, the weight is light, but getting a grip on the ball is not an easy task. I finally figured it out and did 40 clean/squat/presses. That was it- I was dead! My forearms were killing me and my heart was pounding. Good fun!

Jon Hinds, owner of Monkey Bar Gym, did 100 clean/squat/presses with the 100 pounder in under 18 minutes! That dude must wear a cape cuz that is a crazy feat. I haven't worked up to that yet, but it's a new goal.

If you don't have big balls, you're really missing out. No really.

Buy yours here.

Rick Mayo