A heavy, weighted ball used for strength training and rehabilitation exercises, typically thrown, caught, or used as resistance for core and functional movement patterns.
From 'medicine' (Latin 'medicina' meaning healing art) and 'ball' (Old Norse 'böllr'). The name comes from its original use in medical rehabilitation in the late 1800s, when physicians prescribed weighted ball exercises for patient recovery and general health.
Ancient Persian wrestlers used sand-filled bladders as medicine balls over 3,000 years ago, and Hippocrates wrote about using weighted balls for injury rehabilitation - making the medicine ball one of humanity's oldest fitness tools!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.