Hey there, it’s time for a new Home Exercise of the Week. This week I have an upper body exercise to show you called the Medicine Ball Side to Side Pushup.

This is a great exercise to work your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. I’m using a weighted medicine ball for this exercise but if you don’t have one you can use any medium sized ball like a soccer or volleyball. The uneven position targets the muscles from different angles, challenges the core, and increases the intensity for one side. If you find this exercise a little too challenging from the full pushup position, you can drop down to your knees to complete your reps.

Let’s take a look at the key performance points of the Medicine Ball Side to Side Pushup.

• start in a full pushup position with your hands wider than your shoulders and in line with your chest with one hand on the ball and one on the floor
• descend towards the floor while engaging your abs and glutes (this will keep your back nice and straight)
• try to get as close to the floor as you can and once you feel a good stretch in your chest muscles, push back up to the starting position without locking your elbows
• from this top position push the ball underneath and across your body to the other hand and now you will repeat the movement for that side while keeping your abs and glutes engaged
• if this is too challenging from the full pushup position drop down to your knees to complete your reps but just make sure to keep your hips down

So there you have the Medicine Ball Side to Side Pushup. Try adding this exercise to your upper body or full body routine to add an extra challenge and to hit those muscles a little differently. 

Let me know how you do with this one in the comments below or if you have any questions.

See you next week with another new exercise!