Medicine-Ball Exercises That Work the Muscles You're Ignoring

Most guys perform exercises in two ways: front to back, or up and down, says David Jack, owner of ActivPrayer in Phoenix, Arizona, and creator of the Men's Health 60-Day Transformation. “But when you do that, you miss out on working your muscles from other angles,” he says.

Keeping your movements diverse helps you learn how to recruit your entire muscle—instead of just a few fibers—for an exercise, Jack explains. And the more muscle you get involved during your workout, the more you build.

(Stop listening to guys at the gym who think they have all the answers. Get the Truth Behind 7 Muscle Myths.)

 

Enter these two unusual medicine ball moves. "Each of these patterns involves concentric, eccentric, and isometric actions," says Jack. You also continuously speed up, slow down, and switch directions. "So even though you're not lifting heavy weights or getting out of breath, you're working your entire body from head to toe—including your brain."

Learn how to perform the two exercises by watching Jack do them in the video below. “The best part: Instead of looking at the clock and counting down the time, you'll barely notice you're holding a lunge,” he says.