How many reps of the medicine ball squat to chest pass should you do when you are new to the exercise?

Do 3 sets of 8 reps, resting 90 seconds between sets since the full-body pattern taxes the legs and lungs together. Progress by adding a set before you add reps, and only increase ball weight once eight full-depth reps land clean.

What can you do instead of the squat to chest pass without a medicine ball?

A bodyweight jump squat trains the same leg-drive-to-extension pattern without a throw, and a squat into an explosive push-up combines a similar sequence if you want the upper-body finish too.

What is the squat to chest pass good for?

It trains the legs and chest to work as one chain, which builds athletic power for jumping, blocking, and any sport action that starts on the ground and ends with a push. It is a poor choice as your only lower-body strength work, since the light load that lets you throw fast is nowhere near enough stimulus to build squat strength on its own.

Intermediate

Medicine Ball Squat to Chest Pass

This full-body pattern teaches you to link a powerful squat with a fast press, transferring force from the ground up through the arms. It trains total-body coordination and conditioning at once, making it a great athletic-development and circuit exercise. Time the throw to the top of the squat so the whole chain fires together.

Equipment: Medicine Ball
Body part: Chest, Quads
Type: Plyometric
Browse by muscle: Pectoralis Major Sternocostal, Vastus Lateralis
Browse by movement: Horizontal Press, Squat

How to do it

1
Stand a few feet from a wall, feet shoulder-width, holding the ball at your chest.
2
Sit into a squat, keeping your chest up and knees tracking over your toes.
3
Drive powerfully out of the squat and extend the hips and knees.
4
As you reach standing, launch the ball forward off your chest into the wall.
5
Catch the rebound at your chest and immediately descend into the next squat.

Tips

Sync the throw to the top of the squat so leg drive feeds the pass.
Keep the ball at chest level throughout the squat rather than letting it drop.
Stay tall through the spine as you stand and throw.
Land the catch softly and flow straight into the next rep.

Variations

Common mistakes

The knees cave inward as you descend, which undoes the tracking-over-the-toes position the squat needs before the legs can drive the throw.
The low back rounds at the bottom of the squat when you chase extra depth, a fault heavy medicine balls only make more punishing.
As the set drags on, the squat depth quietly shrinks, turning the last few reps into half-squats with a throw stapled on top.
Catching the ball out away from the body instead of pulling it back to the chest loads the shoulders right when you need to be ready to descend again.

Frequently asked

How many reps of the medicine ball squat to chest pass should you do when you are new to the exercise?: Do 3 sets of 8 reps, resting 90 seconds between sets since the full-body pattern taxes the legs and lungs together. Progress by adding a set before you add reps, and only increase ball weight once eight full-depth reps land clean.
What can you do instead of the squat to chest pass without a medicine ball?: A bodyweight jump squat trains the same leg-drive-to-extension pattern without a throw, and a squat into an explosive push-up combines a similar sequence if you want the upper-body finish too.
What is the squat to chest pass good for?: It trains the legs and chest to work as one chain, which builds athletic power for jumping, blocking, and any sport action that starts on the ground and ends with a push. It is a poor choice as your only lower-body strength work, since the light load that lets you throw fast is nowhere near enough stimulus to build squat strength on its own.

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