Heavy Dead Ball Training

Heavy Deadballs are tremendous tools for training strength and power throughout the entirety of the kinetic chain, allowing athletes to focus on traditional strength training exercises or chase strongman style power and performance. Constructed from high impact rubber and devoid of handles or hand holds, heavy Deadballs present with a sense of real world awkwardness. This forces athletes to grip, wrestle and grapple with them, whilst developing core strength and stability, from the ground up.

Heavy Dead Ball - Strongman Shouldering

Purpose

• Builds total body strength and power, and is a great exercise for training explosive triple extension of the legs.
• Effectively teaches the body how to move an awkward weight from the floor, driving through the hips and posterior chain to bring the object into a shouldered carrying position.
• This is also the transition exercise for performing shouldered squats, lunges and walking lunges.

Execution

• Stand directly over the top of the Dead Ball.
• Reach down and aim to dig your hands and fingers right under the Dead Ball. Rock the Dead Ball from side to side to really wedge your hands underneath the ball.
• Lift the chin, eyes and chest with straight arms, taking a big breath in, ensuring your hips are sitting above the level of your knees.
• Create tension throughout the body whilst locking your shoulders tightly into their sockets. Considering pulling hard with your lats aiming to pull your shoulders down and towards your backside.
• Take up the weight of the Dead Ball with straight arms, looking to push your feet through the floor, and stand up strong.
• Bring your legs together into a hip width stance, and lower the Dead Ball onto your lap. This is called lapping the Dead Ball.
• Breathe out, and allow the legs to take the weight of the Dead Ball, giving you a change to rest and ready for the hip drive.
• Wrap your arms tightly around the ball, placing your chin on top to close the gap between you and the ball.
• Breathe in again, hug the ball tight, and initiate the drive from the hips.
• Extend slowly at first, driving with the hips, and accelerate sharply upward.
• Keep the ball tight and close, explode into full extension of the ankles, knees and hips.
• Allow the ball to roll up the body, using the ball’s momentum to move it to the shoulder.
• Secure the ball into position, using the same shoulder side arm, to hold the ball and stabilise it from the top.
• Breathe out, and maintain strong posture and position.

Tech Points

• Ensure you wedge your hands right under the ball.
• Aim to wrap the ball tightly against the body.
• Only relax the arms to roll the ball up the body, once you have achieved full triple extension.
• Practice with a light Dead Ball first, and progress slowly to the next weight.
• Ensure you utilise strong breathing, bracing and spinal mechanics when performing this exercise.

Heavy Dead Ball - Bear Hug Hinge

Purpose

• Trains strength in the legs, hips and posterior chain.
• Builds strength and stability through the trunk and midline.
• Very akin to the good morning exercise, this also builds arm and shoulder strength for carrying, gripping and wrestling.

Execution

• Use strong breathing and bracing techniques to lap the Dead Ball.
• To lap the Dead Ball, stand directly over the top of the ball.
• Reach down and aim to dig your hands and fingers right under the Dead Ball. Rock the Dead Ball from side to side to really wedge your hands underneath the ball.
• Lift the chin, eyes and chest with straight arms, taking a big breath in, ensuring your hips are sitting above the level of your knees.
• Create tension throughout the body whilst locking your shoulders tightly into their sockets. Consider pulling hard with your lats aiming to pull your shoulders down and towards your backside.
• Take up the weight of the Dead Ball with straight arms and strong neutral alignment, looking to push your feet through the floor, and stand up strong.
• Bring your legs together into a hip width stance, and lower the Dead Ball onto your lap.
• Wrap your arms strongly around the Dead Ball, and clutch it hard against the body.
• Gripping tightly, breathe in, brace tight and stand up strong.
• Hold on to your breathe and hold the top position for 1 or 2 seconds.
• Initiate the descent with the hips, holding on tight, and lower the ball back to the lap.
• Breathe out and either grip tight for another repetition, or allow the ball to fall to the floor.

Tech Points

• Ensure you wedge your hands right under the ball.
• Aim to wrap the ball tightly against the body, the harder you pull the ball in, the harder your arms will work and the stronger your brace will be.
• Practice with a light Dead Ball first, and progress slowly to the next weight.
• Ensure you utilise strong breathing, bracing and spinal mechanics when performing this exercise.
• Lead and be strong through your hips.

Heavy Dead Ball - Alternating Shoulder Squats

Purpose

• Asymmetrically loaded squatting pattern that challenges the body in the frontal and sagittal plane.
• Develops strength and stability in the hips and trunk.
• Builds power in the body by adding the strongman shouldering exercise, as well as strength in the shoulders and back for transferring the ball from shoulder to shoulder.

Execution

• Using strong alignment and breathing techniques, use the strongman shoulder exercise to bring the ball up to the shoulder.
• Position the ball comfortably on the shoulder, using one or two arms to stabilise the ball.
• Set the body tight, by breathing in, bracing the abdominals, squeezing the glutes and locking the shoulders into position.
• Initiate movement by breaking at the hip and bending at the knee, aiming to lower the body down in a straight line. Keep the head and up, treating the squat like a front squat.
• Aim to keep your weight even in your feet, lowering as far as you can go, whilst maintaining a strong neutral spine.
• Stay tight as you reach the bottom position, stabilising the ball with your arms, and drive your feet hard into the ground to start to rise up again.
• Rising up strongly, keeping a strong midline, and return to the standing position, breathing out at the top.
• Breathe in again, leaning back slightly, as you roll the ball forward and across the front of your body, using your arms strongly to control and position the ball over to the other shoulder. Breathe out when the ball is secure on the opposite shoulder.
• Perform another squat.

Tech Points

• Ensure you have practiced Dead Ball squats, goblet squats and kettlebell rack squats before trying this variation.
• When moving the ball from shoulder to shoulder, ensure you have a tight brace, and prevent the lumbar spine from extending. Offset the weight by leaning back slightly, not bending through the spine.
• If the ball becomes unstable, simply allow it to fall to the floor, resist trying to rescue a bad repetition.

Heavy Dead Ball - Walking Shoulder Lunge

Purpose

• Asymmetrical loaded lunge pattern that challenges the body in all movement planes.
• Tremendous leg strength and stability exercise that strengthens the hips and trunk.
• Builds strength and stability against lateral flexion.

Execution

• Using strong alignment and breathing techniques, use the strongman shoulder exercise to bring the ball up to the shoulder.
• Position the ball comfortably on the shoulder, using one or two arms to stabilise the ball.
• Set the body tight, by breathing in, bracing the abdominals, squeezing the glutes and locking the shoulders into position.
• Step forward onto one leg, aiming to keep the front shin as vertical as you can, controlling the descent and lowering your back knee to the ground.
• Lightly touch your back knee on the ground, driving through both legs to ascend and step the opposite leg through and forward.
• Repeat the process, of stepping, controlling and driving to step again.
• Breathe out as you land your foot, and in as you stand up and step.

Tech Points

• Maintain good and strong alignment throughout the exercise.
• Stabilise the stepping leg, by keeping tension in the hip and controlling the knee.
• Aim to keep your knees pointed to where your toes are pointed, prevent the knee from falling outwards or inwards.
• For balance, return to a standing position before stepping through to the next step.

Heavy Dead Ball - Bear Crawl

Purpose

• Builds strength and conditioning in a quadruped crawling pattern.
• Develops strength in the arms and shoulders, and core strength and stability.
• Develops coordination for contralateral movement patterns.
• Builds stability against trunk rotation, lateral flexion, flexion and extension.

Execution

• Ensure bear crawling patterns have been practiced and mastered before moving to this load variation.
• Set yourself up behind the Dead Ball, in a 6 point quadruped position, meaning your hands, knees and feet will be on the ground.
• Set your shoulders strong and lock your body into a good neutral alignment.
• Lift your knees off the ground about 1 to 2 inches, so that only your hands and balls of your feet now support your weight.
• Move your arm and opposite foot, (i.e. left hand and right foot) backward by pushing the opposite hand and foot into the floor (i.e push the right hand and left foot into the ground to support your weight so you can move backward.
• Now extend your hand furthest from the ball, and place it behind the ball, getting ready to push it forward.
• Dig your feet into the floor, lowering the body and drive your weight forward to push the ball forward.
• Continue to push the ball, shoving the ball hard, and crawling forward and onto the opposite hand and feet.
• Continue to reach a hand forward, setting the body, and driving with the legs to push the ball forward and crawl.

Tech Points

• Don’t compromise your position, and keep a strong bear crawl position.
• Don’t just use your arm to push the ball, connect the strength in your legs through a strong torso to help push the ball forward.
• Keep your hips low and knees close to the ground to allow for the maximum transfer of strength into the ball.
• Try to prevent twisting and rotation of the shoulder and hips when traveling a push.