Medicine ball training for kids: Benefits, concerns, and program design considerations

As parents, teachers, coaches, and fitness professionals, we all have the shared responsibility of encouraging children and teenagers to be physically active on most, if not all, days of the week. With this objective in mind, we must strive to provide boys and girls with enjoyable experiences that increase their confidence in their abilities to be physically active. Along with other types of physical activity, medicine ball training can be a safe, effective, and fun method of developing and enhancing health-related fitness, physical competence, and positive attitudes about physical activity in children and adolescents. Because medicine balls come in a variety of shapes and sizes, qualified fitness professionals can design medicine ball programs for youth with differing needs, goals, and abilities. Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.