How to Make a Medicine Ball 

With it being very difficult to find medicine balls in excess of 10KG, I decided to make my own. Below is a step-by-step guide of how I did it.

For those who don’t know, a medicine ball has nothing to do with medicine. They are simply heavy balls used for exercising with. They are particularly useful for power development in striking when taken to an open space and thrown – much like a shotput.

I went to Sports Direct and bought two size 7 basket balls for £5 (bargain!) I chose a ball that looked least like a basket ball (i.e, not the classic brown/orange colour). From my local garden centre I picked up a massive bag of sand for £2.99. I chose sharp sand as it seemed it would dry quicker than the ordinary ‘play sand’. The bags have tiny holes in them and it had been raining, and I didn’t fancy putting wet sand in the ball in case the moisture ruined the seal in the hole I had to make.

Using a sharp knife, I cut a circular hole in the ball. 
I figured a circular hole would be less likely to 
widen during heavy use, whereas a straight slit may 
gradually open up after repeated impacts.

Luckily I had a funnel to help pour the sand into the small hole, but 
a funnel can easily be improvised using rolled-up cardboard or paper.

 I used a bowl to stop the ball from moving about.

Not wanting to sit there all day pouring sand, I employed the 
use of a small worker boy to do the boring bit.

I compacted the sand in regularly to get as much in as possible. 
The worker boy’s arms were too puny for this task, and so I had to do it myself (*roles eyes*)

Once completely (and I mean completely) full, 
I took the cut-out piece of ball and put it back in place using sticky stuff.
Any air pockets in the ball could cause the seal to rupture on impact. 

Then, using black duct tape, I covered up the hole. I stayed within the black area of the ball to prevent it looking too much like a basketball with duct tape all over it.

I weighed the ball to find that I managed to get 12kg (26 lbs) of sand in there.

Wanting to be able to show-off just how epically strong I am, 
I wrote the weight on the side of the ball. I also did this to 
prevent weaker people from embarrassing themselves as 
they attempted to pick up what they thought was a basketball (with some duct tape on it).

To make myself feel even stronger, I found a smaller/weaker child to attempt to lift the ball.

She couldn’t do it. 

 

PS – it is my personal belief that everybody should have some duct tape / gaffer tape in their home. If you don’t have some, please go and purchase some and then return to this website. Thank you.