Exercise guide · Intermediate · Compound

Medicine Ball Supine Chest Throw: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The medicine ball supine chest throw is an explosive upper body exercise that targets the triceps, chest, and shoulders. It involves lying on your back and throwing a medicine ball upward, emphasizing power and speed.

Primary muscles
Triceps
Secondary muscles
Chest , Shoulders
Equipment
Medicine Ball
Level · type
Intermediate · Compound
Demonstration of the medicine ball supine chest throw
Front view: muscles worked by the medicine ball supine chest throw. Primary: triceps. Secondary: chest and shoulders.
Back view: muscles worked by the medicine ball supine chest throw. Primary: triceps. Secondary: chest and shoulders.
Primary Secondary

How to do the medicine ball supine chest throw

  1. Step 1: Lie flat on your back on a bench with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
  2. Step 2: Hold the medicine ball with both hands, extending your arms straight up above your chest.
  3. Step 3: Lower the medicine ball towards your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body.
  4. Step 4: Explosively push the medicine ball upwards, extending your arms fully and throwing the ball as high as possible.
  5. Step 5: Catch the medicine ball and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Sets, reps and programming

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the medicine ball supine chest throw by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Medicine Ball Supine Chest Throw alternatives

More exercises that train the triceps as their main target:

More triceps exercises

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Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.