Explosive Work Outs- Shot Put?

Recently I have become more and more interested in explosive training. When I cant make it to the gym I usually will play with new things at the house. Currently out side of my normal work out routine I have been playing with sled training, keg training, Olympic lifts, and some other stuff at the house.

My question is (and I have tried searching for it), what do you guys make of training with a shot put. I was thinking about ordering one and adding it into some of my training, but I really don�??t know much about it. I was wondering if you can shoot me some feed back about it and let me know what you think? Do you think it would help with explosive power, what do you think it would work on the most (i.e.: Shoulders, etc…), lastly, do you think the energy used doing this for reps would be worth the time/effort?

Thanks for any input you guys can toss out there?

I was thinking about getting a shot put too, so I’ll be interested in any replies here.

I guess you could use it like a medicine ball (different throws: overhead, upwards, from situps, etc.). Except that the medicine ball would be more versatile with these…so I’d rather get those instead (they come in different weights as you might know).

But the work itself will definitely work the crap out of your core and will also improve coordination and develop explosive power. Many athletes have used it for ages.

The Medicine ball is great from the sit up position, and over head throws, actually, you can really use the medicine ball for a ton of different things.
I am just thinking of using the shot put, for throwing only. One arm throws for reps. Maybe throw it, sprint to it, and throw it again. After a few, swap sides.
I would love to hear from people who have done the shot put in track/field, etc…

I’ve done similar with big rocks when training for the highland games. It was fun. I viewed it more as technique work than strength work, but it was nice getting outside more than usual.


I like the two-hand backward scoop throw for distance with mine.

I make sure to catch air and keep the fingertips on the shot as long as possible.

Like was already said, HG training with it is good. Use the glide or the rotations (if you have them down!).

I threw it in high school. I’m not sure my elbow can take throwing it any more. You can buy them here:
http://www.flexcart.com/members

/elitefts/default.asp?SearchPhrase=shot+put&m=SR

Hell for $30 (16 lbs), why not try it? Make sure you use both hands, though you will feel like an idiot using your non-dominant side.

As for explosiveness, I think it would help a lot. Isn’t Heavythrower a field guy?

I threw the shotput for 2 years in high school, it is definitely a workout but it really banged up my shoulder and elbow. But my shoulder was already f*cked so I’m not sure how it would be for someone with a more healthy shoulder.

[quote]Ianct wrote:
Recently I have become more and more interested in explosive training. When I cant make it to the gym I usually will play with new things at the house. Currently out side of my normal work out routine I have been playing with sled training, keg training, Olympic lifts, and some other stuff at the house.

My question is (and I have tried searching for it), what do you guys make of training with a shot put. I was thinking about ordering one and adding it into some of my training, but I really don�??t know much about it.

I was wondering if you can shoot me some feed back about it and let me know what you think? Do you think it would help with explosive power, what do you think it would work on the most (i.e.: Shoulders, etc…), lastly, do you think the energy used doing this for reps would be worth the time/effort?

Thanks for any input you guys can toss out there? [/quote]

For explosive power try doing backwards overhead throws for your lower back. That being said, a shot only weighs 12/16 pounds. Shot putters do heavy lifts explosively. You will get a lot more out of weights than using a shot. If you plan on being a thrower the energy is worth the time effort. If not, it isn’t.

Imo look up the lifting programs that shotputters use.

They’re often the strongest motherfuckers around… I mean RIDICULOUS strength…

They do a LOT of olifts and overhead presses… Heavy Snatches are their specialty.

Imo thats how you get their explosive strength.

I’ve experimented with shotputting for increasing striking strength for combat athletes and its pretty useful for a phase or two, great way to build up a few attributes especially if you’re lacking in handspeed and/or kinetic linking: transferring power from lower to upper body (given you don’t have any mobility or strength deficits).

[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
Imo look up the lifting programs that shotputters use.

They’re often the strongest motherfuckers around… I mean RIDICULOUS strength…

They do a LOT of olifts and overhead presses… Heavy Snatches are their specialty.

Imo thats how you get their explosive strength.

I’ve experimented with shotputting for increasing striking strength for combat athletes and its pretty useful for a phase or two, great way to build up a few attributes especially if you’re lacking in handspeed and/or kinetic linking: transferring power from lower to upper body (given you don’t have any mobility or strength deficits).[/quote]

In this case make sure you’re familar with the power position of the glide technique. All about getting power through the legs, hips, chest, then arm. Old teaching adage, not really pc anymore, “elbow the midget, slug the giant.”

I agree with Hel. I used to throw and now coach throwing at the collegiate level and know that really the power of throwing comes from using your lower body, not your upper body.

The power that shot putters have doesn’t come from training with a shot put, it comes from training fast twitch muscle fibers ALL the time. This is why most all throws coaches have abandoned the simple periodization scheme to head for more of a conjugate style of lifting, so they can continually develop fast twitch and elongate the peaking process to create more powerful overall athletes. Then while peaking, instead of training muscles, its all about activating and peaking the nervous system to achieve the desired results.

Shot put is more about technique than anything, and odds are if you don’t have it, you’ll end up with a sore shoulder/elbow. The technique in shot put allows you to use the elastic force in your muscle rather than actually trying to muscle the things as far as possible. Therefore I would suggest that using the shot put to train for strength/power is a bad idea as I do not believe the correct form of throwing it and the goals of muscle development coincide.

I was a shot putter for 6 years in my youth (pretty solid thrower considering I never made it much over 200 lbs). Anyway, there are definitely some good exercises you can do, but as many people have mentioned the shot put can fuck you up if you aren’t careful. The wrist injury that really ended my shot putting “career” still gives me problems with explosive overhead lifting. Anyway, I can see a shot put being really good for one hand variations of things you’ve use two hands for with med balls. BE CAREFUL THOUGH. If you really decide to crank on the thing watch a lot of video first and start really really slow and build up to it.

I throw on the collegiate level and a big part of our workout is medicine ball routines. Usually i just use a 14 or 16 lb shot put. One of the things that might help with explosiveness for you is throwing over your head and underhand. Just throwing shot put is not gonna help much with explosiveness as Hel said but it is always a fun way to gauge this. Also you might try overhead tosses on one leg. Really try and squat low and explode through.