What is a smart medicine ball? Is it worth buying? How can a medicine ball possibly be ‘Smart’ – isn’t a weighted ball one of the lowest-tech, aka ‘dumb’ things in the gym?
These are just a few of the questions you are probably asking yourself after reading the title of this article. Most of the time, when an object is described as ‘Smart,’ it means that it has been connected to a network in order to make it more interactive and personal.
Medicine balls are a common tool used in rehabilitation and physiotherapy. They are often weighted to make them heavier and play an important role in rebuilding muscle groups that are damaged or have degraded over time.
Often you would have a physiotherapist or coach with you to help you do the right exercises and get the best benefits from your ball. If you don’t have access to a coach, then a smart medicine ball could be the next best thing.
A smart medicine ball is a weighted ball that has sensors embedded inside it. This allows it to track your movements and provide feedback on your performance through a native app capable of connecting to the ball.
Smart medicine balls are becoming more popular because they offer a variety of benefits. They can help you build muscle mass, increase your cardio endurance, reduce stress and even improve your balance.
You don’t even need another person to help you through the exercises, as you can use the app to check if your technique is on point and receive feedback on how you are doing.
In this review, we will be looking at the DribbleUp smart medicine ball and showing you exactly what it can do for your morning exercise routine.
DribbleUp: Company History
Dribble Up was founded by two brothers called Eric and Marc who wanted to create something new and innovative. Their goal was to develop a product that would help sports fans to train and improve their skills while having fun in the process.
The company’s first product was the Smart Basketball, which was supported by an app which could follow the ball’s movements and give users feedback on their dribbling. They have since expanded their company to include a Smart Soccer ball and a Smart Medicine ball as well.
DribbleUp is a company made by athletes for athletes. They test all of their balls to make sure that they meet the company’s quality standards and are always acting on the feedback that they receive from their customers.
The Medicine Ball – Our Review
The DribbleUp Smart Medicine Ball comes in two different sizes, with the smaller of the two coming in at 6 lbs and the larger one weighing a total of 10 lbs. This means that people of all ages and sizes can find a product that will work for them without being too large or heavy.
This ball offers a lot of features that make it stand out from other products available on the market today, even if you don’t include its ability to connect to your phone. The surface is made from thick rubber, which offers a very reactive feel when holding and using the ball.
Since it is a medicine ball, it will more often be held in both hands, and rarely bounced or dropped. As such, the company has given it a non-slip texturing to make the ball harder to drop when you are doing exercises with it.
It has a target on the front with the company logo in the center, and this area acts as the zone for syncing the ball up to your phone. The ball comes in both green and blue, which are vibrant colors that your phone will find easier to keep track of while you are moving the ball around and exercising with it.
Overall, the ball itself is a great piece of exercise equipment that will work well for a wide variety of exercises and workouts.
It is made from durable materials, and can withstand a fair bit of wear and tear without being damaged. If you buy a DribbleUp Medicine ball, you can rely on it to last for a very long time.
The App – Is it Legit?
The DribbleUp app is easy to navigate and simple to understand. All you need to do is mount your phone onto the special stand that comes in the box, open the app, sync up your ball, and you’re ready to go.
Once you have gotten everything set up, the app will give you a list of training exercises to choose from. There is a wide selection of activities and movements that you can select, each of which is intended to target specific muscle groups for a comprehensive full body workout.
Most of the workouts will involve moving the ball between two points, which are highlighted on the screen of your phone. You will get to watch a short video of the exercise being performed by a professional athlete, so you know what the movement looks like and how to do it.
After this, you can start building up reps by doing the exercise and moving the ball between the two indicated points.
After each workout, the app will give you feedback on how well you performed a specific drill. The feedback will include advice on how to improve your positioning and technique, as well as instructions to speed up or slow down as necessary.
Sensitivity
You can stand up to 6ft away from your phone while using this ball, and it should still be able to pick up most of your movements. It can help to connect your phone to a smart TV to make the display larger. This will make it easier to see how you should be moving the ball.
The app is reasonably accurate at tracking the movement of the ball, but it can miss a few reps now and again.
When this happens, there is no way to manually enter any reps the app may have missed. However, this is a minor issue (and one that we’ve seen many smart home gyms like Tempo and Tonal occasionally make as well), and DribbleUp more than makes up for it with all of its other features. And of course, our fitness coach occasionally misses counting a rep when an attractive person walks by, so I think we can forgive this smart medicine ball device – at least it’s trying 100%!
For one, it keeps track of your daily workouts and records your stats, so you can look back to see how far you have come. You can also compete with other Smart medicine ball owners around the world to see how you compare to other people doing similar workouts.
Live Lessons
As well as pre-recorded drills and exercises, you can also access live lessons taught by DribbleUp’s own professional coaches.
These lessons are streamed straight to your phone and are a great way to take part in group training from the comfort of your home. The friendly coaches are great at walking you through the various exercises.
You can expect up to 30 new classes per week, which means you will never be lacking when it comes to new exercise drills and routines to try out.
What does DribbleUP cost?
The DribbleUp Smart medicine ball is currently available for $49.99 which is a great price considering you also get full, unlimited access to the app and all of its features.
You can pay slightly more for the superstar package, which comes with a larger stand for mounting your phone onto. This will allow you to keep exercising without having to look down at the floor all the time.
If you buy the ball and aren’t happy with it, then you can return anytime within 30 days of your original purchase. DribbleUp’s customer service is very quick to respond to any issues or complaints and are always willing to help with any problems you may encounter.
Who Is This Medicine Ball For?
Anyone looking to improve their physical health and get in shape can greatly benefit from buying a DribbleUp Smart medicine ball. As well as providing an excellent and structured means to work out, it is also great for feeling like you are part of a community, which can be a great source of motivation.
This is great for people who want to work out from home, but still receive the benefits of working with a professional trainer or coach.
Those who are stuck at home because of a serious medical condition, will find this a great medicine ball for rehabilitation and physiotherapy purposes.
Not only will they get great instructional videos and a plethora of different exercises to add to their routine, but they can also keep track of how far they have progressed.
Conclusion – Probably the Best Smart Medicine Ball on the Market
Overall, we think that the DribbleUp Smart Medicine Ball is a fantastic product for anyone looking to start taking their fitness regime to the next level. It has everything you need to make sure you are on track towards achieving your workout goals.
Whether you’re looking to lose weight, tone up, or just stay active, the DribbleUp smart medicine ball will provide you with everything you need to achieve these things.
We highly recommend this product to anyone looking to get into shape and have lots of fun in the process.
Pros
- High quality product made from durable materials.
- The ball has a non-slip grip that makes it easier to hold onto.
- Large selection of exercise drill and training routines.
- Easy to set up and fun to use.
- You can compete with other Smart ball owners around the globe.
- Regular live training sessions ensure you will never run out of exercises to try.
Cons
- The app can still miss reps if you move too fast.
- There is no way to manually adjust your stats to add lost reps.
Looking for other smart home gym equipment? One great place to look is the Tempo Move or Studio – both of which have pretty cool accessories like Kettlebells.
