There are others like it, but this one is mine.
It arrived via the US Postal Service the day before yesterday. I had been wondering how they were going to deliver it. I didn't think they were going to send it by the usual carrier. Sure enough, a separate truck pulled up to my place. I came outside and said to the man who'd slid open the side panel of the truck: "You've got a heavy package for me, don't you?"
The man chuckled and said he did, indeed. Amazon had packed it in a box twice as wide as the ball and three times as long, which made it much easier to carry. (Leverage: it's what's for dinner.)
Yesterday, I took it outside and slammed it 5 times on the sidewalk. A slam is lifting the object high over your head and then throwing it straight down to the floor or ground as hard as you can. Some people -- a lot of people, to judge from what I've seen on YouTube so far -- keep their legs pretty much motionless with their knees bent and their feet flat on the ground when they slam, and just concentrate on doing reps as fast as they can. I, however, saw a YouTube video in which a personal trainer said that this was entirely wrong, and that what you want to do is extend the entire body before the slam: stand up on your toes, straighten your legs, stand up as tall as you can, reach up as high as you can with the ball in your hands, and THEN slam it down. This trainer says that this is the proper form for slamming, and that proper form is much more important, and gives you much bigger returns for your effort, than the very popular approach of doing as many slams as you can in a minute, or in 5 minutes or in some other given unit of time.
I have no idea whether this trainer is right about that and all those other people are wrong. But for now I'm acting as if he's right. In part because he's thin but very wiry and seems very strong, and I want to get thin and remain strong.
My slam ball did not immediately split open under its own great weight and become ruined upon being dropped to the sidewalk for the very first time, as I had irrationally feared. Irrationally, because it is made to be slammed thousands of times.
Yesterday, 5 slams left me wiped out, huffing and puffing. I didn't notice the ball making a sound yesterday when it hit the sidewalk, but that was because I was expecting a huge echoing slamming sound, like the sound of a basketball hitting a sidewalk, but magnified many times, and this huge echoing sound was entirely lacking.
Today I paid closer attention, and heard a distinct solid thud when the ball hit the sidewalk.
Today, just like yesterday, 5 slams wiped me out. But today I just took a couple of breaths and then kept going. I lost track of how many reps I did today, but it was at least 10, maybe 15 or more. Lifting the ball all the way up before the slam was very difficult after several reps. I feel it now in all 4 limbs and my shoulders and back. No doubt I will feel it more tomorrow: "the feeling of weakness leaving the body," as we lunks say. And the plan is to do a lot more than 15 reps tomorrow.
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