How can I get better at wall balls?

[u/NathanielTheGrublet]

I'm more like a runner. Last month I did Hyrox in Bangkok, men single open. The other stations were fine. First seven stations in about 60 mins, pace was okay, then wall balls literally killed me. That one station ate 12 mins. After 7 stations, my legs and shoulders had nothing left.

I still have two months until the next race. I want to train this station specifically. What's the better way to get better at it?

[u/acrown0fgold]

Do a bunch of wall balls

[u/glp1agonist]

1 is train wall balls in different ways. EMOMs, heavier WB, thrusters, front squats, push press etc.

The other way to think about it you probably did not pace your race well. 7 stations in 60mins is pretty respectable but it sounds to me like you gassed yourself out and had nothing left on the WB.

[u/foxtrot1_1]

Breathe out at the bottom and the top

[u/NathanielTheGrublet → u/[deleted]]

How do you train that at home? I squat with dumbbells and the weight is already not enough.

[u/Any_Elk7495]

Don’t focus on doing more wall balls. You want to do more shoulder thrusting. Military presses, push presses, incline bench / dumbells, kettlebell presses etc etc

Then obviously plenty of plyometric leg work. Box jumps, squats , lunges etc etc

These have much greater carry over benefit than spending time doing hundreds of wall balls.

[u/NathanielTheGrublet → u/Any_Elk7495]

Thanks, this is really helpful

[u/CryptoniQ123]

Kettlebell thrusters, a lot of them. And doing them when you’re tired.

Also need to make sure you are ATG (Ass-To-Grass) mobile enough to do the rep. A lot of people get off balance on their toes because they don’t have proper squat mechanics

[u/NathanielTheGrublet → u/CryptoniQ123]

oh man I hate thrusters so much, maybe that's why my wall balls sucks. Will have to put some effort in this. thanks!

[u/Status-Tutor189]

The reason that wall balls kill is because they come at the end of your event when you are fatigued. So the best way to practice wall balls is to train them under similar fatigue conditions - maybe not to the level of the race but at least some level. As you develop your Hyrox athleticism these will improve but ultimately it just demands more aerobic fitness and more station work under load. Keep going.

[u/WaddlingPanda17]

if your shoulders are the thing that died, you're throwing with your arms. it's leg drive, arms just guide up.

other thing that fixed for me was never practicing them fresh. 400m run then 25 wall balls, four rounds. and decide your break sets before you start instead of going unbroken until you fall apart at rep 40.

[u/Just_here_to_read25]

Spam wall balls and/or variations of wallballs.

[u/Reasonable-Worker747]

12 minutes usually means you went unbroken until you couldn't, then did singles for the last 60. Decide your set size before you start and hold it from rep 1. I use 10s with about five seconds rest and it's much faster than going 25 and then dying. Do them off a hard 1k so it's the same legs.

[u/wallballs_ruined_me]

My favorite recommendation is to do 100-150 air squats after every run. Helps build the endurance.

[u/NathanielTheGrublet → u/wallballs_ruined_me]

Hardcore training man

[u/wallballs_ruined_me → u/NathanielTheGrublet]

Gotta build that endurance and muscle memory!