Valeo Medicine Ball with Sturdy Rubber Construction and Textured Finish, Weight Ball Includes Exercise Wall Chart for Strength Training, Plyometric Training, Balance Training and Muscle Build

I read in reviews that the grip on the ball was excellent.. truthfully, within the first use I went and found a pair of mismatched socks and made some gloves for gripping purposes. I believe that the description of "excellent grip even during intense workouts" a tad misleading personally(-1star).I treat my gym equipment properly and attempt to make any purchase last as long as possible.. but within a week: using it twice a day, I am able to see the grip "dots" wearing thin in multiple areas areas(-2nd star), and I haven't "abused" the item whatsoever; I bought it for typical daily usage in my home gym. Nonetheless, I enjoy the item and it is perfect for the purposes I intended, and it was pleasant to see a chart for different workouts along in the packaging. So, these reasons alone speak for itself, why I make it only three stars.

Product: Valeo Medicine Ball (various sizes)Rating: 4/5 (very good)QUICK COMMENT ON WEIGHT SELECTION: Before getting into the meat of my review, here's a quick tip for my fellow newbies regarding shopping for medicine balls: one of the biggest difficulties in shopping for a medicine ball is that you NEED to know in advance exactly what type of exercises you intend to use it for, because that will determine the type of ball you need (i.e., soft or hard, large or small, rebounding or non-rebounding, etc), and its optimum mass for your needs ... and there's a scarcity of helpful information out there, especially on choosing the latter (mass). The Valeo is of the hard variety, and is intended primarily for things like plyometrics (ex: P90x) and rebounding. That narrows things down quite a bit, but it still doesn't give online shoppers a feel for how much mass they need. Here's my key point: the equation for Kinetic Energy is 1/2(Mass x Velocity squared). In other words, the KE of an object of known mass increases with half the square of its relative velocity. So, what does that mean to the average lay person ? Essentially, if you're doing low speed plyo movements, the KE isn't that dissimilar from it's motion while at rest, but once you start doing higher velocity movements (ex: rebounding), the kinetic energy involved in starting/stopping those movements goes up DRAMATICALLY, which is why you need a lighter ball for rebounding than for plyo. So, if you're using say 10 or 12 for moves like 'chops', I recommend starting 2+ lbs lighter for rebounding until you are well acclimated ... especially for WALL rebounding (where you replace gravity's role). In fact, you might even want another (even lighter ball) specifically for wall use - like (example) 12 for low speed plyo, 10 for vertical rebounding, 8 for wall rebounding. Hope that helps.Ok, on to the review.STRONG LIKES:* DURABILITY: The rubber material used in construction seems extremely tough, and well suited for long term heavy use, which is important for use in rebounding.* REBOUNDING: I haven't had a chance to experiment with inflation levels yet, but rebounding seemed pretty decent straight out of the box - a moderately firm overhead slam of a 10# ball onto concrete rebounded to around waist high, which seemed ok.* GRIP: The grip is very securely non-slip.MINOR DISLIKES:* SMELL/MATERIAL: The smell and tactile feel of the exterior is very similar to that of a car tire, which most will either dislike, or at best tolerate. Because the material is uniform, it's probably permanent and unlikely to fade ... which could be an issue for people with sensitive noses who use/store these in smallish indoor rooms (ex: physical therapy). The smell also tends to linger a bit on your hands. The material can also leave minor scuff marks on hard abrasive surfaces, and tends to attract dirt, necessitating periodic rinsing. In my case, I've avoided the problem by moving from my patio (slate) to my garage, which has a poured concrete floor sealed with heavy duty epoxy-paint.* OVERHARD: These balls are quite hard, which can be either an advantage or a slight disadvantage, depending on how you use it. A harder non-slip ball is great for things like ball-pushups, but an over-hard ball that's close to your weight tolerance can be quite jarring to use for say wall-rebounding, and leave you wishing for something a bit more forgiving. Also, for rebounding, don't even think about trying to use these against indoor dry-wall (not strong enough), wood floors (too noisy, bouncy, loud and scuff-prone), or carpeting (wont rebound enough) ... smooth concrete (preferrably epoxy-sealed), or a rebounder rig, is best.* INFLATION: Most web-based descriptions of this product appear to go out of their way in avoiding mention that this ball must be inflated for use. The manufacturer provides a standard needle, but is unhelpfully vague in how much pressure is optimal.Bottom line: despite the annoying car-tire smell and texture, this is a very solid and durable ball that's well suited for both outdoor rebounding, and indoor plyometrics ... although first time shoppers (like me) are recommended to be mindful of the different weights needed for both types of use (i.e., less weight is needed for rebounding than for plyo). Recommended.

A MUCH BETTER CHOICE WOULD BE "SPORTS GEAR" BRAND. (Sold only at Dicks Sporting Goods stores)...I bought one of these 10 pound medicine balls for P90X2 and also for my regular medicine ball cardio routine. It isn't too bad if all you plan on doing is pushups on top of this medicine ball; it is so sturdy my husband can even stand on it with both feet and balance without damaging the ball.HOWEVER if you ever plan on doing any cardio or plyometrics (jumping around) where you will be holding the ball and plan on sweating even the tiniest bit, this ball will seriously fly out of your hands if you are not careful. The grip is pretty much worthless.The "Sports Gear" brand is much better with amazing finger grips that will make it darn near impossible to drop or slip.I dont recommend this brand unless you can't get to a Dick's Sporting Goods in your area.

I originally purchased the 12lb and 8lb Valeo balls for P90X One on One Volume 2 and then added the 6lb and 4lb balls to my collection after starting P90X2. With the exception of the really bad rubber odor these balls emit, the 12lb and 8lb balls have been solid performers and I recommend them for any of the work in One on One or P90X2.However, the story changes a bit with the 6lb and 4lb balls. The 6lb ball arrived with the plug half-way out and wouldn't hold any air. Amazon sent a replacement, but the replacement's plug doesn't seem as secure as the 12lb or 8lb balls. And even though it weighs 2lbs less than the 8lb ball, it's larger in diameter and very squishy, even with additional air. Not a great ball for putting any body weight on. It's best for cardio routines. The 4lb ball arrived in great shape, but after very light activity, it blew out a hole! It didn't even happen during exercise, so how/why it happened remains a mystery to me. I returned it and bought a TKO ball instead. As a side note, the TKO ball smells a lot less, but it's not nearly as grippy.So, in summary, I recommend the heavier Valeo balls, despite the smell. For the lighter balls, it might be wise to check out the TKO balls instead. Regardless, use the lighter balls for cardio only, and the heavier ones for body-weight exercises and/or cardio.

I purchased this ball for a client who wanted to do some ball slams into the ground for chopping speed and accuracy, the ball broke the 3rd day he used it. Maybe 10 minutes of actual use. I went onto the amazon return policy and since the client was hesitant to tell me we are outside of the window of return policy. Since the seller is amazon I am looking into who to tell about this. I have used this companies products for 10 years and just want another replacement ball I am sure it was defective, He stated that he did not use if for 10 minute total. Not happy at all. I have 6 of these balls on my gym floor and never had a problem. Not loving this.