There are many unique fitness benefits of macebell training for people who are looking for a different training stimulus that only the macebell can provide.

Macebell training, in the modern age, is primarily performed using a macebell, or steel mace. Historically, Gadas were used by Indian wrestlers and strongmen to develop strength for sport.

Steel mace, macebell, steel macebell or mace are interchangeable terms describing the same piece of fitness equipment. It can be confusing seeing different terminology when you’re first learning. The exercise catalog is exactly the same.

Macebells have a distinctive design which is what makes the exercises unique, interesting, fun, challenging and beneficial for building physical attributes that other fitness equipment cannot.

A macebell is ball with a long handle attached to it.

Most of the weight of a mace is located at the end of the handle, or the head of the mace. This extreme offset center of gravity is unlike dumbbells or even kettlebells.

The shape and design of the macebell create opportunities to train high torque, asymmetric and circular strength exercises.

The magic of mace training is in design of the tool.

Benefits of Mace Training

• Grip strength and endurance
• Shoulder strength and mobility
• Force producing/Force resisting
• Rotational, total body strength
• Reactive core stability
• Cardio-strength training
• Hand-eye coordination, motor control, balance, proprioception
• Less linear (breaks out of the sagittal plane)
• High torque, asymmetric loading,
• Exercise variations
• Portable piece of equipment
• Learning new physical skills
• Fun and challenging

All of the benefits of mace training, listed below, can be experience with consistent mace practice.

Benefits of any style of training are maximized when you’re committed to consistent practice, versus dabbling here and there or training mace every other month.

Use it, or lose it.

Here are mace training benefits, explained…

Grip Strength and Endurance

Grip strength is one of the most underrecognized athletic qualities, and mace training does an incredible job not only improving grip strength but building grip endurance.

Too many articles overcomplicate this.

You’re swinging a weighted ball attached to a handle, at high speed, with hands fighting to maintain grip in a relatively disadvantaged position (compared to gripping a kettlebell, barbell, etc).

Macebells train the grip dynamically.

Just don’t let lose your grip, or it’s destroying whatever surface is nearest.

Shoulder Strength and Mobility

Recently, I came across a macebell article promising the readers, “You’ll have the shoulder mobility that you thought you’d never have”.

Meh, be careful with that.

People who specialize in teaching a certain method, discipline, or fitness tool tend to over-exaggerate the benefits of that tool. That person discovered macebells before others, experienced improvements in shoulder health, kept training and now asserted themselves as an expert touting big benefits.

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan chasing basic mobility using weighted steel ball whipping at high speeds.

If your shoulders are locked up and cannot move freely, performing basic motions (overhead reach, cross body, slow and controlled shoulder circles, aka CARs), swinging a weighted steel mace seems risky.

“Hold up, you’re saying macebells aren’t good for improving shoulder mobility???

No, that’s not what I’m saying.

I’m saying twirling a mace without first establishing basic shoulder control and strength could be a bad idea.

Do this… lift your arm overhead, flex at the elbow, reach and touch as low on your spine as possible.

How’d it go?

If you can’t scratch the back of your head, it’s questionable if you should be swinging a heavy medieval looking weapon.

Instead, adopt a shoulder mobility strategy that’ll lay a good foundation of shoulder strength, control, and the ability to articulate through a sexy range of motion.

No weight necessary, just use bodyweight against gravity to begin with.

Exercises like CARs, prone swimmers, lift-off, external rotation work, Y-T-W-L, will do wonders for your shoulders.

4-5 days per week, for months.

After building up your shoulder range of motion and control throughout that range of motion, bring macebell training into the mix and get after it.

Mace training has the ability to improve shoulder mobility and performance (even mitigate injury).

The macebell will do an excellent job of building resilient shoulders, but I prefer to add in dedicated mobility training that will establish range of motion, articulations and strength.

Force Producing/Force Resisting with a Unique Motion

Most exercises involve force production and resisting forces, but I think the key wording is: with a unique motion.

The mace 360 swing and 10-and-2 exercises cross the midline on every repetition, and that is extremely unique in the exercise rolodex.

You’re producing force to swing the mace from the bottom position (behind the tailbone) and resisting force as the macebell begins it’s descent into the next rep.

Circular macebell movements like this are a brilliant addition to any workout regimen.

Rotational, Total Body Strength

Macebell swing exercises such as 360 swings and 10-and-2 cross the midline of the body on each repetition, and effectively train the torso.

Rotation and macebell are synonyms.

The first time you swing a macebell, you will realize how different of a training stimulus it really is.

It’s a total body workout.

The legs are spared, to some extent, but you’ve got to stay active and tight to twirl that sucker.

If you’re serious about building well rounded fitness, make sure you’re including rotation exercises in your workouts.

Reactive Core Stability

The goal is to control every millimeter of the swing with regard to technique, but with that being said, not every rep is exactly the same.

You’re constantly adjusting to the torque of the mace traveling, offsetting the mace’s tendency to pull you out of position, which is great for reactive core stability.

My first few attempts at swinging my 25lb macebell threw me off-balance immediately. I’m lucky I didn’t lose my grip or head into the wall.

It’s amazing how quickly the body acclimates to demands. Shortly after, my body acclimated to the moves.

Cardio Strength Training

Do enough repetitions and you’ll get a great cardio strength training effect from exercise like swings and gravediggers.

Gravediggers are pure work. It’s like digging up dirt, except you’re not shoveling anything and the range of motion is larger.

Much like kettlebell swings, rhythmic macebell exercises can be an excellent choice for loaded conditioning.

Here are a few simple ideas:

• Combine gravediggers and/or swings to bodyweight exercise like push-ups, squats, lunges, pulling, and core work
• Do 10 sets x 10 reps on each side of macebell 360 swings. Rest for 20-30 seconds in between each work set
• Perform as many 360 swings as possible in 5 minutes (alternate sides every 5-10 reps, your choice)

I find value in pairing up my Concept2 SkiErg with various mace exercises. All conditioning is performed in the standing position.

Exercising with the SkiErg is a flexion/extension heavy movement pattern and exercises such as macebell 360 swings compliment SkiErg using a cross-body circular motion.

Bouncing between the SkiErg and the macebell repetitions is quick and painless.

Hand-Eye Coordination, Motor Control, Balance and Proprioception

Macebell exercises require focus.

You cannot check out while the mace is in motion, or you’re breaking bones, impacting your body, throwing the mace through a window or wall, or tweaking something.

These movement requires ongoing ironing out of timing, body position and mechanics.

Adding new movements to your repertoire only serves to boost your coordination and motor control.

Don’t be slug, expand your movement IQ.

Less Linear (breaks out of the sagittal plane)

There are 3 planes of movement: saggittal, traverse and frontal.

A really high number of exercises take place in the sagittal plane (squats, deadlifts, etc).

One clear benefit of macebell training is the rotational element.

Incorporating rotational-rich exercises can really make a big difference in performance and everyday life, since rotation is part of daily movement.

High Torque, Asymmetric Loading

Look no further than the macebell swing for a high torque movement.

The further the hands are positioned from the head of the mace, the longer the lever arm, the more torque will be created.

For beginners, it’s beneficial to start with a lighter weight macebell and/or position the hands closer to the head of the mace for any swinging exercises.

The closer your hands are to the head of the mace, the shorter the range of motion and overall torque during swinging exercises. You’ll be able to control the movement with this modified hand position.

With asymmetric loading, most of the weight of the macebell is located at one end of the handle. This makes the macebell asymmetrically loaded at all times, much different than a dumbbell.

Because of this, your body is constantly working overdrive to maintain body position during exercises.

Exercise Variations

Macebell 360 swings, 10-and-2 and gravediggers are a few of the more popular and recognizable exercises.

Other exercises ideas that work well with the mace:

• Squat
• Lunge
• Rotational drills
• Push-ups
• Bicep curls
• Slams
• Carry

There are macebell movements that are extremely hard to name and define.

Exhibit A:

Several exercises can be combine together to create a pre-planned flow sequence, or an improvised flow.

Improvised flows require exercise and mechanics know-how, but they are really fun and challenging.

Portable Piece of Equipment

Some might disagree, but macebells pack away in the car nicely if you’re traveling.

I’ve brought my macebell to hotels and it adds a pretty cool element to hotel workouts that are otherwise pretty shitty places to workout.

The average hotel gym is crap.

Remember, a 15lb or 30lb macebell will feel like 2x that weight.

So it’s not as if you’re hauling around hundreds of pounds of bulky fitness equipment.

Learning New Physical Skills

Countless studies have demonstrated the brain benefits of exercise and learning new physical skills.

Shiny six-pack abs are desirable (for some), but the benefits of macebell training on a regular basis go far beyond a nice midsection.

Learning new physical skills connects the body and brain in incredible ways.

Fun and Challenging

I’ve been training with barbells, kettlebells, dumbbells and suspension trainers for over 15 years.

The day I pulled my macebell out of the shipping box and started playing around with simple exercises, it felt like new life had been injected into my workout regimen.

I love getting new fitness equipment. Who doesn’t?

To me, this is a huge benefit of macebell training… the simple idea macebell training is DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

For those of you who are all work and no play (ahem… barbell peeps), get a macebell and start swinging.

Do not be afraid to try new things out of curiosity.

Fitness pro’s tend to be WAY too strict and stuffy with fitness advice.

Train outside of your current comfort zones.

The rotational aspect of macebell training is what initially lured me in, but I was pleasantly surprised with how versatile the macebell became over time.

Move your body, work hard, refine technique and have fun.

Macebell Shopping

Amazon is still one of best place to buy macebells, mainly because of the competition that exists and the weight of the macebells not being a factor with shipping costs.

I purchased a 15lb and 25lb Apollo steel mace, and I couldn’t be happier. The price was good, free shipping and function as advertised.

Now, with hindsight being 20/20, I wouldn’t buy one-piece steel mace again.

Instead, I’d spend a few more dollars and get the brilliant Adex Adjustable Mace kit.

Adex created an adjustable mace that uses one handle and modular weights allow the mace to be loaded with 11 different weight settings (2.5lb increments) from 6lbs-30lbs.

Game changer.

Actually, I’d buy the big deal package from Adex, which gets you short, medium, and long handles which are all compatible with modular weights.

Now you’re in the game with an even wider spectrum of exercises.

If you train in a home gym, space is one of the most important considerations, and an adjustable mace will have a much smaller footprint.

Preserve space.

In Closing

The benefits of mace training are pretty extensive, but remember, it’s all about taking action.

Consistency is key to getting benefits from any approach to fitness.

Keep coming back for more.

The Meauxtion YouTube channel has more macebell exercise variations to check out.