Rogue Froning vs Dynamax medicine ball

This is a comparison of the Rogue Rich Froning medicine ball and the Dynamax medicine ball including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

Overview and review of the Dynamax medicine ball

This is an overview of the Rogue Dynamax medicine ball including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

Overview of the Dynamax medicine balls

Price: $80 - $165

The Dynamax medicine balls were one of the first medicine balls to think about how they behaved when thrown at high velocity. The design has often been copied by other vendors but Dynamax still has this extra edge about the finish and stitches as this is what they do best. If you like the design and you are willing to pay a little extra, these are the medicine balls for you. Dynamax medicine balls are available in the following sizes:

4lb
6lb
8lb
10lb
12lb
14lb
16lb
20lb
25lb
30lb

If you do boxing training and abuse the hell out of your medicine balls, this is probably the one to get.

Pros of the Dynamax medicine balls

Pros of the Dynamax medicine balls are:

Excellent finish
Simple design
Time tested
Many color option

These medicine balls have been the gold standard for a long time and are here to stay. The stitches are perfect and the finish of these balls is immaculate. If you only want the best for your gym, this is the medicine ball to get. You can also choose from a big range of different color combinations on purchase.

Cons of the Dynamax medicine balls

Price
Bounce back

Compared to other Medicine balls you can get the Dynamax medicine balls are at the higher end of the market. Especially if you want to buy in bulk for gyms where you know that the equipment will not be treated well, this might be throwing money out of the window. Compared to slam balls they are also more expensive and might put one or two noses out of joint, if not used carefully.

Alternatives to the Dynamax Medicine balls

Alternatives to the Dynamax medicine balls are:

The Rogue Standard medicine balls are very similar, if not identical in the make of a Dynamax ball. The only difference is the standard black color and a different technique to sew the ball together and pad it out. If you want to provide good equipment, but also know it will be abused, save a few dollars, and get a lot of standard rogue balls.

The Rogue rubber medicine balls are a great value for money option if grp is not as much of concern. The leather of good medicine balls emulates punching or touching a boxer or other athlete. If that is not needed for your training purposes a rubber ball can be of a lot less maintenance and cost. The only drawback is that these balls almost bounce too weel for the intended training purpose.

If all you do is slam your balls into the ground than you can save yourself money and hassle with slam balls, These will not bounce back from the ground and hurt you or your clients while also coming in at a lower cost than regular medicine balls.

Conclusion for the Dynamax medicine balls

The Dynamax medicine balls are the best you can get for standard medicine balls. If your facility only wants to provide the best and you want the maximum option to customize the colors of your medicine balls, this is the one to get. You get what you pay for, so if you buy in bulk the price will escalate quicker than with other options in the market.

Overview and review of the Rogue Froning medicine ball

This is an overview of the Rogue Froning medicine ball including pros, cons, and alternatives. Follow the links for more details.

Overview of Rogue Froning Series medicine ball

Price: $110

The Rich Froning series medball is an interpretation of the Rogue Standard medicine balls in Black and red. It is only available in 20lbs and comes with the same specs as the standard black balls from Rogue. These are a nice addition to your gym if you want to tip your hatto the CrossFit legend or just like the colors red and black. The specifications of this medicine ball are:

Part of the Rich Froning Signature Series
Made in Columbus, Ohio
Weight: 20LB
Diameter: 14”
Coated Vinyl Shell – moisture and scuff resistant
Soft Shell safe to use at high speeds, but strong enough to maintain stable shape
Double-stitched paracord threading on seams
Color: Red with Black and White Branding (Rogue and Froning logos)

A nice Christmas present for anyone who already owns a home gym and no medicine balls.

Pros of the Rich Froning medicine ball

The pros of the Rich Froning medicine balls are:

Red and black color scheme instead of black
Double-stitched

This is a nice little customization on the standard medicine ball to get a pop of color into your gym. The standard Rogue medicine balls only come in black. That is not for everyone, especially if it is off-brand for your gym or the color scheme in your home gym.

Cons of the Rich Froning medicine ball

The cons of the Rich Froning medicine balls are:

Only available as 20LB
Higher cost than standard ball

These balls are $5 dearer than the standard ball of the same size. This can make a difference if you are trying to outfit multiple gyms and buy somewhere between 20 - 100 medicine balls. For your home gym, it will probably be more a question of personal taste rather than pricing.

Alternatives to the Rich Froning medicine ball

The alternatives to the Rich Froning medicine ball are:

The standard for most CrossFit WODs for males is a 20lb medicine ball. For females, this drops to 14lb. If you like the color blue and want to equip yourself with an inspiring medicine ball you can get the Camille Le blanc version of the medicine ball which comes in 14 lb instead of the 20lb the Froning version has.

Dynamax is the market leader in the US for medicine balls. While Rogue at first resold these medicine balls they went on to produce their own brand to maximize profit margins on low price tag equipment produced in masses. There is not a big difference between the two. Still, if pressed, I would always go for the product that is core for the company. The core competency of Rogue is to work with Steel to build first-class racks and barbells. Dynamax focuses on perfecting the stitch on their medicine balls.

The standard Rogue medicine ball is a good alternative to Dynamax if you want to buy a lot of medicine balls and do not care that much about the design. If you like black, you can save some money on bulk buy compared to Dynamax balls the same size.

Slam balls are a great, cheap alternative to medicine balls. If your medicine balls are used 90% of the time to be thrown on the ground, save yourself some money and yourself/or clients some injuries. These balls are cheaper to make and do not bounce back from the floor to hit you in the face. If your training is more about throwing against walls or to each other, stick with the classic medicine ball.

Conclusion for the Rich Froning medicine ball

This is the right medicine ball for the dedicated CrossFit individual with great ambitions or the one's around him who want to give something nice. Anyone who buy in bulk is probably better off to either trade up in quality by buying Dynamax or compromising in price and getting a lot of Rogue standard medicine balls.