3 Top Benefits Of Steel Mace Training (With New Research)

The steel mace has come from ancient training grounds into the modern gym and training field. Mace training uses a long club with an offset head that places most of the weight at the end. When swung, it forces your shoulders, core, hips, and grip to stabilize and rotate as a single system.

This will increase your ability to generate rotational force and build rock-solid shoulders while also exposing weaknesses that traditional barbells and machines can miss.

Adding just a couple of sessions of steel mace training will help create a body that's stronger with greater functional strength and resilient to injury.

What Is Mace Training?

Mace training is a form of resistance training that uses a steel mace, which consists of a long handle with concentrated weight at the end. This creates offset loading and rotational force when spun.

Unlike barbells or dumbbells, where the load stays close to the hands and center of mass, a mace places the resistance far from the body. In turn, it increases torque on the body, particularly the;

• Shoulders
• Core or Torso
• Hips

What Are The Benefits Of Mace Training?

The primary goal of mace training isn't maximal lifting but rather to improve:

• Joint stabilization
• Rotational strength
• Force transfer through the full kinetic chain (your body's connected muscles)

Mace training is commonly used to:

• Improve shoulder control and durability
• Develop anti-rotation core strength
• Maximize grip strength
• Increase work capacity and conditioning without abandoning loaded movement

It can be used as a standalone training implement, but is best applied as a complement to traditional strength training. A great option is to throw in a couple of mace training sessions at your home during days off.

With that said, here are the 3 main reasons you should include Mace Training In Your Program.

1. Shoulder Stability and Long-Term Joint Integrity

Most traditional upper-body training loads the shoulder in relatively fixed, linear patterns that keep the resistance close to the body's center of mass. Think;

• Bench presses
• Back rows
• Pull-ups
• Overhead presses 

That's efficient for building your primary muscles ( pecs, delts, lats, triceps), but it doesn't challenge the shoulder's stabilizing system with a large ROM in a rotational manner.

The mace does the opposite.

How Does Offset Loading Improve Shoulder Stability?

Even a light mace creates substantial rotational force at the shoulder. During movements like the 360, shield cast, or inside-out circles, the load is constantly trying to pull the arm into external rotation, flexion, or lateral displacement.

To control that, the body has to recruit:

• Rotator cuff muscles to keep the humeral head centered
• Scapular stabilizers (lower traps, serratus anterior, rhomboids) to maintain shoulder blade positioning
• Lats and obliques to connect the shoulder to the trunk

This turns every repetition into a full-chain stabilization task, not just a shoulder exercise.

Why Is Mace Training Good for Strength Training?

Shoulder injuries in lifters are usually caused by poor coordination of body parts other than the actual deltoids. This includes; 

• Arm
• Scapula
• Trunk or core

If the stabilizers can't keep the joint centered, heavy pressing and pulling magnify the problem.

Mace work exposes that weakness quickly, as you must be able to control the wing. If you can't, the shoulder will feel it immediately (this is why you always start light). 

Over time, this improves motor control and tolerance to torque, which improves your overall upper body stability. 

Does Research Support Mace Training?

Research is somewhat limited on mace-specific training as it's relatively new in modern training environments. However, there have been a few new studies recently, and their results will make you want to buy a mace.

Study #1. Kara & Yılmaz (2025) found that mace training enhanced grip strength, mobility, and stabilization in elite wrestlers. If it benefits elite wrestlers, it will benefit you.

Study #2.  Ison et al. (2020) found that clubs cause unique EMG activation in the muscles during use.

2. Rotational Strength and Trunk Integration

Most gym programs are built around sagittal-plane movement; think of it as if you divided the body into left and right halves, and the movements go forward and backward. This includes movements like;

• Squats
• Hip Hinges
• Presses
• Rows 

These are important, but they only train part of how the body actually produces and transfers force. 

In reality, rotational power is needed in all aspects of sports, work, and daily life. This requires you to train your muscles as a chain, which is what mace training does.

How Does Mace Training Improve Full Body Coordination?

Many movements in Mace Training, such as the 360 or uppercut, the power production is generated through the torso:

• Hip rotation and weight shift
• Trunk bracing and anti-rotation
• Scapular control to keep the shoulder connected to the torso

If any link in that chain fails, the swing becomes sloppy or uncontrolled. This makes mace work self-limiting in a useful way. You can't "cheat" rotational strength the way you can muscle through a curl or machine press.

Rotational Power From Mace Training Transfers To Real World 

Rotational power under load shows up everywhere:

• Throwing and striking sports
• Grappling and contact sports
• Carrying, lifting, and changing direction under load
• Even heavy barbell work, where force leaks through the trunk, reduces efficiency

Mace work improves the body's ability to resist unwanted rotation while producing powerful rotation. This is a key component of both performance and injury prevention that's often forgotten about in the gym.

Anti-Rotation Is The Core's Primary Job

Core work of mace training is more accurately described as anti-rotation under dynamic load (McGill, 2010). Unlike a lot of traditional training, the trunk's job isn't necessarily to flex or even twist, something seen a lot with the Russian Twist. 

The core's primary job is to actually resist twisting and movement. This has two really important uses;

• Prevents injury to the spine
• Generates power

We suggest several exercises for this, such as the Pallof press, but anti-rotation is what mace training is all about (Mullane et al., 2021).

3. Time-Efficient, High-Return Conditioning and Work Capacity

One of the practical advantages of mace training is that it accomplishes a lot in a short window. Mace workouts tend to flow with continuous movements, similar to kettlebell training.

This essentially means mace workouts are awesome conditioning tools that still have an anaerobic component. 

• Get a lot done in a short amount of time
• Increase your heart rate fast 
• Engages multiple muscle groups at once

Collectively, mace workouts help to maintain muscle mass, if not gain, while burning calories and improving your conditioning. 

Mace Workouts Are Metabolically Demanding

Swinging a mace involves accelerating the weight, decelerating it, and then re-accelerating it again. That creates:

• Strong anaerobic conditioning 
• High grip demand
• Continuous trunk bracing
• Repeated shoulder stabilization
• Sustained lower-body involvement for balance and force transfer

All of that drives oxygen demand and local muscular fatigue at the same time.

How Do You Program Mace Conditioning Workouts?

Short mace circuits can be used:

• As finishers after strength sessions
• As standalone conditioning days
• As warm-ups that actually prepare the shoulders and trunk for loaded work

This makes it easy to integrate without overhauling an entire training program.

How To Begin Mace Training?

The biggest mistake with mace training is going too heavy too soon. Mace training isn't strength training in the traditional sense, and the lever arm multiplies force quickly. 

A 10–15 lb mace can feel very heavy, very fast. 

If the movement turns into a fight to survive the rep, the stabilizing benefit is gone. You're just muscling the weight.

Mace training won't replace heavy squats, presses, or deadlifts. It doesn't load the prime movers heavily enough to drive maximal strength or hypertrophy on its own.

What it does is support those lifts by improving:

• Shoulder control under torque
• Trunk strength in rotation and anti-rotation
• Grip and work capacity

Practical Guidelines

• Start light and master the swing path before adding load
• Keep reps smooth and controlled, not rushed
• Prioritize range of motion and stability over speed

With that said, Mace Training takes time to learn properly. That's why we suggest you follow some proper training, and we have two awesome options.

Mace Workouts FAQ

Is mace training good for shoulders?

Absolutely! Mace training increases shoulder stabilization demands due to the offset load and long lever arm, which forces the rotator cuff and scapular muscles to maintain joint alignment throughout dynamic movement.

Can mace work build muscle?

Mace training can support hypertrophy, but it is not ideal as a primary muscle-building tool. It works best as a supplement to traditional resistance training that provides heavier, more direct loading of prime movers.

How heavy should a beginner mace be?

Most beginners should start with a 10–15 lb mace. The lever arm significantly magnifies torque, making lighter weights more demanding than they appear.

Is mace training better than kettlebells?

Neither is "better." Kettlebells emphasize ballistic power and hinge-based patterns, while maces emphasize rotational strength and joint stabilization. They complement each other well.

How often should I train with a mace?

2–3 sessions per week are sufficient for most lifters, either as part of warm-ups, finishers, or conditioning days.

Conclusion: Steel Mace Work

If your program already covers heavy strength and basic conditioning, mace work is an awesome addition to fill in the gaps; gaps you probably didn't know you even had. This includes controlling torque, improving rotational power, and optimizing core stability.

Check out our sources to get started training today.

SFS FIVE - Steel Mace Workout Package 

SFS - Steel Mace Training Guide

References

1. Kara, E., Güler, A., & Yılmaz, S. (2025). The effect of mace training on strength, mobility, and stability in elite wrestlers: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389842777_The_Effect_of_Mace_Training_on_Strength_Mobility_and_Stability_in_Elite_Wrestlers_A_Randomized_Controlled_Trial
2. Kim, J. H., & Lee, J. H. (2022). Effects of clubbell training on shoulder function and range of motion in overhead athletes. Asian Journal of Kinesiology, 24(2), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.15758/ajk.2022.24.2.19
3. Ison, C. V., Brown, L. E., Kreipke, V. C., Juache, G., Rivera, J., Rodriguez, M. R., & Jo, E. (2020). Electromyographic analysis of steel mace exercises: A descriptive study of alternative training modalities. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 52(7S), 698. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.mss.0000682780.99400.e6ace_Exercises_A_Descriptive_Study_Of_Alternative_Training_Modalities_2574_Board_35_May_29_930_AM_-_1100_AM
4. McGill, S. (2010). Core training: Evidence translating to better performance and injury prevention. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 32(3), 33–46. https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0b013e3181df4521
5. Mullane, M., Turner, A. N., & Bishop, C. (2021). The Pallof press. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 43(2), 121–128. https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000596