Articles

Basketball Strength and Conditioning Concepts
By: Allen Cress

While strength training and conditioning are both vital parts of any athlete’s program, regardless of sport, emphasizing both of these aspects of training are especially important when training a basketball player. Basketball is a very physically demanding sport. Being strong, explosive, and well conditioned is a prerequisite to becoming a great basketball player. In my experience training high school, college and even professional basketball players, a great deal of them lacked the strength and conditioning needed to perform at the level each of them desired. After implementing a program geared toward each individual player’s needs, the results they achieved were worth the dedication and discipline they put forth. The following suggestions are the most basic and important aspects of training a basketball player into the best that he or she can be.

The posterior chain is extremely important in improving a basketball player’s performance (calves, hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors).

Compound lifts should be the core of one’s training, but unilateral (single-leg) is also needed to maximize performance on the court. Basketball is a sport where often one leg is producing most of the force at any given time, so unilateral work mustn’t be neglected.

The hips are the foundation of almost every athlete, but strength and flexibility of the hips are both crucial for a player to be effective. In my experience a lot of athletes are extremely tight in their hips along with the hamstrings. Taking care of this problem with the right stretching and warm up program will greatly reduce the chance for injury, which is the number one goal of any training program.

Another important fact to remember is that by changing a basketball player’s program every week or two, you avoid stagnation and are able to make your athlete stronger, faster and more powerful. Ever four or five weeks athletes should decrease their training load and intensity to allow their Central Nervous System to rest. Just by varying the system emphasized (nervous system vs. musculoskeletal system) you can help avoid stagnation and supercompensate. Even the best of training methods will have diminished results when used for too long. By shocking the system each week or even every other week, you are able to achieve better results more quickly than if you kept the same training methods.

A lot of athletes work hard, but the most successful do it on a consistent basis. One of the biggest problems is the lack of regard for in-season training. What good is it to be strong and fast if you lose it all during the season???

A weak athlete is usually a slow athlete. Athletes who are strong in relation to their bodyweight (i.e. relative body strength) are always faster than those who are not.

It is also vital for basketball players to increase their speed strength. (One way of achieving this is through box squats with band tension). This allows them to become faster and more explosive, thereby improving their vertical jump.

Finally, basketball conditioning should consist of mainly anaerobic energy system work. This includes sprints and court drills because the majority of plays performed on the court are in a constant stop-and-go fashion lasting between 1 and 5 seconds. Players still need to do a moderate amount of aerobic conditioning (such as jogging for 20-30 minutes) but a basketball player’s main focus should be on improving their anaerobic energy system.

The following is a sample strength training template that can be used for intermediate to advanced basketball players:

Monday - Perform each exercise for 2 weeks in a row (first week is a learning process and the second week go for broke) Do not use max effort during the season, it is to neuralogically taxing.

  • Sub-Maximal effort Bench press variation (3-5 reps)
  • Tricep work-low intensity, high volume (2-3sets 8-15reps, more reps, less sets)
  • Back (some type of rowing), shoulder and cuff work and abs-abs -abs.

Tuesday - (heavy)

  • Warm-up and Hurdle mobility
  • Some type of pull (use as a conditioner, 8-10sets 1-2 reps 30-45sec rest)
  • Sub-Maximal Squat variation (3-5 reps)
  • Reverse hypers
  • Hamstrings
  • Calf work and rotational work.

Thursday

  • Upper body repetition work
  • High intensity,low volume Tricep work(4-6sets, less than 8reps a set)
  • Back work(lat pulldown-variety of bars and grips)
  • Posterior shoulder work and cuff work
  • Abs

Friday - Same warm-up as Tues.

  • BOX squat (use a wave pattern for 3 weeks then repeat: 45, 50, 55% of 1 rep max)
  • Posterior chain work
  • Calves and rotational work.

     

     

     

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