Weight Training for Basketball Players

31 July 2014      

Basketball is an extremely demanding sport from a physical standpoint. A player needs to be able to be agile and perform quick side to side movements while also having the strength and explosiveness to get off the floor and drive towards the hoop. In addition, the player needs to be in good shape and have adequate strength endurance in order to maintain his top level of performance over the course of a long back and forth game with few breaks. While there are many body weight circuit drills and pure conditioning drills that can be done on the basketball court to help a player improve in these areas, weight training is a necessity in order to reach that next level of strength and explosiveness.

When most people think of weight training, they only think of the popular exercises that are known to improve mainly sheer strength. However, there are many exercises that can help a basketball player to improve in not only raw strength but also core strength, flexibility, and explosiveness. Common exercises that improve vertical explosive ability involve jumping and making explosive movements while using weights. Such exercises include barbell jump squats, standing barbell calf raises, box jumps, and split squat jumps while holding light weights. These exercises help to improve lower body strength while also helping you gain explosiveness and vertical jumping ability. Exercises that help improve core strength include bench press, V-bar lat pull downs, medicine ball pushups and chest passes, and medicine ball slam downs (on the floor). These exercises focus on the core part of your body including your chest and abdominal muscles, lower black, glutes, and hip flexors while also working on explosiveness. Other general explosive strength exercises include power cleans, different types of lunges, and one arm kettle bell presses. A basketball player looking to improve in the areas of strength, flexibility, and explosiveness should design a multiple day workout plan that includes weight training exercises like the ones previously mentioned. Time should also be built in for dynamic stretching, cardio work, and rest and recovery time. Fitness professionals at Answer is Fitness can be contacted for more information on work out routines, explosive strength exercises, and sports training.