Whether you’re on a basketball team or playing it as a hobby, increasing your skills will help build your level of confidence and improve your performance in the games. If you are looking to improve your game, practice at home may be the most convenient way to do it.
To get better at basketball, you obviously have to play a lot of basketball. But to get a bit better than your fellow players or your opponents, you have to follow a sports-specific strength training schedule.
It is important to train especially the explosive jumping force, the core stability muscles and the shoulders/chest/triceps.
7 Workouts exercises for basketball players at home
Basketball also requires a certain physical condition, especially when we want to improve our performance. Qualities such as endurance, strength, speed and coordination should not be lacking in a basketball player’s physical preparation.
Today I am going to recommend seven exercises to improve your physical condition in basketball. They are the star exercises to improve physically in this sport.
You don’t need any special material or equipment, simply with our own body and a little imagination we can make them. If you want to receive news like this directly in your email, subscribe to our newsletter.
Continuous stroke, endurance is essential
One of the basic pillars in any sport is aerobic endurance. It is the one that allows us to endure an entire game of basketball without being unable to do so in the middle of the game due to the accumulated tiredness.
It’s easy to work with; we just have to go for a 30-40 minute run at a comfortable pace, without ending up too tired.
Ideally, this time should be gradually increased to run between 60-75 minutes. This will ensure, along with the rest of the exercises that we are in good physical condition.
This type of exercise is ideal for 2-3 times a week, although if we are short of time, one can be enough, although, as we say, starting with 30 minutes and gradually increasing to reach 60-75.
Burpees, power gain on upper and lower body
Source: Be Well buzz
This is one of the most complete exercises to work the strength of the upper and lower body. When burpeying we work on the upper part of the bending part and the lower part of the train when we jump.
This exercise, also its corresponding part of resistance, since doing more than 15-20 repetitions costs you money.
With the jump, you also work on leg power, a very important aspect in basketball because of the large number of jumps that are made during a game. An interesting variant for basketball may be to throw the ball in when we do the jump, catching the ball at the end of the flexion.
Abdominals, essential for stabilizing the middle area
An essential area that we have to work on to ensure that there is good coordination between upper and lower body, as well as to avoid many injuries. We can do the typical crunches consisting of lifting the upper back off the floor.
But I like isometric abdominals or flat irons better, where we have to hold the position with elbows and feet on the floor.
You can work on your abs every day, but if you want to get some intensity and improve your strength in this area, it is best to work on them a couple of times a week.
As an abdominal training session we can do 6-8 series of 15-20 repetitions. If in every series or every other series we vary the type of abdominal exercise, the training will be much more complete.
Climb stairs to improve leg power
Climbing stairs is a very complete exercise for the basketball player. It works the explosive force, very important in the jump, and also the resistance.
Obviously, we are not going to walk up the stairs, but in a way that involves more intensity: running, jumping one at a time, two at a time, on the lame leg or with feet together.
I recommend that you start with something simple, going up some stairs with 10-20 steps as a race, resting on each climb while we walk down. Little by little we can put more intensity into it like climbing on feet together, two by two or on the limp leg, also playing with the number of steps and the series.
Sprint, a fast player is a better player
The sprints or short distance races will improve our speed on the course. Series of 20-50 meters can be made at maximum speed. Since the idea is to do the sprint to the maximum, respect a prudential rest time of a couple of minutes to rest completely, so you can do the next one “to the fullest”.
Start by doing 4-6 series of 20-30 meters to, little by little, get more distance and more repetitions.
As the sprints are at maximum intensity, it is very important that a correct warm-up is carried out beforehand, in order to avoid injuries.
Don’t get into the speed series without warming up, jog a little earlier, move your joints and stretch gently. Start with progressions, from less to more, before doing the first series of speeding.
Coordination ladder, another way to improve the coordination of our feet
Coordination is also a crucial aspect of basketball that we often forget to train. Exercises with the coordination ladder will allow us to work on this aspect in an efficient and fun way. Don’t worry about the ladder, you don’t need to have it, you can paint it on the floor with chalk or do it with hoops.
Doing exercises like the ones you see in the video will allow us greater agility when we move around the court, bounce the ball coordinated with displacement movements and move better in defensive gestures.
At first you will find very complex or difficult exercises, but it is only a matter of time before you get them and notice how your coordination improves.
Stretching, the great forgetfulness but essential
No doubt they are the great forgotten ones of basketball and many sports. Stretching exercises will allow us to have muscles with better movement capacity, in addition to being a method of prevention against injuries. The leg muscles will be the most important, although the upper body should not be neglected either.
I would recommend one session a week of stretching, including the main muscles such as the hamstrings, quadriceps, abductors and calves.
The stretching exercise will be maintained for 15-20 seconds while we breathe calmly. We will repeat each exercise three times. Over time you gain flexibility and that translates into higher quality of movement and less risk of injury.
As you can see, you can do these exercises on any basketball court, without any material. You can include a training session with all the exercises, as a circuit, or choose some of them and work on them on different days.
What is unquestionable is that your physical condition will improve and you will notice it on the court.
A good basketball player needs the right training, from warm-up to strength exercises
In addition to stamina, sprint and reaction speed as well as tactical competence, basketball also depends on its ability to bounce and assertiveness.
The above mentioned skills are usually sufficiently trained in special basketball training. Bounce and assertiveness can also be improved very efficiently with a suitable strength training plan.
A basketball game in a team is great fun. Of course, a good basketball player needs the right training. If you find basketball interesting and would like to play it yourself, you should first familiarize yourself with the basics as a beginner.
Warm up and stretching
Basketball training usually begins with a few warm-up exercises, which is an important part of the workout. Recommended are running exercises with ball. In this way, the player can run and on the other hand already has a relation to basketball.
After warming up, you should do some stretching exercises to reduce the risk of injury. Afterwards, the actual exercises begin for the different techniques.
Dribbling and pass exercises
For beginners, it is advisable to start with various dribbling and passing exercises. In this way, the player can develop a feel for the ball.
It is of course important that you have the right coach, who also fights the actions themselves and thereby teaches the right techniques, because teaching yourself the basics basketball itself is quite difficult.
One of the first lessons, for example, is how to dribble with the right or left hand, or how to change hands while dribbling. The pass exercises include various passes such as ground or chest passes, through which the player learns to play a precise pass.
Layers and throws
Also, layers and throws are an important part of the training program. These actions should train beginners in great detail to help them learn how to control their throws. In addition to the attack behavior, the correct defensive behavior must be trained.
Attack and Defense Systems
Once you’ve learned the basics of basketball, it’s a good idea to continue training because there’s always something that can be improved.
On this basis you can then deal with special actions such as varied base layers, complicated moves or various attack and defense systems.
It is important that the individual players not only improve their technique, but also pay attention to the coordination with each other, because after all, basketball is a team sport. Therefore, not everyone can do their own thing if the team is to work well.
So every player has to know where he stands and what he has to do.
Strength training for basketball players
For a long time, strength training was disregarded when it came to improving performance in a particular sport. But now many coaches have undeniably acknowledged that weight training can have a positive effect on skills for almost any sport.
Dumbbells and fitness machines have also found their place in basketball. We explain what you should look out for as a player in the training design.
You may notice that this training session does not include exercises for the abdominal muscles. As a rule, during normal basketball training as a warm-up or cool down, this area of the body is sufficiently worked on, so you do not have to burden it again during the actual strength training.
Be sure to adjust the intensity of your strength training sessions to match your basketball season. This may mean that you need to make minor changes weekly.
For example, if you play in a league, it is not wise to include many heavy dumbbell workouts during those months of high game play. In the preparatory phase of the off-season, however, would have come for the perfect moment.
The following sample plans illustrate how you can optimally combine strength training with basketball training:
Example 1
Monday: Basketball (focus on training: stamina and play)
Tuesday: Strength training as suggested above
Wednesday: rest day, no training
Thursday: basketball (training focus: technique and tactics) + strength training as on Tuesday
Friday: basketball
Saturday: basketball
Sunday: rest day, no training
Example 2
Monday: basketball (training focus: jump training and technique) + strength training, but only dips and pull-ups, because the legs were already heavily burdened by the jump training
Tuesday: rest day, no training
Wednesday: Strength training, complete unit as described above
Thursday: Basketball (main focus: technique and tactics)
Friday: Basketball (Game)
Saturday: Strength training, complete unit as described above
Sunday: rest day, no training
Wrap Up
Overall, when you combine basketball and strength training, you will achieve a considerable amount of training that you should not expect to experience overnight, and that you cannot do without health losses anyway.
Therefore, gradually increase your training load by gently increasing the amount and number of strength training sessions every two to three weeks.
In addition, look for a carbohydrate-rich diet that will provide you with the energy needed to withstand the physical strain at its best.
- Whole grains, cereals, and fibrous vegetables are the ideal ingredients for this purpose and should be a regular part of their daily meals.
- Lean meat, eggs, and low-fat dairy products provide you with the necessary building blocks to regenerate and strengthen your damaged muscles.
