In both professional and amateur basketball there are several different types of basketball workouts and training regimes that you can follow. Each one will largely do the same thing; optimize your performance on the court and in basketball games. We have put together some tips and tricks for compiling a foolproof and decent basketball workout.

A flawless basketball workout scheme should begin with meticulous planning. Divide your regime into six main sections: agility, strength training, flexibility, vertical leaping, stamina and core training. With each of these sections put in place and given equal time and effort you'll have taken the first step towards priming your body for the courts and becoming a basketball pro.

The first section, agility, involves learning and teaching yourself how to be incredibly quick and with quick reactions on the court. Being able to wind through players in order to get to the ball, but immediately double back on yourself once it's in your hands is an essential skill. Your agility training regime should involve all different levels on an agility ladder, as well as practice sprinting the length of a court and sliding cone drills to get your feet used to the intense footwork involved in basketball.

Strength training is mostly all about weights, so write into your basketball workouts that you should be doing bench presses, bicep curls, lunges and squats, leg extensions and more. As long as your basketball workouts leave enough space for warming up and down and you see progression between weights over two weeks then you are doing well. The majority of strength training exercises will also be relevant for core training, which involves your whole abdomen (sides and front) plus your entire back, to ensure the whole of your body is being worked. Try using exercise balls for core training too.

Vertical leaping is, of course, one of the main skills you need for playing basketball and training for it should involve running stadium steps (which is also involved in lower body strength and stamina training) and using a jump rope. One thing you should be doing as a default part of your basketball workouts is actually playing basketball. There's nothing better for working every muscle in the way you're intending them to be used. Also, you still need to use your mind in a game of basketball and forgetting tactics can lead to a huge downfall. Squats and lunges will also help to strengthen the muscles in your legs in preparation for great vertical leaps.

It's a very good idea to join a gym and hiring a personal trainer to help specialize your basketball workout towards yourself. Everyone's capacities and bodies are different, so in order to get yours up to the standard of a professional basketball player you might need a nutrition consultation and personal trainer's opinion too. There is no step too far when planning your basketball workouts and the more organized you are with them, the more likely you are to succeed.

Stan Tian

Copyrighted material; do not reprint without permission.

 

View all articles by Stan Tian