Weight training for basketball, getting physically ready for a tryout
How basketball bodies have changed since the 80’s to now. Some basketball players playing in the NBA look like they could complete as body builders. Young basketball players regularly ask me about weight training for basketball. There are several factors to consider, as the one template isn’t going to work for everyone.
Before I begin, the advice I am giving is very general and I highly recommend talking to a trainer or coach when planning your weight training. The advice I am going to give you is very general as the aim of this article is to offer advise, not tailored training plans.
Basketball specific weight training
It is very important with weight training that you are focusing on basketball specific exercises. In other words the exercises you do in the gym will have direct benefits on court. There’s no point training like a body builder and expecting to go for 30 every night.
If you train like a body builder and build muscles like one your agility will greatly be impacted. Have you seen a competition body builder just walk around the gym? I have, they are usually out of breath.
Basketball weight training should be a mixture of explosive strength work as well as general strength work. It’s a balance of both!
Weight training exercises you should focus on
Now that you have come to the realisation you are a basketball player and should train as one. There are a few exercises in the gym that you should focus on.
Weighted training
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Cleans
- Glute and ham raises
- Bench
- Shoulder press
- Leg press
Plyo/ explosive training
- Ladder work
- Burnouts
- Depth jumps
- 40 yard sprints
- Cone running
Above are some of the exercises I used to do to get quicker and jump higher. Please note, I did have a trainer look after me with my routines. So it is best that you consult a professional before implementing any of the above.
My weekly training split
For the majority of my life I have used the same training split and I still do now at the age of 39. It is always 3 days in the gym doing weight training, one day of plyos and almost every day on court.
When I was younger my on court sessions were everyday most of which would be two sessions. Shooting in the morning and team training at night.
Depending on your body you need to manage your load. Don’t do too much otherwise you’ll burn out. Later in this article I will talk about rest.
Plan your week around your training sessions and games. Heavy load days such as plyo and leg days do when you have a day or two rest between training and games. In fact I recommend that you have a full day of rest after these sessions.
Currently this is what my week looks like
Monday – Morning shoot around
Tuesday – Chest and back (supersets)
Wednesday – Basketball training in the morning
Thursday – Morning shoot around
Friday – Shoulders and arms (supersets)
Saturday – Rest day
Sunday – Legs and basketball training (yes, I am crazy. I do a leg session before basketball training)
When I used to play college basketball for Solano Falcons
Monday
- Morning: shoot around (500 makes)
- Lunch: shoot around (200 makes)
- Afternoon: team training
Tuesday
- Morning: shoot around (500 makes)
- Afternoon: team training
- Physio and recovery
Wednesday
- Morning: shoot around (500 makes)
- Lunch: shoot around (200 makes)
- Afternoon: team training
Thursday
- Morning: shoot around (500 makes)
- Afternoon: team training
- Physio and recovery
Friday
- Morning: shoot around (500 makes)
- Lunch: shoot around (200 makes)
- Afternoon: team training
Saturday & Wednesday
- We usually have games on these days so nothing much strenuous was undertaken
Sunday
- Rest day (when no games on)
Timing of your training
Timing of training is critical, as you don’t want to be too tired for games. After all that is what you are training for. There’s also a little thing called overtraining that can see you constantly sore and in some cases can cause serious injury.
All major training session should be followed with appropriate recovery sessions, which I will discuss next.
Rest and recovery
I’ve become somewhat of a hypocrite for talking about this as I never took this seriously when I was younger. I sure as hell do now!
I can’t stress to you enough, this is super important! Your body needs to recover so that you can train or play hard the next day.
To get a better idea on what to do for rest and recovery days have a read of an article I published titled planning rest and recovery time. It has a few tips that you can implement immediately to help your body recover.
The main thing to remember with weight training is to understand your end goal. You are a basketball player and should train like one. There’s no point doing exercises that are intended for a body builder.
I strongly suggest before taking to a weights program that you consult a proper instructor or personal trainer that has worked with high performing athletes. You may only need to do a few sessions with them to get a good idea of what you need to do. This is how I approached my trainer (when I used to play) and I ended up sticking to him for 5 years.
Go Get Strong!