Effective Strength Training Exercises For Basketball
There are many various exercises you can do to increase your strength, but there are only a few that are actually necessary for basketball players.
For example, dumbbell curls are great exercises that build your biceps, but your biceps aren’t very useful on the basketball court.
On the other hand, an exercise such as a squat would be a very effective exercise for basketball players because the exercise targets lower body muscles that are used frequently in the game of basketball.
So, here are three effective strength training exercises that will benefit you on the basketball court.
Squat
The squat is one of the most basic exercises known to man, but it is also one of the most beneficial exercises for athletes such as basketball players, football players, and volleyball players.
A squat can be done with or without weights.
If you’re doing squats without weights, you simply would squat down with your feet shoulder width apart and bend your knees at a 90 degree angle and then come back up. You can do as many reps as possible or your can break it up into sets.
The same thing would be done for a weighted squat except you would be lifting a barbell with weights. Find your maximum weight and then subtract about 40-50 pounds from it until you can do the exercises with great form and confidence. Then you can increase the weight weekly.
Leg Press
The leg press is a very effective lower body exercise like squats, except you won’t have to lift anything with your arms, instead you will be pushing weight with nothing but your legs.
The exercise itself is very simple. You go onto the leg press machine and simply begin to press a specific amount of weight for a specific amount of reps and sets.
Bench Press
The bench press is a great exercise to work out your upper body. It is a good idea to develop your upper body strength since you will need it when driving to the basket, posting up, and just getting physical in the paint.
Lay flat on the bench, lower the weight towards your chest without actually touching your chest and then press the weight upwards away from your chest.
So, those are three effective strength training exercises you can do to increase your performance on the basketball court. These exercises are best to be done during the off-season in order to prevent conflict with your coaches practice sessions and over-working your muscles.
If you decide to do these exercises during the basketball season, make sure you only do light sessions with light weights.