Basketball Workout Programs

Whether it's a 94-foot sprint on a fast break, a defensive stand in a squat-crouch or exploding off the ground to grab a rebound, basketball makes its own specific demands on the body. Along with practicing, however, there are specific ways to work out that can help players better prepare for competition.

  1. Cardiovascular Workouts

    • Because of the stop-and-start nature of basketball, interval training is widely considered to be the best cardio workout. The idea is simple: Replicate the nature of the sport by running as hard as possible for short bursts of time, getting just enough rest at breaks to catch one's breath. One effective exercise is the running pyramid, so named because it works its way up and down in intensity. After a warm-up jog, run hard for 30 seconds, then jog for one minute. Next, run hard for 45 seconds, then jog for one minute. Keep working up 15 seconds at a time, until you're running hard for 90 seconds, jogging for one minute after each period of hard work. Then, work back down, 15 seconds at a time, to a 30-second jog.

    Strength Workouts

    • Basketball players, whether they ply their trade in the low post or on the perimeter, still need to be strong enough to endure the body-on-body clashes of the sport. The key for a basketball workout, as opposed to a football workout or general weight training, is to add strength in proportion to the body, rather than overloading with super-size muscle. This is best achieved through a full-body workout, rather than focusing on one area, and with more repetitions at a lower weight.

    Hybrid Workouts

    • Basketball is a combination of strength, speed and stamina, and there are few workout routines that match it better than CrossFit. Designed to be an intense full-body workout, CrossFit is a constantly changing regimen that promotes elite full-body fitness, using everything from Olympic-style weightlifting to the simple push-up. The workouts can be scaled and modified based on the athlete's fitness level and/or access to equipment. An example of a CrossFit workout is called the "Fight Gone Bad." The athlete sets up five stations in a circle: rowing, box jumps, sumo deadlift high pulls, thrusters and wall-ball. He works for one minute at each station, with the clock running, keeping score with the number of repetitions (or, in the case of the rowing machine, number of calories burned). At the end of one full rotation, the athlete gets a minute of rest. After three rotations, it feels exactly like the title would indicate.