Skill, finesse and hustle are important, but without the right amount of strength and stamina to last 48 minutes on the court you’re gonna get a beating. For this reason weight training for basketball has become a major part of all teams’ and players’ training schedules.

Strength training is not just important for centers and power forwards, but guards too. Michael Jordan transformed his body and his game when he started weight training for basketball because, in his own words, “I was taking a lot of physical beatings from New York and Detroit, and people were saying ‘well, this is the way to play Michael Jordan is to physically beat him’”. Jordan saw the value and down right necessity in today’s game to make weight training for basketball an essential part of your routine.

Here are 3 important strength training tips for players who want to start weight training for basketball.

Workout 3 Times Per Week

In order for players to gain muscle mass and increase explosive strength you should workout no more than 3 times per week. This is to allow sufficient rest between your workouts in order for your muscles to repair themselves and grow.

Many players make the mistake of thinking that more time at the gym means faster muscle gains. While this may be true of improving ball handling and shooting skills the same can not be said of building muscle and strength. Give your body the rest it requires and you’ll be richly rewarded.

Your basketball weight training workouts should be all-body workouts, as opposed to splitting upper body and lower onto separate days.

Train No Longer Than 60 Minutes

In addition, your workout should last no longer than 60 minutes. If it does then you are either spending too much time in there or simply not performing your workouts with enough intensity.

Making sure that your weight training for basketball workouts are high intensity provides you with two unique benefits:

- you improve your stamina and endurance while building muscle

- you reduce your workout time making it easier to follow a regular schedule particularly if you have classes or work commitments.

When first starting your weight training for basketball workout I would avoid doing it on game days as you will probably feel very fatigued and may under perform. However as time goes on and you get used to your routine you can probably do so.

Focus on Compound Exercises For Functional and Explosive Power

The key to seeing success with your weight training for basketball workout is making sure it provides you with functional muscle mass that is strong and explosive.

Just “getting big” is not enough to see the major improvement in your game that you deserve. Your muscle needs to be functional and flexible too, and so the best kinds of exercises to perform to achieve this are known as “compound exercises”.

These are exercises that work multiple muscle groups at the same time and include things like Squats, Bench Press, Deadlifts and Bent Over Rows. By performing these exercises you stimulate more muscle fibers than “isolation exercises” and thereby increase the growth rate and strength of muscles.

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Squats are particularly useful to build strong explosive legs and lower back muscles, which is integral if you want to jump higher, be stronger in the key, and out hustle on defense. So make sure your weight training for basketball workout is focused on a core of mass building compound exercises.

For free detailed workout routines and explanations on how best to implement them go here ==> Weight Training For Basketball Players

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One such way to develop muscles quickly is by doing plyometric weight training. Having a solid plyometrics workout program develop your ability to make fast and strong movements. So, the next time you drive down the lane during a basketball game, you can get to the court quicker and stronger.

Make sure, though, that you choose the program that suits your fitness status. You won’t want to overwork yourself early on, so only go at a pace that fits your needs. You should really consult an expert before you begin.

As you exercise, you should make sure to use proper plyometrics training equipment, lest you risk serious injury. By using only the proper equipment, only the targeted muscles are developed and your chances of being injured are greatly minimized.

Basketball may be a game of how well you can shoot and how fast you can run, but don’t ever underestimate the benefits of being strong and quick. Engaging in plyometric weight training just might be the next step your game is looking for.

Many people ask if plyometric exercises are for athletes only.  Many of us have the perception that this is only good for superstar athletes who engage in extreme contact sports like wrestling or physically demanding sports like basketball, martial arts and foot ball.
The answer is no. Anyone who wants to have improved strength and power can use this specific exercise if they wanted to.  Experts say that this exercise can also be used for weight-loss programs as well.  Fitness gyms all over the world offer these trainings since there are a lot of people who want it.  Upper body plyometric exercises help improve the power of the upper extremities and lower body plyometric exercises keep the buttocks and legs strengthened.
Also, although there is no specific study giving a direct relationship on the success of therapies for injuries, most doctors and physical therapists recommend low-intensity plyometric leg exercises for rehabilitation of injured lower extremities.  Injured athletes are helped out by their therapists through plyometric exercises with the medicine ball to bring their physical strength and overall fitness back.
If you want to make use of that medicine ball and feel the energy it brings, then why don’t you give it a try.  The healing wonders of plyometric workouts are not just for MVP’s, but for everyone, as well.

There are no greater exercises to jump higher than plyometrics. They are used by social players and professional athletes alike. When done properly and in conjunction with a good strength conditioning program, you will see gains in the vertical leap unrivaled by any other technique. However caution must be used as while the reward can be great, so to are the risks high.

These are a series of exercise techniques used to train muscles to perform as powerfully and as quickly as possible while training the nervous system to respond as rapidly as possible as well. The idea is to load the muscle and then contract it, taking as little time as possible to do so.

A great example is the box depth jump.

First set up a box. Beginners should not use a platform more than 12 inches high. As you get more experienced you can increase the box height until depths of up to 30 inches are reached. Prepare yourself by standing with feet shoulder width apart.

Jump off the box and hit the ground on your two feet. Immediately upon hitting the ground spring up and proceed to leap as high as you can into the air. Try 3×5 repetitions initially and make sure you have at least 30 seconds in between each set.

Focus on reducing the time spent on the ground. You want to limit this to as small a period as possible. Don’t try to absorb the impact of the jump from height, react as quickly as you can. You should be prepared to sacrifice height on the rebound to ensure speed.

You can adapt the exercise by increasing the height of the box or focusing on jumping forwards or side to side.

Don’t underestimate how hard a polymetric exercise session should be. You should be attacking each movement at 100 percent intensity for the entire duration. Just going through the motions is a waste of time as you will not sufficiently influence the neuromuscular inputs to perform optimally.

Do no more than 2 sessions per week and ensure your body gets plenty of rest during and between workouts. Never do the box jump or similar in the week before an important competition as it will take your body some time to recover.

There are other great body movements that will help your vertical leap. For more exercises to jump higher see the links below.

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Plyometric drills are a great way to teach any team or yourself how to jump higher. The drills in plyometric training should not be done after doing legs because the muscles in the legs should be fresh when starting any sort of jumping training regimen.

Drill #1

Set up plyometric boxes in a straight row of 4 boxes. Explain to everyone that you will be stepping off the box and jumping onto the next one as quickly as possible. The 2 major things to point out here are that you step off the box and you don’t jump off the box. Second, you want to be in contact with the ground for as little time as possible. We aren’t trying to cushion the landing with our knees during this exercise. We are trying to develop the fast twitch muscles in our legs to do the reacting.

Drill #2

Pick something high such as the rim or backboard. If you can’t jump and touch either one of those things than pick something that you can touch. Stand under the rim and set a timer for 10 seconds. You are going to jump and touch the rim as many times as you can in ten seconds.

Drill #3

Get a medicine ball that weighs about 8 pounds. Stand with feet shoulder width apart and bend down (at the knees, not the lower back) until the ball touches the ground in between your feet. From this squatted position you are going to explode up jump as high as you can while you throw the ball up (and maybe behind you) as high as you can.

With all of these exercises you will rest in between sets a little longer than you would for regular training because you want to get the most out of each rep or every set during training.

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True basketball players know that though speed is not the only important attribute when playing. While speed may be the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of basketball players, being fast is not nearly enough to make you excel in the sport. Just as important as speed is a player’s strength. Whether your style of play is similar to a guard’s or a forward’s, being strong can go a long way toward helping you play better.
With that in mind, one way to strengthen your body is by engaging in plyometrics training. Plyometrics is one of the best ways to improve your leg’s strength. With basketball played at such a frantic pace, making sure that your legs can withstand the punishment of constant pounding on a hard surface is very important. You can’t play basketball without strong legs, especially when you are very exposed to tripping and crashing onto other players. Besides injuring yourself, you also pose as a big threat to the safety of others. Therefore, putting yourself through a plyometric regimen is a very smart choice.
Before starting though, make sure that you use only proper plyometric equipment. Just like any other workout, not using the proper equipment (or not using them properly) is very, very dangerous. Not only can you hurt yourself, but you might also hurt others. Since the equipment (plyometrics equipment or not) have very tough material, even minor contact could injure you immensely. Therefore, making sure that you know how to use the plyometric exercise equipment is very important. After all, you want to improve and not harm yourself further.
The best way to do so is to go to your local gym to work out. By working out in a gym, you can have experienced trainers teach you how to properly perform the exercise methods. This way, you will not be exposed to injury, as you will be taught how to properly stretch before your regimen. Exercise is not all about the training, after all. You also have to warm up first or else you might have your joints and veins lock up on you. If you are experienced already, though, then you can just work out from home. As long as you know how to use the plyometrics equipment, you should be fine.
So, next time you play basketball, pay special attention to how your legs perform. You might be fast enough to run all day long, but will your legs be able to hold up? If not, then it may be time to start a plyometric workout program soon.

Many outside of the athletic field are not really sure what plyometrics are and why they are even important. They are primarily used by elite athletes to improve agility and explosiveness in their sports motion. THis of course is important in basketball because it applies directly to improving explosiveness in your jumping ability and agility. This article is about using plyometrics to improve your basketball performance.

Plyometric Exercise #1 – Bounding

This exercise is performed just like running except with every step you will jump/push off the ground. This motion is called bounding and will greatly improve leg strength.

Plyometric Exercise #2 – Knee Tuck Jumps

This exercise is performed by getting into a squat position but doing it from a standing position. This is performed from a standing position and jumping in the air while bringing your knees up as high as possible. The idea behind this exercise is to only let your feet touch the ground for a slit second and go right back into the motion.

Plyometric Exercise #3 – Squat Jumps

Begin this exercise with you feet planted firmly and comfortably apart. Begin the motion by squatting down until your thighs are almost parallel to the ground. Then you want to immediately jump up and at the same time raise your arms above your head as high as you can. You ca take a brief rest between repetitions (i.e. 1 or 2 seconds). Then get right back into it while remembering to extend your ankles first right before you leave the ground.

This article has briefly touched on exercises if performed consistently will increase your basketball performance as far as jumping is concerned. These exercises included bounding, knee tuck jumps and squat jumps. You will need to create a plan that will institute these into something you do 2-3 times a week and measure your progress. If you are diligent with this you will definitely find an increase in your jumping ability.

How can i jump higher fast?

im 6'1 but i cant jump that high

It seems like only a few of these jump manuals out there can really help improving our jumping skills. Lots of these vertical jump programs claim that they will help us to jump higher but do they really work? In order to significantly increase your jumping ability you need to know the best exercises to jump higher. Once you’re done reading this article you are going to be aware of the single most effective exercise to increase your vertical leap in no time and you can use these exercises to jump out of the building.

Hands down, the absolute best exercise that you can do to increase vertical leap is squats. This is the best exercise by far out of all the workouts available.

Squats.

Muscles worked:

Primary: Quads (front thigh muscles), glutes (butt muscles), and hamstrings (rear thigh muscles).

Support: Calf and shin

Positioning

Stand in front of a chair or bench, two feet away. Position feet parallel to each other, at hip-width distance. Maintain bend at the knees.

Movement

While inhaling, slowly lower body, bending your knees and bringing your glutes back toward bench, as though you were going to sit. Lightly tap bench with glutes or stop before touching bench. As you exhale, slowly transition to the opposite direction, moving upward until you are fully standing again.

Prevent your knees from passing your toes, keep your back straight as possible and use your abs for support and balance.

When you are able to perform 10-12 reps of this exercise easily, increase the intensity by performing squats without any support (chair or bench). As your strength and balance increase further, add resistance by carrying a dumbbell. Start with 10 pounds and build up from there.