Compound Exercises

Posted on June 18, 2011 by

So many times in a gym you will see someone doing endless bicep curls, trying to get “massive guns”. Not only is it not functional, it does not work. Especially for basketball conditioning, you need to engage in exercises that are going to make you stronger and faster and let you jump higher. I typically do these basketball workouts 2-3 times a week, and it only takes me 30-45 minutes each time pumping weights. No need for endless hours in the gym to improve your basketball conditioning.

Compound exercises are exercises that work a variety of muscles. This is opposed to isolation exercises, that work only one or two muscles. As an example, bench press is a compound exercise, where as pec-dec flys are an isolation exercise. There are a few compound exercises you should be doing if you are not already. They will really explode your strength gains. If you are still doing isolation exercises and not doing them with heavy weights, you are wasting precious time that could be spent out on the court playing basketball.

1. Bench Press

This one could potentially be part of your routine already. It is not particularly gruelling and is well known to many people.

2. Squat

Not many people like squats. Some outright hate squats. I personally dread my workout day where I have to do squats. I do them anyway, and you should too. They are the best basketball workout you can do. They will improve your overall strength, including all of your legs and your back. Per minute spent, they are the most effective workout for increasing your vertical leap.

3. Deadlift

The squat’s compound leg exercise cousin. It involves picking a heavy barbell up off the floor, pulling up to your hips and putting it back down again. Whilst keeping your arms straight.

4. Pull up

Perhaps the only exercise in this post that will be impossible for some to perform. You may be lucky enough to have an assisted pull up machine in your gym if you cannot – it looks like a pull up bar but has a seat to kneel on that provides some counterweight assistance when you pull up. Excellent for your upper back and shoulders.

There are various other compound exercises but for me, these are the most important for basketball conditioning. It is very important to do these exercises with correct form as you may risk injury if you do not.

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A little, often.

Posted on June 11, 2011 by

To become a well-respected, fear-inspiring player is not easy. It takes a commitment beyond what is logical to others around you. Sometimes, you will ask yourself whether you have your priorities straight. Basketball workouts count, even if you are missing every single shot, feel terrible or just have better things to do you still need to get out there every day.

The reason consistent training counts is that it creates a habit. You can see this in other activities in every day life. If you study a little every day, you create a habit to do so even when you know the material well. This habit ensures consistency which ensures improvement. I suggest you should be doing 15-30 minutes every day. This means you need to be out there even on days that you have scheduled training. Not all team practice sessions let you shoot or handle the ball. Good coaches have themes in mind for practice sessions and on some occasions, you may not even touch a ball during a whole workout. Not working on your game every day will leave you behind other people that do.

It is important to go out and do your own thing. Focus your basketball workouts on the things that are relevant to you. Shooting, ball handling, passing, post moves – whatever it is, do it every day.

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A technique for improving shooting range

Posted on June 2, 2011 by

Many players, especially youth basketball players find it difficult to shoot from range. Three point shots are too far to be shot with any sort of reliability. This basketball workout tip can improve your strength and also improve the efficiency of your shot technique. You will be forced to fine tune your arm movement so that it is all power.

The basketball workout is performed by sitting in a chair in front of the ring. Great care should be taken by the player to ensure they have set their arm up exactly right for the shot. Instead of a catch and shoot situation where quickness is key, the player should take their time and ensure they have positioned themselves well. This will train the brain to position the arm in this position for future shots (this is sometimes called “muscle memory”). This happens on a subconscious level, but there are benefits at the conscious level, as it will teach players to reflect on their technique and make adjustments in response to their results.

The chair can be moved in and out according the the player’s strength and ability. If at any point correct technique is lost, then the chair should be moved in and not moved beyond that point. As players are shooting from a lower point than usual, they will be forced to put more arc on the ball. This is great for players that “shoot darts” – those flat, hard shots that are impossible to rebound with any sort of regularity. Inefficient shot technique is usually from too much effort in the forward plane rather than too much effort in the vertical plane.

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