Quick Basketball exercises to get you from courtside to court-ready
Been a while since you’ve been on the court? Don’t sweat it – here’s how you can get fit for Basketball, fast.
We’ve pulled together our favourite exercises to help you get fit so you’ll be hitting those 3-pointers in no time.
In Basketball, not only do you need to be in good shape to sprint across the court but you need to maintain this intensity for the duration of the entire game.
We recommend that you complete the following workouts four times a week for 20 minutes each to achieve optimal Basketball fitness levels.
Resting is just as important as exercising, so give your muscles a chance to relax every other day.
Top 4 Basketball exercises
Regardless of the shape you’re already in, here’s our top four basketball exercises that focus on your flexibility, mobility, and overall fitness:
1. Suicide Sprints
This high-intensity workout involves running to multiple progressively distant lines as fast as you can. All you need are running shoes and some props (such as six towels) to serve as markers.
Simply place your markers about two metres apart, and repeatedly sprint from your starting point to each of the markers, and back again. Continue to perform this exercise routine for 20 minutes, with a 60-90 second recovery between repetitions.
They’re a killer but it will be worth it in the end when your fitness level skyrocket!
2. Jogging
This one is quite self-explanatory, and very underrated. One of the best ways to stay motivated when jogging is to increase your goals after hitting every target.
For example, if you jog for 10 minutes, next time try for 20 minutes, and slowly increase your duration. The best thing about this type of exercise is that you don’t need anything other than your running shoes.
And if you’d like to know a little about how jogging may improve your mental health as well as your general fitness levels, see here.
3. Cone Hops and Forward Bounds
You’ll also need to work on your muscular power. Cone hops involve jumping back-and-forth and side-to-side over a cone (or similar object) as fast as possible.
Front bounds involve lowering into a squat position and then jumping as far forward as you can. For both exercises, complete eight reps twice.
4. Full Body Workout
Weight (resistance) training is a great way to develop muscle strength as well as improve basketball performance.
Just some of the workouts you can do include squats, step-ups, deadlifts, front planks, and calf raises.
A few things to keep in mind…
It’s important to consider a few things before you start any exercise routine.
For one, it’s a good idea to consult your local GP before you begin your new fitness journey, as failing to detect any health problems or conditions can put you at risk of an injury during the play.
Above all, it’s important that you don’t overdo any of the exercises.
Just because you think you can go that extra mile doesn’t necessarily mean that you should.
Finally, complete every workout with 10-15 minutes of full body stretching.
Give these exercises a go and you’ll soon get fit for basketball!
If you’d like some tips for preventing injury when playing basketball, see here.
