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How to strengthen legs for basketball
9 Essential Leg Exercises & Workouts for Basketball Players
By Cody Roberts
Home > Player > Athletic Development > 9 Essential Leg Exercises & Workouts for Basketball Players
For basketball players, the legs are undeniably important. They are necessary for jumping, landing, pivoting, running, and lunging for the ball. And if you want to excel in basketball, you can't skip leg day.
Improving your leg strength, mobility, and coordination can help you better maneuver on the court. It allows you to jump higher, change direction quickly, run faster and defend at a high level. It also contributes to a reduced risk of injuries.
Yet, many basketball players have the same problem; they jump into plyometric training without first focusing on the basics.
This isn't to say that plyometrics, agility, power, and speed aren't important. It just means that these movements aren't as efficient without the proper foundation.
Ideally, a solid leg training program should focus on various factors. You want strengthening moves, plyometrics, balance and coordination exercises, and mobility-focused movements. Combined, these factors give way to efficient movements on court and during a game.
So, what exercises should you consider including in your basketball leg strengthening program?
Check out the 9 exercises below that we think are essential exercises for basketball players.
1. Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
The Single Leg Romanian Deadlift exercise contributes to foundational glute strength, balance, hip stability, and coordination. Slow and steady always wins during this exercise. If you lose balance, restart the rep.
2. Goblet Squat
This is a full-body movement, with a focus on the lower body. Add load with either a dumbbell or kettlebell.
This exercise is also all about control. Go slow on the way down, feel tension in the hips, full foot pressure, and drive up strong. Doing this movement regularly will strengthen not only your lower body, but also will contribute to better balance and stability overall.
3. Glute Bridges
Glutes are vital in core strength and athletic development. The glutes are part of the power behind your jump. By performing glute bridges, you develop a mind-muscle connection, and lay the foundation for further exercises and movements for complete preparation and injury prevention.
4. Isometric Split Squat
The Isometric Split Squat is a foundational position. It helps build strength and hip stability, establishing the basis for strength in your lower body.
5. Isometric Lateral Squat
This is another isometric exercise that works to build strength by creating tension in a low, long, and extended range of motion. A position crucial for the movement quality needed to be a lockdown defender..
6. Lunges
Lunges are an active movement that mimic the various actions a player experiences on the court. Further challenging the hip, knee, and ankle to be both mobile and stable, while engaging the muscles of the lower body.
7. Marching Plantar-Dorsiflexion
The Marching Plantar-Dorsiflexion exercise helps develop structural integrity through the foot and ankle. It uses an end-range of motion to engage the stabilizing muscles of the ankle joint. This is important since a lack of ankle mobility may inhibit your ability to squat or lunge properly. In turn, this can prevent a proper loading phase involved in jumping, as well as cause inefficient movement mechanics.
8. Snap Downs
Snap Downs are all about force management. After youve learned to load slow and controlled with your squat, snap downs are the starting point to establishing proper loading and landing mechanics with increased velocity. This develops the stiffness and coordination needed to generate an explosive and reactive takeoff.
9. Seated Box Jumps
Seated Box Jumps are all about force production. With the proper coordination and movement efficiency from the lower body exercises above, youre ready for takeoff. Seated box jumps provide an effective way to challenge your explosiveness and improve your jump height.
If you want a step-by-step program to help you improve your basketball game and technique, check out the 12 Week Athletic Development Program for Basketball Players. This program provides a full-body guide on what you need to do to improve your movement efficiency, power, and strength. And this all starts with improving your foundation and doing the right exercises to get you to where you need to be.
10 Leg Workouts & Exercises for Basketball Players
Here you can find Some great leg workouts for basketball players that will help them gain more muscle and gain better explosive power. This article will go through different exercises with your legs and how they’re essential in basketball. Many people think they don’t need legs, but they wouldn’t be able to jump as high or run as long on the court without them. So here we’ll talk about some of the most vigorous leg workouts for basketball players”. The leg is the king of the basketball court. If your team can control what you can’t control on the ground, they will have a great shot at winning. You know this to be true. But, unfortunately, many players neglect their legs because they feel that they don’t have time to train or practice them enough.
The 10 Most Important Leg Workouts for Basketball Players
Table of Contents
Why Should Basketball Players Exercise Their Legs?
Basketball Players: The Top 10 Exercises & How To Do It
1. Lunging to the Side
2. The Bridge between the Glutes
3. Leg Curl with a Physioball
4. Tied to the Side
5. Deadlifting
6. Pressing Dumbbells Alternately
7. Squatting with a Glass
8. Pull up
9. Jumping Hop with Only One Leg
10. To Push, Squat with the Medicine Ball
5 Benefits From Do Leg Workouts
In Conclusion
FAQ
How Do You Strengthen Your Legs for Basketball?
Does Basketball Workout Your Legs?
Is It Common for NBA Players to Shave Their Legs?
Why Should Basketball Players Exercise Their Legs?
Let’s take a look at why Basketball Players should exercise their legs. Leg workouts for basketball are fundamental, and you should spend at least three days per week working your legs out. I know that this is impossible for most of you, but try to do it if possible. Your quads, hamstrings, and calves may be small muscles, but they are highly active during the game. If they are weaker than they could be, your whole body will be weaker than it could be, which will lead to you being less explosive and slower on the court. The lower body is just as important as the upper body in sports. In any sport, and even just running your daily errands, you are using your legs. They contain large muscles needed to run, jump, and even curl weights at times. The upper body is fantastic, but it won’t help you a lot if they don’t work out their legs as much in comparison.
Basketball Players: The Top 10 Exercises & How To Do It
While this may be true for a few players, it won’t hold for the rest. So if you have time to train, make sure you do at least some leg exercises to help your game. The legs are the engines of your body, and they propel you down the court. So they need to be solid and robust. You know this to be true. You have felt the fatigue in your legs and your heart. You have felt your leg’s power and their strength on the court. But here is some bad news: if you don’t take time to train your legs, you will never reach your potential. So here are some great workouts to stay solid and robust while playing basketball.
1. Lunging to the Side
The lunge to the side is something you can do during your warm-up. It will help loosen up your muscles and prepare you for the game. How it’s done:
Get set in front of a bench and hold the weight.
Take one leg out in front of you and step out at an angle with your other foot to be about 45 degrees from the ground.
Ensure that your knee does not touch the ground when you are still standing up with no weight on your legs.
That would be called frontal plane hip extension exercise, which isn’t necessary for basketball purposes at all.
2. The Bridge between the Glutes
The bridge between the glutes is a great exercise to help you explosively on the court. It will help you jump higher and run faster, which will help you with your agility. If you don’t already know, agility is significant in basketball, especially as a point guard or center because they must keep themselves out of the way of other players while finding the best way to their target.
How it’s done: Lie down on your back and stretch out your legs. Next, bend one knee while bringing it across your body towards the ground on that side of your body. Doing this should cause your hips to rise off the floor in a bridge position. Hold this for about 5 seconds before lowering it back down and repeating on the other side.
3. Leg Curl with a Physioball
You will also do this exercise with a physioball. This is very simple: grab either a car or a dumbbell and start to curl it up. It would be best if you got that “pump and heat” feeling, which is excellent for your legs in the game of basketball. How it’s done:
Grab the physioball by the sides with your hands, then put the ball between your legs and squat down so that your torso is parallel with the ground, not sitting back.
Slowly extend your legs up towards the ceiling and squeeze as you do so.
Keep your knees behind you as you go, each time going slightly higher than before until you reach ten reps or more on each side.
4. Tied to the Side
The lateral bound is one of the best leg workouts for basketball players. This is one of the exercises that has helped me so much. If you are short, it will help you to develop lower body power and quickness to get around people as a guard. As a big guy with long legs, it will help you run faster and jump higher and develop strength in your legs, which are very important for charging into the paint.
How it’s done: Place a two by two-foot wide plyometric box on either side of where you’re standing and step onto them (you may want to use a box with deeper sides in case your knees knock on the sides when jumping).
5. Deadlifting
Many people will say never to deadlift because it can hurt your back. But, if done right, you can work your lower body and back muscles like no other exercise.
How it’s done: First, you need to squat down with your hands in front of you and grab the barbell (you should keep them anywhere from shoulder width to hip-width apart depending on how close you are to the bar). You will then lift the weight up off the ground by extending your legs out and bringing yourself up as well. Keep your back straight and make sure that you have a good grip on the weight before doing this exercise for beginners.
6. Pressing Dumbbells Alternately
Pressing Dumbbells Alternately does precisely what it says. You can hold two dumbbells in each hand, or you can hold one in one hand and use an empty barbell or the weight of a bench to help you lift this weight up to your shoulders.
How it’s done: Grab the dumbbells and hold them up to your sides with your arms bent like a lunge position and your knees bent as well. You will then push the weights above you until they are at eye level, then you lower them back down again. You only take them up to where you can, not higher unless you have problems with your shoulders. It’s best to do this exercise as fast as possible and high repetition-wise (at least ten reps total)
7. Squatting with a Glass
The squat is a great leg exercise for basketball players. It will help you do all of the movements needed in the game of basketball by helping to develop your quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings, and back muscles.
How it’s done: Grab a kettlebell or dumbbell by its handle (the one used for kettlebells is called a goblet). Keep your chest up, and don’t lean forward as you squat down. Squat until your hips are at about 90 degrees (or further if you’re advanced) before going back up. Make sure that you don’t let the weight drop as you go down or come up.
8. Pull up
The pull-up is an excellent exercise for building back muscles that are important in every sport, especially basketball. Basketball players need a strong back because they have to quickly jump and grab onto things. They also need good upper body strength to make shots from up close or further away.
How it’s done: Use a bar with a good grip and hang from it. Pull yourself up to the bar, then go back down again. You can also do this by using different grip positions, such as using an overhand or underhanded grip.
9.
Jumping Hop with Only One Leg
Jumping Hop with Only One Leg works on your acceleration, or how fast you can get up to top speed. This is very important for every player because you need to be able to accelerate quickly to be able to block out your rivals from getting the rebound.
How it’s done: Put a barbell plate or any other solid object in front of you. It should be about 12–24 inches tall, depending on how advanced an athlete you are. Tiptoe over it and then jump down over the other side with only one foot touching the ground (like a hop over a fence). After doing so, use only that same leg to tiptoe back over the hurdle and back again with two feet on the ground.
10. To Push, Squat with the Medicine Ball
This is an excellent exercise for building strength in your glutes and quads because it is a lot like a regular squat, only that you alternate: going down low, then up high. The medicine ball will help you develop power in these muscles, which are essential because they are used to push you up in the air when doing rebounds or blocking out an opponent.
How it’s done: Start with your knees bent at about 90 degrees (or even less, depending on how much flexibility you have). Next, hold the medicine ball by the sides and then move it underneath your butt and let it sit on your back.
5 Benefits From Do Leg Workouts
As basketball players, we get a lot of static contractions in our legs during our game. This is because we have to run and jump around in so many different directions during the game that we need to work out those lower body and core muscles as often as possible. Keeping these muscles strong helps us to avoid injuries overall. Great lower body workouts will also help improve balance and stability, which will improve your athletic performance on the court because you will be able to shoot, rebound, block out opponents, and move side-to-side easier.
It burns calories throughout the day.
From doing any exercise, your heart rate will increase throughout the day depending on how you’re sweating (there’s a more considerable amount of blood going to your muscles when you move around). Doing these exercises will help you burn more calories during the daytime because of how the body works.
Your muscles won’t get so tired out because they don’t have enough time to repair themselves.
By doing these workouts daily, your muscles won’t feel tired as much because they’ll be used constantly. Also, both muscles and tendons will be kept strong, which is essential for anyone who wants to stay healthy in general.
Muscles will be forced to work harder.
When you do a leg workout, your body will be forced to work harder instead of doing it just once a week or every few days. This is why these workouts are so great.
It will help you to gain muscle.
People who do only one or two workouts per week may want to try doing a leg workout to help them add more muscle to their bodies. This is especially good for high school students who are still growing and teenagers who want to look like they’re grown up earlier.
Better balance
Because activities that use the legs can make you have an increase in your heart rate, you lose your balance if you don’t have any form of core training, which helps with stability.
In Conclusion
There are so many benefits to doing NBA workouts that it is hard to count them all. These exercises will help you become a better basketball player no matter what position you play. If it just helps you become a better basketball player, that’s great, but if it’s because they give you more strength and flexibility, that’s even better! Doing these exercises will also help you avoid injuries caused by the overuse of your muscles. When the body is used too much, it can cause torn ligaments in the knee and other severe issues like meniscuses being stretched out, which can cause pain.
FAQ
How Do You Strengthen Your Legs for Basketball?
To strengthen your legs, you should do exercises like squats and lunges. Squats are good because they make your legs strong and help you jump higher. Lunges are good because they will strengthen the muscles in your quads and hamstrings, making you quicker on the court.
Does Basketball Workout Your Legs?
You’ll do plenty of running when you play basketball, which helps you strengthen a variety of lower-body muscles. … Your quads extend your knees while the hamstrings, gastrocnemius, and several smaller muscles work to flex your knees as you dash up and down the court.
Is It Common for NBA Players to Shave Their Legs?
Some NBA players have full-grown beards, but they have bush-free armpits and legs. For sanitary reasons, many basketball players shave their armpits and legs. Basketball, like many other sports, has players that sweat excessively while playing.
TOP 10 JUMP EXERCISES - maaario's blog
It is very important for a basketball player to have a high jump. Moreover, each player entering the court must have trained legs to perform explosive work. Today we will analyze the 10 most effective exercises to increase the jump.
So, let's begin. First, let's look at strength exercises:
1. Barbell squat. Weighted squats develop all leg muscles, abdominals and lower back muscles. Thus, this is the only exercise that allows you to strengthen all the muscle groups necessary for high jumps. We recommend that you sit at least until your thighs are parallel to the floor. When doing a squat, make sure that the knees do not go ahead of the socks, because in this case there is a high probability of damaging the ligaments, and in basketball they always get a lot of stress anyway;
2. Squat with a barbell on a pedestal or bench. The exercise is similar to regular barbell squats. However, it has its own peculiarity. A cabinet or bench is designed to limit the amplitude of squats. This is necessary in order to already use explosive power. You should sit down in two counts. As soon as you touch the bounding surface with your hips, you abruptly get up to the starting position. Thus, you provide a slow stretch and a fast contraction of the thigh muscles. This exercise is performed with a lighter weight than a regular squat. Up to 70% of the maximum;
3. Snatch. Great weightlifting exercise. Perfectly develops intermuscular coordination, which is very important in basketball. Plus, explosive strength is trained and most of the muscle groups involved in the jump are alternately involved in the work. Watch your back while doing this exercise. Start doing with small weights so as not to get injured right away;
4. Forward lunges with dumbbells. In this exercise, you will thoroughly work out all the muscles of the thigh and also use the back stabilizers. An excellent exercise for training the endurance of the thigh muscles. When performing, special attention should be paid to the position of the knee at the time of lowering. It should not protrude beyond the toe. Otherwise, there is a chance of overloading the knee joint;
5. Stepping onto the step with dumbbells. This exercise will allow us to train the pushing process. This point is very important if you want to make noticeable progress when training your jump. Unlike lunges, you can do this exercise with more weights. Don't rush when doing it. Remember that too intense movements will lead to premature fatigue. It is, after all, a strength exercise.
So, we have analyzed the exercises aimed at strength work and at strengthening and developing muscle fibers. All exercises must be performed in 4 sets, including 10-12 repetitions. However, the number of repetitions in squats on a bench or bench, lunges forward with dumbbells and stepping on a step with dumbbells, we periodically recommend increasing to 16-18. This will allow your fibers to work in a slightly different way, which will also have a beneficial effect on your jump.
Next, consider jumping exercises for developing explosive strength, coordination and footwork speed, which is very important when training to jump.
1. Working with barriers. Using practice hurdles is an excellent way to develop fast footwork, coordination, leg hop and power. Hurdles are used in many professional basketball clubs. There are several steps to increasing the difficulty of training with hurdles. The main ones include regulating the height of the barriers and increasing the intensity of the footwork. Do not rush to immediately start with high obstacles and high speeds. Increase the difficulty gradually;
2. Running work. First of all, these are sprints with full gear at distances of different lengths and shuttle running. With such training, we will qualitatively work out a quick start, repulsion of the legs, and also prepare ourselves for the work at a ragged pace, which is necessary during the game. We recommend varying the length of the distance. Especially in the case of a shuttle run;
3. Jumping to the ring. The exercise is performed with two legs. In the starting position, the legs are shoulder-width apart. This exercise perfectly trains balance and simulates the work of the body during the game. We divide jumps into two types. These are low-intensity jumps that are designed to work on footwork, landing, take-off and peak jumping. As well as serial jumps. In basketball, a very important factor is serial jumping, that is, the ability of an athlete to make several jumps in a row with the same efficiency. In the fight under the ring, this can be a determining factor. Therefore, we must work out both options for jumps;
4. Jumping on the pedestal. This is a great exercise to practice your jumping skills and increase your jump height. When performing the exercise, do not narrow the distance between the legs, they should be shoulder-width apart. When landing on the bollard, try to transfer the load exclusively to the socks. In this exercise, it is important to use your hands. Thus, we involve in the process all the muscle groups involved in the jump when playing basketball. We vary the load by increasing the height of the pedestal;
5. Jumping from the depths. This exercise is aimed at practicing a repeated jump or a jump from a jump. Standing on the edge of the pedestal, you jump to the floor and then immediately jump as high as possible. Use your hands while doing this. Plus, landing is being worked out. Again, the main load should go to the socks, that is, to the calf muscle.
So, we have considered the basic dynamic jumping exercises. We recommend that you perform them on days free from game training. Try to do so many repetitions so that there is no distortion of technique. This will avoid muscle injuries and unnecessary stress on the joints.
Together, all the exercises discussed in this video will lead to inevitable progress and an increase in your jump. But once again we draw your attention to the fact that you should not immediately expose yourself to serious stress. After all, in training, the main thing is to make yourself better, and not vice versa.
So, that's it. Subscribe to our channel, ask questions in the comments and remember that a lot of interesting things are ahead of us.
Basketball practice hacks: how to score goals for beginners
Even if you are a novice basketball player, we will not give you a training plan, but we will tell you why the ball flies anywhere but into the ring and into your hands. It's all about technique: even with regular training and perseverance, novice adults and children often make simple mistakes. It's a shame, let's fix it. Below are 11 life hacks on how to hone your technique to increase the likelihood of a goal for your team.
Basketball Shot Rules for Beginners
1. Hands up
In pursuit of the attacker, raise your hands, even if you are standing with your back to the pass, and even more so if the ring is in front of you. Your raised hands will increase the chance of intercepting the ball from the opponent by 2 times. Don't overlook this little thing!
2. Make shield rolls
Even Tim Duncan did not neglect them! A square is drawn on the basketball backboard. If you are standing opposite the ring, then aim at the middle of the upper part of the square, if you are standing on the side, then at the corner. If you hit this square, then the ball is at 90% of cases will fall into the ring. The law of physics and no cheating!
3. Look at the ring, not at the ball
Practice driving the ball with your hand, not your eyes, develop tactile control. Your eyes should be on the hoop while dribbling and be aware of the position of your body in relation to the hoop. Then you will be able to take the correct posture, and the throw will be effective.
4. Dribble with the balls of your fingers only
The palm should not touch the ball, only the pads of the fingers. Dribbling should become familiar to you, like an extension of your hand. Then you can change its trajectory at any time and you will have more chances to score goals. Practice with the ball constantly.
5. Throw with one hand
If you throw the ball with two hands, you reduce the chance of hitting the basket. All the efforts of the throw are in one hand (in the right for right-handers, in the left for left-handers). The other hand only holds the ball, the leading one holds it with the fingers, not the palm.
6. Do not jump when protecting the ring
Jumping is the main mistake of rookie defenders. To intercept the ball and block the shot, simply stick out your hands. When you are in a jump, the attacker will easily bypass you.
7. Don't look back
When you dribble, don't look back, but dribble and aim for the ring, focus on shooting (or passing to another player on your team).
8. Bring the throw to automatism
Incorporate the most basic basketball techniques into your training plan and bring the shot to automatism. Throw first from a distance of half a meter from the ring, gradually increasing it. Learn to throw the ball so that it hits the hoop without touching the edge.
Throw the ball with all fives and jump
Throwing Rules:
Head in the center of the body - if tilted, accuracy is lost.
Look at the ring: mentally build a trajectory. If you are far away, the ball flies in a curved curve with a maximum height of 2 meters above the hoop.
A strong hand is in front and throws, a weak hand is on the side and directs, only holding the ball. The elbow of the throwing hand must be in line with the ring.
The ball must rest on the fingers without touching the palm. The fingers are as far apart as possible and grab the ball.
Throwing arm bent 90 degrees, forearm perpendicular to the floor. If you bend less, then you get not a throw, but a throwing of the ball horizontally.
The main thing in the throw is the position of the body and its balance. Place your feet apart and parallel to each other: it is important to orient them in the middle of the basket. Then the direction of the body during the jump will coincide with the direction of the throw, and the ball will fly straight into the ring. When the feet are uneven, the ball flies in the wrong direction or does not reach (although the throw was normal).
Take a deep breath and release as you exhale.
How to hold the ball and shoot in basketball
How to throw correctly: straighten your arm, point your wrist up, and with your hand set the ball to rotate in the opposite direction from the flight. The ball should seem to "roll" off your fingers.
9. Copy masters and play as a team
Watch professional basketball games and try to copy the movements of your favorite players in training. And be sure to conduct game sparring - this will allow you to develop more techniques.
10. Do not throw in a straight line
The higher the arc of the ball, the greater the chance of a goal and the less chance of blocking by the opponent.