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Well, the NBA finals have come and gone and the Lakers prevailed again for the second time in a row. It was another epic final with one of the greatest rivalries in sport i.e. the Boston Celtics and the Lakers. For the most part of June, the whole world was glued again to their sets to see Kobe Bryant and the Lakers hoist the title, for the 15th time in franchise history. All the players in the NBA are in phenomenal shape but those that excelled in the finals are extremely well conditioned. Because of the continuity of the game, players run up to 5 miles or more in a game, and this is excluding overtime.
The players,especially the guards and some forwards, display all sorts of physical feats, including a mixture of different types of running(sprinting, jogging) and full body strength and agility, and not to mention some of the best explosiveness in sports. Here are some training tips to get a great functioning body that slam dunks the competition out of the way and doesnt look half bad. N.B.: This blog post was inspired by my friend and fellow blogger, Drew over at FitExcellence, and his post on getting a lean soccer body.
NBA Allstar and Champion guard, Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics
The Warm-Up
Warming up before any activity is essential because this is what gets your body ready to utilize its full potential. Your body and muscles must know and be forewarned that they are about to be used so as to prevent injury. Not only does a warm-up serve for physical reasons, it helps prepare a person mentally as well. A good warm-up takes about 10 mnutes to complete and should prepare the entire body specifically for the activity ahead. Here is an example of a pre-game basketball warm-up that is based on the following principles from my previous post on warming up:
Sample sports warmup:
Today is strength training day and as basketball is an explosive sport we have to mimic explosive style lifting and movements that ustilise multiple joints. Athletes dont need to follow bodybuilding style modelled programs. Bodybuilders, obviously, have different goals to that of basketball players and therefore this fact should remain this way. A good way of creating a program is to make sure it meets all of the following requirements: One core lift ; one lower body push and pull ; one upper body push and pull. Thats it. It really is that simple.
So a sample program could be:
After the warm-up, we’re going to work on aerobic/anaerobic conditioning. Now as we’re training to be in basketball shape, we are going to try and make the body respond as such therefore, we aren’t training like track runners or marathon runners either. Being able to run 3 miles is great for cross-country but not necessarily for basketball. Basketball is a game of starting and stopping and a variation of bouts of very high and intense activity, and your conditioning sessions should mirror this. Sound familiar? One way to test your basketball fitness is to use a drill called 17’s. (The object is to try and run from sideline to sideline, 17 times in a minute. If you can do this then you are at an adequate level to begin to compete).
As always the best way to incorporate high intensity activities into your cardio sessions is to use intervals. Now this can be done on a track if possible or on a court, if we want to stay away from the court, just find your local park and follow this Sprint Routine (courtesy of Drew at Fit Excellence Performance). We are going to include some plyometric and agility work to improve our explosiveness as well as agility and lateral quickness. The 1-2 stick continuous is an agility and footwork drill that improves lateral quickness, and can also be a great conditioning drill. We are going to do another strength training session today but it will be more unilaterally focused, i.e. we will be working on single limbs while still using compound exercises. We will follow the same guidelines as the program for day 1 but we will just be using a lot more dumbbells, but still try to emphasize multi-joint albeit single limb movement.
We’re going to focus on some more cardiovasular work again today, but I’m going to incorporate some longer range sprint stuff into the workout, as well as, include a circuit to really test our endurance. The cardio work can be done on a treadmill or on a track. Run at the fastest pace you can maintain for 4 minutes; note your distance. Jog slowly for 3 minutes. Do this a total of three times. The average distance you cover at your fastest is your score. Your goal is for a average mileage of at least 4. Every week you will perform these sprints and note personal bests as well as try to improve. We are also going to follow a kettlebell cardio circuit. You can follow similar circuits from Craig Ballantyne with his TT Kettlebell Kickstart program for less than $20.
Perform this circuit 1-3 times after an interval session or on its own to reap maximum benefits. The final two days, can be used to incorporate some mobility and flexibility drills if needed so as to promote recovery as well mobilise joints better. If possible, also, using a foam roller is excellent in helping make your body relax better after activity. More importantly though, if you play sports, dont forget individual practice time as well to further improve your technical skill level. You may also choose to use some Yoga or Pilates to help aid recovery and also as a great way to not only relax but improve strength and flexibility. Following this program consistently over a long period of time will definitely help you see results in all aspects of fitness and also help you on your way to an athletic body.
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