Train Like a Pro: 10 Core Exercises from an NBA Player Workout Routine
Whether you are a budding NBA all-star or a pickup king in your neighborhood, make sure these basketball workouts make their way to your routine. Of all sports, perhaps no sport is perceived as a game of natural physical gifts as much as basketball. Being tall helps. Having long arms—and what broadcasters these days call “length”—makes for good defense. Some players seem to have been born to jump through the roof.
So yes, all those traits play a role. But basketball also demands quickness, lateral movement, and explosive power—all of which a player can develop and improve. Even the most physically gifted athletes will struggle to keep up and react quickly on the court if they lack strength in these areas.
In addition, specific practice can lower the chance of injury. Basketball inherently causes injuries like sprained ankles, sprained ACLs or MCLs, and chronic back problems that result from participating in a contact sport on unforgiving surfaces. “You have to get the lower body stronger so it can absorb force,” says trainer Ken Croner, a former Butler University basketball player and owner of Munster Sports Performance in Munster, Indiana.
Build Strength, Explosiveness & Injury Resistance With These 10 Core Basketball from an NBA Player Workout Routine
1. Lateral lunge
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Why you should do it: The lateral lunge simulates the most common defensive shuffling motion in basketball. More importantly, it activates the muscles of the groin and hips.
How: Stand and step to the right with your toes forward and feet flat. Squat down onto your right leg, keeping the left leg straight and allowing the weight to center on the right leg at the midfoot and heel. As low as possible, maintain a straight left leg and hold for 2 seconds. Return to standing and repeat for 10 repetitions; then switch sides.
2. Glute bridge
Why you should do it: To condition the firing and muscle-recruitment patterns of the glutes, helping jump and propel the body.
How to do it: Lie on your back on the floor with 90-degree angles in your knees and your feet pointing straight down toward the floor. Place a towel roll between your knees. Bridge hips up toward the ceiling by activating (squeezing) your glutes. Only shoulders and heels are still touching the ground. Hold the top position, then lower your hips toward the ground without allowing touching. Do for 10 reps.
3. Physioball leg curl
Why you should do it: Similar to the glute bridge, this keeps the hips extended and forces the hamstrings to work, thus improving leaping ability and posterior strength.
HOW TO: Lie on your back with your legs straight and your heels resting on a physioball. Engage your glutes to lift your hips and draw your hips toward you. Avoid letting your hips drop as the ball swings in toward you. Straighten out your legs again, then curl the same leg up toward your booty for 10 reps. Never allow your hips to touch the floor.
4. Lateral bound
Why you need to do it: To build explosive lateral power in your legs, which primes players for fast cuts and side-to-side movements.
How to do it: Stand balanced on your right leg, with your left foot on the ground. Squat slightly with the right leg, then use the leg and glutes to jump to the left. Extend your ankle, knee, and hip and land on the left leg only, maintaining your balance. Catch for a count of three, then bound to your right. Do 10 reps per side.
5. Romanian deadlift (RDL)
Why you should do it: It’s the ability to hinge at the hips, as opposed to jumping from the knees, which gives you the explosiveness and a higher jump. RDLs are working the hamstrings, glutes, and back for strength.
How to do it: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell at each side. The weight should be on the back half of your feet. Shift the hips back and lower the dumbbells as far as you can while keeping your back straight. Fire the hamstrings and glutes as you return to a standing position. Do 10 reps.
6. Alternate dumbbell press
Why you should do it: A jump shot requires full extension through the lats and back along with shoulder stability. This lift improves all of those areas.
How to do it: Lie on a flat bench and hold dumbbells outside the shoulders, with palms facing thighs. Press the dumbbells over your chest. Keeping one arm straight, lower the other dumbbell, touch the outside of your shoulder, and push it back up. Drive further at the top with both hands, as if trying to punch the ceiling. Do this same thing with the other arm. Repeat for 10 reps.
7. Goblet squat
Why: To develop power in the lower body.
How to do it: Hold a kettlebell with two hands against your chest as if preparing to drink from it like a goblet. Squat by sitting your hips back and down, keeping the weight in the heels of your feet without lifting your toes. Maintain contact between the kettlebell and your chest. Your elbows should gently touch your knees. Rise and extend powerfully through the hips. Repeat for 10 reps.
8. Pullups
Why you should do it: An effective jump shot creates full extension through the lats, back, shoulders, and wrist. A pull-up, when executed correctly, simulates such movement and builds essential all-around back strength.
How to do it: Hang from a bar using an overhand or reverse (underhand) grip, and pull your shoulder blades back and down to lift your body up. Finish by pulling with your arms. The key is to return to the fully extended position after each rep—otherwise, you’re not reaching full extension, the movement you want on your jump shot.
9. Single-leg hurdle hop
Why you should do it: By extending through the hip on one foot and landing on that same leg, you are improving your ability to land and absorb force, reducing the possibility of common basketball injuries.
How to do it: Stand on one leg, in front of a line of low hurdles. Leap over one hurdle, landing on the same leg, catching and holding onto for a count of three. Repeat over remaining hurdles. Land softly, absorbing the force through the hip and glute. Swap legs and repeat on the other leg.
10. Medicine ball squat to press
Why you should do it: You bend at your hips and then explode upward, mimicking the proper jumping motion in basketball.
How to do it: Stand holding a medicine ball at chest level. Lower yourself into a squat, keeping the ball at chest level. Extending through the hips, launch the ball and your body into the air, throwing the ball straight up and as high as possible.
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