Sport Specific Strength Training – Basketball

We have officially kicked off the college and high school football seasons, but one sport is in the middle of pre-season conditioning. Basketball players of all ages are going through intense conditioning and strength training workouts in preparation for the season. This raises the question: What exercises in the weight room are specific for basketball? Are there sport-specific or even position-specific exercises? Should a basketball player perform different exercises than a football player or swimmer? Or within the same sport, basketball for example, should a power forward perform a strength workout that differs from a shooting guard or center?

A basketball player has the same muscles which function in the same manner as any other athlete. For example, your bicep muscle flexes your lower arm around your elbow joint. The same is true for a diver, shot putter, quarter back, lacrosse player, and defensive lineman. It follows that there is no such thing as sport-specific or position-specific exercise. For that matter, there are not any gender-specific exercises, either. Some athletes might perform certain movements as a precaution to prevent injury to a joint that receives a lot of stress in their particular sport, such as a wrestler using neck exercises.

Athletes might also perform a movement to focus on a particular muscle group that is absolutely critical to their sport. For instance, a golfer who relies on grip strength might exercise his or her forearms while a soccer player would not. Other than that, athletes should select movements that exercise their muscles in the safest and most efficient way possible – regardless of sport or activity. Remember, skill training and conditioning are specific to a sport but strength training is general.