When it comes to playing basketball, the upper body is incredibly important as it’s involved in almost all of the skills-related movements – shooting, dribbling, and passing. Players require strength in the shoulder area mostly, especially when it comes to draining three-point shots or fighting through traffic. Along with that, the additional strength in the back, arms, and chest can help when blocking and defending, which are also vital aspects of the sport.
That’s why an ideal training program for any basketball player has to include exercises for the core, the legs, and the entire upper body. In the next few paragraphs, we’re going to talk about some of the best movements that you can do in the gym as a basketball player and how they can help improve your game and your physique.
So let’s get started.
The Essential Upper Body Exercises for Basketball Players
When it comes to training the upper body, you can choose to go the bodyweight route or the barbell route or combine both. In the next exercises, we’re going to be talking about a remix of both and the most critical ones we believe every basketball player should be doing.
Barbell Row
The barbell row works the entire back and shoulder using your posterior chain, so it also improves core strength and posture. Along with that, it helps with gaining muscles in the back and getting thicker, which can be massively beneficial for players who want to dominate on defense and in the paint. If you’re struggling with the grip, when performing heavy rows, you can use straps so that you take the weight off the forearms and focus on only working the back.
Pull-Ups
The pull-ups are a fantastic way to measure relative strength, as it’s vital for professional athletes to move and control their body weight. Pull-ups target the muscles of the back and, depending on the variation (chin-ups) can also target the biceps, all while working your grip strength as well. Additionally, the pull-up requires you to maintain a strong core, and it can be massively beneficial for improving posture.
Overhead Press
We already mentioned that the shoulders are of crucial importance for basketball players, and one of the best exercises for developing them is the overhead press. You can perform it standing or half-kneeling to further engage the entire torso and glutes and, so, work on improving posture as well. This is a fantastic movement for all of those working on improving their jump shot, as well as their rebounding, as you will find that additional shoulder strength can make a massive difference on the field.
Push-Ups
Push-ups are one of the essential bodyweight exercises, and for a good reason. They’re a fantastic way to target the chest muscles while also accessing your full range of motion and maintaining a flat and stable torso throughout the entire movement. Once you feel like you can do 20 push-ups with relative ease, you can move on to performing them with a slower eccentric phase and exploding while you’re going up to make the movement more difficult.
Shoulder Raises
It cannot be a basketball exercise recommendation with only one shoulder movement, so of course, we had to feature another one. The shoulder raises are a terrific way to target the shoulder and upper trap – most athletes often find it very challenging to do, and you will have to drop the ego lifting because in order to do it with proper form, you will likely have to lower the weight you’re lifting. However, if you’re consistent with it, this exercise can add strength, stability, and size to the shoulders, which is key for a basketball player.
Bench Press
A weightlifting classic, the bench press is an incredible exercise that targets your chest, triceps, and shoulders, which is why you will always find guys at the gym doing it. With that said, the lift involves your entire body as your feet have to remain on the floor, and you need to engage your glutes to drive the bar from your chest. The movement should be slow and controlled with a focus on performing it with the right form – so no ego lifting.
Kneeling Halos
This is the final exercise that we’re going to talk about, and it mainly targets the forearms and the shoulders, which are essential if you want to improve your ball-handling ability. When performing this move, the pattern that you have to go for helps create stability and strength, which are also crucial for blocking and rebounding. Another great thing about performing halos is that they’re shown to reduce the risk of injury, as they help strengthen the two areas of the upper body most used on the basketball field.
In Conclusion
When it comes to strength training for basketball players, you have to target the entire body. The sport is so demanding that it requires an athlete to have a stable core, well-developed legs, and a strong upper half that can take the beating and the demand. For that reason, if you’re aiming to improve as a basketball player, you have to dedicate a day to each muscle group and make sure to target it correctly for the sport – hopefully, the movements that we talked about in this article will help you design the ideal upper body training day.
