Improving Vertical Jumps With Weight Lifting for Basketball

Being a successful basketball player takes more than just time on the court. Of course, excellent sport skills are requirements for success in the sport, but even the most gifted of players require something more than practice and talent to perform at their very best. Technical prowess needs to be supplemented with a physical training program to improve athleticism, so that the athlete can run faster for longer, jump higher, and dodge other players with greater skill and ease. A stronger athlete is less likely to become injured, and more likely to excel athletically, because of a greater athletic foundation for all movements and skills within their sport. In fact, increasing an athlete’s strength will improve their sport performance level 8 to 12 times faster than skill practice alone will. The physical demands placed on a basketball player during a game varies according to his or her position on the court, but one skill which all basketball players need to be able to perform is a powerful vertical jump. Weight lifting for basketball players can help athletes to develop the strong legs they need for a higher, faster jump, taking their game to the next level.

For a strong, explosive jump, athletes need to develop both strength and power in their lower limb muscles. Weight lifting for basketball should be targeted at improving these two components of fitness. Strength should be developed first to increase the amount of force which can be generated by muscle contraction. An athlete needs to have sufficient strength before he or she can be considered physically ready to develop the other aspects of fitness.

Muscular hypertrophy and maximal strength improvement are the primary goals in weight lifting for basketball vertical jumps, so weight exercises should use high to medium intensity weights at lower reps. To increase muscle fibre size and count, although weight is generally considered to be the critical factor, both weight and volume overload are required. Bodily secretion of anabolic hormones is at its highest level after moderate repetition weight training. Therefore, to promote muscular hypertrophy, weight lifting for basketball should begin with weight load between 70-85% of max, with 8-10 reps recommended, and 2-3 minutes of rest between each set.

Once more muscle tissue has been developed, the training program can be changed to target maximum strength development. The hypertrophy stage in weight lifting for basketball necessarily precedes the max strength phase, since muscle tissue must be increased before its contraction force can be developed. To increase the maximal strength of a muscle, a high load, low rep approach should be taken. A typical weight load will be at approximately 80-95% of the athlete maximum. The number of reps should be very low, ranging from 1-4 reps per set, and 4-8 sets per exercise.

With powerful lower body strength developed, the athlete is ready to improve the power generated by these muscles, by training to increase the speed of muscle contraction. Power is a rate of force over time. The first two stages of training were focused on increasing the amount of force generated; this third stage is dedicated to decreasing the time over which this force is created. Plyometric exercises are ideal for improving power in weight lifting for basketball, both because they involve fast-accelerating, high power movements, and also because the movements in the exercises themselves are very close to the movement pattern of a basketball jump, creating the advantage of training specificity.

Sport specific training uses motions which are similar to the athlete’s sport, so that the skills learned in training will be transferable to a game situation. The body adapts to the stimulus it is exposed to; therefore, if the training stimulus mirrors the sport requirements, the athlete’s body will already be more used to the movements and skills demanded of it. The higher the athlete’s playing level and fitness base, then the greater the specificity of training.

Plyometrics are exercises which condition the muscle to create the greatest amount of force in as short a time as possible, and also to slow this force at the end of the motion in a controlled manner, in order to prevent injury to the muscle. The jump squat is a highly effective plyometric exercise which is also very transferable to a basketball vertical jump. The eccentric, or lowering phase, is performed exactly like in a regular squat. However, the concentric, or muscle lengthening phase, is performed at a high velocity, with the legs straightening quickly and pushing off the ground into a jump. This increases the power generated during the concentric phase, so that the muscle is exposed to overload and in time adapts to creating high power movements. Jump squats can be overloaded by having the athlete hold onto a weight. Medicine balls are good choices for weights because their shape is similar to that of a basketball, so that the athlete becomes used to the body positions while training. Later on, the plyometric training can be made even more specific by having the athlete throw the medicine ball in the air or to a partner, which will simulate the whole-body movements used in basketball, since body parts are rarely used in isolation in sports. This training progression will also develop power in the arms and legs simultaneously, creating a more efficient workout.

Any serious basketball player looking to gain an advantage on the court should consider beginning a weight lifting program to supplement their skill training and improve overall athleticism. By improving strength, speed and power in the lower limbs, weight lifting for basketball can have a dramatic improvement on the height of an athlete’s vertical jump, and improve the athlete’s game overall.