If you play basketball, then you need to have strength, speediness, agility, skill, and overall athleticism because this is a game where you need to move continuously. If you are struggling with your physical fitness and stamina, then you won’t be able to perform well and give a hundred percent effort during the game. And the team coach might push you to work hard so that you can regain stamina. Winning losing a game mostly depends on the later part of the game. So you need to have enough strength to perform well in the whole game, no matter which position you play. Not all the people have enough stamina, people don’t possess it by born, but you can develop it over a specified period. Let’s check out a few steps of how you can improve your stamina.
1. Assess your present physical condition
This is the first step that you need to follow. When you want to improve your stamina, you need to know your present physical condition and weaknesses. And if you don’t identify the current state of your strength, you then won’t be able to improve it further. You can start the assessment process by running every day in the morning. Make a note of how much distance you can run without losing your breath. If you notice that you lose breath quickly than expected, then you may need to do some exercise every day to get some better results. That’s how you can determine your present condition.
2. Make a daily routine for exercise
Please maintain a daily schedule for your workout. You can do cardiovascular exercise for one to two hours and three to four days a week. The goal to do this is to get a steady rhythm by which you will be able to run for half or one hour without any interval. Better if you have a nice pair of running shoes.
3. Do some breathing exercise
Not just in basketball, breathing exercise plays a vital role in improving a player’s stamina for other sports too. So you can practice breathing before starting the game or even during a workout. Make it a habit. Simple breathing exercises can make a difference if you start doing it regularly and make it a part of your daily life. Let’s check out the breathing process below
- Before start breathing make you sure you have a place of your comfort zone
- Wear comfortable cloths while breathing
- Take a deep breath and let the breath out, do it for half or one hour each day. You will notice the difference in how you feel. It will diminish the stress out of your mind.
- Try to do it every day, but don’t force your mind to do it.
4. Treadmill workout
Treadmill exercise can be convenient to improve your stamina. You can do this exercise every day for 1 or 2 hours. Considering your fitness level, you can use a treadmill for running, jogging, or walking. If you don’t have a personal one, then you can go to the gym. You can set up the speed for 6 miles per hour for running and 2-3 miles per hour for a regular walk and 4-5 miles for simple jogging. Keep track of your running; keep your eyes on the watch while doing exercise. How much you can rub would be authentic evidence about your fitness level. You can also merge breathing exercises with this exercise too.
5. Long-distance running
Should you run long distances as part of improving your stamina? The answer is yes. Don’t only rely on a treadmill. You must need to run for a few hours each day to get accustomed to the outdoor environment since, as a basketball player, you need to play both indoor and outdoor courts. Try to run for 1 mile each day. If you feel it’s too much pressure for you, then make it three days a week. And then increase the distance after a specific time and you will be able to improve your fitness level and stamina as well.
6. Interval training
You may have a question in your mind that how you can do interval training. Let me tell you the process
- First of all, run for 3-4 minutes (around 3-4 miles/hour)
- Run for 3 minutes (10 miles/hour)
- Then do some jogging (5 miles/hour)
- Repeat the process and do it for at least five times
- Then after few days make this training process lengthy as per your speed
Then move to tempo skills, this one of the most intensive and practical training. Run total 400 meters with an interval every 100 meters so you have to split your running into four segments. Take a break for 10-12 seconds in each section.
Try pyramid drills. Run from one baseline to another. Then have one push up and go back to the starting point. After that, again, give 3-4 push up. Repeat the process for at least three times. Take a break for 3 minutes and do it again.
Sprinting is essential, not only for improving your stamina, but it will also improve your short distance run.
7. Switch over to stamina training
After a few doing all the training as mentioned above for a few days, you can see the change. You will feel that your body will adjust to all the workouts. And it’s the right time for you to move to stamina training. This is the only better way to keep your body physically feet for playing basketball. The more you have the stamina, the better you can run.
8. Mix up the training
Don’t focus only one or two specialized training; try to mix up and shuffle each training method. And your body will adjust with it automatically.
9. Shooting free throws
You can practice shooting free throws as well. This will not only increase your stamina but also helps to improve your concentration as well. You can start by doing seven consecutive free throws, then go after the backboards and begin rolling the ball off the backboard. Do it for ten back to back times and then again make ten more free throws.
10. Weight exercise
Weight exercises will help you burn your calories and speed up your resting metabolism. However, you can practice several weight exercises like
- Concentration curl
- Dumbbell shoulder press
- Incline dumbbell press
- Rear dumbbells fly etc.
11. Plyometric exercises
Plyometric exercises are the improved versions of the Calisthenics exercise. Plyometric exercises involve explosive and high-intensity muscular contractions. This exercise will help you to develop athletic power, particularly agility and strength. You can get the maximum strength in your muscles within a short period by plyometric exercises. So power and muscle strengths equate to more explosiveness and speed. There are several types of plyometric exercises depending on the low, medium, and high intensity, for example – jumping in position, punching, high jumps, pushup, ab-tuck jumps, sprinting, kicking, etc.
12. Layup
You can do layup as a group exercise. First of all, divide the number of people into two groups. One of the groups will place in position near the basketball court, and the other one will stay far from the court. Make a combination of 50 layups in 3 minutes period. You will gain speed and endurance through this type of practice.
13. Some other activities to follow
I firmly believe these exercises are good enough for you to achieve the desired resistance, stamina, fastness, and so on. When you are going to apply all these, then you can feel the change inside you, and you will have the confidence to perform well in the basketball court. However, besides all these techniques you can do some other activities, like – hiking, swimming, cycling, etc.
Pro-tips
As you know that sprint and speed are the crucial factors for improving your basketball skills, so focus more on these. Do short warm-up before starting to apply these exercises. Thus it will help to get your blood flowing. Don’t try to overdo anything, and then you may fall into injuries. Always keep your mind fresh, wake up early in the morning, drink more water, and have enough rest. Make a routine for yourself, and always try to maintain that routine. And you can see the results within a few months.
Final words
By regularly doing these pieces of training, you can gain enough stamina, strength, and speed to perform with enough strength in the court. Always remember that hard work and dedication is the prerequisite for achieving something. So you should work hard, and you need to have the motivation to reach your goals. After continuing these exercises for a few months, you can see the change, and you will be able to perform on the basketball with confidence. These exercises will not only help you with improving your stamina and basketball skills but also reducing the chance of falling into injuries.
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