My Approach to Strength and Conditioning for Basketball Post 2

Phases
Your training program must be broken into phases, as you never improve if you continually do the same things. This approach allows me the most options for program design throughout the entire basketball calendar year – off-season, pre-season and in-season. The individual needs of the player and player position (point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, or center) determine program variables. These include:

Number of weeks to train for each training phase (fitness, hypertrophy, preparation, strength, power, and active recovery)
Number of days to train per week
Muscular areas to train (body parts)
Number of exercises and exercise order for each workout
Intensity of each workout (training loads, repetitions, sets, and rest periods).

I take all these parameters into consideration when I outline the yearly training plan, or mesocycle.

Flexibility
My flexibility programs incorporate two types of stretching techniques: proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (P-N-F) stretching and static stretching (stretch and hold technique) for all the major muscle groups of the body. In P-N-F stretching, you stretch the muscle to the point of tightness, perform an isometric (opposing muscle) contraction, then go back to stretching and holding to a new point of tightness. The athlete performs three or four minutes of continuous warm-up movements before a stretching routine to ensure that the temperature of the muscles and surrounding tissues is sufficient for proper stretching.
I can’t emphasize enough to you the importance of sustaining a proper diet and adequate fluid intake.

Diet and hydration
Lastly, I can’t emphasize enough to you the importance of sustaining a proper diet and adequate fluid intake. The philosophy I instill in our athletes is based upon deriving up to 55-60% of all calories from carbohydrates, 20-25% from fat, and 20-25% from protein. I have the players supplement foods on an individual basis according to nutrient deficiencies, body type, activity level, and food preference.

It’s also important to drink at least 8 servings of 8 ounces of water per day. I also make sure the players replenish any water weight lost after their workouts with 16 ounces of water for every pound lost. I weigh the players before and after practices to ensure adequate intake of fluids.

I’ve found that training for basketball is a year-round process. It’s very important for every athlete to maintain a certain fitness level throughout the entire year. There are times to train hard, times to allow for rest and recovery, and times to emphasize certain aspects of training. I look forward to sharing my methods for designing training programs for the entire year.