WHEN SHOULD BASKETBALL PLAYERS WORKOUT, BEFORE OR AFTER THE GAME?

When do you train as a basketball player? Is it before playing or after? Well, most athletes and coaches are always in the dilemma of whether to work out before or after practice for a better outcome. Practice is the backbone of almost every sport in the world. We all understand how combining strength training, cardio, and practice can be exhausting and challenging. It requires a lot of strength and commitment to accomplish all. Up to date, there’s no research or study with scientific proof that players should train before or after practice. 

Some coaches would say that lifting weight tempers with players’ jump shots, maybe because they think it reduces their flexibility. Others say basketball players need plyometric to enhance their jumping. Sometimes, you'll hear parents saying their daughter doesn't need to work out legs. However, all the cases are simply accusations and myths. A lot of lies have been uttered, getting people confused. As a player, it'd only be great to follow facts that will help get better performance. First, start by putting on the right outfit for the game and know when to buy basketball shoes, especially if they're worn out. Avoid any stereotypes that will detail your performance. Let's discuss in detail when you should train as a basketball player.

Training myths in basketball

Many parents and players, unfortunately, believe and stick to what they hear. They assume it's the right information and begin following it. For this reason, we're here to shed light and bust such myths. Look at the below myths, compare them with what you know, and teach yourself. They are;

Jumping is mainly a plyo workout

A belief that jumping is a plyometric exercise mainly for athletes in need of enhancing their neural efficiency. People continue to say that plyometrics optimizes your body's strength, making one execute it faster than before. The thing is despite everybody needing plyos, most athletes' jumping weakness is strength. If you've never weight lifted before, you should think about it to gain strength to enhance your vertical jump.  

You lack effort if you’re low in defense

Effort is genuinely a requirement in playing a defensive position. However, being low on defense isn't related to effort but better and improved movement. Mobility determines your position- athletic stance. It's mainly an effect with your joints' movement through a range of motion, flexibility. Getting into an athletic stance, effortlessly highly depends on your upper back, hip, and ankle mobility. Try and sit reaching out for your toes, if you've experienced several ankle sprains. You may be restricted from properly getting your arms in contact with toes due to issues in at least two or three joints.

Lifting weight affects shooting ability

Have you seen a player shooting ability changing due to strength training? Shooting in basketball is a fine motor skill requiring a lot of practice consistency to make it better. The skill can't just disappear in a few weeks, it takes time. Therefore, understand that it can't go because of lifting. You should do it regularly because if you don't, then not even lifting will be blamed, but lack of practice. Serious players will weight train to improve strength hence make shorts more effortlessly and easily.

Toe raises improve vertical jump

Calves play a role in jumping, but we don’t mean you stop training them. Instead, give calves training less attention. Players that have been training the calf alone should start involving the entire body in their routine program. Jumping to shoot is an explosive full-body movement and not the legs alone. If you don't believe it, try jumping without bent knees and arms to see how far you can go. Another thing is the sneakers. Do you know when to wear basketball shoes for jumping? It should be when playing the shooting position for higher jumping. 

Run longer miles to better your conditioning

Aerobic capacity doesn’t have much to do with conditioning. Earlier, individuals thought modifying your aerobic capacity was the first step to gaining endurance. But that’s not true. Conditioning is mainly muscle specific movement. In other words, if you train in lateral motion, then you'll be perfecting the sideways movement. It also involves boosting the body's specific tolerance to a particular task with rest included. You should train depending on your play; between 5 and 30 seconds of short explosive movements and various motion planes- shuffle, jumping, and straight.

Use agility ladders for improving foot speed

Agility ladders are very good for training. However, they’re not meant for improving your feet speed, but to enhance lower leg elasticity. There’s nothing like foot speed because fast feet are as a result of excellent hip strength. Your foot will only move to the direction asked by the hip. Feet won’t move without the help and direction by hips and legs.

No need to train legs because running is the substitute

The difference between running and lifting is very big. The lower body improves strength, endurance, and power when involved in lifting. On the contrary, running mainly changes your body endurance. Strength is defined as the ability to lift a weight over a specific distance. You need strength in basketball to get balance and create space for play.

Training before practice

Experts in the sporting field argue that athletes training for strength should do their gym training before practice. When exercising, stored energy in glycogen is released by the body to fuel the working muscles. The exercise completed first utilizes the glycogen released as your body uses its chosen energy source at that time. As a result, the other workouts lack enough available fuel energy. It'd be best if a player training reenergizes at this point using an energy drink or a bar to avoid low energy levels. If your goal is strength building, you should focus so much on first training the muscles when they’re at the peak of lifting. 

Training after practice

While some athletes prefer working out before practice, most of them like after the game. Lifting should be done not longer than 35 minutes after a game. You get out of the practice field and immediately embark on strength training as your muscles are still warm. The short duration given is for enabling muscles to train without wearing out and gaining strength at the same time. By doing this, you’d have eliminated messes with shooting as people think because you’ll get enough rest before the following practice or game.

So, when is the best time to train for basketball players? Well, to determine when to wear basketball shoes and going for training, we should consider injury prevention. In most cases, athletes execute proper form when muscles are fresh. We've got various helping muscles during training that assist in different movements. Staring with practice at the court, then the gym will fatigue these muscles hence rendering them ineffective. That means they won't properly be recruited to support major muscles as expected. You'll consequently be at higher risk of getting injuries. However, it all depends on the athlete. Some athletes, such as Jordan, can lift and play immediately without concerns. Others require two days or more to recover after heavy lifting at the gym. The most essential thing is proper monitoring of the body's soreness. It's because it may impact your flexibility and court movement when playing. You can also choose to utilize normal practice instead of weightlifting to give more recovery time before the main game activities and skills.

Baseball practice and weightlifting

We still repeat that weightlifting is important to all sports, including baseball. Players train throughout the year to build their sports-related strengths and maintain. However, they need to be careful with strength training and the prevailing season of that year. No allowing training to destruct performance in practice and games because it may potentially cause injuries. Experts and strength training professionals advise baseball players to train after practice. Nevertheless, they shouldn't add a lot of strength in a playing season. They instead are supposed to maintain what was built during the offseason duration. Lack of in-season strength from training will lose some strength.

How often should the in-season training be? 

For players to stay fresh, they need weight training management to better result in practice and main games. An illustration of a high school’s team training schedule is as follows; 

• Monday- Game
• Tuesday- Practice
• Wednesday- Game
• Thursday- No strength training 
• Friday –Game
• Saturday- Practice plus extended strength training
• Sunday- complete rest

Their coach is a professional and says he can deviate from the program by including some strength training on Thursday, maybe with a beginner interested in developing their skill. He adds that he can do it with players who lack enough time to play.

Training seasons for baseball players

Phase one

In the early preseason, phase one majorly relies on whether one is a weight training off-season or weightlifting. To build foundation strength would imply getting exercises targeting all the main muscle groups. If you're a beginner in weight training, start with lighter weights as you advance after some time. Constant performance of sports activities is likely to strengthen one body part and not the other. In short, it may put emphasis on one major muscle group with the same effect.  Unfortunately, weaker or minor muscles are at high injury risk or work poorly. 

Phase two

Phase two is the mid-season is for building strength and muscles. You already built the foundation in the preseason. Now, the heavy lifting is tailored to enhance the nervous system and fibers for moving larger loads. Muscle hypertrophy is great for developing strength that will be used in the next phase, which requires power. Power comes from speed and strength that’s necessary for moving heavier loads. As you train, keep insisting on the rotator cuff muscles. They need strengthening for better performance during pitching or swinging the bat. 

Phase three

Here, a player builds the strength developed in the mid preseason. That strength will be useful for moving loads at higher velocity. It's merely strength and speed to produce power.  It'll require one to lift heavier than what they did in the last season, with explosive intensity. Rest is necessary after every set and repetitions to enable the great execution of proper technique as quickly as possible. No emphasis on the number of sets, they can be two or three. You can't train this way when fatigued.

Phase four

In Phase four, the in-season, you alternate the training in phases two and three. Thereafter, rest on the fifth week after every training.

Phase five

Phase five is for complete rest; offseason. It's the best time for physical and emotional renewal. Don't think about the game and practice at all, instead, stay fit and eat a balanced diet as you prepare for the start. 

The bottom line

Considering the concerns as mentioned above on the training time, athletes need strength training. It's crucial for strength development in a safe way that's effective for their sports. No matter the game's organization, they should weigh the available options and select the best for their convenience. They also need to understand when to wash basketball shoes and best care to give their sneakers maximum enhanced performance. Additionally, they should do more research concerning their sport to keep updated even on debatable issues like in this article. Other news could be when converse basketball shoes were introduced, where the next NBA games were, or what time the leading basketballers train?  

Something else that’s more relevant is what athletes eat while training. You need sugary light foods or energy drink for refueling. As said earlier, the first exercise uses the glycogen released immediately after you begin working out. Replenishing the body at that instant is vital to keep the working muscles supplied with enough energy. Again, the food eaten after workouts should be looked into so we can notice your training benefits. Learn more about protein drinks and how effective they can be in strength building for your sport. As an athlete, you should follow facts with scientific-based evidence rather than listening to quacks talking about their thoughts on various training types. Please refer to the above article to know the myths to eliminate about strength training and playing basketball.