Are you looking for a home workout? Well, here are 3 resistance band exercises that you can do to condition yourself for basketball.
TL;DR: The 3 best resistance band exercises for basketball conditioning are band squats, push-ups and rows.
Resistance bands are basically giant elastic bands.
People use them to work out and/or to assist them when doing certain exercises. Some people also use them to make exercises more difficult.
At the gym, I’m sure you’ve seen at least two people who have used bands to help them do pull-ups.
You’ve probably also seen at least one person use bands to make bench pressing more challenging.
Resistance bands, if you couldn’t already tell, are versatile pieces of equipment.
You can use them for a lot of things. They can be used as a sidekick to your main equipment or they can be used as the main workout equipment.
Instead of using machines, for instance, you can substitute those with a resistance band and still be able to do all the exercises you desire.
You can use them to do squats, deadlifts, rows, bench press, etc.
However, you may need a door attachment to do some of the exercises and an additional band to increase the weight (resistance).
How Resistance Bands Are Good For Basketball Workouts
As for basketball conditioning, bands are good for warming up and for building stamina.
The majority of the exercises you would do with resistance bands will be done with lots of volume.
This will prepare your muscles to last longer under stress and not fatigue as quickly.
What this means is that you’ll be able to play basketball for a longer period of time and not break down physically –the core philosophy of the Old Man Game.
Additionally, you can use bands to warm up. Instead of doing straight-up bodyweight exercises, you can add a light band to the movement to increase the resistance.
This will get the blood flowing through your body quicker, thus allowing you to play basketball quicker.
And who wouldn’t want to do that?
So if you’re curious about how to use resistance bands, here are three easy exercises you can do for basketball conditioning:
How to do Resistance Band Squats
I’m sure you know what a squat is. But if you don’t, watch this video to learn how.
Anyway, the resistance band squat is pretty much a bodyweight squat.
The form and technique are exactly the same. The only difference is that there will be a band pulling you down.
Here’s how to do it:
- What you want to do first is step on the band with your feet a little wider than shoulders width apart.
- Next, grab the band and curl the band up to your shoulder blades and hold it there.
- Your hands should be about shoulder’s width apart. This will be your starting position.
- Now, squat down.
- Adjust your feet at the bottom so that they are comfortable, look up slightly, and stand up.
- When you are standing up, push through your heels.
- That’s one squat.
Remember to do it at a consistent, medium pace and focus on your technique.
How to do Resistance Band Push-Ups
Again, I’m sure you know what a push-up is. If you don’t, I really can’t help you.
You should probably learn how to do a proper push-up before doing any variations.
Just kidding! I know you know what they are. But if you actually don’t, watch this push-up tutorial.
For the resistance band push-up, you’re going to do a regular push-up, but with a band around your back. Here’s how:
- You’re going to take a band and place the middle of it on your upper back.
- Next, you’re going to grab the ends with your hands and adjust it.
- Make sure there’s enough resistance as you set your hands onto the ground.
- Now, do a push-up.
- Make sure your entire body is tight as you are lowering and pushing.
- That’s one rep.
Additionally, push-ups are great for basketball because they’ll help you with cutting or getting away from defenders.
You can learn more about its effectiveness here.
How to do Resistance Band Rows
For this exercise, you will need a door anchor. These are essentially a piece of hard rubber or soft plastic attached to a nylon strap.
Also, make sure you get an actual one too.
I cheaped out once and decided to get a makeshift anchor (or something that wasn’t meant to be a door anchor).
And that was a mistake!
After a few uses, the strap or rope broke on mine as I was doing a chest press, and my resistance band shot and whipped me in the back. It hurt a lot.
So learn from my stupid mistake and buy a well-made door anchor.
Anywhoo, to set this up, you place the anchor slightly above the doorknob and shut it close.
Give it a tug to tighten it. Then, you weave your resistance band through the strap. Make sure both sides are even.
Then, just follow the instructions in the video on how to do resistance band rows.
Additionally, you should aim to do 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps for this workout.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for something that you won’t drain all your energy so that you can play basketball, resistance band workouts are the way to go.
You can do a variety of exercises with them. Additionally, they’re super portable.
Thus, go and get a set of resistance bands and start working out with them.