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WEIGHTLIFTING FOR BASKETBALL:

WORKOUT PROGRAM FOR
PLAYERS

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September 06, 2020 11 min read

It’s 1990 and you’re one of the “Bad Boys” Pistons,

having just come out on top for the third playoff
game running, against your rival the Chicago Bulls.

You beat Chicago four games to one in the 1988

Eastern Conference SemiInals, then in six games in
1989, and then in seven games in 1990. Due in large
part to the Jordan Rules.

As you might Igure out from the name, the Jordan

Rules are the very successful defensive strategy
used by your team to thwart the GOAT on the court.
The point is to play MJ tough; challenge him
physically every chance you get while switching up
the defense to mess with his balance. One of the
points in the Jordan Rules says that you must nail
him every time he goes by you.

A gassed-out Jordan isn’t going to be as effective.

But this wouldn’t last for long. In 1991 the Pistons

would be defeated by the Bulls in the playoffs, and
then swept in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals.
Chicago would go on to win their Irst-ever NBA title.

And while a lot of different factors went into this turn

of events, Jordan and The Breakfast Club were one
of the most important.

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T H E M O S T I M P O RTA N T M E A L O F T H E D AY

In response to the Pistons’ defensive strategy,

Jordan decided to meet them head-to-head in terms
of strength and endurance training. But his intent
was never to match the Pistons, but rather to be able
to go right through them.

And so, his early-morning training routines began,

known as the Breakfast Club. Beginning by himself,
he eventually roped Scottie Pippen, Ron Harper, and
Randy Brown into the pre-practice workout that was
less of a routine and more of a ritual.

Those four men, along with Jordan’s personal trainer

Tim Grover and his personal chef, would get up as
early as 5 in the morning in order to take part in a
speciIcally targeted strength and endurance
program. One that would Inally be able to get
through the Jordan Rules, based on raw strength
and power.

While the training sessions were adjusted to the

practicalities around playing basketball during the
season and practice, the members never took days
off. It became a way not only for them to beat the
opponents physically, but it was also a
psychological game in the sense that they knew they
were best conditioned, strongest players on the
court.

The Breakfast Club was a precursor for the training

now done by basketball players to prepare for the
court. No longer did “being good” mean practicing
the most, it meant being in tip-top physical
condition; when it came to both training and eating.

And that played out in dividends.

W H AT W E C A N L E A N

So, you throw enough bricks to build a house and

we’re not even going to bring up your three-point
game. Let’s just say that you’re not going to have
any defensive strategy rules named after you
anytime soon. And neither are we, for that matter.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t turn heads at the

next pick-up basketball game. Or, at the very least,
have a guy guarding you. When it comes to weight
training for basketball, there’s a lot we can learn
from The Breakfast Club—hell, they basically wrote
the playbook.

The Irst lesson is that simply practicing the sport

won’t necessarily get you to where you want to be.
Sure, practice makes perfect. But if you want to
excel, and excel easily, you need to overload your
muscles to the point where the actual movements
on the court will come easy. That kind of training
won’t happen in a regular practice basketball game—
it’ll only happen when you add progressively more
tension on your muscles.

And there are a few different angles that training can

be approached from.

MJ and the Club looked at strength and endurance

training—two aspects that were absolutely
necessary for crushing the Jordan Rules. We can
build off of that by adding training for lateral
quickness and explosive power, a key part being a
strong core.

There’s also the necessary strength training. Both for

explosive jumping power, but also a necessary
component of having shoulders strong enough to be
launching the ball into a swish. If your arm is getting
tired halfway through a match, you can bet that your
aim is going to suffer as well.

There’s also the component of conditioning training.

You need to be able to keep up your endurance for
long bouts of explosive power. If you can stay fresh
in a game while the other team is already huang
and puang, you can run circles around them.
Whether you’ve got a defensive strategy created
solely for the sake of stopping you, or not.

SPEED & EXPLOSIVE POWER IN BASKETBALL

TRAINING

If you’ve already got a good workout routine, we’ve

collected some exercises below for you to
incorporate. These place a major emphasis on
lateral movement and explosive energy, while also
maintaining mobility and speed.

While losing is bad, getting injured is usually worse.

These movements will maintain and improve the
mobility you need in basketball, helping you to
prevent injuries such as sprained ankles and ACLs.

LUNGES

Lunges are probably one of the best exercises to

prepare you for basketball. The lateral lunge, for
example, is a terriIc way to practice the side to side
shubing motion during defensive plays, helping you
to stretch out your hips. Moreover, these can also be
done as a standard dumbbell lunge. If done till
failure, the dumbbell lunge can double as an
amazing conditioning exercise.

In order to perform the exercise, hold a dumbbell in

each hand, and step forward with your right foot,
bending the knee 90-degrees. You want the motion
to be smooth, eyes forward, and back straight.
Pause at the bottom and either go back into the
starting position or step forward to do walking
lunges.

Adabolic Bene-ts Breakdown …

GLUTE BRIDGE

Want to jump higher? Who doesn’t—especially in

basketball, so you’re going to have to train those
glutes. And if you think that you’re too short, let us
introduce you to Anthony Jerome “Spud” Webb. One
of the shortest players at 5 '7”, he’s known for having
won a dunking competition.

To begin the movement, you want to lie down on

your back with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle
and feet remaining gat on the ground. Tightly
squeeze a soft object between your legs (like a
towel) and engage your glutes so as to bridge your
hips upwards.

Only your heels and shoulders should be touching

the ground. Maintain the position for a few seconds
at the top, and slowly lower back down.

L AT E R A L B O U N D

While lateral lunges can help with defensive slides,

the lateral bound will be a great way to train fast
cuts and other sideways movements.

Balance on one of your legs and squat slightly, with

the other leg off the ground. Engaging the leg
muscles and glutes, jump off the squatting leg and
land on your other one as softly as you’re able to.
Make sure to keep your balance and pause after
each jump for a few counts. Repeat for alternating
legs.

EXERCISE BALL LEG CURL

This movement develops your posterior chain, much

like the glute bridge. It’ll improve your vertical jump
ability and explosiveness in the hamstring
department. Furthermore, you’ll be employing a lot
of stabilizers to keep you properly balanced.

Lying on your back, keep your feet extended while

you put your heels on an exercise ball. Engage the
glutes in order to raise your hips. The ball should
move towards you, but don’t drop down the hips
throughout the entire movement. Reverse the
movement by extending the legs, then repeat for the
desired amount of reps.

ROMANIAN DEADLIFT

The deadlift is one of the greatest lifts to train

explosiveness, and the same is true for the
Romanian variation. Its greatest strength is
developing the hip-hinge movement, which is where
most of your jumping power really comes from. Your
entire posterior chain will beneIt from adopting this
exercise into your training routine.

The Romanian variant of the deadlift is better for our

goals since it begins from a standing position,
effectively engaging more of the hamstrings and
glutes. The traditional deadlift, on the other hand,
places a greater focus on the quads and the mid-
back area.

Begin the lift by holding the barbell with an overhand

grip at the hip level. Continue by drawing the
shoulders back while keeping your spine in an
aligned position. Focus on the hip-hinge as you push
your hips back and the bar is slowly lowered toward
the feet. Driving through the feet and pressing your
hips forward, return back into a standing position
with the barbell resting in front of your thighs.

B A S K E T B A L L W O R KO U T S T R E N GT H T R A I N I N G

In order for MJ to smash through the Jordan Rules

and the defensive gauntlet, he needed a crazy
amount of strength. He knew that simply matching
the other team wouldn’t do; he needed to get better.

The innovation of The Club’s training was largely due

to how strength was tied to the game. Not only
explosiveness was developed, but also general
shoulder and lower body strength in order to keep
the body going for longer, and with more power
behind it.

The two different workout routines below both focus

on these aspects, placing special emphasis to build
muscle. These routines should be done in parallel
with conditioning workouts, which we’ll look at
further down below.

Furthermore, you should be warming up before each

day with some mobility and core exercises—an
important part when playing in a game as injury-
prone as basketball.

W O R KO U T P L A N O N E

D AY 1 :

Warm-up

Back Squats: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Leg Press: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Lunges: 3 sets of 12-15 reps with each leg

Romanian Deadlifts: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Calf Raises: 3 sets of 15-20 reps

D AY 2 :

Warm-up

Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 12-15

reps

Pull-ups: 3 sets till failure

Dumbbell Incline Press: 3 sets of 12-15

reps

Single-Arm Dumbbell Rows: 3 sets of 12-

15 reps with each arm

Dips: 3 sets till failure

Bent-Over Rows: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Military Press: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

D AY 3 :

Warm-up

Split-Squats: 3 sets of 8-12 reps with each

leg

Deadlifts: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Glute Ham Raises: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Exercise ball Leg Curls: 3 sets of 12-15

reps

Eccentric Calf Raises: 3 sets of 15-20 reps

D AY 4 :

Warm-up

Pull-Ups: 3 sets till failure

Incline Press: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Front Raises: 3 sets of 15-20 reps

Lateral Raises: 3 sets of 15-20 reps

Lateral Raises: 3 sets of 15-20 reps

Rear Delt Raises: 3 sets of 15-20 reps

Biceps Curls: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Triceps Extension: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

W O R KO U T P L A N T W O

D AY 1 :

Warm-up

Back Squats: 3 sets of 4-8 reps

Pause Squats: 3 sets of 3-6 reps

Reverse Hyperextensions: 3 sets of 8-12

reps

Exercise ball leg curls: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Calf Raises: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

D AY 2 :

Warm-up

Bench Press: 3 sets of 4-8 reps

Floor Press: 3 sets of 4-8 reps

Bent-Over Rows: 3 sets of 4-8 reps

Military Press: 3 sets of 4-8 reps

D AY 3 :

Warm-up

Front Squats: 3 sets of 3-6 reps

Romanian Deadlifts: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Back Raises: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Exercise ball Leg Curls: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Calf Raise: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

D AY 4 :

Warm-up

Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Pull-Ups: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Military Press: 5 sets of 4-8 reps

Lateral Raises: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Rear Delt Raises: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Biceps Curls: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Triceps Extensions: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

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CONDITIONING TRAINING PROGRAM

Basketball is all about explosiveness. Explosive

strength and explosive speed. So, a conditioning
regime should above all regect that.

While at least a little bit of cardio is always a good

idea, your conditioning training for basketball should
regect a game with workouts that mimic:

Sprinting

Sliding, especially defensively

Jumping

Backpedaling

And lots of starting and stopping

Incorporating a good conditioning and endurance

aspect into your workout routine will aid in injury
prevention. Doing these movements over and over
again for varying periods of time will get your body
(and joints and ligaments) prepared for a real game.
You can also incorporate ball handling and dribbling.

Another reason for a good conditioning aspect is the

fact that the less fatigued you are throughout the
game, the better you will perform. It goes without
saying, but part of the strength of The Breakfast
Club was that they focused on endurance as well.
Their success was due in large part to the fact that
they could perform in overtime just as well as in the
Irst quarter when everyone else was already
completely gassed out.

For a good conditioning workout, remember to keep

in mind the speciIc energy system requirements.
That means keeping the drilling anywhere from 15
seconds to 2 minutes at most at a constant and
intense rate. A high-intensity interval training with a
jump rope would be a terriIc It.

Furthermore, you should also be utilizing the same

movement patterns that are found in basketball,
such as the ones listed above. Whenever possible,
your stance should be athletic and low.

Lastly, you want to progressively overload the body

so you’re always getting better. You can do this in a
number of ways, either decreasing the amount of
rest you give yourself, increasing the speed at which
you do these drills, or increasing the amount of
drilling you do.

W H AT ’ S F O R B R E A K FA S T ?

As the name suggests, The Breakfast Club was

more than simply a training session. It was also a
diet plan.

Not only was the training innovative during the time

for basketball, but the whole idea of taking care of
the body was also something that Jordan pushed
with The Club. The body was much more than what
you could make it do, but also what you put into it
and how you fuelled it up.

The importance of diet can be seen with the

inclusion of Jordan’s personal chef as one of the key
supporting members of these infamous training
sessions. It was the personal trainer along with the
personal chef that helped to catapult Jordan,
Pippen, Harper, and Brown into the stars they were—
along with the rest of the team.

Eating clean with plenty of high-quality protein was

an absolutely essential part of building muscle and
elevating their athleticism like no other basketball
player during the time.

Along with the food, however, was the camaraderie.

In a team-based sport such as basketball, the long-
term success so often falls into players playing
cohesively (as much as it might not seem
sometimes).

The Breakfast Club was more than a training

session and more than a diet plan. It was a time and
place where a group of guys got together for the
sole purpose of pushing the limits of their bodies
and their sport. We’ve just seen the effects of that.

Note: Boost your protein intake (and your gains)

with tender beef jerky made from real smokehouse
brisket. Pick your 2avor now!

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