Techniques Used by NBA Players to Stay Fit
Basketball is one of the most famous sports in the world and nothing is as good a manifestation of this fact as the popularity of the National Basketball Association. Many people dub the NBA as the world’s premiere basketball league. The players who get the privilege to actually compete on an NBA floor are considered to be the best of the best. This is the league that has made legends out of people like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James.
In fact, NBA basketball is so popular that it has managed to spawn some of the most lucrative TV deals with networks like ESPN and TNT. The NBA is also the prime subject for many activities concerning sports betting in the US. As a result, the entire global basketball industry is being carried by the NBA alone.
Given that playing in the NBA is such a unique privilege, players are paid handsomely. It takes a lot of hard work, drive, luck, and dedication to be deemed good enough to play in the NBA. That’s why NBA players are being paid extremely generous salaries. Even players who spend most of their time just warming up the bench are multi-millionaires because of how lucrative the contracts are in the league.
As you might expect, NBA athletes put themselves through some of the strictest and most intense training regimens in the sports world. In fact, an argument can be made that a typical NBA athlete should be significantly fitter than a professional hockey or baseball player.
Now, what kinds of training and fitness techniques do NBA players use to stay on top of their game? That’s exactly what we have to look into with this article.
Cardio Training
First of all, NBA players do a lot of cardiovascular activity while they play. The standard NBA game is 48 minutes long without the overtime period. That means that NBA players have to spend a significant amount of time running back and forth, leaping for loose balls, and jumping for rebounds. That’s why NBA players need to get a good helping of cardiovascular training like running and cycling. Cardiovascular exercises will help condition NBA athletes to be able to sustain a high level of athleticism throughout the entirety of the game.
Mobility Training
Basketball is a sport that requires a lot of agility. That’s why basketball players need to dedicate a substantial amount of time and energy to developing their mobility and range of motion. NBA players depend on having supple muscles in order for them to execute acrobatic layups or to get into position for an important rebound. Aside from that, mobility training is a good way for basketball players to prime their bodies against injuries. There’s a lot of wear and tear that goes on when playing basketball, particularly in hotspots like the hips, knees, and joints. By developing the range of motion of these areas, basketball players significantly decrease the likelihood of any injuries.
Strength Training
To the casual fan, basketball players are merely running up and down the court all the time with a few occasional jumps for the ball in between plays. But what any person who has ever played competitive basketball before will know that the sport demands so much strength. In any given play, players are jostling for position in an effort to gain an advantage on their opponent. Whether it is setting a screen, boxing someone out for a rebound, or defending the ball handler, players are constantly shoving and pushing each other in order to get a positional advantage. That’s why NBA players need to develop their strength through weight training in order to make them more formidable during these particular situations.
Nutrition, Rest, and Recovery
Basketball players who compete at the highest level also pay good attention to what they do outside of the gym or the basketball court. In fact, elite athletes like LeBron James have been reported to spend as much as one million dollars a year on nutrition and injury prevention. The best NBA athletes study various aspects of rest and recovery like nutrition, sleep science, and restorative therapy. They get massages on their body’s trigger points in order to help them recover more quickly over the course of an 82-game season.
