How to Do a Basketball Conditioning Workout

Step-by-step Instructions

Here is what you need to do...
Step 1

Get motivated to work hard. This conditioning drill is not for the faint of heart, so mentally accept the challenge before you even step foot in the gym. Start reminding yourself of the benefits of being a top conditioned basketball player. The payoff is worth the pain!

Step 2

Get warmed up. After lacing up your basketball shoes nice and tight, make sure that you get properly warmed up. Start with 5 easy laps, jogging around the perimeter of the court. Follow this up by starting on the baseline and doing two trips up to the half-court line and back to the baseline of high knees and two similar trips of side shuffles. After this start with a dynamic warm-up which involves various kinds of kinetic stretching (no stationary stretching during the warm-up, save the static stretching for after the workout).

Step 3

Start your running. With your stopwatch in hand start behind the baseline and get ready to run. The goal of this conditioning drill is to do as many "suicides" as you can without missing the time goal. A suicide consists of running from the baseline and touching the nearest free-throw line with your foot and then proceeding back to touch the baseline, you then run to mid-court line and return back to the baseline in the same manner you did with the free-throw line. The same procedure is then carried out by running to the free-throw line opposite the baseline you started at and then a final sprint to the opposite baseline. In total you should have completed four different segments of the sprint. The goal is to complete the entire exercise in under 30 seconds. Once you have finished your sprint, you have 30 seconds to rest until you try and complete another suicide run. Each sprint and rest period should take you exactly 1 minute, therefore you will be beginning the sprint as soon as the clock hits the start of every minute. The combination of short rest periods and strenuous running gives you an incredible cardiovascular workout in a short amount of time. The aim of the exercise is to complete 20 suicides in 20 minutes. Whenever you fail to make a suicide in the allotted 30 seconds, the drill ends.

Step 4

Don't get discouraged. If you can only complete a few suicides in the given time of 30 seconds there are a few things you can do. First, you could allow yourself more time to complete the suicide (but that gives you less time to rest) which might help you complete more suicides at given time. Second, repeat this exercise 3-4 times a week and each time try to complete one more suicide than you did the previous time.

Step 5

Cool down. After you complete your run, make sure you take the proper time to stretch. Your muscles should be warm and flexible, allowing you to stretch with more intensity than you did in your warm-up. Now is the best time to increase your flexibility!

Special Attention

Difficulties people often experience or parts that need special attention to do it right.

Make sure you touch all the line within the suicide, don't cheat yourself! Every time you cut corners you are only hurting yourself in the long run, make sure you train with the ultimate goal of becoming the best athlete and basketball player you can.

Stuff You'll Need

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This Student Author

This Student Author's Background

Funny or interesting story about this topic...

While playing in the Colonial Athletic Association I began to notice that every time we played one of our rival teams, it seemed that we would always get tired more quickly than they did. After losing to them on several consecutive occasions I decided to investigate further and soon I learned the secret as to why they never seemed to grow weary. I will share this invaluable secret with all my readers shortly!

When did you first do this & how did you get started?

After I learned what some of my rival teammates were doing to get in shape, I decided to try it out for myself. As I have been training to become a professional basketball player, this conditioning drill has helped me get into the best shape of my life!

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