Hey everyone , i’m new to T-Nation so dont flame me for being a noob. i will give you some background information about me .
Im 17 years old , 5ft11 175 lbs. I have around 10% body fat and i could dunk a basketball maybe 50% of the time I try. I’m telling you that because I really dont know my vertical. I’ve been working out on and off for the past year so i’m not really new to it . I’ve always been super athletic my whole life. Dunking and being fast just came naturally. I’ve never really worked out my legs either.
My stats-
1 45lbs plate each side bench press 10 times
2 45lbs plates each side back squats
I dont deadlift or do any calf exercises.
SO now my main question , i play guard in basketball , and i’m looking for a couple of exercises I should do to get stronger. I have a full year off season so i could like do a power phase for my legs or something like that then do plyometrics this summer. I’m not too sure how this works. So can someone help a new kid out ? I need good exercises to bulk/tone my upper body and stregthen my legs so i can dunk consistently and be faster.
Check out the programs as this will be a great help. If you test your 1 rep max in the squat, bench, deadlift and military press then you could start 5/3/1. There are articles on here showing how the program works. I wouldnt do pylometrics if you are playing basketball twice a week, depends how strenuous the games are. Also make sure you set up your week properly so your legs arent burn out for squatting. You’re gonna have to eat a lottttt of food as well.
If you choose 5/3/1 which is a great and simple way to get stronger and add muscle your week could look something along the lines of…
Mon- Bench and assistance
5/3/1 bench
Row variation
Arms
Tues- Squat and assitance
5/3/1 squat
bulgarian split squat
core
Thur- Military press and assistance
5/3/1 military press
pull-ups
arms
Sat- Deadlifts and assistance
5/3/1 deadlifts
lunges
core
You also look really thin for 5’11" 175. Just skimmed your post, but are you trying to be a better basketball player or a better weightlifter? They are two completely different things. That doesn’t mean they have to be mutually exclusive, but your training will be pretty different based on your answer.
i’d go with defranco’s, as it’s geared towards athletes. getting stronger overall is going to help you become even more athletic, and ws4sb will do that for you.
defranco mentions “indicator exercises”, and he uses max squat, max bench, max pull ups (reps) and vertical jump
in your case, measuring vertical jump may be difficult, and measuring your broad jump may be easier (standing long jump). following a program that increases your indicator exercises will result in more athleticism.
also, the vertical jump bible is a good resource as it explains in depth how to improve your jump.
very basically though, getting your deadlift/squat over 2x bodyweight will make you jump higher.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
You also look really thin for 5’11" 175. Just skimmed your post, but are you trying to be a better basketball player or a better weightlifter? They are two completely different things. That doesn’t mean they have to be mutually exclusive, but your training will be pretty different based on your answer.[/quote]
Yeah I know I really dont understand why do I weigh 175. people never believe me . I guess I have heavy legs ?? I’m trying to be a better athlete so i guess its a mix of both ?
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
You also look really thin for 5’11" 175. Just skimmed your post, but are you trying to be a better basketball player or a better weightlifter? They are two completely different things. That doesn’t mean they have to be mutually exclusive, but your training will be pretty different based on your answer.[/quote]
Yeah I know I really dont understand why do I weigh 175. people never believe me . I guess I have heavy legs ?? I’m trying to be a better athlete so i guess its a mix of both ? [/quote]
I’d suggest ws4sb. I use a variant of it. I caught my first dunk at 5’7" when I was 16 or 17 and weighed 130lbs having never done any training. I’ll be 29 this weekend, I’m 5’9" and 180lbs and I can still put down some nice dunks after 2 knee surgeries. Bust your ass, switch your ME moves every 3 or 4 weeks, hammer your accessories and eat like it’s going out of style and you will get bigger and stronger. Stay on top of mobility work and movement stuff and you’ll be straight. I haven’t touched a basketball in close to 3 months, jumped hard last weekend for the first time in the same time and still was over a rim from a vertical with ease. The program works.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
You also look really thin for 5’11" 175. Just skimmed your post, but are you trying to be a better basketball player or a better weightlifter? They are two completely different things. That doesn’t mean they have to be mutually exclusive, but your training will be pretty different based on your answer.[/quote]
Yeah I know I really dont understand why do I weigh 175. people never believe me . I guess I have heavy legs ?? I’m trying to be a better athlete so i guess its a mix of both ? [/quote]
I’d suggest ws4sb. I use a variant of it. I caught my first dunk at 5’7" when I was 16 or 17 and weighed 130lbs having never done any training. I’ll be 29 this weekend, I’m 5’9" and 180lbs and I can still put down some nice dunks after 2 knee surgeries. Bust your ass, switch your ME moves every 3 or 4 weeks, hammer your accessories and eat like it’s going out of style and you will get bigger and stronger. Stay on top of mobility work and movement stuff and you’ll be straight. I haven’t touched a basketball in close to 3 months, jumped hard last weekend for the first time in the same time and still was over a rim from a vertical with ease. The program works.[/quote]
What Variant did you use ? can you please be specific because i’ve been searching everywhere for something good that I could start using !
your pretty solid so I believe you weigh a good amount. just lift and do a bit of everything, I’m not convinced it matters much what your program is so long as you don’t ignore any body parts
Kelly Baggett is a vertical jump expert as a former basketball player I’m so happy that I found his site. Joe DeFrancos like the others mentioned is also another good idea more geared to football players in my opinion but really still is good option.
stronger legs, A2g squats nd deads. stronger upper body, standing shuolder press is great, but hard to progress on. full range, slow and controlled chinups. kipping chinups.
you should take the time to practice the standard olympic lifts, at least the clean. no need to hire a coach or buy a book, just practice
[quote]OooahhhCANTONA wrote:
Check out the programs as this will be a great help. If you test your 1 rep max in the squat, bench, deadlift and military press then you could start 5/3/1. There are articles on here showing how the program works. I wouldnt do pylometrics if you are playing basketball twice a week, depends how strenuous the games are. Also make sure you set up your week properly so your legs arent burn out for squatting. You’re gonna have to eat a lottttt of food as well.
If you choose 5/3/1 which is a great and simple way to get stronger and add muscle your week could look something along the lines of…
Mon- Bench and assistance
5/3/1 bench
Row variation
Arms
Tues- Squat and assitance
5/3/1 squat
bulgarian split squat
core
Thur- Military press and assistance
5/3/1 military press
pull-ups
arms
Sat- Deadlifts and assistance
5/3/1 deadlifts
lunges
core
It’s up to you from here.[/quote]
Is this only for strength ? because I would love it if it would make my upper body a little bigger too =)
