A basketball workout program is important for getting you ready to be successful this season. Basketball is a sport that requires size, strength, speed, agility, power, and lots of endurance. In addition, it requires a lot of skill – so much so that’s it difficult to take time away from practicing those skills.

The summer is typically a time of year when we like to sleep late and rest, but it’s an opportunity to get ready for the upcoming season that is rapidly approaching. This article will present a pretty comprehensive 12-week strength and conditioning program to get you prepared for the upcoming season. This workout is broken down into three four-week blocks of training.

Block 1

The four weeks in this block of training are meant to lay the foundation for future success. These four weeks are meant to add muscle mass, teach you how to be fast and explosive, and to begin the process of getting you in basketball shape. Below we’re going to show you how the weeks break down, then we’ll have a table to show you how to progress in terms of sets, reps, and percentages.

Monday

Strength training:

• Back squats
• Lunges
• Romanian deadlifts
• Hyperextensions
• Calves

Power:

• Squat jumps
• Standing long jumps

Speed/Agility:

• Falling starts: 3×20 meters
• Bounds: 3×20 meters
• Shuffle right/left: 3×10 meters each side
• Backpedal: 3×10 meters

Tuesday:

Strength training:

• Bench press
• Dips
• Pull-ups
• Bent-over rows
• Triset: Front raises, side raises, bent-over lateral raises

Power:

• Medicine ball chest pass
• Medicine ball overhead throw

Wednesday:

Conditioning (circuit-style, 30 seconds on, minimal rest between exercises):

• Jump rope
• Burpees
• Plank
• Jump rope
• Squats
• Side plank (do each side)
• Jump rope
• Inchworms
• Bear crawls
• Jump rope
• Lunges
• Push-ups

Thursday:

Strength training:

• Deadlifts
• Split squats
• Good mornings
• Supermans
• Calves

Power:

• Counter-movement jump
• Standing triple jump

Speed/agility:

• Stride length drills: 3×20 meters
• Falling starts: 3×40 meters
• 505 drill, 3x

Friday:

Strength training:

• Incline press
• Dumbbell bench press
• One-arm dumbbell rows
• Kettlebell rows
• Superset: Biceps/triceps (3×12-15 each)

Power:

• Clapping push-ups
• Behind back overhead medicine ball throw

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Strength training	3×12-15@70%	3×12-15@75%	3×8-12@80%	3×15-20@60%
Plyometrics	10 jumps or throws	15 jumps or throws	20 jumps or throws	20 jumps or throws
Conditioning	1 time through	2 times through, rest 1 minute between circuits	3 times through, rest 1 minute between circuits	3 times through, rest 45 seconds between circuits

Table One: Progressions for the first block of training. Note that not all strength training exercises will be trained at a percentage of maximum. For those exercises you should train them at a repetition maximum (i.e., pick a weight that allows you to lift it for the specified number of repetitions).

Block 2

This block builds on the first one. It is a little heavier than the previous block of training, incorporates more power exercises, more conditioning workouts, and begins to incorporate a wider variety of agility exercises. Note that the agility exercises are taken from this STACK article.

Monday:

Strength training:

• Back squats
• Romanian deadlifts
• Bench press
• Bent-over rows
• Standing military press

Speed/agility training:

• Bounds: 3×20 meters
• Resisted sprints: 3×5 meters
• Standing starts: 3×20 meters
• Figure 8 drills: 3-5x without the ball
• 4 cone drill: 3-5x without the ball

Tuesday:

Conditioning:

• 360 Drill: Set up a cone every 5 yards for 40 yards. Run to the first cone, touch the ground, run back to the start line, touch the start line. Run to the second cone, touch the ground, run back to the start line, touch the start line. Repeat this until you have run to the 40-yard line and run back.

Wednesday:

Strength/power training:

• Power clean, hang, above the knee
• Clean pulls, hang, above the knee
• Squat jumps (barbell)
• Box jump

Thursday:

Conditioning:

Circuit, perform each exercise for 45 seconds with minimal rest between each exercise:

• Jump rope
• Kettlebell swings
• Burpees
• Push-ups
• Jump rope
• Kettlebell swings
• Squats
• Bear crawls
• Jump rope
• Kettlebell swings
• Lunges
• Seated dips
• Jump rope
• Kettlebell swings
• Inchworms
• Plank

Friday:

Strength training:

• Superset: Front squats and Pull-ups
• Superset: Lunges and Dumbbell bench press
• Superset: Good mornings and Seated dumbbell shoulder press
• Superset: Hyperextensions and Triceps
• Superset: Calves and Biceps

Speed/Agility:

• Stride length drills: 3×20 meters
• Standing starts: 3×60 meters
• Resisted sprints: 3×60 meters
• Weave and shoot drill, simulate having the ball: 5x

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Strength training (Monday)	3×8-12@80%	3×6-10@85%	3×4-8@90%	3×12-15@70%
Strength training (Wednesday)	3×4-6@60%	3×3-5@65%	3×3-5@70%	3x-4-6@60%
Strength training (Friday)	3×12-15	3×10-12	3×8-12	3×15-20
Plyometrics	20 jumps or throws	25 jumps or throws	30 jumps or throws	20 jumps or throws
Conditioning	1 time through	2 times through, rest 1 minute between circuits	3 times through, rest 1 minute between circuits	3 times through, rest 45 seconds between circuits

Table Two: Progressions for the second block of training.

Block 3

This block of training is meant to peak your strength and power while applying speed and agility to basketball. At this point, you need to be back in the gym working on your basketball skills.

Monday:

Strength and power training:

• Clean grip deadlift + Power clean, hang, knee height
• Back squats + Box jumps
• Romanian deadlifts + Standing long jumps
• Bench press + Clapping push-ups
• Bent-over rows + Forward medicine ball toss

Speed/Agility training:

• Bounds: 3×10 meters
• Resisted sprints: 3×10 meters
• Jump and run drill: 3x without ball, 3x with ball
• Box and run drill: 3x without ball, 3x with ball
• Weave and shoot drill: 5x with ball

Note: Jump and run drill and box and run drills are taken from this article on STACK.

Tuesday:

Conditioning:

• 360 Drill: Set up a cone every 5 yards for 40 yards. Run to the first cone, touch the ground, run back to the start line, touch the start line. Run to the second cone, touch the ground, run back to the start line, touch the start line. Repeat this until you have run to the 40-yard line and run back.

Wednesday:

• Off

Thursday:

Strength and power training:

• Clean pull + Power clean, hang, knee height + Front squat
• Lunges + Split jumps
• Good mornings + Hurdle hops
• Incline press + Medicine ball chest pass
• Pull-ups + Forward medicine ball toss

Speed/agility training:

• Stride length drills: 3×20 meters
• Resisted sprints: 3×40 meters
• Offensive drill: 3x without ball, 3x with ball
• Figure 8 drill: 5x with ball
• 4 cone drill: 5x with ball

Friday:

Conditioning:

Circuit, perform each exercise for 45 seconds with minimal rest between each exercise:

• Jump rope
• Kettlebell swings
• Burpees
• Push-ups
• Jump rope
• Kettlebell swings
• Squats
• Bear crawls
• Jump rope
• Kettlebell swings
• Lunges
• Seated dips
• Jump rope
• Kettlebell swings
• Inchworms
• Plank

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Strength training (Monday)	3×4-8@90%	3×2-6@95%	3×2-6@95@	3×8-12@80%
Strength training (Thursday)	3×6-10@85%	3×4-8@90%	3×2-6@95%	3×8-12@80%
Plyometrics	25 jumps or throws	30 jumps or throws	35 jumps or throws	20 jumps or throws
Conditioning	1 time through	2 times through, rest 1 minute between circuits	3 times through, rest 45 minute between circuits	3 times through, rest 30 seconds between circuits

Table Three: Progressions for the third block of training.

READ MORE:

• Basketball Off-Season Workout: Strength and Size
• 7 Things Basketball Players Must Do This Off-Season
• Create Your Own Off-Season Basketball Workout Plan