Hi, first off I’m new to viewing this site but its awesome its the best training site ive seen even though i havent seen many lol.
Im a basketball player im 16 years old and im going to be a junior this year and im 6’7" tall. I weight 210-212 lbs im really new to lifting i have never lifted on a consistent basis but i have fooled with the weights before so i do know what a few of my numbers are. Squat i can do 160 lbs for 5 reps even tho the reps are slow for bench i do 185x2 reps.
This year i really want to use as a polishing year, im getting an oppurtunity to go to a great prep school actually ranked top 10 nationally. As a matter of fact 1 of the kids jumped straight to the nba this year. I want to become a pro basketball player but my atheletism is slacking to some point. I dont know my vertical to a tee but i can dunk with 2 hands easyly standing off the step you name it. I want to work on my jumping ability and especially my strength and weakness. Im pretty slow on my feet and sometimes weak, but i still dominate the post, i easily get atleast 12 and 10 in my summer league but i want more.
What do you guys reccomend for me to do training wise my main concerns are strength,quickness, and jumping ability. How often should i train i saw the defrancos westside for skinny bastards but i dont know if squatting only 1x a week will cut it. Any advice will be helpful thanks
Heres a picture of me maybe it will help
p.S Sorry about my face being painted my lil brother was fooling around with my picture and thought it would be funny to paint my face
Hopefully I can help a bit from personal experience…
First off, do you think you’re done growing? How long have you been 6’7?
I reached 6’5 in 7th grade and haven’t grown an inch since then. As a frosh I started for my high school’s varsity b-ball team and left the school with a couple “all-time” records as well as being 3rd all time in scoring at the school (#1 was in my class as well). My soph through senior year we never dropped out of top 10 in state, this was California too (V). I’m gonna tell you what I would have done differently looking back on my career.
Get into the gym! The fact that you’ve posted clearly shows you’re already ahead of me on this one. I never lifted in high school and I sure wish I would have. Concentrate on compound lifts ie. squats, cleans. I’ve found what really worked for me in regards to improving my vert since then has been some kind of jump squat or jump shrug. Incorporating an actual jump into a lift. Really work the posterior chain.
I don’t know what your goal in weight gain is but I’m telling you right now, unless you really wanna pound down low, you really don’t want to put on too many pounds too fast. Right now you’re looking pretty athletic. Keeping your bf% down for bball is crucial. There aren’t many 6’7 centers at the next level so I imagine you wanna stay lean enough to play some forward.
For quickness, nothing is better for basketball than basketball. You get “basketball quick” by playing lots and lots of basketball. If you want to do some extra work on the side, plyometrics are great for overall athleticism (also have been proven to improve vert).
Now here’s the #1 lesson I’ve learned and what I regret the most looking back on high school. Get your diet in perfect order and keep yourself hydrated to the max! I swear I played my entire career dehydrated. I also ate like crap. Thank god my genetics and work load kept me thin at the time.
Well that was a lot of rambling, I hope you picked up something usefull out of it. I really wish I had a chance to do it all over again.
I’m realatively inexperienced myself, but I’ve read most if not every article on t-mag and have been a religous vistitor to the site even longer then I’ve been training. I tried defranco’s westside for skinney bastards and let me tell you, if your training for basketball, sprints and the like, 1 leg day is enough. First off I’d say eat like a horse, cleanly that is, but like a horse none the less. I personally am a huge fan of Ian king programs. I reccomend doing the first 2 stages of the limping series, and also the first 2 stages of the upper body program, or you could buy his book, the book of muscle, a wealth of info is in that book. But after the first 2 stages, try one 3 wk cycle of westside for skinney bastards and take it from there. I really needed to bring up some major week points and am following hte intermediate program in the book of muscle, and they are kicking my ass big time, I love it.
i would suggest you follow westside for skinny bastards or the athletic pendulum. both of these programs will give you some time out of the gym to work on agility/quickness drills. from what you posted, it sounds like you are only a post player. i would advise that you work on ball handling, first step, and mid to long range jumper if you are not already. as stated earlier, there are not many 6’7" centers or even power forwards in the pros and they are becoming more rare in college. ii would imagine that you know some agility drills from your standard basketball practice. i also recommend focusing on posterior chain. this will help with quickness, speed, and vertical jump. defranco has a 6 week vertical jump program in his q&a section (don’t remember which one).
Im geneticly gifted height wise actually, my parents are both 5’8" tall and my grandparents are all shorter than that. Im the tallest in my family probably been since i was like 12 years old. The tallest person is maybe an uncle whose 6’1". I am done growing tho. I havent grown much in almost 1 year.
I strongly second the Westside for Skinny Bastards recommendation, but I would include some dynamic effort work as well…Charles Staley and others have pointed out that those with unfavorable levers require more speed work than Ed Coan types with bodies built for strength. For your strength to improve, you’re going to need to do some dynamic effort stuff. As tall as you are, and therefore as lousy as your body is designed for squatting and benching, this is the only way to really get your strength numbers up…and remember also what Coach Lute Olsen, one of the best in the business has to say on the subject of hypertrophy: “Extra weight is only good if it makes you quicker!”
Read up on Westside methods here and at Elitefts, learn as much as you can about strength, and tweak your program on the fly…again, I think Defranco’s program is a great place to start, but I would alternate periodically between using the rep method and the DE method…
How would i go about that 1 day heavy and 1 light day. I know what you mean tho i would definately think that im stronger than i mean explosive. How should i go about it should i first build some strength and then explosive power or should i try and do both at the same time like westside.
I’d recommend working with a boxing trainer on footwork. Whether you are on the post or slashing from the wing, you need quick feet - and quick feet are usually in short supply with guys who are growing fast in their youth.
Just watch NBA guys in the post nowadays - big plodding dropsteps, little balance when they turn to shoot. Remember, the key to higher levels of basketball is being able to create your own shot. Without quick feet and good balance, defenders can take your shot away, even if you can jump out of the gym.
Boxing training will give you amazing foot speed. Whether you stay at 6-7 or grow more, you’ll have that advantage over guys you face. Also, 6-7 is tall in high school - in the NBA, that’s a servicebale two-guard or small forward. You need to expand your game and make sure you give yourself every chance to succeed.
Definitely some heavy/light lifting - size goes a long way (perhaps the most underrated aspect of LeBron’s game is his man’s body). Don’t neglect your core and posterior chain.
Just a few suggestions - sounds like you got a great future ahead. I’d say this as well - with all the drive and ambition to make it as an athlete, don’t forget to enjoy the game. Too many guys get wrapped up in the pressure of it all - the best ones know how to play all day just for the love of it.
Wanna give you guys a lil more information on myself. This past season my sophmore season i played varsity basketball and i benched the entire season played a total of 20 minutes in 20 games. But that drove me this offseason i tell myself i hate that bench and im improving so fast that i can notice it on myself. 4 months ago (season time) i couldnt dunk with 2 hahds now i do it standing with consistancy i can probably do 10 standing 2 handers in a row. Also im learning to play this game the most i ever scored in a game before was 4 points until this summer league which is the exact same teams we play in the season. Im literally scoring 4 points in 1 minute of playing time i feel so confident. I havent got to play an entire game or no where near one becuase i havent brought any summer reading which i did tonite i have a game saturday night and im playing the whole game so ill fill you in with my stats. The most i played so far was 16 minutes of running time and in that i had 13 points 10 boards 2 blocks, not to mention the team i was playing againts was real good. So i play the whole game thios saturday so im shooting for atleast 30points. Im so hungry to be the best people always doubt my skills and i want to prove everyone wrong. I feel that i improve 10x faster than everyone else.
Do a search on this site. In essence, they recommend that you work at the end of your range of motion. Do leg presses rather than squats, for ex. Because of your height, you are at a disadvantage in the normal lift.
I like to do static holds w/about 50% more than my max (using a power rack). This will make you stronger w/o adding a lot of bulk. BTW: I am 6’4", 265.
Absolutely the best of luck!
Who on this site recommends that he do leg presses instead of squats? I strongly disagree that that would ever be a good idea! For most of us, the leg press is a dangerous machine with very little payoff…virtually no payoff at all for an athlete seeking explosive strength. My counsel would be to stay far far away from the leg press machine.
Yeah don’t you dare get anywhere near the leg press. Tall people can do squats too! Like I said, I’m 6’5 and I can squat 2x my body weight. I printed out a bunch of plyo exercises at work last night. I’ll bring them home and PM you some of the basketball specific exercises.
I gotta say real quick, scoring isn’t everything. Make sure you’re not selfish when shooting for those 30 points. Nothing turns a coach off faster than a ball hog. Not saying that’s you but just remember it is indeed a team game. My starting 5 junior and senior year all averaged over 10 a game and none over 20. We we’re unstoppable! 62-10 over the 2 years (90-18 over soph-senior years).
Im no where near a ball hog, my coaches love the way i play especially when im going balls out they say when i play all out and give it 100% it completely changes the game, he tells me i control wheter we win or lose a game. What i absolutely love to do is score on offensive rebounds it helps my confidence and can literally turn a game around, also my jumpshot hasnt been bad lately sometimes i have to go to my jumpshot when my oponent is stronger than me.
See TC’s article in edition 212. Tall people simply should not workout using the same methodology as the norm.
I would recommend to a basketball player that he actually not ‘lift’ at all, but rather do extremely heavy (150% 1rm) partials and static holds in a power rack – he wants power, not a lot of mass. If he squats at all, he should set the safety pins in the rack just below shoulder height, load the hell out of the bell, and do 2 inch reps. That should really increase his verts.
Peartmath:
Is your name Pete Sisco? Seriously though, I suppose I’ll just have to repsectfully disagree…there is a time and place for heavy partials, I agree at least with that.
NBAstar:
You’re young enough to try a number of approaches, just make sure you keep track of your strength by writing everything down! This is the most important advice anyone can give you, log your training and make sure you are progressing, and that your strength is carrying over to the court. And remember that most anything new will work for a few weeks, but don’t let that fool you into thinking there is one absolute best way to train.
Peartmath are you speaking from personal experience? How high can you get off the ground? Do you play basketball? I’m guessing the answers are “not very high” and “no” respectively.
The advice I’m giving is personal experience, what ACTUALLY worked after trying a lot of such “gimmicky” ideas as yours. Besides, one’s strength in the squat has always been used as one of the determining factors when judging an athelete’s readiness for plyometrics.
Peartmath, I went ahead and re-read TC’s “Lurch” article you mentioned.
Those aren’t strength training recommendations. TC specifically stated these methods are to be used while attempting hypetrophy. All the while you’re preaching about “power over mass”.
You might want to organize your thoughts before giving inaccurate and even contradictive information.
Boondoggler: You’ve got an attitude problem, man! I re-read it again and you are plain fucking wrong. Sure, he mentions mass, but his point is that tall guys can’t train like the norm. That’s exactly what I said, to help this kid. I also said that to avoid a lot of mass (which he doesn’t need), he should do heavy partials. How often does a basketball player go into a full squat before he jumps? Partials, partials, partials!
Maybe before you come on here with your SHITTY attitude, YOU should figure out that you may not be right all the time.
