Cross-training involves doing different exercises and activities in different sports other than the one you play for. For basketball players, there are a couple of different cross-training alternatives. You could do hill runs, beach workouts, football exercises, volleyball, and a few pool workouts.
Cross-training can be done anywhere and at any time, but a good home basketball court could serve you better. This is because most home courts are maintained better and are custom made for different basketballers.
Cross-training tips
1. Train multiple areas: basketball needs a lot of muscle training. Focus on the different muscle areas of your body.
2. Work on vital skills: when you start cross-training, you need to focus on highly needed skills. In this case, you should train your flexibility and mobility. This will help you be fast in your tactics.
3. Do self-evaluation: self-evaluation will help you in different ways. First of all, you get to know the skills you need most, and you can know your weakness.
Furthermore, self-evaluation will help you know which training exercises work best for you and improve your skills. Moreover, self-evaluation is useful in choosing the exercises you need.
4. Incorporate different training in your routine: when doing cross-training, use different exercises at different times. You need a routine that focuses on all areas of your body. However, I have more exercises for vital areas.
5. Focus on your feet: basketball involves a lot of leg work. During your training, ensure that the shoes you use are very flexible. In the same line, your legs should be able to move freely. There are different shoes you could do during cross-training. An example of these is the shoes for pickleball.
Benefits of cross-training for basketball
1. Improves fitness: cross-training involves mixing a lot of exercises. These exercises increase power and efficiency while playing. You can sustain long hours of playing through cross-training. Additionally, cross-training improves your speed and agility.
2. Prevents injury: cross-training for basketball focuses on muscles; hence, when done well, it improves muscle strength and resistance. Consequently, in case of any injury, the effects may not be severe. Injury prevention reduces a lot of time wastage in treatment and costs. Furthermore, cross-training involves different muscle groups. This reduces pressure on the most used muscles and prevents them from getting exhausted.
3. Improves flexibility: flexibility improves when you use the same muscles over and over again. This is done by doing specific exercises over and over again. When you do cross-training, you get introduced to new exercises. This means new joints, ligaments, and muscles are involved.
Gradually, you get used to doing these exercises, and your body becomes flexible. Basketball needs a lot of flexibility to maneuver around the court.
4. Boosts mental strength: cross-training can be a way to boost your mental strength. As a basketballer, your life revolves around the court. This is why you should do cross-training. It will help you clear your mind.
Different environments enable the mind to relax after staying too long in one.
5. Improves your skills: cross-training, involving many exercises, will improve your skills. When you cross-train basketball with football, you improve your leg skills and the ability to think fast.
6. Strength training: short bursts of exercises have an impact on strength training. When you get involved in those short training intervals like press-ups, your body gradually adapts and gains strength.
Common mistakes during cross-training
When cross-training, people do things differently. Although you should incorporate cross-training for better results, don’t just do it for the sake. Here are some two common mistakes that most sportsmen make while sports training:
1. Equal training: equal training is doing everything at the same time. It is when you have a training goal rather than a productive goal. Don’t do everything at the same time, do meaningful exercises that will help.
Focus on building strength fast rather than achieving a training goal. To begin with, do some squats, press-ups, sit-ups, or lunges. These exercises take a little time, but they are very effective.
2. Playing first: another common mistake most basketballers make is playing first before they train. You do this by saying that training before playing will exhaust you. Yes, you may get exhausted, but your resistance is boosted.
The appropriate way to do it is to train hard before playing. When you lift weights and then get on the court, throwing the ball becomes an easy task. This also trains your endurance.
Conclusion
Cross-training for basketballers is one of the critical ways to improve your skills and fitness. This will help you grow in your basketball career. You will also enjoy the fun of playing other games and become good at them too.