Basketball muscle gain

[jwcarter]

does anyone here play basketball for exercise?

i'm starting to pick it up for 1 hour a day, just running the court and shooting which gives me less than a workout that running does BUT it still feels like i'm doing good cardio.

anyway, is it possible to build arm muscle over time by playing basketball everyday for 1 hour? or do i need to do actual weights?

also, will weights help with shooting from distances such as the 3 point area?

 

[West24]

i used to play basketball in college. and it really wont give you any muscle growth, except really in your legs from running. if youre just playing random pick up, you probably wont gain much muscle anywhere. youll have to work out to see anything. and working out will definately help your 3 point range.

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by West24

i used to play basketball in college. and it really wont give you any muscle growth, except really in your legs from running. if youre just playing random pick up, you probably wont gain much muscle anywhere. youll have to work out to see anything. and working out will definately help your 3 point range.

+1. Although I've only played intramural ball and pick-up games (regularly, for years), you won't experience any muscle gains from basketball except in your legs. Lifting weights really screwed up my shot for a while, until I could adapt to the added muscle.

I recently played a little after not playing for 3 years, but lifting weights instead, and I was surprised by how sore my adductors and abductors were, even though I explicitly included them in my lifting. It really emphasized how much lateral movement there is in basketball and probably explains why my adductors have been so damned tight for years.

 

[mmhollis]

This is tricky. As others have said, pick up definitely won't build muscle in your arms. But if you are going to lift while playing ball your definitely going to have to adjust your shot. I played ball for a year in college and during season the lifting routine definitely came to a holt.

 

[jpeirpont]

Basketball is good for losing weight but I've never built any muscle playing. One year I gained a massive amount of weight over the winter, about 65 pounds, lost it all over four months without changing my diet, playing basketball two hours a day

 

[kever]

In college I'd typically lose about 15-17 pounds of mostly muscle during training camp (about 2 weeks). We were doing weights, plus a 2 hour practice, plus a sprints or a 30 minute run after practices every day. Obviously you aren't doing this, but after the initial 15-17lb weight loss I struggled to put any muscle back on with 2 hour practices 4 times a week, and 2 games a week. I usually went in at 230lbs, and ended the season at about 205-210lbs. I was also lifting about twice a week. So, putting on muscle isn't really something that happens from playing basketball at all (at least in my case)
When I lift consistently, I find my shot to be more consistent too. I know a lot of guys who don't lift in season because they are worried about messing up their shot, but if I don't lift my shot starts to lose its arc, and I start missing.
Everyone is different, so if I were you I'd start lifting and playing and see if it helps your range.

 

[milosh]

I think that even thou basketball won't build you much muscle, playing it regularly will keep you fit.

Regarding shot power. I would guess that the best thing you could do to improve your 3pt range is practising shooting more with your legs. Weights would also help but will not compensate for the lack of technique.

 

[chronoaug]

You keep pretty tone playing lots of good pickup basketball (note, i didn't say shooting around). I lost about 10 good lbs freshman year of college by playing basketball for 3-4 hours at a time 3-4 times a week. You don't get buff or anything, but you can develop some definition depending on your body fat. As for your shot and weight lifting: if you lift weights, be sure to at least shoot around consistently or you'll have to completely re-learn your shot. Working out your legs, arms and shoulders definitely help your shot by enabling you to shoot with less effort (so less chance of pushing/pulling). You can increase your range, and ability to shoot off balance with more muscle. Not to mention the added strength and possibly agility (if you do legs and maybe sprinting). This makes me really wish i had time to get back in peak basketball form. **** i miss my body/game from 4 years ago

 

[Matt]

playing team sports has a nice advantage in that you kind of lose track of time, end up doing a whole lot more exercise. I go running for 20 mins, I am bored for the last five, play sports, check my watch, and realise I have been running around for the past two hours without realising.

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by milosh

I think that even thou basketball won't build you much muscle, playing it regularly will keep you fit. Regarding shot power. I would guess that the best thing you could do to improve your 3pt range is practising shooting more with your legs. Weights would also help but will not compensate for the lack of technique.
+1. The legs are surprisingly important in developing consistency and range on your shot. The biggest benefit I've ever realize through cross-training came not when I was lifting weights, but when I was taking karate classes. I gained about 2" on my jump. I too miss the body/game I used to have (though it was more than 4 years ago).

 

[thekunk07]

training with explosiveness will help too. legs and delts are key for shooting.

 

[jwcarter]

so karate helped with your jump?

I only dream of dunking or even hitting the backboard

 

[Pilot]

how tall are you? running hard during a pick up game is a good way to get in some cardio. basketball works out alot of small muscles in your legs. like someone mentioned previously adductors and abductors will be very sore.

depending on how tall you are you can work on dunking. i think if you are about 6ft tall and can dunk that is a pretty god sign of what type of shape you are in. just work on grabbing the rim first if you cant. and try it about 10-15 times jumping as high as you can and grabbing rim/trying to dunk. you will be surprised how sore your legs will be the next day. do this everytime you play/ shoot around and you can be dunking within a month or so.

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by jwcarter

so karate helped with your jump?

I only dream of dunking or even hitting the backboard

My karate class involved a lot of kicking while standing on one (bent) leg. We'd go across the floor and back. Sparring also helped develop explosiveness (and lateral movement skills). I'm sure there are quicker ways to increase the height of your jump.

 

[erdawe]

It'll do more general good for you body than not doing any physical exercise otherwise... But don't expect it to add any significant muscle mass.