Basketball · Sport
How to get fitter for basketball
How to still have legs in the fourth quarter, what to train between games, and how a game counts in the app, synced from your watch or phone.
The movement
How to do one properly.
Every rep the same shape, so the numbers mean the same thing on day thirty as on day one.
- 1
Warm up with light running, some shooting and a few defensive slides before the first game.
- 2
Play at the pace of the game: sprint the break, walk the ball up when the game allows.
- 3
Between games, intervals. Basketball is sprint, stop, jump, repeat, for forty minutes.
- 4
Jump rope and calf work keep the ankles honest.
- 5
Hips and glutes twice a week: squats, lunges, side steps. Defence is a hip exercise.
The way up
How to get fitter for basketball
Rung 1
30 minutes
Pick-up games to eleven. Enough to count.
Rung 2
60 minutes
A full run of games without sitting out.
Rung 3
Full game
Forty minutes at pace, fourth quarter included.
Two interval sessions a week between games: shuttle runs on the court, fifteen seconds hard and forty-five easy, ten rounds. Add a round a week.
Skip rope for five minutes before every session. It is the cheapest ankle and calf insurance there is, and it counts in the app on its own.
How it is counted
On the board, however it got there.
Your watch or phone sends it. Garmin, Suunto, Apple Health, and Health Connect all report basketball on their own, so it lands scored without anyone typing. No watch? Say it out loud in the app instead.
Worth 3.3 points per minute in the app, so a challenge can weigh it against anything else you count.
Questions
Asked about basketball
How is basketball counted?
In minutes played. Log the time on court, or let a watch send it as basketball.
Does shooting around count?
Only if you want it to. Count the time you were actually moving; a shooting session with a lot of standing is a different number from a game.
Does it count from my watch?
Your watch or phone sends it. Garmin, Suunto, Apple Health, and Health Connect all report basketball on their own, so it lands scored without anyone typing. No watch? Say it out loud in the app instead.
Is it free?
Yes. The athlete app is free: logging, challenges and every guide on this site. Coaches pay for their workspace; the people they coach do not.
Other exercises
Everything else we count.
Push up
How to do more push ups
Pull up
How to do more pull ups
Squat
How to do more squats
Plank
How to hold a plank longer
Sit up
How to do more sit ups
Dip
How to do more dips
Burpees
How to do more burpees
Lunges
How to do more lunges
Jumping jacks
How to do more jumping jacks
Skipping
How to skip rope longer
Extensions
How to do more back extensions
Battle ropes
How to last longer on battle ropes
Running
How to run further
Cycling
How to ride further
Swimming
How to swim further
Rowing
How to row further
Steps
How to walk more steps every day
Hiking
How to hike further
Football
How to get fitter for football
Tennis
How to get fitter for tennis
Dancing
How to build stamina for dancing
Yoga
How to make yoga a daily habit
Do more basketball.
Let someone see it.
Get the app, log what you did or let your watch send it, and hand your friends the code.