As a basketball player, dunking can be very useful. Not only does dunking look very impressive, but it also gives you more of a chance of scoring points when you're near the basket, and it can transfer into other areas of your game, such as rebounding and blocking. To dunk successfully, you need a workout tailored toward your goals, and as it involves pretty much every major muscle in your body, a full body workout is the best option to choose.
Leg Training 1
Start your workout with a jumping exercise, such as box jumps, vertical jumps or broad jumps for six sets of three repetitions per set. Not only does this aid your dunking abilities, but according to strength coach Chad Smith, it also activates your central nervous system, which prepares your body for the weight training ahead and makes you stronger. Joe DeFranco of DeFranco's Strength and Conditioning advises that it's also worthwhile stretching your hip flexors between every set of jumps, as having tight hip flexors can negatively impact your jumping.
Leg Training 2
After your activation jumps and stretches, perform two other leg exercises back to back. For the first one, do dumbbell lunges for five sets of eight per side. According to corrective exercise specialist Mike Robertson, single leg exercises such as lunges are great for developing your leg muscles, and improving balance, strength and injury resistance around your knees. For your second exercise, do a glute ham raise for five sets of 12 reps. These focus on your hamstrings -- one of the most important muscles in your body for generating speed, power and explosiveness, all of which are vital for dunking.
Upper Body Training
Moving on to upper body training, being powerful and strong should still be your main aim. Set up a mini circuit consisting of overhead medicine ball throws, pushups and inverted rows. Perform five reps of medicine ball throws, using a moderately heavy ball, making sure that each one is as powerful as possible, then do 15 pushups, followed by 15 inverted rows. Rest for a minute or two, then repeat the circuit four more times. As you get stronger, increase the weight of the medicine ball, wear a weighted vest for your pushups and do chinups instead of inverted rows.
Core Training
When you dunk, your core needs to stay strong, as it stabilizes your whole midsection and torso. According to trainer Tony Gentilcore, the main functions of your abdominal muscles are to provide posterior pelvic tilt and rotation, and to resist trunk extension and other forms of rotation, so you should focus on exercises that do these movements. Good options are planks and side planks, Pallof presses, wood chops, Turkish get-ups and rollouts. Pick two exercises and spend 10 minutes switching between them at the end of your session. Your focus here should be on controlled technique, rather than doing lots of reps, or using heavy weights.
Member Comments