In the first part of Scientific Basketball Training I gave a brief summary of the research. In part II, I am going to discuss the key points in further detail.
1. Basketball
is an Anaerobic Sport – power, strength, quickness, agility dominate the sport (1).
For a moment think of some of the greatest athletes to play the game? What characteristics are common among many of the best to ever play?
I personally think of Michael Jordan and his jumping ability, quickness, balance and agility, these are all anaerobic characteristics.
2. Aerobic
Capacity has little effect on Anaerobic recovery (1) & low-intensity
endurance training may even impair recover from high intensity
exercise like Basketball (2).
This statement refers to a physiological law called the law of specificity or the SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands). Your body will adapt to what you impose on it. So, for example if you do lots of long, slow runs (e.g. 5-10km) your body will become efficient at running long and slow. Run sprints and you will become faster. This is not something you need a PhD. in physiology to understand. It is pretty common sense.
On another note isn't there a training "theory" or should I say myth that says doing lots of aerobic work will help you recovery faster from high intensity exercise like basketball? You know, in the pre-season do lots of long, slow runs to build up an aerobic base. While this is a good idea for endurance sports, the research shows the complete opposite, it may even make your recovery processes worse! Remember the SAID principle, your body adapts to what you impose on it. Internally in your cells there is a very different set of chemical reactions and processes going on when you do something like run 10km as opposed to playing basketball or doing high intensity intervals. Not only that, with repeat exposures, your cells become more efficient at producing the chemicals and other structures it needs to perform under the imposed conditions. I ask you then, when do those long track sessions and runs in the woods come into play for conditioning a basketball athlete? Do they have any beneficial role to play?
Based on the research and basic science I would say there is very little if any need to do this kind of training.
3. Work:Rest
Ratio is 1:1 to 1:3 & with High Intensity components lasting up to 30s (3).
When training for any sport the work to rest ratio is very important. It literally tells you what to do. In the case for basketball, every single unit of work you do, should be followed by 1-3x as long rest. Basketball is a discontinuous sport; there are starts, stops, sprints, easy jogs, walking, change direction ... This is very different from a continuous sport like running 10km or cycling.
Knowing the work:rest ratio is one thing, but how long is each work session in a basketball game? For
the high intensity portions of the game (e.g. jumping & sprinting) the work is only on average about 15s long with some other research showing closer to 20-30s! Now, this does not mean all training programs should have 15s or less of work intervals but it does give further evidence of the importance of training more on anaerobic endurance and power as opposed to aerobic training.
4. Distance
Traveled for Pro Basketball = ~3000m, excluding walking and
Shuffling (4).
I think this is pretty self explanatory. This was also for professional men's basketball, so it would be even lower for youth athletes.
5. Inverse
relationship between aerobic capacity/training & power/strength (5-7).
The
more you train the Aerobic system the lower potential you have for
power, strength & lean body mass
improvements. Simply look at any top marathon or even 10km runner. Do they have the
body of an elite basketball player? What about an Olympic weightlifter
or 100-200m runner? To be successful in basketball at the higher levels requires a very good
base of strength and power. Lots
of aerobic training simply dampens all the training you do to become
quicker, stronger and more powerful.
6. Interval
Training: improve aerobic & anaerobic capacity at the
same time (8, 9)
For those of you that are still worried about not having an aerobic base to work from because all you do is lots of intervals, well don't worry. High intensity intervals will do the trick.
How do you do these for Basketball?
1. Use a work:rest of 1:1 to 1:3
2. work portion is no longer then 30s
3. repeat 5-20 times
4. change directions at least every 30m.
5. the work portion should be done at a very high intensity.
e.g. 10 x 1 line drill (suicide run) on 60s interval
I actually use this as a conditioning test for basketball players. For men, a good time is 30s or less on each run. If the athlete does 30s, he will be using a work to rest ratio of 1:1. I would consider this a long interval for basketball players. If you can do this drill under 30s per run you will be a beast on the court and will be able to run all day.
Summary
- train dominantly with anaerobic exercises and drills.
- to get better at your sport, train the sport!
- ditch the long runs in the woods!
- design your training programs with intervals using a work:rest ratio of 1:1 to 1:3.
- Keep most of your high intensity training segments to under 30s in length before there is a rest.
In part III I will give more examples of training programs you can use with your athletes.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment.
Be Well,
Mike Ried
references
1. Hoffman, J.R., S. Epstein, M. Einbinder and Y. Weinstein. The influence of aerobic capacity on anaerobic performance and recovery indices in basketball payers. J. Strength Cond. Res. 13(4): 407–411. 1999
2. Plisk, P. Speed, agility, and speed-endurance development. In: Essential Principles of Strength and Conditioning (2nd ed.). T. Baechle and R. Earle eds. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2000. pp. 487.
3. MCINNES, S.E., J.S. CARLSON, C.J. JONES, AND M.J. MCKENNA. The physiological load imposed on basketball players during competition. J. Sports Sci. 13:387–397. 1995.
4. McClay, I.R., J.R. Robinson, T.P. Andriacchi, E.C. Frederick, T. Gross, P. Martin, G. Valiant, KR. Williams, and P.R Cavanagh. A profile of ground reaction forces in professional basketball. J. Appl. Biomech. 10:222–236. 1994.
5. Dudley, G.A., and R. Djamil. Incompatibility of endurance & strength training modes of exercise. J. Appl. Physiol. 59:1446–1451. 1985.
6. Dudley, G.A., and S.J. Fleck. Strength & endurance training: are they mutually exclusive? Sports Med. 4:79–85. 1987.
7. Hickson, R.C. Interference of strength development by simultaneously training for strength and endurance. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 56:255–263. 1980.
8. Tabata, I., K. Nishimura, et al. The effects of moderateintensity endurance and high intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and V˙O2max. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 28(10):1327–1330. 1996.
9. Tabata, I., K. Nishimura, et al. Metabolic profile of highintensity intermittent exercises. Med. Sci. Sport Exerc. 29(3):390–395. 1997.
