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Question: I am a 14 year old basketball player. My coach has recently told me to bulk up after the season. My main goal is to increase my abdominal strength and my chest to bump defenders off me and drive to the hole.

By: Josh Henkin

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How Can I Improve For Basketball?

I am a 14 year old freshman basketball (point guard 5'6", 130 lbs.) player in the Bronx, New York. My coach has recently told me to bulk up after the season, but he is not in contact since he has left for a family emergency. In my school there is a gym. I have been told that weightlifting can stunt growth. My main goal is to increase my abdominal strength and my chest to bump defenders off me and drive to the hole with greater strength. My own routine now consists of:

10 dips
25 pushups
20 curls (light wieghts)
15 chinups and pushups
10 leg raises
25 situps
25 crunches

All these exercises are one set of each.

I'm trying to figure out what routine would have a greater impact. Would the bench press help me on this? What could I do non-weight wise that I can use for chest and abdominal strength?

I have a very soft place in my heart for basketball players as I was a competitive basketball player for 13 years. I played on every level except professional, just didn't have the genes. That is why I really want to help many basketball players avoid the common pitfalls of training. First, training with weights will NOT stunt your growth. If you get on a sensible training program that allows you to slowly increase load you will have no problems. Unfortunately this myth about stunting growth will not die. There is no research to support it and countries outside of the US have used weight training for centuries without producing dwarfs as athletes.

You are close in your assumption on how to keep defenders off of you and "bang" inside the paint. In actuality, it is the legs that are so crucial in being strong. A great example is Yao Ming. Obviously he is very tall, but looks relatively thin in his upper body. He is able to hold his own by having a very strong lower body. Your lower body work should involve exercises like deadlifts, squats, Olympic lifts, one legged exercises, and minimize the use of machines.

As far as your abdominals, yes this would be helpful as well as getting a strong low back (which can be done indirectly with the above mentioned exercises). I would suggest you take a look at my "Mighty Abs" series which depicts exercises that actually load the abdominal area which is something that most athletes and trainers forget to do!

Don't forget though, strength training is just one part of the equation. You still need to be performing your drills, conditioning work (jump rope drills and unweighted exercises in my "Getting In Shape" series), flexibility work, and agility drills. Your know you have a good coach if they cover all these aspects in a well planned program.

Click HERE For The Main FAQ Page!
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AAPJosh@aol.com