A friend and colleague of mine, Drew Henley, was kind enough to share with me an awesome workout challenge that is perfect for basketball players at any level to do once every couple of weeks during the off-season. I tried it the other day and loved it!
For you players, it is a fantastic way to break up the monotony, add some variety to your workout, and spark your competitiveness. For you coaches, it is easily made into a fun team building workout; pair players up and see who can get the highest poundage on the team, or like I did with Montrose the other day, see which pair can reach the goal the quickest!
Here is the challenge: Lift 60,000 lbs in 60 minutes.
Don’t roll your eyes or say “yeah right.” Trust me, it is very doable!
You multiply the weight times the number of reps you perform to get total poundage. So if you bench 135 lbs 10 times, then you have 1,350 lbs. Only 58,650 lbs to go! You simply keep a running total of weight times reps and then add up everything at the end. You are more than welcome to keep a running total to see where you are at all times, but I recommend using a calculator so you don’t waste much time!
Here are a few ground rules to make this challenge as effective as possible:
- No leg press (too easy)
- No calf raises (too easy)
- Only full range of motion reps count
- Pull-ups are the only bodyweight exercise allowed (your weight being the weight for the exercise)
- Utilize free weights and dumbbells as much as possible to keep things universal
- When using DB’s (dumbells); it’s the total weight (bench pressing with 40’s = 80 lbs)
- Start the clock on your first rep and end the workout in exactly 60 minutes
What will your strategy be? Try to lift lighter weights for more reps? Heavy weights for fewer reps? Alternate upper body and lower body exercises? Run through several exercises in a row with no rest? You may want to record and add up a “normal” workout first to gauge where you stand before devising a strategy.
Have fun with it! If you try it, drop me an email at Alan@StrongerTeam.com and let me know how you did and what you thought. I will email you back with the results of the first time I tried it.
Also, I have just added a channel on YouTube. You should subscribe, it’s FREE! My goal is to add an “Exercise of the Week” every week along with my blog post. If you subscribe, you will be automatically notified every time I add a clip.
These exercises will be unconventional and fresh, and are the same ones I use with my elite college and NBA players. If you are getting bored with your workouts, you will love this!
Check it out and subscribe at www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom
Train hard. Train smart.
Alan Stein
Alan Stein is the owner of Stronger Team and the Head Strength & Conditioning coach for the nationally renowned, Nike Elite Montrose Christian Mustangs boy’s basketball program. Alan is a performance consultant for Nike Basketball as well heavily involved with Nike SPARQ Basketball. He is the head conditioning coach for the annual McDonald’s All American game, the Jordan Brand All American Classic, and the Nike Summer Skills Academies. Alan is a Camp Coach at the prestigious NBA Player’s Association’s Top 100 Camp as well as the Chris Paul CP3 Elite Backcourt Camp. Alan has filmed over a dozen DVD’s on improving performance and is a sought after lecturer at basketball camps and clinics across the world. He has been featured in Winning Hoops, Time Out, Dime, SI.com, SLAMonline.com, American Basketball Quarterly, Stack, Men’s Health, and FIBA Assist Magazine.