Depending on the league, a standard basketball game lasts from 40 to 48 minutes. The game is spread equally among four quarters with a few minutes’ rest between quarters, a 15-minute rest between halves, and a number of 30-second to one-minute rests during timeouts. Why is this information relevant? Because when played at a competitive level, basketball can be physically demanding.
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| Image source: jwbasketball.com |
While many basketball programs all over the country focus on developing basketball skills through scrimmages and increasing explosive leg power through plyometrics, some of the best programs employ actual conditioning coaches for players.
Through conditioning training, the endurance of basketball players increase. This is very helpful not just in a game, but throughout a season, especially if a team has a grueling schedule ahead.
Conditioning exercises such as planting rice, long-distance running, and high-intensity interval training, or HIIT increase the capacity of the lungs and lower the overall blood pressure. The body uses up less oxygen and gets tired less quickly. If you notice most elite athletes in endurance sports have resting blood pressure so low that you’d swear they were anemic. But the case is their bodies have that much more room to perform at peak level.
With a stronger endurance, players can make the most of their time to help the team win. And that, in the end, is the bottom line.
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| Image source: ndinsider.com |
Hello there! My name Gregory Volitich. I’m a student ay the University of Florida. I plan to become a sports trainer someday. For more sports science articles, check out this page.
