Nehal Kazim asked:

Core training is one of the most important factors of a basketball player’s body. Don’t get me wrong, you need quickness, agility, strength and overall skill in the sport but the core is what gives you that competitive advantage or “umph” into it.

For effective basketball training, you must train the whole core area which consists of the abdominals and lower back. The core is the area that connects your upper body and lower body and this is what brings momentum into any part of your game. When you’re in a game, your body does the following actions:

1. Jump to rip down rebounds
2. Elevate to dunk or lay-up
3. Elevate to rebound
4. Push body forward to pass

If you didn’t notice yet, the most important factor to the intensity of those actions may not be the core but it does have an effect. Here is an example: When you are jumping to get a rebound, most of the time, you don’t jump directly up. You bend your legs, pull back your hands and then jump. If your core is weak, there is a good chance that you will not be able to get the highest you can and there may be a kink in your movement. Most of the movements in the game of basketball have a lot of to do with the core being active and this is why you must train it properly and effectively. Once you have a strong core, your body is balanced and it moves in one smooth movement.

Today, I will be giving you two exercises that will strengthen the core and give you more stability in your movements:

1) Plank: This exercise is a very popular core exercises because it absolutely provides hard-hitting results. To do this exercise, in a push-up position and instead of balancing on your hands, balance your body with the forearms also in a line with your body.

a. Stay in this position for as long as you can. Your goal should be 2 minutes at least on each reptition. Rest 60 seconds and redo the plank position again.

b. The point is to keep your body in a straight line throughout the 2 minutes interval

2) Superman: Lie down on your chest with your hands and legs straightened out. Raise your hands and legs straight up as if you were to put your arms and legs together. Hold up for 10 seconds at each repetition. Rest for 5 seconds and hold the superman position for another 10 seconds.