The military press exercise is great for building upper body strength and explosiveness and will focus primarily on the shoulder muscles. Having strong shoulder muscles will really help you in being able to be strong with the basketball and finish through contact. This will allow you to turn fouls around the basket into potential three-point plays.
There are two variations to this basketball exercise that you can do. One will be where you stand completely still and let your upper body do all of the work. The other is going to be called a push press, and it is going to allow you to generate some force from your legs by slightly squatting down and then standing up to generate force. Both variations are great for developing strength and explosiveness, which will translate onto the court and into basketball training, practices, and games.
Basketball Exercise Overview
Exercise Name: Military Press Exercise
Equipment Needed: Barbell and weighted plates, or dumbbells.
Similar Basketball Exercises and Resources
Goals of the Exercise
- Develop upper body strength and explosiveness.
Coaching Points
- Make sure that you have the correct form before going for a heavier weight.
- When doing the push press variation, make sure that you really generate force from your legs.
Basketball Exercise Instructions
- Grab a barbell or dumbbells and hold them right at your shoulder, with your palms facing upwards.
- Now press the weight up over your head and then lower it back down to your shoulders. If you are doing a push press, you will slightly squat down and then stand up as you press the weight up over your head.
- Repeat the motion for the desired amount of repetitions.
