Exercise Routine

[jdw3018]

There's a lot of good advice in this thread, but I'll just add what I'm doing this year.

The biggest thing in my limited experience is that while we're never going to be asked to run a 5 mile race, endurance is critical to what we do. So doing some endurance training during the off-season is important, IMO, and frankly easier (at least for me) to do. 3-5 miles per day 5 days a week (doesn't have to be road running or treadmill, can also gain the benefit through elliptical machine or other cardio-heavy workouts) does the trick for me.

Distance work (3-5 mile/day range) also helps develop very good strength in your legs to support your joints, as long as you don't have issues with impact. Some sort of weight training is absolutely critical as well. I lift 2-3 times per week pretty hard. (I lift like this during the season as well, but use my games as my cardio workouts with just really light, low-impact work on off-days mainly to loosen up and keep my joint pain at a minimum.)

If you really want to take it to anther level after getting to a good level of fitness, doing speed work and working on your running form will make you much more effective at getting in the proper position, especially in transition, and just make you look better on the court. This is what I want to focus on hard going into camp season this summer and then as the season approaches next fall.