Playing basketball after lifting

EssenDoubleOP · October 16th, 2006, 05:45 PM

I know running following lifting weights reduces the anabolic impact. What about shooting hoops? I've been shooting hoops for about 20 minutes after I lift weights to get my arms loose. Otherwise they feel really heavy and shaky before I go to school. But does playing basketball reduce my weight training?

**Insex** · October 16th, 2006, 10:14 PM

That would depend on the intensity and duration of you playing basketball/shooting hoops.

Low-Intensity + Short Duration = No Significant Effect

High-Intensity + Long Duration = Very Significant Effect

EssenDoubleOP · October 16th, 2006, 11:02 PM

What if I lifted 3 days a week and played basketball games 2 days that I didn't lift? Would that cause a significant effect on my overall muscle-building?

**Insex** · October 16th, 2006, 11:35 PM

I don't think so. How old are you, and what are your height and weight? If you're young, then you don't have anything to worry about. Teenagers have bundles of energy to burn, and they grow no matter what.

If you're mostly concerned with putting on as much muscle as possible, then check your nutrition. It is very hard for a person to overtrain. Instead, most people usually undernourish themselves before they overtrain themselves.

EssenDoubleOP · October 17th, 2006, 09:26 AM

I'm 20, 5'10", 180 pounds. I lift weights for an hour MWF interspersed with ab workouts. Afterwards I shoot-around with a basketball to loosen up. I'd like to play a real game but I'm worried that that may weaken the overall effect of my workout to add muscle.

**bouncer** · October 17th, 2006, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EssenDoubleOP

I'm 20, 5'10", 180 pounds. I lift weights for an hour MWF interspersed with ab workouts. Afterwards I shoot-around with a basketball to loosen up. I'd like to play a real game but I'm worried that that may weaken the overall effect of my workout to add muscle.

I think you are smart with that approach. Loosening up is fine. If you are looking to out on some muscle, I would suggest getting in some creatine, or a good carb/protien dring in the transition.

**Insex** · October 17th, 2006, 03:20 PM

If your goal for lifting weights is to pack on as much muscle as possible, then you'll probably want to limit the amount of high-intensity cardio you do (example: playing full-scale basketball games).

This does not mean that you should abstain from doing any form of cardiovascular exercise. You should still do some form of cardiovascular exercise to achieve optimum cardiovascular health.

When you have a healthy heart and cardiovascular system, your body is able to transport blood and nutrients more efficiently to your muscles. Thus allowing you to replenish and nourish your muscles from exercise and daily use so they can grow. Playing basketball games is a good and fun type of cardiovascular exercise.

If you play full-scale basketball games twice a week, you should be able to gain lean muscle mass from lifting three days a week (considering your diet is good). However, if you were playing basketball games every day of the week, gaining muscle would be much tougher to accomplish.

**Presa_Canario** · October 17th, 2006, 07:11 PM

If you're still looking for a way to wind down a workout, consider doing some high-rep exercises with very light weight, or high reps with a band if you have access to one. Not every workout, but occassionally I grab a light dumbbell and do around twenty reps at the end of my workout to flush my muscles and keep the blood flow up. This is also beneficial for a muscle the day after, so long as you're doing high reps and VERY light weight (you're not trying to break down any more fibers here, just renew some blood flow and flush things out to facilitate healing).

Killa_Z · October 18th, 2006, 02:15 PM

if the activity is considered 'cardio' work, then do it AFTER weights