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Basketball Off-Season Strength & Speed
Basketball Off-Season Strength & Speed is an intermediate basketball program that runs 12 weeks at 4 sessions per week. It is built into Ægir Iron and free to load for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster.
What this program is
A 12-week, four-day off-season program for high school and college players. Two lower days open with jumps and stuck landings, then a front squat or trap bar deadlift, single-leg work, Nordic hamstring curls, single-leg calf raises and single-leg balance holds for the ankles, with tibialis raises on the hinge day. Two upper days each finish with change-of-direction and repeated-sprint work: lateral shuffles and court-length sprints on one, 5-10-5 shuttles and bike sprints on the other. Each 4-week block ends in a deload week. Guards: add two sets to the shuffles and sprints, since guards sprint and shuffle more in games than forwards and centres.
At a glance
| Discipline | Basketball |
| Experience level | Intermediate |
| Length | 12 weeks |
| Training days | 4 per week |
| Equipment | Barbell + Trap Bar + Dumbbells + Cables + Pull-Up Bar + Assault Bike (machine) + Box |
| Season phase | Off-season |
| Loading | RPE targets on the lifts, with jumps and landings counted in ground contacts. |
| Price | Free for individual lifters and rostered athletes |
Free for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster. Coaches pay only for roster tools.
How it works in Ægir Iron
Inside Ægir Iron the plan is real Cycle, Block, Week, Day structure. The 12 weeks are grouped into 3 blocks, and the sets, reps and effort targets change from one block to the next. Lifts carry RPE targets rather than percentages, and you choose the weight. If you would rather run a lift off a percentage of your max, switch that row to a percentage in the editor. You load it in a couple of taps, then adjust any session, and a coach can push it to an athlete's account in real time.
Original source
Ægir Iron's template is built from these sources. Under each one is what the template takes from it.
- Petersen J, Thorborg K, Nielsen MB, Budtz-Jørgensen E, Hölmich P (2011). Preventive effect of eccentric training on acute hamstring injuries in men's soccer: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Am J Sports Med. 2011;39(11):2296-2303.The shape of the basketball Nordic build, 2 x 5 -> 3 x 6 -> 3 x 8 across the blocks
- Chen A, Zhuang M, Huang Z, Zhao L, Wang L (2026). The effects of field-based repeated sprint training on physical performance in soccer players: a systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis. Front Physiol. 2026;17:1745959.The basketball repeated-sprint figures: sprints of 10 to 40 m, 20 to 30 s between them and a few minutes between sets (the interval formats are ours)
- Petushek EJ, Sugimoto D, Stoolmiller M, Smith G, Myer GD (2019). Evidence-Based Best-Practice Guidelines for Preventing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Young Female Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Am J Sports Med. 2019;47(7):1744-1753.Landing stabilisation on every basketball lower day: the jump and landing row that opens it
- McGuine TA, Keene JS (2006). The effect of a balance training program on the risk of ankle sprains in high school athletes. Am J Sports Med. 2006;34(7):1103-1111.The Single Leg Balance row in every basketball program: a balance program cut ankle sprains about in half in high school basketball and soccer players
- Emery CA, Rose MS, McAllister JR, Meeuwisse WH (2007). A prevention strategy to reduce the incidence of injury in high school basketball: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Clin J Sport Med. 2007;17(1):17-24.A basketball warm-up plus home wobble-board training cut acute injuries in players 12-18, the second reason for the balance row
- Ramirez-Campillo R, García-Hermoso A, Moran J, Chaabene H, Negra Y, Scanlan AT (2022). The effects of plyometric jump training on physical fitness attributes in basketball players: A meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(6):656-670.The jump and landing row that opens every basketball lower day: jump work improves jump, sprint, change of direction, balance and strength in basketball players regardless of programme length
- Cao S, Li Z, Wang Z, Geok SK, Liu J (2025). The Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training on Basketball Players: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Sports Sci Med. 2025;24(1):31-51.The change-of-direction and repeated-sprint conditioning in the off-season basketball programs (lateral shuffles, 5-10-5 shuttles, court-length sprints, bike sprints)
- Stojanović E, Stojiljković N, Scanlan AT, Dalbo VJ, Berkelmans DM, Milanović Z (2018). The Activity Demands and Physiological Responses Encountered During Basketball Match-Play: A Systematic Review. Sports Med. 2018;48(1):111-135.Basketball conditioning: 5-6 km of live play per 40-minute game above 85 percent of max heart rate, with guards sprinting and shuffling more, hence the guard note in Basketball Off-Season Strength & Speed
- Martinho DV, Clemente FM, Ángel-Gomez M, Rebelo A, Field A, Santos CC, et al. (2025). Physical, Physiological, Technical and Tactical Responses According to the Playing Position in Male Basketball: A Systematic Scoping Review. J Hum Kinet. 2025;96(Spec Issue):5-35.The guard note in Basketball Off-Season Strength & Speed: guards add sets to the sprint and shuffle rows rather than run a separate program
Start Basketball Off-Season Strength & Speed
Open Ægir Iron, go to Program and choose New Program, then the Program Wizard. On the first screen pick your discipline, then choose Basketball Off-Season Strength & Speed from the cards under WHAT DO YOU WANT TO RUN? It is free on iOS, Android, and the web, with your data synced across all three.