Training your shoulder muscles is a great way to develop more upper body power, especially as you grab a rebound or power your way for a layup on the basketball court.

At only 6’0 tall and 175 lbs., Chris Paul isn’t your average NBA superstar. In fact, many people doubted his basketball potential because of his lack of size and strength coming out of college. He was highly respected in college, but received a lot of criticism from the media entering the NBA. However, Paul proved all the critics wrong by training with high intensity throughout the off-season to prepare himself to stand amongst the toughest and most competitive players in the league.

The Hornets’ head strength and conditioning coach, Jack Manson, worked with Chris on his strength and conditioning when he was on the team. According to an interview with STACK Magazine, the main goals of Paul’s daily training are injury prevention, recovery, flexibility, ankle strength and stability, and hip, core, and glute strength. Paul never lifted weights in high school because he thought it would mess up his shot. However, he realized that it helps him with the contact he faces on the basketball court. To him, it’s not about getting big and bulky but rather to prevent injuries and to maintain a strong core.

Here is Chris Paul doing a single-leg bosu touch. This works on his balance, strength, and stability. Try what CP3 does here at your gym. You’ll notice how the stability ball increases activation of the muscle in your legs as opposed to doing it without the increased instability on the ball.

Paul details his training routine with Stack Magazine. Some of his preferred workouts are:

Foam Rolling to 1) reduce soreness and 2) increase flexibility and range of motion. I am sure you see many people using foam rollers in the gym. You know…that foam cylinder that people roll on. Foam rolling is a self-myofascial release technique to inhibit overactive muscles. This form of stretching improves soft tissue extensibility, thus relaxing the muscle and allowing the activation of the antagonist muscle. It has great benefits and you should consider using them after each workout.

Bosu Circles for 1) balance, 2) hip, glute and core strength, and 3) hip and ankle stability
This is a great workout and helps prepare your core to move in all different directions. You see basketball players jumping and moving at all angles and this workout helps assist in this.

Single-Leg Bosu Touch for 1) balance, 2) hip, glute, ankle and core strength, and 3) hip and ankle stability
This is a great way to build strong ankles. Everytime you jump, you are risking damaging your ankles with impact. This helps keep them healthy and assists in further jumping power.

Chin-Ups for 1) upper-body strength and 2) ball security
Chin-ups are one of the best bodyweight exercises. They can be done anywhere as long as you have some sort of bar or an object that is sturdy enough to hold onto.

Alternating Dumbbell Incline for upper-body strength
This exercise really hits the chest and shoulders and makes your pushing movement stronger.

NOTE: This is only part of Chris Paul’s workout routine, in which we offer some additional commentary to his regimen. To see the whole routine and to go more in-depth with athlete workouts, be sure to check out STACK Magazine

Source – http://magazine.stack.com/TheIssue/Article/4175/Chris_Pauls_Training_Plan.aspx