For much of my playing career, training outside was the only option I had. Even though there were plenty of times when I hated it, on a basic level it worked. This is why I am somewhat shocked when I hear people complain of having to train outside.
In fact, I think that even if you have access to a gym whenever you please, you should still incorporate outdoor training into your training program.
The first reason is to increase mental toughness. “Mental toughness” not as a vague buzz term, but your mind’s ability to override, as defined by Taylor Allen. Training outside will undoubtedly be more inconvenient than training indoors for a variety of reasons.
You may be playing through extreme heat or cold, playing on uneven surfaces, playing with the sun in your eyes, wind, or a number of other things.
By training anyway, you will be teaching yourself to respond to adversity. This override ability, or mental toughness, is an attribute that can be improved like any other skill and by training outdoors, you will be strengthening yourself in this area.
Not to mention it would be an adequate way to switch things up and prevent you from getting tired of the same old routine.
Another advantage of practicing outside is that you are outside. Which means you also get all the benefits of just being outdoors; the sunshine and all of its associated chemicals that make people happy that I cannot explain to you scientifically (lol, wrong blog for that).
“We did not evolve to live indoors.” Training outside kills two birds with one stone. You get your outside time and you get your workout in.
A final benefit of training outside is that you will appreciate training in a gym more. When we get used to things, we tend to take them for granted. Working outdoors once in a while will prevent this from happening.
With that said…
The benefits of being outside for training purposes stop there. I’m going to sit here and pretend training outside is some wonderful thing because it’s not. Many times, it sucks. Like I said, there were lots of instances where I hated it.
Even though the advantages I talked about above are real, they do not come close to the advantages of a gym and technology, from a training perspective.
Look at the movie Rocky IV, for example.
The Rocky movies are great for motivation and showing how to make the best of any circumstances, but they are not grounded in reality.
In reality, the fighter with all the fancy technology and endless array of trainers will win 99% of the time.
It’s the same with basketball. Although there are benefits to training outside, they do not compare to training in a gym.
This is why I recommend doing the majority of your training in a gym if you can. If you need to get a job, do it. It is worth it for your basketball career.
This is not to say that training outside is hopeless. It’s what I did most of the time, and one could say that I ‘made it’ in terms of what a lot of players' goal is, which is to play college basketball.
However, one could just as easily say that I did not ‘make it’ as it is “only” an NAIA school (Not Division I) and I won’t have any chances of going pro (not because of the NAIA school but because of my ability).
One could also defend outdoor training by pointing at Larry Bird. “He still trained outside in the off-season, even when he was in the pros!”
Larry Bird is 6’9”; he is the exception. For most people reading this, you are probably the rule. You can take that however you want to take it.
But back to the topic-
If you can only train outside, keep making the best of what you have.
If you can only train inside- well, I don’t know how that could be, but if it is so- then don’t worry about it.
However, if you can do both, I would say the best way to get the benefits of each would be to incorporate outdoor workouts as a part of your primarily indoor training regimen.
This wouldn’t be something you do very often. An outdoor workout once every two weeks to a month would be suitable.
Mark it into your calendar because they should be so few and far between that they would be easily forgettable.
This will help you gain a slight edge over your peers.
Athlete-Student
BucketsoverBooks
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