Quite funny to read back on this now. Since this post I have joined a weightlifting club and am training three times a week. Therefore, for the last 3 months or so I have been doing lots of squats, shoulder presses, push presses, rows etc. Now I am starting to learn the clean and the snatch. At the moment, I can squat 95kg for a set of 5 (those are deep squats, till the back of the leg come together) and power clean 60 kg. The plan is to do 5 sets of 5 squats at 100 kg and get the power cleans up to 80 kg in a months time. I am still quite average at badminton since I only play once a week and don't really practice that much. I am, however, a lot stronger than I was before.
Although I mostly lack the time and motivation to hit the gym, we do quite a few bodyweight exercises in training designed to stabilize your core - and although it doesn't get you any big muscles to show off, you're definitely gonna notice it. For me, it was suddenly pretty easy to lean back further, which drastically improved my around-the-head forehand clear under pressure.... As I have some issues with muscles hardening and aching in my right arm, I make sure to exercise carefully and warm up properly (doing a set of slow push ups before playing and starting with low weight and very slow motions when working out). I think I would benefit quite a bit from doing some leg exercises in the gym more regularly (especially improving my jumping height would be nice for doubles/mixed), but as I mentioned, its hard to fit into my schedule with 4 times training a week and lots of work for University :/ For all who're new to the sport and are interested - power in badminton comes from technique, not big muscles. Bigger (upper body) muscles only limit your range of motion and slow you down, only train them when you're proficient and have a specific aim (e.g. improving the smash 'cause you're a doubles player). Doing strength exercises for legs and stablizing exercises for your upper body will definitley improve your performance, most noticeably your speed around the court - enabling you to retrieve more shots =)
I don't do a lot of weight training. Not for badminton and not for anything else. We've done a little bit of weight training in the summer during the off season. I didn't really noticed any difference, but it was only for about 2 months and only once a week. We do have a lot of foodwork excercizes, but those are more for technique then strength. Same goes for strokes, although my coach doesn't focus quite as much on that. I only have group training btw. It's not an individual coach. That would be to expensive for me.
Once a week is too little to make any noticeable progress (exception: if you train 5 times badminton, and once in the gym, then your legs will get noticeably stronger - but more is better ). You need to train 2-3 times every week, at least 2 (better 3) sets per exercise, ideally 2 or 3 exercises per muscle. Also, lotsa 'clean' calories (little to no fat&sugar) and PROTEIN. Both are essential for building muscle, as well as a healthy diet (e.g. lack of Vitamins hinders muscle build-up). If you train, say, your legs (leg presses, quadrizeps, hamstrings, calves), you WILL notice an improvement in speed and especially jumping height. In my case, I was able to lower my stance quite a bit so far - but I was still unable to fit regular gym training into my schedule. Another big advantage of (careful) leg training is that it strengthens the muscles supporting the joints, which helps a lot of people with knee or ankle problems.
Anyone have success or any insight as to how to comfortably do higher, farther clears? The pros make it look effortless (not much movement other than just the arm and wrist).
Thats something weight training helps very little with. The key is perfect timing and high wrist&pronation strength. Playing with a heavier racket helps - I sometimes do drive drills with a squash racket. You need to be very careful though, the higher weight increases the risk of injury.
A lot of you do some sort of bodybuilding program (like the above) which is really not ideal for badminton. You will improve your strength on it most likely, and add muscle, but then any program will do that for a relative beginner initially. If you want to do weights for badminton a program involving: Squats (quad dominant exercise), Deadlift variation (hamstring dominant exercise), lunge/split squat/single leg squat ( unilateral leg ex), cleans/snatches (or pull variation of), a press (probably dumbell bench is best) and a pull (any pullup variation) or row. You can do 2 sessions a week, possibly 3 in offseason. Don't do any exercise 2 sessions in a row. Start with 4 sets of 6 reps, except for cleans where you may want to do 3s due to the technical nature of the lift. You need lots of prehab work - shoulder stability/mobility, core work, glute activation, hip mobility. Other than that look to band work and medicine ball work. You don't need to do 3 or four variations on a press. Be careful with shoulder pressing, many players will get injured with it, likewise bench press. Leg extensions and leg curls are a poor choice compared to compound lifts. You don't need massive volume like more than 4 work sets. If you pick a few compound exercises and do a hard set in the 6 rep range and increase the weight each week you will get much stronger all over.
weight training do helps to increase power but it is also diminish easily. I usually train regularly but once i got lazy and didn't train for one week and the my power decrease a lot. For past few week, i try to improve my smash technique and get a good result. I can smash without using much strength. Now i believe and understand what people said. Strong smash doesn't really require you to have a alot of strength. Now i can reduce my weight training and starting to improve my hitting technique.
I'm not sure if this has been addressed, but why is "cardio" in the above poll? I personally do a lot of weight training, but very little cardio (apart from playing badminton itself). I feel if you want to "put on" muscle, to look big and cool, its not so good for your game. The muscle gets in the way, I also noticed this when playing golf a few times, and my friends taught me the correct posture etc, but my pectorials were getting in the way of a perfect swing... If you do lighter weights with more reps, (similar to cardio) its very good, but it is the same as just doing regular exercise I feel. In which case, it doesn't take a genius to work out, that regular exercise will have a positive effect on pretty much any sport.
Good thread. I like the suggestion and views of all the members. Thanks for sharing this thread with me. Keep sharing this type of good posts.
Haha, you mean adapting? Well, I'm not into powerlifting, but I have adapted my workout. Lots of leg training now, and only stabilizing for the upper body (except the shoulder area).
I followed a workout program similer to "starting strength" (google it if you're that interested). Mainly squats, deadlifts, bench and OHP. Definatley gave me a bigger "pool" of strength to draw from and because it's a strength program I didn't gain much mass. I found that once I got back into training, the strength then got converted to power that I could really use.
i do the same starting strength programm since this year.. squats, deadlifts, bench and OHP. I added pullups and abs exercises now despite feeling overall powerfull and good i think the greatest thing about it is that it really helps you avoiding injuries (of course you have to focus on technique!) i dont know if i got any faster or sth like that, but i certainly did not loose any speed, i did not gain a lot of weight anyhow i had so many little aches and injuries...mainly my back caused problems..since doing squats and deadlift those disappeared completely even after the most tough and long badminton sessions my back feels completely fine which was unimaginable last years
Yeah, squatting is a super exercise for badminton. I would say the best thing for a badminton player would be to train all muscle groups in the legs (the squad is not so great for the calves and biceps), do a little stability work for the core (deadlifts are great there, and something for the abs should be included, ideally superman pushups) and shoulder (pushups and reverse butterflys work well). If you have some kind of regular problem, add training for that area or intensify it if you already do some. For me, that means more intense quad&calf training (to decrease stress on the knees) and reverse butterflys to avoid shoulder problems (which I get from too much smashing). For others, that might be a more intense workout for the back or chest.
"Regardless of what the problem is, the answer is to squat." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUNRPK2FBv8
I can only ever recommend weight training for badminton. I started playing regularly about a year ago and started regular gym since January of this year. I can safely say that my technique, ability to lunge further and run longer have been vastly improved via weight training. I currently go to the gym 3 times a week and use a routine made by one of my local county badminton players, this involves working legs, chest and back. Only working these areas of your body, I use compound exercises which improve muscle strength and size but also (and vital) it strengthens your joints as your shoulders, elbows and knees are the main things used each and every day of these 3 gym days. I don't need to stress how good having a strong shoulder can do for your game. If you don't go too over the top, weight training is the perfect thing for anyone, I now smash like a demon because my arm is stronger and I can keep a good stance and recover better because of a stronger core and legs.
google for stronglift 5x5 or WKM parallel (means below parallel) squats, bench press, overhead press, deadlift, barbell rows thats what i do i cannot say how much it improved my badminton since i am relatively new to badminton and i was the fittest player in my club already when I joined, but i definitely feel a lot stronger since i do those exercises regularely
