VICTOR WEMBANYAMA, BASKETBALL’S latest wunderkind, is both a genetic and hoops anomaly. The 21-year-old was named Rookie of the Year last year, but that award was for more than just his status as the best player of his class—he finished second in voting for Defensive Player of the Year and was included in the All-NBA Defensive First Team, too. He was the youngest player ever to lead the NBA in blocks, and the first player in league history to score at least 1,500 points, block 250 shots, and make 100 3-pointers last season. And get this: one of the 7’4” center’s favorite exercises is a cartwheel.
The Frenchman continued his dominance this year, leading the NBA with a 3.8 blocks per game average while also averaging 11 rebounds per game and 24.3 points per game for the Spurs before he was shut down for the season just after the All-Star break last month due to deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder.
Wembanyama is, to use the common adage, “built different,” and that means in part that he needs to train differently than most players too. He is a mass of long arms, long limbs, and a long torso. But unlike many seven-footers, Wembanyama isn’t slow and lumbering, according to trainer Melvin Sanders, who founded SandersFit in Dallas and has worked with Wembanyama in the offseason “He moves better than any point guard that I’ve ever trained, because he’s so mobile,” Sanders says. Studying his training can give us all insight, too, into how to maintain and improve mobility.
7-Footers (and You) Need to Use Full Range of Motion
Finding fitness examples to model his training has been difficult—mostly because they don’t exist. Historically, seven-foot NBA players stayed rarely stepped beyond the three-point line. The Spurs youngster loves shooting from outside, though, and he also piles up blocks beyond the perimeter. “There are very few bodies similar to mine to look up to,” Wembanyama says. “So it’s been a lot of experimenting… my philosophy all along has been to do things and to grow organically.”
Wembanyama grew up in the Paris suburbs and started lifting weights when he was 13. But instead of focusing on going heavy on every lift, Wembanyama was coached to focus on using a full range of motion. “I like to work on the whole length of my muscle,” he says. Working through that deep ROM may be an underrated reason for his flexibility today, too.
Sanders says taking a measured, comprehensive approach means working in the sagittal and transverse planes of motion, with moves like transverse lunges, RDLs, and isometric holds with kettlebells. Instead of back squats with a lot of weight, Sanders says, he’ll have Wembanyama do Keiser machine squats (which use pneumatic pressure for resistance) and lunges. “It doesn’t really make sense for a frame like his body,” Sanders says of back squats. “So we do a lot of front loaded stuff and the trap bar, lunges, and step ups—depth jumps to drops and things like that.”
Performance Over PRs
One of Wembanyama’s favorite exercises is the deadlift. He’ll move through eight reps with 120 kilograms (about 265 pounds) on a trap bar. And sure, most gym bros have deadlifted more than this, but taller athletes such as Wembanyama face unique challenges with the exercise. “It’s super important if you’re that tall to really, really focus on your mobility and flexibility, and then get your range of motion down,” Sanders says. “Then start loading–but don’t start loading too early.” Wembanyama has to pull the weight upwards for a greater distance, which, over time, can be fatiguing, especially since he’s using a full range of motion. Deadlifting just 30 pounds more than his bodyweight is enough.
Even with his long limbs, Wembanyama says he loves doing handstands and pullups. He says he maxes out at three or four reps of the pullups—which might sound unimpressive coming from a pro athlete, until you remember how much further he has to pull to lift his chin to the bar compared to most people. He also loves rolling an ab wheel to build core strength, which is key given his height.
Wembanyama says his exceptional height gives him more leverage and more torque. But he still couldn’t do a pushup until he was 16. “I mean, I was already a professional athlete by then,” Wemby says, laughing. “My height makes it a different challenge, a different adventure.” Like all athletes, he’s had to grow into his body.
Strong Mind, Strong Body
This past summer, one of Wembanyama’s priorities was to increase stamina to be able to perform throughout the length of an entire NBA game. “So it’s not only [adding] weight, it’s not only lifting, it’s not only being strong in the core–it’s also running, jumping, reacting,” Wemby says.
To achieve his goals, he thought outside the box for his training plan. Literally.
Wembanyama’s sessions alternated between the exercise bike, versa climber and an underwater treadmill for short cardio bursts. In between each cardio set, he’d play a game of chess against his strength coach, a teammate, or the analytics scientists from the Spurs. That wound up totaling two to four minutes o