Cade Cunningham’s Offseason Workout Routine Revealed

Cade Cunningham has quickly emerged as one of the best young players in the league. Now, coming off an MVP-caliber campaign last season, Cunningham has also asserted himself as the face of the Detroit Pistons. So what is the next step in his development?

The Pistons’ superstar is undoubtedly among the NBA’s most talented players. While possessing scoring versatility, the 24-year-old routinely showcases his court craft with his playmaking and ball distribution to transform the Pistons into one of the league’s best teams.

As Detroit’s superstar, Cade Cunningham shoulders considerable responsibility. Thus, with the intention of pushing himself further, the 24-year-old recently revealed his offseason workout routine during an interview with the Detroit Free Press’ Omari Sankofa II. He began by addressing how his injury in March changed his outlook on fitness, as Sankofa wrote:

“The entire ordeal, Cunningham said, led to a change in how he thinks about and prepares his body. He’s dialed in on strengthening his core, which in practice means a lot of planking, including the ‘stir the pot’ exercise, an advanced plank during which you rest your forearms on a stability ball.”

“You have to hit all the different angles of it. A lot of oblique stuff, obviously the upper abs, the lower abs, everything,” Cunningham added. “It’s a lot of full-body stuff that you’re working through and core-engaging and trying to stabilize.”

The superstar noted that strengthening the core had a drastic impact on various aspects of his game, including his jump shot, dribbling, and ability to change direction. Given that the injury kept him sidelined for 11 games, the 24-year-old was motivated to prevent such an occurrence from happening again.

Aside from his core, however, Sankofa noted that Cade Cunningham had also focused on improving his physical conditioning and building a more robust system to endure greater duress in the regular season.

“Cunningham has also prioritized training in high altitude, where the air is thinner and forces your lungs and heart to work harder. Third-year wing Ron Holland joined him in Colorado this summer, and the two hiked and ran on a track at a nearby school in the mountains,” Sankofa wrote.

“The air is thin, so it doesn’t take much for you to start getting some work in,” Cunningham shared. “But mostly it’s mental. You go to altitude; they say that those types of things wear off quickly when you leave, but I think the mental capacity of that, it grows to being able to push through and continue to work out while you don’t have much oxygen. There’s definitely a mental aspect that gets overlooked.”

Cade Cunningham’s emphasis on building his cardiovascular health and endurance seems justified given his role. As the team’s anchor, the 24-year-old carries an enormous burden on offense. Now, with players like Tobias Harris leaving the team and Jalen Duren’s future with Detroit in doubt, the superstar is likely to have even more responsibilities on offense.

For the most part, Cade Cunningham appears to be preparing himself for this role. Given last season’s averages of 23.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 9.9 assists per game on 46.1% shooting from the field and 34.2% from three-point range, the 24-year-old is also capable of turning things up a notch.

Still, when noting the depth of competition in the East along with the relative lack of offensive production in Detroit’s ranks outside of Cade Cunningham, the Pistons should be concerned about their current roster. Hence, unless Duren returns for the upcoming season, Detroit should aim to bring in more scoring support for its franchise player.