Fit-to-a-T-Volleybal.. - Performance Condition

Transcription

P
CONDITIONING
ERFORMANCE
VOLLEYBALL
A NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO IMPROVING VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS
TT
www.performancecondition.com/volleyball
F it
to
a
Quick
Starter Kit
Welcome to Designing Your Conditioning Program- Fit to a T- Quick Starter Kit
No two conditioning programs are alike. If something "fits to a T" then it's perfect for your purpose and no one else. We
have come up with a 7-T system to fit you to your T to get your athletes fit to perform at their best.
We have selected articles based on club; high school and collegiate play to help you get started now. These articles are select
as examples; your job is to make them fit to your T. Twice weekly you’ll be receiving additional articles to add to your 7-T system
library.
T-1 Training Age/History
This T is to avoid doing too much or the wrong thing. All too often advanced programs are prescribed to young, developing
athletes. All information present is assigned a training age beginning, intermediate and advanced.
Training age is defined as:
Beginning-Level athletes with training age of 0 to 2 years
Intermediate-Level athletes with training age of 2 to 4 years
Advance-Level athletes with training age of over 4 years.
Training age year is continuous year-round conditioning beyond just playing volleyball.
Training history is the summary of training age experience. If your athletes have trained on their own or with another coach
it’s important to learn what they have done. This will allow you to establish training age, habits, needs etc. Also history should
include injuries and the response to rehabilitation.
Age Level Considerations When Adding Variety
to a Conditioning Program to Avoid Overtraining
Daryl Kapis
Adding variety is one of the most important training principles to conditioning volleyball players or any athlete for that
matter. But it is often an overlooked. One of the biggest things when training junior and adult level athletes (I learned this early in
my career when I was fitness director at a Gold’s Gym) is that one of the main reasons young athletes felt frustrated with lifting or
quit their memberships is because they didn’t have enough knowledge of the exercises to do and they became bored. If adults become
bored with a limited amount of knowledge, so will kids. From this experience, I’ve established my goal, which is to make sure I give
athletes a continuous amount of different types of exercises so they continue to enjoy lifting and conditioning, and in addition,
promote a healthy lifestyle for themselves.
Variety: A Good Hedge Against Over Training
Let’s talk about understanding what athletes can do without over training. In terms of young athletes, it is important to know
how much and what your athletes are doing. I coach club and collegiate volleyball and knowing how many jumping repetitions my
players are doing on a particular day in their own practices, makes me think about how much jumping or leg activities they are going
to do in the weight room. When junior athletes are in their club season and practicing 2-3 times a week, for conditioning I will apply
a plyometric activity and I will limit it to 50-60 jumps of various heights. In terms of overall strength training, they are doing that
same type of 2-3 practices per week. I think it is important to have 1-2 days of weight training per week within the season. As a
result, I see at the end of the club season that their fundamentals are much better and I can see the ability to jump high has not deteriorated. However, at junior nationals it starts to drop really quickly. The high point of their season is in April when the kids are
doing the Junior Olympic qualifiers. When they get to June, their bodies are beat-up and worn down. A good time to start a regimented
strength program for club players is in the beginning of May when their club schedule is not so hectic. This allows the body to adapt
to the shock of weight training without being overly sore prior to junior nationals. Most of these players are not doing any type of
side strength training to keep the level up that they had when they started the season. It is important to change things up so the
athletes peak in volleyball and athletic skills at the same time. Variety is not only changing exercises, but also workloads and intensities.
In terms of volume of approach jumps and hitting, I know how much we are doing in practice. I know when I need to back
off. Measuring vertical jumps solidifies what I am doing. It is something as simple as having your assistant coach pick a couple of
your big hitters (they will be the ones most affected) and count how many approach jumps or full-attack jumps they make in a
practice. Then you can see the volume of jumping that you are doing.
Measuring Vertical Jumps: A Good Hedge Against Overtraining
Another principle of conditioning is individualization because every athlete responds differently to exercise. A program may
challenge some athletes while to others, the same program may not be stimulating enough to promote athletic growth.
A technique I use is to continuously measure vertical jumps to see if the kids are starting to make significant drops. Consequently, to know how athletes are responding, every 5-7 weeks I measure their vertical jump. Fundamental training on how to make
an approach jump is continually reinforced. However, if they are continuously going down or dropping a little every time we test, I
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P E R F O R M A N C E C O N D I T I O N I N G V O L L E Y B A L L - F I T T O A T Q U I C K S TA RT E R K I T
need to decrease the volume and intensity their jumping and change things around. If the players are increasing in their ability, I increase the jumping intensity. It depends on the age group I am working with.
Continuous vertical jump measuring is not difficult to do. A simple jump mat and something to measure height of a jump on
a wall will do nicely. Vertecs or computerized jump mats are the Cadillacs of measurement systems. We use the Vertec, which I am
lucky to have.
Age Level Variety Guidelines
I do a lot of work with kids 13-16 years old. I have two different roles as strength coach. I’m the head strength coach at
Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose. On the side, I do strength training for club volleyball kids who range in age from 12 to
16. Because I want them to come back, I try to vary things almost every single time I see them, which is usually twice a week. They
are still hitting the same muscle parts, but it is completely different to them, which shocks the system. You do the muscles to help
them learn how to regroup for the next time they come out. It gets them to enjoy things, because you will quickly lose kids if you
don’t keep changing it up and making it fun for them. You must be doing it with fun in mind and tricking them into enjoying it. That
is the whole thing with kids—you must have passion and fire to get the kids excited about it. I make sure they are hitting every single
body part when we do the program. I have these kids for 75 minutes. Here’s an overview of what we do.
• Warm-up - dynamic range of motion warm-up. We avoid jogging around the gym because kids just hate standard running. They
won’t do it and they don’t enjoy it.
• Upper body exercises including medicine ball pushups, chest passes, military presses and various rotator cuff exercises with 35 pound dumbbells.
• Lower body exercises including front squats, rear squats and lunges in various directions.
• Low-volume, low-intensity jumping over hurdles or an elastic cord. Little things so that not only are we working on jumping,
but also mechanics of approach jumps.
• Speed work using speed ladders, reaction balls and T-tests. Anything that teaches the athletes to stay low, keep their core low
and change directions.
• I always like to finish out with 10-12 minutes of medicine ball ab type activities and ankle stabilizations exercises on uneven
surfaces.
An important relationship of strength training and jump training needs to be noted at this time. We carefully monitor how
much leg strength training we do and how much jump training we do. With the younger athletes, we limit the amount of plyometrics
we do. If I do more strength training in a day, then we do much less jump training that day, maybe only spend 5 minutes on it. Other
days we do less strength training and increase the volume of jump training. Whenever we do jump training, we don’t want the athletes
to be fatigued and end up getting hurt.
The approach for older athletes is different. My goal is to try to prepare them for college. I do this with the athletes at Mitty.
I get them introduced to the Olympic-style lifts. I want to get them to the point they are very comfortable doing power cleans or split
jerks or any kind of push jerk, even to the point of getting them to do a snatch. Many of the high school/club athletes I work with go
on to Division I programs. I take a lot of time with them to make sure they know how to do all the individual parts of the clean. Since
we have been doing this at Mitty, one of the things that has come back to us is that kids who come back right after their freshman
year of college, felt they were so far ahead of all the other incoming freshmen. It helped them not only in terms of recovery, but also
understanding what is expected from them in the weight room at the Division I level.
During this time we really emphasize this type of strength training. We do very little jump training with them because I
know what type of jump volume intensity they are getting at practice. The people responsible for strength training and conditioning
must have close communications with the volleyball coach. They need to ask the coach how much the players jumped that day. Was
it a big passing day? Did they work on their arm swings? What did they do that day? It’s important to talk to the coach and see what
the intensity level of that day was. This communication is missing with many strength and sport coaches. Strength coaches have
their own agenda; they don’t know what happened in practice and that is where overtraining occurs. Being a volleyball coach and
strength coach has provided me an important insight into this series of circumstances.
In terms of variety at the collegiate level, it is based on how much work and volume we will do in a certain day. Because we
don’t have a strength coach at the school, I am my own strength coach. I must decide where we will invest our time. It can go from
taking care of business in terms of keeping our bodies safe by concentrating on strength to doing a bare minimum. If my team must
focus on a lot of fundamental volleyball training, every two days we will do 30 minutes of basic strength training exercises. To keep
the shoulders in shape, we use therabands as general warm-up exercises. Use medicine balls for pushups and weight resistance for
lunges and basic split jumps. If that is all in order, than I can definitely invest more time into making sure the athletes are trained on
how to do all the Olympic-style lifts.
There is a challenge of working in a junior college. I don’t have a lot of time with these kids. I have two years and most of
the things we do in the off-season is focus on how to do the Olympic-style lifts. During the season, if we can only lift once, we focus
on the Olympic lifts and our cores and shoulders. That’s all we need to do—35 minutes and it’s taken care of. When I worked at
Stanford, if the players were really working hard in the weight room they only had to lift once a week. They were ultra-intense in
what they did in that one time and it was only for 45 minutes, but it was very intense. It was either doing the Olympic lifts with other
core exercises or it was a circuit training atmosphere.
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Olympic-style lifts help you be explosive, have a strong core, and they help coordination. It’s the best type of lifting to do.
I preach that to my athletes and if they are doing those lifts, they are taking care of all the strength-training facets they need. This
takes care of the variety of exercises of concern at this level.
Variety of exercise and its approach to developing volleyball players is age-specific as well as competition level (club, high
school and junior college) specific.
T-2 Time
Time has two factors:
A. Time of year
B. Time available on a daily basis.
Start with a calendar and mark your off-season, pre-season, in-seasons. This calendar is unique to your program. Next fill
in your Competitions/Practices/Conditioning/Recovery schedule for each season/week/day. Be sure to include and how much time
you can devote to conditioning. If conditioning is part of practice be sure to put this in. Don’t forget recovery days!
To start a program here is a great overview to get stated.
Planning the Off-season
Club
Principles-Elements and Practical
Applications in Designing a Strength
Program for the Volleyball Athlete
Arlo Gagestein
At times exercise program design for the volleyball player can be as difficult to figure out as how to beat Phil Dalhausser
and Todd Rogers. Complete exercise program design is an intricate blend of strength training, plyometrics, metabolic or energy systems training, and skills training. Due to its complexity, this article will focus primarily on resistance, or strength training. While
access to a qualified strength and conditioning coach is optimal, this will give you a jump start toward designing great exercise programs for your athletes.
When looking at program design, many people get caught up in which training method is best. In his book The Professional
Fitness Coach Program Design Bible: A Unified Theory of Program Design, world renown strength and conditioning coach Alwyn
Cosgrove quotes an unknown author who states, "Methods are many, principles are few, Methods always change, principles never
do." This is absolutely true. Regardless of which method you choose to use, following the principles that always work will keep you
on the right track. Sure we have our preferences and methods we feel are more effective than others, but every successful program
is based upon the following 3 principles:
1) SAIDS (Specific Adaptation to Implied Demands)
The first principle is specificity. This basically means your training must reflect the demands of the sport. For example,
having a volleyball player run 2 miles will not help the athlete perform better at their sport. Instead, the athlete should be performing
compound leg exercises, jumping, strengthening the shoulders, working on agility and doing short bursts of high intensity work.
Training must reflect muscle groups and movement patterns used, intensity of sport, l•oads moved, rest periods, and length of games
in the actual sport.
2) Overload
The principle of overload simply means the athlete must use greater loads than they are accustomed to in order to make improvements. This principle ties directly into the third principle, progression, and they are often jointly referred to as progressive overload.
3) Progression
To progress, or make improvements, you must continually make workouts more difficult that before. There are a variety of
ways to do this and to avoid overtraining, we try to intermix all of them. A workout can be made more difficult by adding weight to
the exercises, adding more sets or repetitions to increase total volume, by shortening rest periods, or simply by using more complex
exercises (for example moving from a leg extension, to a leg press, to a squat, to a front squat). Only by using progression, or progressive overload will an athlete become stronger, or faster, or improve endurance. One thing to note is that workout difficulty should
fluctuate up and down to avoid overtraining and injury, but each peak should be higher than the previous. One good method is to
steadily progress for a few weeks, then use the fourth week to back off the intensity a little to unload and recover a bit. This week
might be a good week to teach new exercises at lower resistance.
Now that we have covered necessary principles for a successful exercise program, let's take a look at the steps involved in
designing your program. In the book Essentials of Strength and Conditioning, the National Strength and Conditioning Association
lists the following Program Design Variables:
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1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Needs Analysis
Exercise Selection
Training Frequency
Exercise Order
Training Load and Repetitions
Volume
Rest Periods
Needs Analysis
The purpose of a needs analysis is to evaluate unique attributes and movement patterns of the particular sport, to assess the
athlete, and to determine the primary training goal (for example, strength, power, hypertrophy, and endurance often dependent on
season). Some other things to look at are existing injuries, preventing injuries common to the sport, and the athletes training age and
experience (a junior high girl who has never lifted weights for example would have very different needs than a college senior who
has been participating in a strength and conditioning program for the past 8 years). All other variables are based on what the needs
analysis tells us.
Exercise Selection
Exercises are selected by a variety of things. The movement analysis will be used to choose exercises with specific transferability to the sport. In volleyball for example, we will use a lot of lateral lower body movements, squat type lifts, and lower body
plyometrics. We will also look at common injuries in the sport and include exercises that will help strengthen ankles, knees, and
shoulders. Available equipment will also be a determining factor in exercise selection. Some teams have access to full weight rooms,
others nothing but a volleyball court. Training age and experience of the athletes will also make a difference. While power lifts like
the clean and the snatch can be very useful tools for volleyball players, they are difficult to learn and need close supervision during
the process. If there will be a strength and conditioning coach on hand to teach and observe these exercises, great! However, if a
team of junior high or high school athletes with little training experience is just handed a program and given free rain of the weight
room with little supervision, these difficult exercises should not be included in the program. Also, beginning lifters will see results
quickly from just about any exercises, where an experienced lifter may need more advanced variations of lifts to see improvements.
Available training time is also a factor. If the athletes only have 45 minutes in the weight room twice a week, compared to maybe 1
hour and 30 minutes four times a week, priorities need to be determined and the time spent more efficiently.
For all athletes, it is good to focus on training movements rather than training individual body parts. Parts of the body rarely
act on there own. Nearly all movements are a combination of one or more of seven basic body movements that should all be addressed
in an exercise program. Hip dominant movements, knee dominant, horizontal pushing, horizontal pulling, vertical pushing, vertical
pulling, and rotation. The body is designed to function as a cooperative unit and therefore should be trained as such (remember specificity?). If a volleyball player is rotating into a hip dominant jump while vertical pushing with the upward arm swing, then rapidly
vertical pulling to spike the ball and following through with a hip dominant flexion of the spine and a knee dominant eccentric contraction to absorb the landing - is working chest and triceps on Mondays, back and biceps on Tuesdays, shoulders and legs on Wednesdays the optimal way to train? Far from it!
For this reason, free-weights are also preferable to machines in that most machines lock the lifter into a single plane of movement with a set range of motion. Free-weights, and especially standing exercises in which the spine must stabilize itself while the
extremities move around it are more specific to volleyball. Depending on training frequency, these seven movements should either
each be trained in every workout or at least broken into two workouts. For 2-3 day/week programs, we will use total body workouts
including each movement, and for 4-5 day/week programs, we often will use a upper body, lower body split.
Another thing to take into account is that the legs often work independently of each other in most athletic events. In addition,
there is frequently a strength imbalance between legs as one leg (the front leg in volleyball) bears the majority of the weight during
the jump for an attack or serve. Surprisingly, muscle imbalances rather than poor flexibility are the leading cause of most knee,
shoulder, and other injuries. Therefore, it is important to train the legs individually with step-ups, single-leg squats, etc, in addition
to doing squats and dead-lifts.
Training Frequency
Training frequency is how often the athlete does resistance training. Several variables play a part in determining training
frequency. One is time availability. Do your athletes have access to the weight room 5 days a week, or only 1? Game and practice
schedules during the season also can be a determining factor. If your athletes are practicing 4 days a week and have matches 2 nights
a week, too much time in the weight room will lead to overtraining. Typically, during the off-season more time is spent in the weight
room (4-6 days/week), during pre-season time is divided more evenly between resistance training (3-4 days/week) and skills training,
and during the season, much more time is spent in the practice gym than the weight room (1-2 days/week). Again, the training age
and experience of the athlete comes in to play when figuring out frequency. Beginners (less than 6 months training) will only need
2 maybe 3 days/week to see significant improvements, intermediate lifters (6 months to 1 year of training) might need 3-4 days/week
and an advanced lifter (over 1 year training) might would benefit more from 4-7 days a week.
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Loads and Repetitions
Loads and repetitions are almost entirely dependent on what the primary training goal is. The main training goal changes
throughout the year, based upon what the athlete need at the given time. Changing the exercise loads and repetitions to meet these
changing goals is called periodization. In traditional periodization, the off-season is dedicated to muscle hypertrophy (growth) and
endurance therefore demanding more repetitions and overall volume. Towards the end of the off-season and into the pre-season,
more focus is directed towards developing strength. In the pre-season, the emphasis shifts again to developing maximal strength and
explosive power to peak as the season starts. In-season the focus is typically maintenance of the strength and power the athlete has
already developed. Post season used as a time of active rest and recovery when athletes are encouraged to stay active, but not necessarily in the weight room. This is a good time for cross training and lower intensity exercises that will promote recovery from the
season. A traditional linear periodization model looks like this:
Off-Season
Pre-Season
In-Season
Post-Season
It is important
(Hypertrophy/Endurance)
(Strength/Power) (Maintenance) (Rest/Recovery)
again to remember that
Low to Moderate
High
Moderate
methods that work are Intensity
Recreational
50-75% of 1RM (repetition max) 80-90% 1RM
80-85% 1RM activity may or
many. Linear periodization
is one of them. A couple Sets
3-6
3-5
2-3
may not include
other methods we use freresistance
Repetitions
8-20
2-5
6-8
quently with our athletes
training
are vertical integration and Volume
Moderate to High
Low
Moderate
undulating periodization.
The basis behind each of these methods is to minimize the time one certain goal goes untrained.
In vertical integration, the goals and repetition ranges stay the same as in the linear model, but each workout will have 1-2
exercises with repetition schemes designed to maintain the other areas of emphasis as well. For example, a pre-season workout might
be primarily based on strength and power exercises at 3-5 sets of 2-5 repetitions, then finish with a one set of 15 squats to maintain
muscle endurance.
Undulating periodization is follows the same idea of training all components of athleticism simultaneously by alternating a
hypertrophy/endurance day of 12-20 repetitions, with a strength day of 5-8 repetitions, with a dynamic power day of 2-5 repetitions.
With this method, all aspects will be trained yearly, but workouts will be adjusted slightly depending on what season the athlete is
in. For example, in season, the dynamic power day may be eliminated because the athlete is getting plenty of dynamic power training
every time they jump at practice or in a match.
While these methods are both highly effective, they also require more preparation and are more difficult to correctly prescribe
loads for individual athletes of a team.
Exercise Order
Exercise order is primarily a matter of performing the exercises in order of most complex to least complex. Power exercises
such as the clean, snatch, or push press should to be performed first, followed by complex multi-joint exercises like the squat, deadlift, then exercises such as rows and bench press, and finishing with assistance exercises like biceps and triceps.
An exception to the rule is that if there is a muscle imbalance or specific weakness that needs to be addressed, the appropriate
exercises should perhaps be shifted to the beginning of the workout. If an athlete has under-active gluteals that aren't firing correctly
and the hamstrings are compensating, a single joint glute specific exercise may be added before the power exercises to engage the
muscles prior to performing a complex snatch that relies heavily on the glutes working correctly. If there are imbalances specific to
the sport as with volleyball players, who for example nearly always have tight, overly strong internal rotators of the shoulder, and
long, weak external rotators, the weak movement should always be performed before the dominant movement. Therefore, for a volleyball player, horizontal pulling exercises such as rows should be performed before horizontal pushing exercises such as the bench
press.
Rest Periods
Rest periods are important in two different capacities. First, rest between exercise sets are important to ensure adequate recovery dictated by the training goal. For example, for building strength in the pre-season, higher loads are used and more recovery
time (2-4 minutes) is required between sets. During the off-season, when more emphasis is placed on muscle endurance and lighter
loads are used, less recovery time (30-60 seconds) is needed.
Secondly, rest between workouts is very important. Muscles become bigger, stronger, and more powerful during recovery
from a workout, not during the actual workout. Resistance training breaks muscles down, then they are built back up during rest. It
takes muscles 48-72 hours to fully recover. Therefore, 1-2 rest days should be given between intense workouts that include the same
movements. Training on consecutive days can be divided into upper and lower body workouts to maximize recovery time.
Program Design in Action
Now let's take a minute to put it all together. For our example, we will take high school girls team with a training age of 6
months to 3 years. We have 8 weeks until the season starts, and are trying to maximize strength and power to start the season. Several
PA G E 6
of the athletes have shoulder pain, and most have tight hip flexors, so these issues need to be addressed. We have a small weight
room with a complete dumbbell set, some barbells, 1 squat rack, adjustable benches, and 2 chin-up bars. Because of the other sports
teams, it is only available to us two days a week for 1 hour. The girls have worked hard to build their muscle endurance and base
strength and we opt for a vertically integrated approach to maintain this endurance to begin the season with. Once the season begins,
practices and games will keep their endurance up and we won't worry as much about it.
We decide to prescribe full body workouts each of the two days, because increased frequency for each movement pattern
will yield better results. Because the athletes are all intermediate to advanced lifters, we decide we will use power exercises, but
stick with single-arm dumbbell lifts because there is a shorter learning curve, and there are more to go around as each athlete will
only need one. We choose cleans where the weight is only brought up to shoulder level because our injured athletes' shoulders are
aggravated by any overhead lifts. Uninjured athletes will follow the clean with an overhead press. We choose dumbbell dead-lifts
because they eliminate the need for the single squat rack and no spotters are needed, making our workout time much more efficient.
We also save time by combining unrelated lifts into groups of 3 exercises. In this manner, the athletes can move quickly from one to
the next to the next to the next with a full 3 minutes rest before repeating the same exercise. Also, this way 3 girls can start on a different exercise in the same group and not get in each others way. The inverted row and the jump chin-up were chosen because they
fill two of the movement patterns we need as well as promote shoulder health. The split squat is chosen as our single-leg quad dominant exercise to help correct strength imbalances between the legs, improve balance, and help to lengthen the hip flexors.
Day 1
Pre-season
Exercise
Foam Roll Tight Spots
Dynamic Warm-up
A
1) 1-arm DB Clean and Press
B
1) DB Dead-lift
2) Inverted Row
3) Stabilization Push-up
C
1) Split Squat
2) Jump Chin-up wit Negative
3) Russian Boxer
Stretch Out
Ice Massage
Sets x Reps
Rest
3 minutes
7 minutes
Purpose
Self massage to improve muscle quality
Includes low intensity joint mobility drills to increase flexibility
and warm core temperature as well as exercises to engage the
external rotators of the shoulder
4 x 2 each side
2minutes Hip Dominant & Vertical Push/ Explosive
4x5
4 x 12
4 x 12
1 minute
1 minute
1 minute
Hip Dominant/Strength
Horizontal Pull/Endurance, Shoulder Health
Horizontal Push/Endurance, Shoulder Health
4 x 12each side
4x3
4 x 4 each side
1 minute
1 minute
1 minute
Quad Dominant/Endurance,1-Leg, Hip Health
Vertical Pull/Strength, Shoulder Health
Rotation/Strengt
Static stretching done after workout instead of before because
muscles are more pliable when they are warm.
Injured athletes will ice shoulder to reduce inflammation of the
bursa and biceps and rotator cuff tendons.
Day 2 would be made up of different exercises with similar purposes. We might not use as many endurance exercises as 1
day a week is sufficient for endurance maintenance. We would progressively overload these exercises for 4 weeks, then have a unloading week where we teach new exercises at a low intensity, then progressively overload the new exercises for the remaining 3
weeks of the pre-season.
Designing a great exercise program is more than just making your athletes tired. Good program design requires a lot of planning, and a lot of attention to details, and a strong focus on the big picture, but pays off with stronger, faster, more mechanically efficient athletes, decreased injuries, less overtraining problems, and improved performance across the board. Give it a try - it might
be easier than you think!
Writing Your First Program: The Moment of Truth
Robert L. Brown
“If a volleyball coach cannot write a program how can s/he expect to put their athletes through a program?”-Robert Brown
PC: How does a volleyball coach go through the process of writing a program? Should s/he read a bunch of programs and
take pen to paper knowing that each program is very specific to the circumstances surrounding it? Or should s/he take a
step back and discover his/her own personal philosophy on what is important in designing a program and then proceed?
PA G E 7
RB: Actually, writing a volleyball-specific program is a process of both approaches. A lot of what is done comes from what was
done before. It’s good to take a look at those programs. When you read those programs it’s important to take a look at the purpose
of why the program was designed such as it was. One purpose might be that the program was designed based on test data results.
This can tell a coach that maybe his or her team is below average on the vertical jump so s/he might have to do more power development training to improve.
The next thing to do is go back to your philosophy toward conditioning. Maybe it’s your philosophy not to max out the
athletes when doing barbell exercises. Many old programs might have that philosophy as part of what they do, so this means your
philosophies don’t match and that particular program is not a good fit. Consequently, the coach has to adjust to find means to achieve
improved performance goals. Writing a good program is a process of continual modifications to fit the needs of the team and the
training philosophy of the coach. You might get Oklahoma’s or Nebraska’s general program but is what you get specific to your
level of athletes? Can you coach/teach what they wrote? Elite level programs have an elite level mentality. This is usually designed
for the elite level athlete where the maturation process has run its course. For younger athletes it’s a whole new ballgame. In a
nutshell, a strength and conditioning program is that something we, as coaches, have to modify to know if and when to apply concepts
that are within our philosophy regardless of who wrote it. You have to bring it back to you and what you have.
PC: How does one develop a strength and conditioning philosophy?
RB: Coaches tend to do what they were previously taught and practiced. This is a great starting point. Some may have lifted weights
and had a bad experience so they may not want to have their athletes lifting because they got injured. This makes it easy to do but
hard to enact if the experience was an exception rather than a rule (most people don’t hurt themselves lifting weights). I come from
a football conditioning background and my philosophy was to lift-lift-lift heavy. I found that the more I got to the higher intensity
the more volleyball athletes held off. They didn’t want to get into those ranges of motion or lift that much weight. Therefore, I had
to change and find a way of developing my athletes without bruising my ego. Because of training my athletes year-round I had to
forget the load ‘em up and lets go' and had to back up and rethink my situation. So I had to draw upon my past, adjust it to my present
and the type of athletes I was working with and plan for the future to insure my athlete’s progressed.
PC: Would you summarize that you start with core principles, the 10 Commandments so to say, and then in a fluid, changing
environment change to fit your athlete’s needs based on gaining experience in working with those athletes. My question is,
what changed you from your football mentality of program design?
RB: This may sound crazy but the heavier my female athletes (14-18 years old) lifted the more they backed off. I found that as I got
to the 87 to 90 percent they backed off and there wasn’t any performance gain. What this made me do was to regress before we
started to progress. (Ed. Note: see Robert’s article on this concept that accompanies this article). I’m not talking about doing 40 to
60 percent of maximum but I found that at 75 to 80 percent the athlete started to push themselves and progress started to happen. My
test data back up this fact. Based on strength and conditioning principles this is somewhat backwards but I feel those principles are
based on a male dominated population—I had to change the intensity. I’m not saying this is for everybody but it’s now working for
me. This is to say I don’t look at change; I constantly tweak the program to make it better based on my experiences.
PC: To summarize, the process of program writing is taking previous experiences, match what is being done with the start
in order to write a program. The next question is how does a coach know s/he can do this?
RB: The best thing to do is just start; however, you carefully monitor and watch what’s going on. If you write down the squat exercise
and get into it but techniques are all over the map and the players are having difficulties you, as coach, have to change. I’ve observed
and asked questions of several Olympic lifts coaches on how to teach these lifts, but to be honest, there are movements within these
lifts I don’t teach because I’m not qualified. It’s not part of my program because I can’t teach it. You have to know the limits of what
you can and cannot teach. If you can’t articulate on how do teach it, how can you expect your athlete to do it right?
PC: In teaching lift the practical curriculum for the USA Volleyball Conditioning Coaching Accreditation program (VCAP)
a candidate is given an exercise to teach and must demonstrate that s/he is competent in teaching it to a group of peers. A
member of the group does the exercise and the candidate must correct the person if s/he is doing it wrong. Would you recommend this method when working with athletes?
RB: This is the only way!
PC: Let’s talk about developing a season-specific program and the limiting factors beyond inability of a coach to teach an
exercise that a coach might run into in the off-season at the various levels of play, collegiate to club?
RB: Let’s face it, collegiate program writing is simple. You are at a school with a closed environment. Those athletes are under your
guidance only. You can plan periods of training. You can overload without maturation concerns since the athletes are usually at a
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level of full physical maturity. A main concern is that kids coming into the program are beat up from overuse/abuse in high school/club.
They come in with injury issues and training deficiencies. Here the coach needs to refer to medical staff to get the athletes back on
balance.
In high school coaches are in a constant battle. The high school coach wants total control. The club coach wants total control.
The kids are being pulled back and forth. A kid does lifting and running at high school and comes to the club and might be expect to
do lifting as well. You have three to four individuals that the kid has to answer to, the high school coach’s philosophy, the high school
strength and conditioning coach’s philosophy, the club volleyball coach’s philosophy and, in some cases, a club strength and conditioning coach. Not an easy situation for the athlete.
Another obstacle a high school athlete faces is time. On the collegiate level an athlete trains for an hour to an hour and a
half. But in high school/club, it might be 20 to 30 minutes.
I didn’t create this system; I just have to adjust to it. You have to work with each kid and be willing to change your program
on the fly. Maybe it’s just doing recovery type activity all the way to a heavy strength and conditioning program, it all depends on
the athletes.
PC: Would communications between the club and high school coach help this situation any?
RB: That would be a good idea; however, as you know, by their nature coaches are control freaks. This applies from skill coaches
to strength and conditioning coaches. But there are coaches who take the time to understand what a player might be going through
in the related sport activities and back off. However, all too often it’s the boot camp philosophy—this is the way it is, here’s the program, my way or the highway.
PC: The pressure to play is enormous. How can we get coaches to understand that playing all the time retards physical development? How can we convince coaches to realize that there’s a time necessary to set aside for physical development?
RB: This is the tough part. The only answer I have is through education and education on a continuous basis.
PC: OK let’s talk about the program writing process. We have the philosophy, a list of exercises that we can teach, and we’ve
taken a critical look at other programs. Now what’s the next step? Let’s address the off-season specifically.
RB: The four qualities you want to develop are strength, strength-endurance, power and power endurance. Strength is done with
quality, allowing the athletes to recovery in order to gain maximum strength development. Repetitions are eight to ten and below.
Two to three minutes of rest between sets.
Strength endurance is done at a lighter load with more repetitions. The rest levels are shortened between sets and exercises
done circuit style with minimum rest between sets and exercises. A 225-pound bench press test for maximum repetitions is what pro
football uses to test rookies at the combines. To do those, the players have to spend some time in the strength endurance mode.
For power, a coach wants to stimulate the neurological system so the reps drop to 4 to 6 with total recovery between sets and exercises.
Power endurance is doing power related exercises in a circuit setting similar to the strength programming. Here you should
do more than 10 to 12 repetitions or as little as 6 reps.
PC: When training for power does the nature of the exercises change? How about the speed (velocity) in which the exercises
are done and the order in which they are done, like squats followed by squat jumps?
RB: Let’s take the squat and bench exercises. We can work with the four qualities I just mentioned (strength, strength-endurance,
power and power endurance). I can do a heavy set of squats followed by no resistance or light resistance squat jumps. This method
is called contrast training, combo training or super setting—take your pick. This is a power endurance exercise as I classify it.
One thing important to talk about is that training these qualities are done in phases and not all at once. In the beginning a lot
of people hit all the qualities with one day strength, one day power, one day power endurance and one day strength endurance. An
advance athlete can do this but for the vast majority of those who are in the maturation progress, its one thing at a time. I know this
may seem boring to some but this is how a developing young athlete’s body works and time has to be given to allow for this one
quality at a time approach.
As to exercise selection, it’s best to stick with the basics and the ones you as a coach can teach. One of the “new” things
from the sports medicine community is tri planer loading, transverse, sagittal and frontal. The question becomes how do you load
this? If I’m doing a transverse lunge with 5 pound dumbbells and want to progress, the next weight is 10 pounds, which, percentagewise, is a huge jump.
PC: When a coach takes pen to paper, what is the most important thing to remember when designing a program?
RB: Program design is a complex issue. One thing that can be done is to sit down and write a program based on what you feel and
then have the athletes come in and do it. If they fail in finishing and the coach loses it and takes the athletes out and runs them, s/he
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is making a huge mistake. This is the wrong message in all respects. The kids didn’t fail, the coach did.
Seven Habits of a Highly Effective Conditioning Program
Reducing the Chance of Injury: Regress to Progress
Robert L. Brown
Habits, and for our discussion good habits, are things that are repeated time and time again to the benefit of the individual.
In volleyball, most players have not formed good habits. They go from program to program, piece by piece, trying different things
that never really settle into good habits. Players and coaches need to set some good guidelines or habits to establish principles that
say, “my program consists of this.” Some coaches run around saying, “I have a speed/agility program” but say nothing about how it
fits. Nothing is said about prevention of injury and other aspects of a comprehensive program. It’s just out there floating in air and
not really part of anything.
Good habits allow for a systematic approach to conditioning players. They are consistent, organized and produce results—
a program with a purpose.
The Habit of Reducing Chance of Injury
When one looks at the strength and conditioning world, the reality is that people want performance gains. I’ve never seen a
strength coach fired for making too large of a performance gain with his/her athletes. But, I have seen strength coaches fired when
their athletes are suffering from injury. The goal should be to keep the athletes on the floor. If not, we are spinning our wheels. It’s
easy to get caught up in performance gains. The glamour of reaching a performance number overrides the fact that the basis is injury
prevention and performance gains are part of the process.
To reinforce this issue let’s look at the statistics. In the U.S. we have hundreds of “performance centers” but we also have
over 150,000 ACL injuries. We know that some of these are unpreventable; however, a good habit to get into is to do programming
that reduces the number or severity of ACL injuries. In order to do this it’s the responsibility of coaches not to get too caught up in
the performance side of the conditioning program process. The proper mindset is to start on the injury prevention side and teach the
athletes properly—forget the numbers.
Introducing Injury Prevention Early On
The qualities of a top-notch injury prevention program are to develop good joint, tendon and ligament strength and thickness;
balance and coordination will evolve over time. Let’s start with a 10-year-old athlete. There is a school of thought that says as soon
as this athlete is able to perform a bodyweight squat, it’s time to start loading. This, in my opinion, is too soon. Joint tendon and ligament development takes longer than muscles to develop. I advocate carefully loading and not starting with a barbell. Start with
bodyweight and progress to medicine ball and weighted vests. This is loading but with the idea of teaching the athletes to get better
while allowing them to develop over time.
If an athlete has been in our program for a while, say a few years, this athlete has progressed enough and as we gradually
load him or her with a barbell, I know s/he will be able to handle the load. This is because s/he has been taught in a progressive
manner that insured safety in the weight room and gave him/her something that is transferable to the court. This takes patience on
my part to make sure this athlete can do things properly and over the long haul. It has to be career oriented.
Establish Injury Prevention Strategies: Regress to Progress
The squat is a versatile exercise. It can be performance enhancing as well as an injury prevention. The difference: how it’s
used, progressed and taught. The squat will improve performance by increasing strength and power so one can jump higher.
To ensure the injury prevention aspect, the approach I use is regression. Don’t be afraid to take a step backward and regress
your program. If I have an athlete squatting with a load up to 75/80 percent of one repetition maximum and the athlete is starting to
stress, what happens is that the athlete’s technique starts to suffer trying to compensate for the weight. This is where injury prevention
aspect comes in. When you regress that athlete and reduce the load, s/he will benefit from the load reduction by reducing stress,
which is a major cause of injury. And, when the athlete adapts and progresses, that regression will act as an injury reduction phase
in the program thus allowing the body to catch up to gains in muscle strength.
Another way of looking at it is the concept of maximum strength and maximum power. These are the qualities we seek in a
strength program. However, with female athletes, when one gets into the 85 to 95 percent of one repetition maximum, the athletes
are not accustomed to this type of load and they will compensate, usually through improper technique or increase stress, which they
can’t handle. Through the years, one thing I’ve found out is that athletes learn how to compensate and this is a prescription to potential
injury. If technique or response to stress is compromised, you need to back off to 65 to 70 percent of 1RM. This is not to say heavy
loading should be avoided, it just needs to be administered in a careful manner with attention to technique and proper periodization.
Injury Prevention and Overuse
In volleyball, a side dominant sport, overuse is a common chronic injury. Imbalances and huge volume of work over time
leads to injury. Here coaches need to be aware of total volume. In volleyball, it’s the number of jumps and arm swings. In the 10 to
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18 age group play has become year-round and this play is hard with the athletes exposed to multiple championships through the
year. It’s just too much. Getting back to the concept of regression to progress, there are times during the year when the total volume
needs to be diminished markedly. From the strength training side, the system I use is training two days a week rather than four days.
This is about all the athletes can handle without getting into trouble.
Relationship of Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention Exercises
Can performance enhancement and injury prevention be done at the same time, in the same program? The answer is yes.
However, coaches should use injury prevention as the base and build with progression that is performance enhancement, which is a
natural progression. If an athlete has never been in a program, gains will come quickly in the beginning. The important thing is to
start with the basics and keep things simple with simple principles. This will make the players feel better about themselves, something
every coach should strive for. By doing a basic program that kids can master, you will be doing better than 90 to 95 percent of all
programs out there.
Volleyball Conditioning and
How Facility Dictates Program
Laura Buttermore
Our new facility, which was dedicated October 20th, really isn’t that much different than our previous facility as far as equipment is concerned. The big difference, however, is the sand court within the facility and the layout that creates training efficiencies
we didn’t have before.
Space Efficiencies
Previously the sand court area was shared with the softball and baseball team’s batting cages area so we were unable to have
total access during certain times of the year. From January to March, when the sand court was covered, we couldn’t do agility and
plyo work or play doubles in the sand. Now we have the weight room and the sand court in the same area. In addition, we also have
a medicine ball wall and a turf push sled area. From a conditioning coach’s standpoint, the weight room was separate from the turf
area so I could only manage one activity at a time. I had other sports to train so this limited the things I could do. Now if I have an
athlete squatting I can have another athlete push a sled in the turf area. Another important consideration is that I can see everything
from one location in the facility. The space also allows us to have more plyo boxes with more height variety so we can train more
athletes at once, which is also a time saver.
Time Efficiencies
One piece of equipment that allows us to train more efficiently is the transformers. This power/squat rack system was designed
by Mike Arthur the Director of Strength and Conditioning Coach here at UNL. With the press of a button this device adjusts to any
height that the athletes need for any exercise traditionally done in a power and/or squat rack. This is a big time saver and offers
almost unlimited exercise selection possibilities.
Equipment Efficiencies
We have eliminated the bench press from our program and replaced it with the push pull circuit, which is done standing,
thus making it more specific to the movements of volleyball including
standing core work. We have also reduced lying down core work from the
program as well. We still have dumbbells, single leg curls and modified
pulley systems working the smaller muscle groups.
Layout and Tour
The layout and design of the weight room creates a flow that allows for athletes to train effectively. Let’s take a tour.
Area One, Warm-up
Here we have ski machines, cable pulleys and stretching machines
for cool down. We can expand this down our turf area where we can do
dynamic warm-ups as a group. In addition, we do Postural Restoration exercises in this location. This is done prior to lifting so that symmetry is
maintained in our volleyball athletes. As to warm-up selection, we do dynamic warm-ups in the off-season because we go into conditioning right
Area One
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after. During the season I
change the warm-up program
every four weeks. Sometimes
we might do just the ski machines, seated dips and shuffles.
The next four weeks might be
the first part of the dynamic
warm-up sequence. I should
mention that when lifting such
as the squats, we always do a
warm-up set prior to the programmed sets and reps. Also in
this area, we do a shoulder-specific warm-up program.
Area Two, Hang Cleans/Squats
Here we use the Transformers I mentioned earlier. In
the off-season, we always do our
explosive/heavy lifts first in our program
(big muscles first). Hang clean is first and,
depending on the day, squat jumps or squats
are also a priority. These are the big 3 we do
in this area.
Area Three, Ground Based Machines, etc.
In our off-season program, after the
Transformers area we move to the Ground
Based Machines area, which includes Jammer/Push-Pulls. We start with Jammer rotation followed by extensions. Rotations are
especially volleyball-specific since it trains
a defensive first step move to the right or
the left—you have to be quick laterally.
This also works the all-important core muscles from a standing position (we don’t do
a lot of core work lying down). Jammer extensions simulate the blocking motion
somewhat with a counter movement back
then pushing forward.
From there we do a push/pull circuit.
We use regular and decline Push/Pull machines. This also works the core. We make
sure we do two pulls to every push. Since
volleyball is an overhead sport there a tendency of the shoulder always being forward.
The objective here is to keep the shoulders
back strengthening behind the shoulder blade
lower and mid trap muscles. We also want to
avoid the chest (pecs) tightening. As a side
note, we don’t do flat bench presses in our
program instead we do DB incline bench
press. We also do explosive push/pulls where
speed of movement is increased.
Area Four, Body Part Machines
Seated Dips and Hamstring Curls are
the two machines we use here. Seated dips
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Area Two
Area Three
Area Four
can be part of warm-up. This works not only the triceps but also the lower traps. Emphasis here is to make sure the shoulder blades
are not flared out to the side but rather down and back. This is important to avoid rounded shoulders so often seen in volleyball
players. This is important for proper posture. The hamstring curl machines are specially designed to activate the hamstrings. Volleyball
players are predominately quad dominant; therefore hamstring development is important in preventing ACL injury. The unique design
of the machine has the right quad “on” as the left hamstring is pulling back and firing.
Area Five, Jumping Area
Here we have jump boxes and the VertiMax. These exercises can be in the beginning or middle of the off-season workout
depending on the goals of the session. On an all-power day, the hang clean or box jumps come first. In volleyball we do rocket
jumps, single leg jumps, box jumps, step close, depth jumps and approach jumps. I can make this as volleyball-specific as I like. We
also do a landing routine to teach the players how to land. This is especially true with freshmen. Some of the keys are not landing
forward but rather on the heels. We also teach how to jump up on a box avoiding the knees coming together, etc. We do single leg
box jumps because even though I preach not landing on one foot, the athletes are going to do it so we train it. We have them jump
off small boxes emphasizing proper techniques, especially landing. The coaches and trainers also emphasize two-footed landing so
they are getting this from all angles of supervision.
On the court we know that players will have either a three step or four step approach, and we emphasize the step close footwork because these two steps are the most important part of the approach. In blocking, coach Cook is doing more swing blocking
so I incorporate that into our program. This is more like attack blocking rather than using a step over, so we adjust from there. It all
goes back to close communication with the volleyball coach. Having the experience of playing volleyball for coach Cook is a big
advantage for me. Although he has changed things over the past 10 years, I know his tendencies and expectations.
The VertiMax is similar to squat jumps only I use it with athletes who have issues that arose out of putting a barbell on their
back. We use it more in-season.
Area Five
Area Six, Dumbbells
We use dumbbells more than barbells because of their stability
advantages. You can tell if an athlete has asymmetry issues by the way
they use dumbbells in each hand. Dumbbells create more of a challenge
and are better for shoulder stability. They are also versatile. DB Incline
Bench Press and DB Row are the two main arm dumbbell exercises. We
work legs as well doing things like bent over lunges, side lunges, single
leg squats on a box, as well as step-ups with knee drive and lateral. We
also have kettle bells in the area so we can be more explosive if we want.
Finally, we have barbell plates in order to do rotating plate walking lunges.
Area Seven, Turf and Med Ball Wall
The med ball wall is great for standing core work, especially rotating. We do a variety of throws rotating from the front as well as the side.
We also do throws from a spilt squat position. Beyond the throws we also
do some tornado ball exercises, which is a med ball on the end of a rope.
The ball swings and bounces off the wall.
Area Six
Beyond dynamic warm-up we use the turf for our Prowler (sled)
pushes and sled pulls. With the pushes I can add weight depending on if I want the athletes to walk or run. The pulls we can do back
pedaling and turn and sprint activities. We also do step backs which imitate the retro stairs movement that works the glutes/hamstrings.
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Area Seven
Area Eight, Pulley System Blast Straps
Here we do triceps push down with rope, triceps overhead and triceps kickbacks with one and two
arms. In addition, we do standing low row, bicep curls and ball rope rotations using a stability ball. We
also do shoulder strengthening and one armed exercises. With the blast straps we do inverted chin-ups.
This is done rather than pull-ups because pull-ups work the lats thus creating shoulder issues where
with this exercise we can focus on keeping the shoulder blades together.
Area Nine, Sand Court
The sand court is not used during the season. From January to March and June to August are the two
eight-week off-season programs. We don’t work sand everyday but there are advantages to using the
sand court. It’s a forgiving surface so it’s easier on the joints although it also creates hard work. We’ll
only do a half hour at most in the sand. Because of the sand court surface creating speed and force is
greatly diminished. So from this standpoint it’s almost like recovery from the pounding of court activity.
We start with plyo jumps
but limit them because fatigue
sets in very soon. Then we
work agility by doing things
such as pro agility, box and
cone drills, and end with 5-43-2-1, which works endurance.
Area Eight
Running the court up and back is one rep. Each group starts
with 5 reps, then 4, etc. focusing on working the sprint muscles. Our sand is very deep and highly processed, which
makes things even more difficult. During the off-season we
don’t go onto the court with the exception of July where we
start to transition to the court. Finally, on the sand we play a
lot of doubles. This works volleyball skills and communications with partners. The players self coach themselves learning strategies, etc. Players have to learn shots and play
defense all on a surface where the net “feels” higher.
Area Nine
I hope you have enjoyed our tour and have gained an appreciation of how facilities dictate program. The first thing coaches
need to look at is what they’ve got and how much time they have to get their team ready. Good luck and if you are in the neighborhood,
give us a visit.
Planning the Off-season
Off-Season 12- Week Maximum Strength/Power
Super Set Program
for Volleyball
Robert Brown
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Max Strength Program
A coach or player may ask, "Why max strength? Isn't this something weight lifters do?" We have found that over 10 games,
the most a player jumps is 700-800 times, landing at great force. Our program utilizes the maximum number of muscle fibers which
strengthens the muscle and surrounding connective tissue to withstand the landing stresses placed on the body. The performance
benefit is to undertake large jumping workloads that are created through repetitive jumping. The priority in the weight room for the
volleyball player should be injury prevention, followed by improved performance.
Max Recruitment with Efficient, Measurable Exercises
The exercises done in this program recruit approximately 90% of the body's muscles. For example, many exercises are combined at one time when doing the power clean-a fast dead lift, an upright row and shrug, followed by a front squatting motion to
catch the bar. There are not a lot of different exercises in the max strength program. There are only exercises that effectively recruit
a large number of muscle fibers. Another advantage of these exercises is measurability. It is difficult to stand on a stability ball and
do an exercise-it is not the same. Our exercises have measurements in pounds lifted. They are easy to understand and improve
upon.
Program Considerations
The program relies upon knowing the maximum weight an athlete can do for a single repetition. Table 1 provides a chart to
allow the coach to predict a one-repetition maximum based on the number of reps done at a specific weight. This allows the coach
to know the maximum without having to make a load the maximum. Because we are working in loads of 90% and above, this
program is for the advanced intermediate or advanced player who has had at least two years of training. This program is ideal for
the collegiate athlete or older high school athlete who is not playing volleyball year-round (they must have time to do this program).
It is essential that athletes can perform all maximum strength exercises with perfect techniques and full range of motion
before starting. This is a 12-week off-season program that taxes the nervous system. The program is divided into three-week intervals
in which changes can be made to work more of a power aspect or continue with strength. The first three weeks can be done as an
introduction, and then the next three weeks can be done at higher intensity with less reps. The following three weeks introduce more
power-type activities in the (2) exercise category which we will discuss later.
The program is done twice a week-ideally Monday and Friday-to allow for maximum recovery. When getting into higher
intensities of the strength program, only hit a few lifts to allow more rest time to ensure a better lifting session. In addition, keep the
volume lower to allow better recovery for the remainder of the week. The other days can be devoted to speed, agility and quickness
as presented in the Volleyball Conditioning Accreditation program training cards system.
An alternative would be to do different strength exercises at lower intensities working to posterior change of muscles. Conditioning and running are still done. The maximum strength program starts with the choice of an Olympic style explosive lift.
Special Note - The explosive lift intensities are purposely left off. Each coach will chose a different lift for their program
and we wanted to show they are all involved. Furthermore, we suggest doing these before getting into the maximal strength training
portion of the program. Category (1) exercises are multi-joint resistance exercises using barbells and relatively heavy loads and category (2) exercises are resistance exercises using body weight or relatively light loads.
Using the Super Setting System
In super setting, the athlete does a maximum strength exercise for the (1) category after the initial Olympic-style explosive
lift is done. This includes back squat (with front squat substituted) and bench press (with incline press substituted). The next exercise
is done from group (2) which is an opposite (non-competing) body part done immediately after the maximum strength lift. It allows
the coach to get as many athletes involved as possible with the goal of developing maximum strength. After one set of a (1) and (2)
super set, there is a two to four minute rest before the next set. This long rest period emphasizes quality work which is necessary to
ensure maximum strength development. The coach can introduce more power type exercises into the program in the (2) category
exercises to add variety and provide a different style of muscular and neuro stimulation. This can be done by alternating three-week
blocks. Weeks one to three (2) category exercises are strength in nature and weeks four to six (2) category exercises are explosive.
Rather than doing a med ball push-up, we can substitute a med ball chest pass or an explosive movement in place of a strength movement. A box jump can replace a med ball single leg squat. The same exercise selection system is used in weeks six to twelve. If the
off-season is limited in time, the variation of maximum strength and power can occur simultaneously rather than in three week
blocks. Monday could be a super set strength complex from week one and Friday a super set power complex from week four. This
problem is extremely flexible to gain the desired result for the coach.
Maximum Super Set Strength/Power Program
Week One
Explosive Lift: Snatch, Clean, Jerk
Sets
Legs: 1a Back Squat
4
2a Med Ball Pushup
4
Reps
5
10
% of 1rm
85%
Chest: 1b Bench Press
5
85%
4
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2b Med Ball Single Leg Squats 4
10
Week Two
Sets
Legs: 1a Back Squat
4
2a Med Ball Pushup
4
Reps
4
10
% of 1rm
87%
4
4
10
87%
Week Three
Sets
Legs: 1a Back Squat
4
2a Med Ball Pushup
4
Reps
3
10
% of 1rm
90%
4
3
10
90%
Week Four
Sets
Legs: 1a Back Squat
4
2a Med Ball Chest Pass
4
Reps
5
10
% of 1rm
85%
2b Box Jumps
5
10
85%
4
4
Week Five
Sets
Legs: 1a Back Squat
4
4
Reps
4
10
% of 1rm
87%
2b Box Jumps
4
10
87%
4
4
Week Six
Sets
Legs: 1a Back Squat
4
4
Reps
3
10
% of 1rm
90%
2b Box Jumps
3
10
90%
4
4
Table 1
How to Find Your Weightlifting Maximum
Ken Kontor, Publisher, Performance Conditioning Volleyball
In weight training for volleyball, the goal is not to set records in the weight room. Rather, it is to improve performance
specific to the athlete's needs, and, more importantly, to prevent injury. Many conditioning coaches do not recommend testing for a
single repetition at maximum weight because they fear injury, length of time during testing to find maximum, etc. A safe and timeefficient way is the predicted maximum method.
The coach selects a weight s/he feels the athlete can handle for multiple repetitions after a complete warm-up. The athlete
performs as many reps with that weight as possible. Using the chart below, a one-time maximum repetition is computed. If that
athlete does 100 pounds 10 times, the predicted maximum is 133 pounds. If the athlete can only do 5 repetitions at this weight, the
maximum is 114 pounds. Once a maximum is established, percentages of maximum can be assigned for training purposes. Maximum
testing should be done about every six weeks. This depends on the length of the training cycle, the athlete's training age and other
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Pounds
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
115
120
125
130
135
140
145
150
155
160
165
170
175
180
185
190
195
200
205
210
215
220
225
230
235
240
245
250
255
260
265
270
375
280
285
290
295
10
67
73
80
87
93
100
107
113
120
127
133
140
147
153
160
167
173
180
187
193
200
207
213
220
227
233
240
247
253
260
267
273
280
287
293
300
307
313
320
327
333
340
347
353
360
367
373
380
387
293
9
65
71
77
84
90
97
103
110
116
123
129
135
142
148
155
161
168
174
181
187
194
200
206
213
219
226
232
239
245
252
258
265
271
277
284
280
297
303
310
316
323
329
335
342
348
355
361
368
374
381
8
63
69
75
81
88
94
100
106
113
119
125
131
138
144
150
156
163
169
175
181
188
194
200
206
213
219
225
231
238
244
250
256
263
269
275
281
288
294
300
306
313
319
325
331
338
344
350
356
363
369
Repetitions
7
6
61
59
67
65
73
71
79
76
85
82
91
88
97
94
103
100
109
106
115
112
121
118
127
124
133
129
139
135
145
141
152
147
158
153
164
159
170
165
176
171
182
176
188
182
194
188
200
194
206
200
212
206
218
212
224
218
230
224
236
229
242
235
248
241
255
247
261
253
267
259
273
265
279
271
285
276
291
282
297
288
303
294
309
300
315
306
321
312
327
318
333
324
339
329
345
335
352
341
358
347
5
57
63
69
74
80
86
91
97
103
109
114
120
126
131
137
143
149
154
160
166
171
177
183
189
194
200
206
211
217
223
229
234
240
246
251
257
263
269
274
280
286
291
297
303
309
314
320
326
331
337
4
56
61
67
72
78
83
89
94
100
106
111
117
122
128
133
139
144
150
156
161
167
172
178
183
189
194
200
206
211
217
222
228
233
239
244
250
256
261
267
272
278
283
289
294
300
306
311
317
322
328
3
54
59
65
70
76
81
86
92
97
103
108
114
119
124
130
135
141
146
151
157
162
168
173
178
184
189
195
200
205
211
216
222
227
232
238
243
249
254
259
265
270
276
281
286
292
297
303
308
314
319
2
53
58
63
68
74
79
84
89
95
100
105
111
116
121
126
132
137
142
147
153
158
163
168
174
179
184
189
195
200
205
211
216
221
226
232
237
242
247
253
258
263
268
274
276
284
289
295
300
305
311
300
305
310
315
320
325
330
335
340
345
350
355
360
365
370
375
380
385
390
395
400
405
410
415
420
425
430
435
440
445
450
455
460
465
470
475
480
485
490
495
500
505
510
515
520
525
530
535
540
545
550
Pounds
10
400
407
413
420
427
433
440
447
453
460
467
473
480
487
493
500
507
513
520
527
533
540
547
553
560
567
573
580
587
595
600
607
613
620
627
633
640
647
653
660
667
673
680
687
693
700
707
713
720
727
733
9
387
394
400
406
413
419
426
432
439
445
452
458
465
471
477
484
490
497
503
510
516
523
529
535
542
548
555
561
568
574
581
587
594
600
606
613
619
626
632
639
645
652
658
665
671
677
684
690
697
703
710
8
375
381
388
394
400
406
413
419
425
431
438
444
450
456
463
469
475
481
488
494
500
506
513
519
525
531
538
544
550
556
563
569
575
581
588
594
600
606
613
619
625
631
638
644
650
656
663
669
675
681
688
Repetitions
7
6
364
353
370
359
376
365
382
371
388
376
394
382
400
388
406
394
412
400
418
406
424
412
430
418
436
424
442
429
448
435
455
441
461
447
467
453
473
459
479
465
485
471
491
476
497
482
503
488
509
494
515
500
521
506
527
512
533
518
539
524
545
529
552
535
558
541
564
547
570
553
576
559
582
565
588
571
594
576
600
582
606
588
612
594
618
600
624
606
630
612
636
618
642
624
648
629
655
635
661
641
667
647
5
343
349
354
360
366
371
377
383
389
394
400
406
411
417
423
429
434
440
446
451
457
463
469
474
480
486
491
497
503
509
514
520
526
531
537
543
549
554
560
566
571
577
583
589
594
600
606
611
617
623
629
4
333
339
344
350
356
361
367
372
378
383
389
394
400
406
411
417
422
428
433
439
444
450
456
461
467
472
478
483
489
494
500
506
511
517
522
528
533
539
544
550
556
561
567
572
578
583
589
594
600
606
611
3
324
330
335
341
346
351
357
362
368
373
378
384
389
395
400
405
411
416
422
427
432
438
443
449
454
459
465
470
476
481
486
492
497
503
508
514
519
524
530
535
541
546
551
557
562
568
573
578
584
589
595
2
316
321
326
332
337
342
347
353
358
363
368
376
376
384
389
395
400
405
411
416
421
426
432
437
442
447
453
458
463
468
474
479
484
489
495
500
505
511
516
521
526
532
537
542
547
553
558
563
568
574
579
factors. This method is most effective for multiple joint exercises that use the major muscle groups and do not require a high degree
of skill-leg presses rather than wrist curls or Olympic-style snatches.
Adapted from Applied Futuristics: Strength Training for Sports by Fred Koch
How to Exercise Techniques
Squat
Start
• Use rack, with supports at mid-chest level.
• Be sure spotters are in position.
• Grasp the barbell palms down, slightly wider than shoulder width.
• Step under bar, feet parallel and shoulder-width apart.
• Place center of the bar on the upper back so it is balanced, resting securely across back of shoulders.
• Elbows pointed down, eyes straight ahead.
• Straighten legs to lift barbell off the rack and step backward, feet slightly wider than shoulder width
and toes pointed out slightly.
• Fill lunges with air (the creation of intra thoracic pressure) and hold.
• Attempt to exhale forcefully but close nose and mouth air passages so that air is not allowed to escape
(the creation of intra abdominal pressure, Valsalva maneuver).
Movement
• Under control, squat down as if sitting down on a chair.
• Keep feet flat on the floor and knees in alignment with (over) feet.
• Descend slowly until tops of thighs are parallel to floor.
• Important- maintain the intra thoracic/intra abdominal pressure created at the start. Try to keep back relaxed.
• Upon the start of the ascent, exhale forcefully using the abdominal muscles to return to the upright position.
• Keep eyes focused straight ahead.
Tips
• Do not bounce at bottom position.
• Knees can come slightly together coming up.
• Do not speed bar up at the top.
• Stay tight on the descent using through the creation of abdominal pressure not the tightening of the lower back.
• Avoid the shifting of weight predominately to one leg. This indicates a muscle imbalance.
Bench Press
Start
• Lie on bench with eyes directly under bar and head, hips and feet flat on the floor.
• Grab the bar with a palms out grip with thumbs wrapped around bar, slightly wider than shoulder
width. Spotter should be in proper position.
Movement
• Slowly lift bar off supports in a slow controlled movement.
• Inhale and hold while lowering bar.
• Slowly lower the bar and touch at nipples elbows pointed outward, pause.
• Exhale and push bar upward and slightly back (forming a curve) toward supports until arms
straighten.Tips
• Never bounce bar off of chest or raise hip and/or head off bench.
• Keep feet flat.
• Be sure to use a spotter.
Med Ball Chest Pass
Start
• Use both hands to hold a medicine ball against the chest.
Movement
• Snap the ball off your chest while stepping forward into the motion.
• The back of your hands should come together when releasing the
ball.
Medicine Ball Push-up
Start
• Start with one hand on the ball in a push-up position, elbow slightly
bent.
PA G E 1 8
Movement
• Bending at the elbow descend to a 90-degree angle and return to starting position.
Box Jumps
Start
• Stand in an athletic approximately 12 inches from the box.
Movement
• Athlete jumps onto the box using a vigorous arm swing in synchronization with leg, hip and torso
extension and to land softly on top of the box (no sound).
• In advanced stages of training this exercise may be done against the resistance of rubber cables, or
with a weighted vest and/or onto a very high box. Relatively easy on the knees, progress can be
judged by ever-increasing box heights.
Medicine Ball Single Leg Squat
Start
• Grasp med ball with both hands and place med ball on the neck.
• Balance on one foot.
Movement
• Lower body as much as possible without losing balance.
• Keep other leg extended out front.
• Make sure that feet stay flat on the floor, and that the knees stay over the toes throughout lift.
• Maintain a tight abdomen throughout the lift.
Club
Around the Court Strength Circuit
Jeanne Colpus
Coaches are always looking for optimal ways to strength train their athletes, but often
weight room facilities are not available at their specific practice site, especially for club
coaches, scheduling time to get in the weight room can be inconvenient, the girls don’t want
to be in there at the same time the guys are and recently there has been an epidemic of infection in the weight room.
How do we remedy these situations? Simple…do it around the volleyball court with
specific movement for the sport, for maximum performance.
Here are some fantastic exercises, using minimal equipment to get your kids strong
and fit to play the great game that we love….”volleyball”.
#1 ONE LEGGED SQUAT ON BOSU
BALL
Position Bosu ball, round side
down close to the volleyball upright. Stand
on the Bosu, directly in the middle with
one foot. Descend into a squat, sitting back
on the heel of the stabilizing foot and go
as low as possible. The tempo should be
slow and steady, keeping all the muscles
engaged. The non stabilizing foot will be
out in front of the body with the foot
flexed. Figure 1.
Figure 1
#2 PIKE TO PUSH UP
Using a stability ball, start with the feet on the ball and hands on the floor about
shoulder width apart in a “push up ready position”. Gradually raise the hips higher than the
head. This will move the ball closer to the hands, this reaching the “pike position”. As the
hips drop lower than the head, this will put the athlete back into the “push up ready position”.
Once back to this position, the athlete will lower themselves into a push up, leading with
the chest to the floor. Make sure that the abdominals and lower back muscles are always
“engaged”,(tight) throughout the entire exercise. Figure 2.
Figure 2
PA G E 1 9
#3 MULTI DIRECTIONAL LUNGE WITH
MEDICINE BALL
In this exercise the athlete will lead with the
same leg in all four directions, then switch the lead
leg.
START with the medicine ball grasped in
both hands, holding the ball close to the mid section
of the body.
The first direction will be FORWARD.
When lunging forward, keep the foot
flexed (sole of the foot parallel to the floor)
lift leg high as if stepping over a hurdle.
The finish position posture should be
shoulder pointing to the ceiling (not leaning forward over the toes) with the medicine ball held straight out in front, away
from the body. Front knee should be at a
90 degree angle and the back knee should
be off the floor. When planting the lead
leg, theheal of the foot should plant first,
then the toe. When returning to the start
position, push off the lead leg lifting it
high and keeping the foot flexed. Remember to keep the abdominals engaged
throughout the entire exercise.
The SECOND direction will be
at a 45 degree angle, for example if the
lead leg is the right, the athlete would step
out toward slightly to their right. Again
lifting the leg high as if stepping over a
hurdle, leading heal/toe.
The THIRD direction will be
straight to the side as if playing a ball outside the body.
The FOURTH direction will be
directly behind them. Figure 3.
Figure 4
Figure 5
#4 NEGATIVE PUSH UP
I love this one! Start in the “push
up ready position. Counting down from
ten all the way to zero, as each consecutive
Figure 3
number is called out, the athlete will deFigure 6
scend and hold that push up position, until they get to zero, which then they should be in a prone position, lying on the floor. Again
the athlete needs to focus on keeping the body straight and engaging the abdominal and lower back muscles throughout the exercise.
Figure 4.
#5 SQUAT TO BLOCK WITH MEDICINE BALL
Great full body explosive movement!
Start in a squat position with the medicine ball grasped in both hands and the medicine ball touching the floor. Explode into
a block jump, raising the medicine ball up and over the net without touching the net (simulating a block) then descend into the squat
position to immediately explode vertically again. Figure 5.
#6 CLASSIC BODY WEIGHT HOLD/ RAISES
FRONT: Lying face down and have the athlete prop themselves up on their forearms. Keep the upper body straight along with concentrating on keeping the muscles “engaged.”
SIDE: Have the athlete lie on their side and prop themselves up on one forearm, keeping the muscles “engaged” and the body
straight.
BACK: Lying face up, have the athlete prop themselves up on both forearms again keeping their body straight as possible and
keeping their abdominals and lower back muscles “engaged” throughout the exercise.
PA G E 2 0
VARIATION: To challenge the athlete a little more, have a partner apply some resistance
by gently pressing down on the athlete so that the athlete has to push against the resistance
staying keeping everything straight and engaged. Figure 6.
#7 BOSU SQUAT WITH MEDICINE BALL
Position Bosu ball, round side down. Stand on top with both feet equally balanced
holding the medicine ball with both hands close to the mid section of the body. Descend
into a 90 degree squat, extending arms straight out in front of the body. Return to start position, descend again into a 90 degree squat this time extending the arms straight above
the head. Figure 7
This is a great way to incorporate a warm up specific to the sport and to involve
the upper and lower body. A variation of this circuit could be to add cardio in between a #1
few of the exercises. Start with a 30-45 second time on each exercise and then as your
team progresses you can increase it! A suggested court layout is seen in Figure 8. A duplicate layout can be done on the other side of the court depending on the number of athletes
you have to train and equipment available. Happy Training!
#2
#5
#6
#4
#3
#7
Figure 8
Figure 7
High School
Making the Most of the Zero Period in
Conditioning High School Volleyball Players
Art Garcia
The focus of this article is to discuss my years of experience at multiple levels of volleyball play in Southern California. The
first issue is how many club level coaches also coach at the high school level. This would be an interesting survey because the circumstances at these two levels are somewhat different. My guess is that on the club/high school level, many coaches are former
players from the college level. Because of this their experiences and expertise in conditioning volleyball players is widely diversified.
The best way for them to learn more is to ask questions and gain knowledge from those with experience. This is what I hope to accomplish with this article.
Dual Roles
The first thing to realize is that most high school players are also club players. What this means is that they have experience
playing a lot of volleyball but not much in the way of conditioning. I don’t know of too many clubs that have a separate conditioning
program. This is due to limited time and that time is devoted to technique and tactics. I know of some programs that hire an outside
conditioning coach but these programs have the time and financial recourses to do this. However, these programs are few and far between.
From what I know and my experience is that all too many coaches at the club/high school level have their players run laps
in order to condition. It’s a case of “you have to run a mile in a certain time or you won’t be an effective player.” This makes no
sense to me. Any running done should be progressive and in short distances. This short running has to have change of direction laterally and diagonally, etc., because these are the movements that will be made on the court. However, because of the severe time
limitations the players must be touching the ball. Some coaches do intervals and running lines. This is more specific to the energy
systems in volleyball but again lacks ball touches. Therefore, if one wants players to be at a high level of conditioning during the
final match of a game, they have to be conditioned game-specific. If time permits one can do the short, change of direction running
without a ball that simulates game conditioning without having the limiter of ball skills. Conditioning with a ball has its challenges
PA G E 2 1
but it’s the reality most club players face.
High School—the Zero Period and Challenges Facing Volleyball Players
In Southern California, when club ends high school volleyball starts. Most schools have what is called a zero period. For
boys’ high school volleyball, fall is an off-season and the beginning of the club season. This is when the athletes can come into the
weight room at school and condition for their sport. (Note: conditioning here means all aspects of physical performance development
including strength and power, not just the energy system aerobic/anaerobic demands of the sport.) On the surface this sounds like a
great opportunity for volleyball players to come in and develop their athletic skills in order to improve their volleyball skills. Unfortunately, most high schools have only one weight room, so during this zero period there might be football players and athletes from
other sports using the facility. Consequently, there is competition for space and equipment.
Other obstacles one might encounter are sophomores coming in who have no experience in strength training so their needs
are different from the seniors. If a coach has players in the weight room with a strength coach who’s working the football team, the
volleyball players could be doing football exercises such as the bench press. Not only is this exercise non functional in contributing
to athletic volleyball development, it might even put the players at risk for injury.
Coming Up with a Zero Period Plan
So, what is a volleyball coach to do? The first thing is to gain knowledge on volleyball-specific conditioning. The Performance
Conditioning Volleyball Newsletter is a great resource. Another is to ask questions if you have access to someone with volleyball
conditioning experience. If this person also has volleyball experience, that’s even better. Coaches should also be aware of what is in
the facility with regard to equipment and what access they have to it during the zero period. One could have access to certain pieces
of equipment at certain times. Body weight exercises can also be done if access to equipment is not available so one must learn to
adjust.
The coach also has to be aware of which players are doing club. Some club players may already be spending two to three
hours in the gym during the week. The zero period can be an over-do with some of these players. So, if access is limited during the
zero period, one might want to consider focusing on the development of high school players and cutting the club players a little slack
thus giving them some needed rest while opening up opportunities for the others—it’s a balancing act. This is not to excuse the club
players but rather give them different roles during zero period such as spotting, helping set up, recording workouts or maybe even
working on a particular physical weakness that they might have.
The zero period is usually less than an hour, so there’s not a lot of time to get things done, thus the coach has to be well organized and versatile. The possibilities are endless. One scenario might be to do strength training for 30 minutes and the next 30,
touching the ball working on skills in the gym rather than the weight room. The coach has to realize that these classes aren’t mandatory
and that the athletes have elected to participate in them.
There also should be an element of fun involved. One can do activities that are challenging as well as fun. Games can be
things like bombardier, which is similar to dodge ball. The players are working their shoulders by throwing the ball and working on
agility when trying to avoid being hit. In addition, there is nothing wrong with cross training such as playing other sports. Another
fun thing is short distance relay races where the athletes have a baton a hands it off. This works on teamwork as well as acceleration/deceleration skills. See Table one for an example of a zero period program for volleyball.
To get started the first thing to do is test the athletes. Start with the vertical jump and add tests for conditioning and strength
as time allows. This should be done at regular intervals to see if the program is working to develop the athletes. If there’s an athlete
who has gone through an injury, testing can indicate if the athlete is finally ready to go full speed without reservation. Finally, a
great motivator is the fact that a coach can show the players that they are gaining in the vertical jump.
Making it Work within the School Setting
There are many different situations that come up; therefore, the volleyball coach has to work with school administration and
other coaches to get the job done. The way this usually works is that all spring sport athletes are in a fall zero period whereas the fall
athletes are in a spring zero period as part of their off-season. The zero periods are usually the last hour of the day before dismissal.
For us, fall is the best time for the zero period because the football team is in their season and don’t train the last period of school
before practice. So this is more of a window of opportunity for us.
In the spring it’s a different story. Not only do we have football but we also have basketball, soccer, tennis and lacrosse plus
boys and girls water polo. In the spring we have to ask favors and work in close communication with these other coaches. In our
case, the associate athlete director is in charge of scheduling the gym and the weight room. We may have to adjust and get into the
weight room at 6:30 in the morning or 6 PM after school, which creates great problem on our end because we can’t always get the
athletes back to school in the evening to use the weight room.
So, with one weight room and one gym we may have to go outside to do our conditioning. Alternatively, we can go to the
football coach and ask if we can use a small portion of the weight room for 20 minutes as part of what we do in that entire hour. If
this is the case, one must come into the room well organized and with a heightened sense of work ethic. This shows the other coaches
and athlete that the volleyball players are just as dedicated and hard working.
It comes down to building relationships. If I want to use the weight room, how can I do it and make it easy for the football
coach? Do I have something to offer them? Our team has a Vertec. We encourage football players to use and test with it. They love
it. We show them how to jump and make the most of the tool. The football players and coaches realize that at the NFL Combine, the
PA G E 2 2
vertical jump is one of the tests so we don’t have to sell it. Another thing we do is share equipment cost with things like jump ropes,
which is something we all use. Why not get the ropes so everyone can use them and save each program some equipment dollars.
Buying in volume collectively also saves money.
Another advantage is that once the volleyball athletes are in the weight room the volleyball coach is responsible for teaching
techniques and supervising his/her own athletes. This way the football coach or the school strength coach doesn’t have to divert their
time. Because of this, the volleyball coach has to be educated in the area of strength and conditioning. That is why this publication
(Performance Conditioning Volleyball) is so important and a great tool from which to learn. Once a volleyball coach steps into the
weight room, s/he has to be organized so that there is a flow for their players to move around efficiently when using various pieces
of equipment.
Finally, when designing a program it’s important to make sure it fits the level of one’s athletes. In other words, don’t be
doing the USC volleyball program but rather design a program that fits your athlete’s needs and level of play.
Table 1
Foothill Girl’s VB Off-Season Class (March-June)
Meet Mondays-Fridays from 2pm-3pm. (If the boys’ teams are away, I'm hoping to send the Fr. /So. coach on the 1st bus
with his team and the JV coach on the 2nd bus with the JV and Varsity. Then after the girls help me put stuff away in the gym, I
would drive to the school).
We would use a 3 phase program of conditioning with playing games:
Phase 1: Speed, Quickness and Agility (1st 30 min. of class):
The use of jump ropes, agility ladders, dot drill mats, etc.
The 2nd half of the class would be playing competitive games.
Phase 2: Power/Jump Training (1st 30 min. of class):
The use of jump boxes, the Vertec (I own one of these devices so the programs would not have to purchase one). But if
we had 2 of these devices, the training would then be more efficiently run and not too many players would have to wait to
perform this drill. I also have some other simple equipment that could be used as part of a circuit for jump training. In the
power phase, the players could use their own body weight to strengthen their upper body. I also recommend other inex
pensive devices to strengthen the small muscles of the shoulder (spiking).
Phase 3: Core Strength Training (1st 30 min. of class):
The use of yoga mats (which would ease the players' backs when on the floor), stability balls to strengthen the abdominals
(lower, upper, oblique portions) and lower back when performing these drills would help in their exercises.
e.g.;
Week 1 thru Week 6
Mon. Phase 1/Play VB
Tues. Phase 2/Play VB
Wed. Phase 3/Play VB
Thurs. Phase 1/Play VB
Fri. Phase 2/Play VB
Sat. (On their own) Phase 3
Sun. Rest
Collegiate
The How’s and Why’s of the Collegiate
Off-season/Post-Season Strength and Conditioning
Program at University at Albany, SUNY
Rich Zwolinski
The modern athlete is a combination of speed, strength, agility, and explosiveness unlike any previous generation. This new
breed has the benefits of advances in sport training, strength training, and nutrition that help them perform at higher and higher
levels. While the average person benefits from a general strength and conditioning program, athletes require periodized programs
that are more specialized in order to optimize their performance. Periodized programs vary training intensity and volume based on
the time of year and the goal of the period. (Baechle, Earle, 2008) These programs shift through four phases, in-season, post-season,
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off-season, and pre-season. (Baechle, Earle, 2008) This article will focus primarily on the post-season, which occurs directly after
the season.
As previously mentioned, athletes require more than a general strength program to perform at their best. For a volleyball
player, the post-season is the time where players can develop strength and explosiveness without adversely affecting their play. The
volleyball athlete is strong, explosive, agile, quick, and has a level of endurance that allows them to perform at high levels for several
hours in competition. In order to develop these characteristics, their post-season program must reflect all of these elements. While
no coach will argue the importance of strength in athletics, there is great debate over the effectiveness of a program that fails to
reflect the volleyball athlete’s movements. If one were to examine the top International teams, they would find long, lean, toned
athletes that show tremendous strength on the ground and in the air. It is my intention to explain the importance of a well-designed
strength and conditioning program from a coach’s perspective while addressing some of the issues associated with designing a program.
Rationale for a Program
As a coach, I see athletes that struggle from a lack of strength and explosiveness every day. They lack the strength to maintain
posture and perform skills with proper technique, or they are strong but lack the explosiveness to do the skill quickly. While these
weaknesses won’t prevent them from playing volleyball per se, it will limit their level of accomplishment, or worse, leads to an
injury due to over-compensation mechanisms. Here are a few examples that help to illustrate the need for strength and conditioning:
1) a player that struggles to stay in a low posture and dig balls hit in front and laterally around her, 2) a player that serves with a low
elbow, or 3) a player that is slow to close the block and get off the floor. While all coaches will notice the flaw in skill execution,
few will notice the root cause - a lack of strength. While the technique portion of a skill can be coached to perfection, if it isn’t performed with the strength and explosiveness required to execute the move in a game-like situation, little to no improvement will be
seen over time
How do we solve these issues? By using a post-season strength and conditioning program that meets the needs of the athlete,
periodic testing to evaluate improvement, and adjusting the program as needed to accomplish the desired goal.
What are the issues?
Several issues and questions need to be considered when creating an appropriate program for the volleyball athlete. The
following are just a sampling of questions that need to be addressed with every program.
How much time can I dedicate to the strength and conditioning of my athletes?
What facilities or equipment do my athletes have access to in order to train?
What are my athletes’ needs?
How long have my athletes been in training?
Time, there’s never enough time.
It has been said that an athlete should spend 80% of their time performing sport specific activities (practicing the skills for
the game) and 20% doing performance enhancement training (weights, plyometrics, flexibility, agility, etc.). (John, 2011) In a
utopian training world, everybody would have access to a facility and unlimited time to train. As this is not the case, a three day per
week weight program with two days of plyometrics is a great five-day program to build speed, strength, and explosiveness during
the post-season. At approximately one hour per weight workout and 20 minutes per plyometric workout, the athletes have the opportunity to improve in less than four hours per week.
In addition to overall time limitations, the time required to learn proper technique for all movement patterns, factors in to
the program design. Some people will read this as “technique for lifting weights”, but this goes beyond the weight room. Surprisingly,
athletes need training in basic movement skills, running, jumping, landing, and using their core. Nothing is more important and requires a greater attention to detail than training technique for athletic movement. Teaching a player to jump and attack becomes
very difficult if they struggle to run with forward lean, pivot their feet, and use their arms to transfer horizontal momentum into
vertical movement for a jump.
While some feel the more the weight or the resistance increases the better the results that will be seen, the importance of
proper form in maintaining a healthy athlete and gaining strength cannot be stressed enough. I have had the experience, on various
levels, with athletes that cannot do a push-up, cannot hold a plank position, and struggle to perform a bodyweight squat. It is a disservice to the athlete to risk injury by complicating the lifts or adding weight before proper form is developed and a level of base
strength is gained. Patience must be exercised by both the coach and athlete during this phase. Although the numbers aren’t increasing
linearly, it is important to understand that learning proper technique will allow the athlete to get stronger, in turn helping them to become a better athlete.
I know there are some coaches reading this thinking “I don’t have the time.” I pose the question; do you have the time to
wait while your athlete recovers from an injury?
Facilities and Equipment
Every coach has to evaluate their space and equipment in order to design a program for their athletes. I am fortunate in my
situation with a collegiate facility that is just for athlete usage stocked with a variety of weight and plyometric equipment. In our
case, we have several Olympic Platforms with bumper plates along with power racks, adjustable benches, bands, chains, dumbbells,
and various other pieces of equipment. Had I lacked the traditional equipment, this program would be designed using sandbags,
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water jugs, ropes, bands, stadium stairs, and bodyweight.
The Athlete
One of the primary goals of a coach should be to bring out the best in their athletes, a goal that cannot be accomplished if
the athlete is injured. Several steps can be taken to help keep your athletes injury free. The first suggestion is to have the athlete
screened for muscle imbalances, a very common and often ignored condition. There are a myriad of functional screens used by
strength and conditioning professionals to detect muscle imbalances. Should an imbalance be found, it is critical that the imbalance
be rectified, not only to help the athlete get stronger, but to better alleviate the risk of injury. The second suggestion is to have the
athletes perform stretching and myofascial release every day. Flexibility is important for quick athletic movements and only comes
from consistent stretching. The final suggestion is to watch the athletes in a few practices / playing situations to identify any weak
movement skills. Some examples of on-court indicators of weakness are the athlete’s inability to maintain a low posture, slow
lateral movement, inability to control upper torso without a stable base, and loss of body control in the air. These are nearly impossible to see in a structured weight-training environment, but are extremely important to on-court performance. Now that the needs
of the athlete have been defined, a program can be developed.
The Program Design
In an ideal world, we have unlimited time and unlimited access to all the elements we need to train our athletes to become
quick, agile, strong, and explosive. We could web search “perfect strength program for volleyball” and come up with the magic formula that will work for every athlete. Many believe in the “one program fits all” or that a program that shows increases in brute
strength translates to better performance on the court. While there is no perfect program, there are similarities in all effective
programs. First, there are multiple microcycles for hypertrophy, strength, and power. Second, the program has a variety of exercises
that develop the entire athlete through various ranges of motion. Finally, the program allows for testing and modification to achieve
goals for each athlete.
One variable not listed in most programs is the training age of the athlete. An untrained athlete (training age of 0) may take
time to develop the correct form but they have no bad habits to break. In addition, the need to increase load is extremely low since
the athlete will exhibit strength gains as the nervous system learns to activate muscles. The athlete with a training age greater than
zero may have ingrained poor movement patterns through repetition, which will take time to break before learning the correct movement. The athlete could also feel the need to increase the load because of their previous maximum lifts.
After listing the resources available and the time available for strength and conditioning, I looked at the needs of our athletes
and set about designing a program that would work to strengthen the common weaknesses of our athletes while also improving their
ability to perform volleyball related movements. In designing the program, I applied the fundamentals of a post-season program design as stated by the NSCA, my experience as a weight lifter, and consulted multiple certificated individuals and professional journals
in fine-tuning the details of the program.
The following program is designed with three phases: a hypertrophy phase, a combined hypertrophy and strength phase,
and power phase. Given a 24-week post-season to train and a broad range of experience, the program seeks to increase the strength
and explosiveness of the athlete without creating unnecessary bulk. Our team has access to the weight room three days per week for
an hour each and we will be completing two days of plyometric training per week on the court. The first three weeks are dedicated
to re-establishing weight workouts with a focus on hypertrophy. Following the hypertrophy phase, the program shifts to a combination
of strength and hypertrophy for weeks four through fifteen. The program also introduces speed sets, where the repetitions are performed as fast as possible for a set amount of time. Additionally, the training load decreases as the season goes on in an attempt to
prevent over-training. Finally, weeks 16 through 24 are focused on the generation of explosive power.
In each weight segment, there are several lifts implemented to focus on the upper, lower, and entire body. The lifts were
chosen to build general strength, mimic movements performed in volleyball, and pre-habilitate area susceptible to injury. Basic
upper-body movements, including the row, overhead press, and bench press variations are utilized to increase the general strength
of the athlete. Additionally, this program uses variations of the squat along with lunges and RDL’s to develop lower-body strength.
Multiple core movements are also included that will help players effectively torque and control their upper body when not over a
stable base. Finally, the inclusion of Olympic lifts ties lower-body, upper-body, and core strength together in explosive movements.
I feel it is extremely important to reiterate that the athletes must master the technique of the exercises before increasing load. There
must be a focus on the quality of the exercise, not the load being moved.
The plyometric segments are focused primarily on jump and lateral movement patterns, two volleyball related actions that
can always be improved. There are single and multi- jump segments, landing segments, approaches, and lateral slides incorporated
in the two day per week program. There are also medicine ball segments working on rotational force generation. Many programs
will use plyometric training as a way to increase heart rate and perform cardio. As with the weight portion of the workout, the focus
is on quality and explosiveness of movement, not on speed of completion. Subsequently, the pace of the movement will vary by individual.
Into the Off-Season
As a college coach, one of the many challenges we face with training our team is the period beginning with final exams and
concluding with the first day of pre-season. This is the true “off-season”, during which, we cannot mandate workouts, nor are the
coaches (including strength and conditioning staff) allowed to do more than monitor the workout facility to maintain the athlete’s
safety. In fact, many athletes return home for the summer, where there is nobody available to hold the athlete accountable. In what
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could be the most critical training period, the lack of contact generates several concerns.
One of the largest concerns is the potential loss of strength gains. During the post-season, athletes spend hours honing their
skills and building strength and explosiveness only to transition to a three-month training period without supervision. While coaches
have no direct recourse for athletes that cease to work hard during this period, the potential negatives of coming back out of shape
drive most athletes to continue training. Athletes risk losing playing time, scholarships, or even their position on the team. Unfortunately, not all athletes will complete the workouts despite the associated risks.
A secondary concern occurs the final few weeks of summer break, as the athlete transitions from summer break into the
pre-season. It is during this time that athletes feel they can “make-up” for poor post-season and off-season training. I have known
athletes to train up to three times a day, seven days a week, believing a quick cram of workouts will equal the accumulated efforts
of their teammates. Once pre-season begins, the athlete will have little time to recover from the stress the cram sessions creates.
Without adequate rest and recovery, there is high potential for over-training. An over-trained athlete reacts slower, seems burned
out, and is at risk for over-use injuries, not to mention sub-par practice performance.
In designing a program, it is important that it taper the athlete workload and volume, allowing for recovery while maintaining
strength gains as the pre-season begins. For this reason, it is crucial that athletes understand the risk of not following the prescribed
program and complete the assigned workouts to the best of their ability so they can enter the pre-season rested and prepared, ready
to perform at the highest level.
Entering the Season
As the team begins pre-season training, the strength and conditioning program is designed to maintain the strength and explosiveness of the athlete without over-training. During the season, little gain will be seen by all but the rookies. By working with
the head coach and utilizing experience from previous seasons, a flexible pre-season practice and lifting schedule is skeltonized in
advance. The flexible schedule allows the coaching staff to insert an additional day of rest, or cancel a weight workout if it is deemed
necessary for team health and performance. As an alternative to days off and canceled workouts, it is possible to shorten practices
and change workouts to focus only on the most important skills. The challenge to determining these modifications is in assessing
the overall performance level of the team. It is expected that athletes come to pre-season in-shape and prepared to face the rigorous
daily challenges, but when this does not happen, programs and coaches must remain flexible in order to bring out the best in their
athletes.
Wrapping Up
In summary, post-season strength and conditioning is important because athletes can increase their strength and explosiveness
without adverse effects on their match performance. This work will also help minimize the risk of injury over time and set the foundation for off-season workouts. The process of designing and implementing an appropriate post-season workout takes time, but the
results are worth the effort. Through proper planning and research, a flexible program can be designed in conjunction with a strength
and conditioning professional to fit the needs of the athletes. Remember, it is important to monitor the athletes for over-training and
emphasize correct technique throughout the workouts. While the results are not immediate, they will appear when the season begins
and they are stronger and more explosive, ready to face the challenges of a long season.
References
Baechle, T. R., Earle, R. W. Eds. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 3rd. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers,
2008. 513.
John, Daniel. “Intervention: Course Corrections for the Athlete and Trainer.” Aptos, CA: On Target Publications, 2011. 42. Print.
22 Week Off-Season Plyometrics
Week 1
Tuesday
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Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Box Jump
3x6
Box Jump
3x6
Step to Box Jump
3x7
Step to Box Jump
3x7
Ankle Hops
3x6
Ankle Hops
3x6
Pyramid Box Jump
3x4
Pyramid Box Jump
3x4
Depth Drop (Stick)
3x6
Depth Drop (Stick)
3x6
Vertical Jumps
3x7
Vertical Jumps
3x7
Jump Tuck
3x6
Jump Tuck
3x6
Stair Hops
3 Flights
Stair Hops
3 Flights
Seated MB Twist Throw
3x6
3x6
Rotation Throws
3x8
Rotation Throws
3x8
Week 1
Thursday
Week 2
Thursday
Lateral Box Jump
3x6
Step to Lat Box Jump
3x7
Step to Lat Box Jump
3x7
Side to Side Ankle
3x6
Side to Side Ankle
3x6
Lat Pyramid Box Jump
3x4
3x4
Lat Depth Drop
3x6
Lat Depth Drop
3x6
Slide Boards
3x8
Slide Boards
3x8
Lat Jump Tuck
3x6
Lat Jump Tuck
3x6
Wall Jump
3x5
Wall Jump
3x5
3x6
3x6
3x6
3x6
Drop to Double Wall
3x8
Drop to Double Box Jump
3x8
Wall Block Jump
3x8
Stair Hops
3 Flights
Rotation Throws
3x8
Crossover Block Jump
3x8
Lat Drop to Lat Box Jump
3x8
Slide Boards
3x8
Lat Slide
3x8
Kneeling Twisting Throw
3x8
Week 8
Tuesday
Thursday
Week 4
Lateral Box Jump
3x6
Week 5
Tuesday
Week 3
Box Jump-Drop-Box Jump
3x6
Box Jump-Block Jump
3x6
Drop Jump over Hurdle
3x6
Double Leg Hops Uphill
3x6
Approach Jumps
3x4
Lat Box Jump - Drop - Lat Box
3x6
Slide Boards
3x8
Lat Hop to Lat Slide
3x6
Block Jump-Lat Slide-Block Jump
3x6
3x5
Week 6
Week 7
Drop to Double Wall
3x8
Drop to Double Box Jump
3x8
Wall Block Jump
3x8
Stair Hops
3 Flights
Rotation Throws
3x8
Crossover Block Jump
3x8
Lat Drop to Lat Box Jump
3x8
Slide Boards
3x8
Lat Slide
3x8
3x8
Box Jump-Drop-Box Jump
3x6
Box Jump-Block Jump
3x6
Drop Jump over Hurdle
3x6
Double Leg Hops Uphill
3x6
Approach Jumps
3x4
Lat Box Jump - Drop - Lat Box
3x6
Slide Boards
3x8
Lat Hop to Lat Slide
3x6
Block Jump-Lat Slide-Block Jump
3x6
3x5
Week 9
Pyramid Box Jump
3x5
Broad Jump to Box Jump
3x6
Drop Jump - Box Jump
3x6
Stair Hops
3 flights
Rotation Throws
3x6
Crossover Plant Jump
3x6
Broad jump to Lat Slide
3x6
Slide Boards
3x8
3x5
3x8
Week 10
Pyramid Box Jump
3x5
Broad Jump to Box Jump
3x6
Drop Jump - Box Jump
3x6
Stair Hops
3 flights
Rotation Throws
3x6
Crossover Plant Jump
3x6
Broad jump to Lat Slide
3x6
Slide Boards
3x8
3x5
3x8
Week 11
Approach Jump
3x8
Drop Jump to Box Jump
3x8
Box Jump
3x8
Double Jump
3x8
Off Center Twist Throw
3x8
Lat Slide to Block Jump
3x8
Lat Drop - Box Jump
3x8
Lat Box Jump
3x8
Lat Hop to Block Jump
3x8
Slide Boards
3x8
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Week 12
Tuesday
Thursday
Approach Jump
3x8
Drop Jump to Box Jump
3x8
Box Jump
3x8
Double Jump
3x8
Off Center Twist Throw
3x8
Lat Slide to Block Jump
3x8
Lat Drop - Box Jump
3x8
Lat Box Jump
3x8
Lat Hop to Block Jump
3x8
Slide Boards
3x8
Week 13
Drop Jump / Block Jump
3x8
Broad Jump / Block Jump
3x8
Drop Jump / Barrier Jump
3x8
Approach Jump
3x8
Speed Rotations
3x8
3 yd slide to Box Jump
3x8
Broad Jump / Lat Slide
3x8
Lat Hill Slides
3x8
Slide Boards
3x8
MB Back 2 Back Pass
3x8
Week 16
Week 17
1 Step Box Jump
3x8
Block Jump / X-Over / Block Jump
3x8
Barrier Jump / Block Jump
Tuesday 3x8
Drop jump / Block Jump
3x8
MB Forward Twist Throw
3x8
Lat Step / Lat Box Jump
3x8
3x8
Lat Barrier to Wall Jump
Thursday 3x8
Lat Drop Jump / Block Jump
3x8
3x8
Week 20
Tuesday
Thursday
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Drop Jump / Box Jump
3x8
Triple Box Jump
3x8
Approach Jump
3x8
3x10
Repeat Block Jumps
3x9
Depth Jump / Lat Box Jump
3x8
Lat Box Jump
3x8
3 yd slide to Block Jump
3x9
MB Off-Center Twist Throw
3x10
Repeat Lat Box Jump
3x9
Week 14
Week 15
Drop Jump / Block Jump
3x8
Broad Jump / Block Jump
3x8
Drop Jump / Barrier Jump
3x8
Approach Jump
3x8
Speed Rotations
3x8
3 yd slide to Box Jump
3x8
Broad Jump / Lat Slide
3x8
Lat Hill Slides
3x8
Slide Boards
3x8
MB Back 2 Back Pass
3x8
1 Step Box Jump
3x8
Block Jump / X-Over / Block
Jump3x8
Barrier Jump / Block Jump
3x8
Drop jump / Block Jump
3x8
3x8
3x8
Block Jump / X-Over / Wall Jump
3x8
Lat Barrier to Wall Jump
3x8
Lat Drop Jump / Block Jump
3x8
3x8
Week 18
Repeat Jumps
3x9
Pyramid Box Jump
3x8
Lat Hops
3x8
MB Rotation Throw
3x8
3x8
Repeat Lat Jump
3x8
Lat Pyramid Box
3x8
Slide Board
3x8
MB Stand Twist Throw
3x8
Drop Jump / Lat Box
3x8
Repeat Jumps
3x9
Pyramid Box Jump
3x8
Lat Hops
3x8
MB Rotation Throw
3x8
3x8
Repeat Lat Jump
3x8
Lat Pyramid Box
3x8
Slide Board
3x8
MB Stand Twist Throw
3x8
Drop Jump / Lat Box
3x8
Week 21
1 step Box Jump
3x10
Approach Jump
3x10
Box / Drop / Box
3x10
MB Rotation Throw
3x10
Repeat Block Jump
3x9
1 step Box Jump
3x10
Approach Jump
3x10
Box / Drop / Box
3x10
MB Rotation Throw
3x10
Repeat Block Jump
3x9
Week 19
3x8
Triple Box Jump
3x8
Approach Jump
3x8
3x10
Repeat Block Jumps
3x9
Depth Jump / Lat Box Jump
3x8
Lat Box Jump
3x8
3 yd slide to Block Jump
3x9
MB Off-Center Twist Throw
3x10
Repeat Lat Box Jump
3x9
Week 22
1 step Box Jump
3x10
Approach Jump
3x10
Box / Drop / Box
3x10
MB Rotation Throw
3x10
Repeat Block Jump
3x9
1 step Box Jump
3x10
Approach Jump
3x10
Box / Drop / Box
3x10
MB Rotation Throw
3x10
Repeat Block Jump
3x9
24 Week Off-Season Program
Week 1
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Weights
Week 2
Weights
Week 3
Weights
Week 4
Squat Cleans
3x6
Squat Cleans
3x4
Squat Cleans
4x6
Split Jerk
4x3
Front Squats
3x10
Front Squats
3x8
Front Squats
4x10
Bench
4x4
RDL
3x10
RDL
3x8
RDL
4x10
Pike Trunk Raise
3x15
Crunch
3x20
Crunch
3x20
Crunch
3x20
Man GHR
3x10
Bent Row
3x10
Bent Row
3x8
Bent Row
4x10
DB Shoulder Press
4x3
Shoulder Horn
3x12
Shoulder Horn
3x12
Shoulder Horn
3x12
Shoulder Horn
2x12
DB Push Press
3x4
DB Push Press
3x2
DB Push Press
4x4
DB Snatch
4x4
DB RFESS
3x6
DB RFESS
3x4
DB RFESS
4x6
Bear Squat
4x10
Trunk Twist
3x20
Trunk Twist
3x20
Trunk Twist
3x20
Diag Lunge
4x10
Back Ext
3x12
Back Ext
3x12
Back Ext
3x12
Partner MB Twist
3x15
MB Chest Throw
3x6
MB Chest Throw
3x4
MB Chest Throw
4x6
MB Chest Throw
4x10
MB Pullover
2x8
MB Pullover
2x8
MB Pullover
2x8
DB Row
4x10
Y/T/W
2x12
Y/T/W
2x12
Y/T/W
2x12
Y/T/W
2x12
High Pull
3x6
High Pull
3x4
High Pull
4x6
Squat Clean
4x3
Bench
3x10
Bench
3x8
Bench
4x10
RDL
4x3
Seated Twists
3x20
Seated Twists
3x20
Seated Twists
3x20
Lat Lunge w/ Squat
4x3
Twist Back Ext
3x12
Twist Back Ext
3x12
Twist Back Ext
3x12
Twist Crunch
3x15
DB Shoulder Press
3x10
DB Shoulder Press
3x8
DB Shoulder Press
4x10
Twist Back Ext
3x10
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
DB Pullover
4x3
Weights
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
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Week 5
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
PA G E 3 0
Weights
Week 6
Weights
Week 7
Weights
Week 8
Split Jerk
4x5
Split Jerk
4x3
Split Jerk
3x3
Split Jerk
3x5
Bench
4x5
Bench
4x4
Bench
3x3
Bench
3x5
Pike Trunk Raise
3x15
Pike Trunk Raise
3x15
Pike Trunk Raise
3x15
Pike Trunk Raise
3x15
Man GHR
3x10
Man GHR
3x10
Man GHR
3x10
Man GHR
3x10
DB Shoulder Press
4x5
DB Shoulder Press
4x3
DB Shoulder Press
3x3
DB Shoulder Press
3x5
Shoulder Horn
2x12
Shoulder Horn
2x12
Shoulder Horn
2x12
Shoulder Horn
2x12
DB Snatch
4x6
DB Snatch
4x4
DB Snatch
3x4
DB Snatch
3x6
Bear Squat
4x12
Bear Squat
4x10
Bear Squat
3x10
Bear Squat
3x12
Diag Lunge
4x12
Diag Lunge
4x10
Diag Lunge
3x10
Diag Lunge
4x10
Partner MB Twist
3x15
Partner MB Twist
3x15
Partner MB Twist
3x15
Partner MB Twist
3x15
MB Chest Throw
4x10
MB Chest Throw
4x10
MB Chest Throw
3x10
MB Chest Throw
3x12
DB Row
4x12
DB Row
4x10
DB Row
3x10
DB Row
3x12
Y/T/W
2x12
Y/T/W
2x12
Y/T/W
2x12
Y/T/W
2x12
Squat Clean
4x5
Squat Clean
4x3
Squat Clean
3x3
Squat Clean
3x5
RDL
4x5
RDL
4x3
RDL
3x3
RDL
3x5
Lat Lunge w/ Squat
4x5
Lat Lunge w/ Squat
4x3
Lat Lunge w/ Squat
3x3
Lat Lunge w/ Squat
3x5
Twist Crunch
3x15
Twist Crunch
3x15
Twist Crunch
3x15
Twist Crunch
3x15
Twist Back Ext
3x10
Twist Back Ext
3x10
Twist Back Ext
3x10
Twist Back Ext
3x10
DB Pullover
4x5
DB Pullover
4x3
DB Pullover
3x3
DB Pullover
3x5
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
Weights
Week 9
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Weights
Week 10
Weights
Week 11
Hang Cleans
3x4
Hang Cleans
3x2
Hang Cleans
3x4
Front Squat
3x4
Front Squat
3x3
Front Squat
3x3
RDL
3x4
RDL
3x3
RDL
3x3
DB Press Crunch
3x12
DB Press Crunch
3x12
DB Press Crunch
3x12
DB Twist Press Crunch
3x12
3x12
3x12
DB Row
3x4
DB Row
3x3
DB Row
3x3
Shoulder Horn
2x12
Shoulder Horn
2x12
Shoulder Horn
2x12
DB Alt Push Press
3x6
DB Alt Push Press
3x4
DB Alt Push Press
3x6
Bear Squat
3x9
Bear Squat
3x7
Bear Squat
3x9
MB Walking Lunge
3x9
MB Walking Lunge
3x7
MB Walking Lunge
3x9
Man GHR
3x10
Man GHR
3x10
Man GHR
3x10
DB Pullover
3x9
DB Pullover
3x7
DB Pullover
3x9
Y/T/W
2x12
Y/T/W
2x12
Y/T/W
2x12
Hang Snatch
3x4
Hang Snatch
3x2
Hang Snatch
3x4
Bench
3x5
Bench
3x4
Bench
3x5
MB Off-Center Throw
3x12
MB Off-Center Throw
3x12
MB Off-Center Throw
3x12
Twist Rev Hyper
3x10
Twist Rev Hyper
3x10
Twist Rev Hyper
3x10
Wrist Curls
3x12
Wrist Curls
3x12
Wrist Curls
3x12
Incline DB Press
3x4
Incline DB Press
3x3
Incline DB Press
3x3
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
Int / Ext Rotation
2x12
Weights
PA G E 3 1
Week 12
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
PA G E 3 2
Weights
Week 13
Weights
Week 14
Rack Clean
4x4
Rack Clean
4x2
Rack Clean
4x4
Hang Clean
4x4
Hang Clean
4x2
Hang Clean
4x4
Squats
4x6
Squats
4x4
Squats
4x6
DB Jump Squat
4x6 (9s)
DB Jump Squat
4x4 (8s)
DB Jump Squat
4x6 (9s)
Lat Lunge
4x6 (9s)
Lat Lunge
4x4 (8s)
Lat Lunge
4x6 (9s)
Bent Row
4x6 (9s)
Bent Row
4x4 (8s)
Bent Row
4x6 (9s)
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
DB Snatch
4x5
DB Snatch
4x3
DB Snatch
4x5
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x5
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x3
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x5
Bear Squats
4x8 (16s)
Bear Squats
4x10 (17s)
Bear Squats
4x8 (16s)
Diag lunge
4x8 (16s)
Diag lunge
4x10 (17s)
Diag lunge
4x8(16s)
MB Ankle Chop
3x10
MB Ankle Chop
3x10
MB Ankle Chop
3x10
DB Bench
4x8 (16s)
DB Bench
4x10 (17s)
DB Bench
4x8 (16s)
Shoulder Horn
2x10
Shoulder Horn
2x10
Shoulder Horn
2x10
High Pull
4x4
High Pull
4x2
High Pull
4x4
Bench
4x6
Bench
4x4
Bench
4x6
MB Chest Throw
4x6 (9s)
MB Chest Throw
4x4 (8s)
MB Chest Throw
4x6 (9s)
DB Pullover
4x6 (9s)
DB Pullover
4x4 (8s)
DB Pullover
4x6 (9s)
MB Rev Throw
3x10
MB Rev Throw
3x10
MB Rev Throw
3x10
Twist Rev Hyper
3x8
Twist Rev Hyper
3x8
Twist Rev Hyper
3x8
MB Overhead Throw
2x6
MB Overhead Throw
2x6
MB Overhead Throw
2x6
Weights
Week 15
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Weights
Week 16
Weights
Week 17
Weights
Week 18
Rack Clean
4x2
Rack Clean
4x3
Rack Clean
4x2
Rack Clean
4x3
Hang Clean
4x2
Hang Clean
4x3
Hang Clean
4x2
Hang Clean
4x3
Squats
4x4
Squats
4x5
Squats
4x3
Squats
4x5
DB Jump Squat
4x4 (8s)
DB Jump Squat
4x5 (6s)
DB Jump Squat
4x3 (6s)
DB Jump Squat
4x5 (6s)
Lat Lunge
4x4 (8s)
Side Lunge
4x5 (6s)
Side Lunge
4x3 (6s)
Side Lunge
4x5 (6s)
Bent Row
4x4 (8s)
GHR
3x8
GHR
3x8
GHR
3x8
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
DB Snatch
4x3
DB Snatch
4x6
DB Snatch
4x4
DB Snatch
x6
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x3
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x6
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x4
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x6
Bear Squats
4x10 (17s)
Bear Squats
4x10
Bear Squats
4x8
Bear Squats
4x10
Diag lunge
4x10 (17s)
Ankle Chop
3x10
Ankle Chop
3x10
Ankle Chop
3x10
MB Ankle Chop
3x10
Twist GHR
3x8
Twist GHR
3x8
Twist GHR
3x8
DB Bench
4x10 (17s)
DB Bench
4x10 (12s)
DB Bench
4x8 (12s)
DB Bench
4x10 (12s)
Shoulder Horn
2x10
Shoulder Horn
2x12
Shoulder Horn
2x12
Shoulder Horn
2x12
High Pull
4x2
Power Jerk
4x3
Power Jerk
4x2
Power Jerk
4x3
Bench
4x4
DB Jerk
4x3
DB Jerk
4x2
DB Jerk
4x3
MB Chest Throw
4x4 (8s)
Bench Press
4x5
Bench Press
4x4
Bench Press
4x5
DB Pullover
4x4 (8s)
DB Pullovers
4x5 (6s)
DB Pullovers
4x3 (5s)
DB Pullovers
4x5 (6s)
MB Rev Throw
3x10
MB Rev Throw
3x10
MB Rev Throw
3x10
MB Rev Throw
3x10
Twist Rev Hyper
3x8
MB Twist
2x12
MB Twist
2x12
MB Twist
2x12
MB Overhead Throw
2x6
MB Low Throw
2x12
MB Low Throw
2x12
MB Low Throw
2x12
Weights
PA G E 3 3
Week 19
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
PA G E 3 4
Weights
Week 20
Weights
Week 21
Weights
Week 22
Rack Clean
4x2
Rack Clean
4x3
Rack Clean
4x2
Rack Clean
4x3
Hang Clean
4x2
Hang Clean
4x3
Hang Clean
4x2
Hang Clean
4x3
Squats
4x3
Squats
4x5
Bench Press
4x3 (4s)
Bench Press
4x4 (4s)
DB Jump Squat
4x3 (6s)
DB Jump Squat
4x5 (6s)
DB Pullovers
4x3 (4s)
DB Pullovers
4x4 (4s)
Side Lunge
4x3 (6s)
Side Lunge
4x5 (6s)
Bus Drivers
3x10
Bus Drivers
3x10
GHR
3x8
GHR
3x8
Rev Hyper
3x8
Rev Hyper
3x8
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
DB Snatch
4x4
DB Snatch
4x6
DB Snatch
4x5
DB Snatch
4x4
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x4
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x6
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x5
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x5
Bear Squats
4x8
Bear Squats
4x10
Bear Squats
4x10
Bear Squats
4x8
Ankle Chop
3x10
Ankle Chop
3x10
MB Diag Lunge
4x10 (10s)
MB Diag Lunge
4x8 (10s)
Twist GHR
3x8
Twist GHR
3x8
MB Twist Throw
3x10
MB Twist Throw
3x10
DB Bench
4x8 (12s)
DB Bench
4x10 (12s)
1 Arm DB Bench
4x10 (10s)
1 Arm DB Bench
4x8 (10s)
Shoulder Horn
2x12
Shoulder Horn
2x12
Shoulder Horn
2x10
Shoulder Horn
2x10
Power Jerk
4x2
Power Jerk
4x3
DB Snatch
4x2
DB Snatch
4x3
DB Jerk
4x2
DB Jerk
4x3
Rack Snatch
4x2
Rack Snatch
4x3
Bench Press
4x4
Bench Press
4x5
Squat
4x3
Squat
4x4
DB Pullovers
4x3 (5s)
DB Pullovers
4x5 (6s)
DB Jump Squat
4x3 (4s)
DB Jump Squat
4x4 (4s)
MB Rev Throw
3x10
MB Rev Throw
3x10
MB Lat Lunge
4x3 (4s)
MB Lat Lunge
4x4 (4s)
MB Twist
2x12
MB Twist2x12
Back Ext
3x8
Back Ext
3x8
MB Low Throw
2x12
MB Low Throw
2x12
OH Plate Rotation
2x10
OH Plate Rotation
2x10
Weights
Week 23
Monday
Wednesday
Friday
Weights
Week 24
Rack Clean
4x2
Rack Clean
4x3
Hang Clean
4x2
Hang Clean
4x3
Bench Press
4x3 (4s)
Bench Press
4x4 (4s)
DB Pullovers
4x3 (5s)
DB Pullovers
4x4 (4s)
Bus Drivers
3x10
Bus Drivers
3x10
Rev Hyper
3x8
Rev Hyper
3x8
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
Int/Ext Rotation
2x12
DB Snatch
4x5
DB Snatch
4x4
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x5
1 Arm DB Snatch
4x5
Bear Squats
4x10
Bear Squats
4x8
MB Diag Lunge
4x10 (10s)
MB Diag Lunge
4x8 (10s)
MB Twist Throw
3x10
MB Twist Throw
3x10
1 Arm DB Bench
4x10 (10s)
1 Arm DB Bench
4x8 (10s)
Shoulder Horn
2x10
Shoulder Horn
2x10
DB Snatch
4x2
DB Snatch
4x3
Rack Snatch
4x2
Rack Snatch
4x3
Squat
4x3
Squat
4x4
DB Jump Squat
4x3 (4s)
DB Jump Squat
4x4 (4s)
MB Lat Lunge
4x3 (4s)
MB Lat Lunge
4x4 (4s)
Back Ext
3x8
Back Ext
3x8
OH Plate Rotation
2x10
OH Plate Rotation
2x10
Weights
PA G E 3 5
Planning the Pre-season
Conditioning Programming
Metabolic Conditioning for Volleyball
Mini-Program for Maximum Results
Arlo Gagestein
Conditioning for the demands of a volleyball match involves more than just going out and running stadiums and spending
time in the weight room. Three different energy systems are used to fuel the body – the aerobic system, the anaerobic system, and
the phosphagen system. To best condition an athlete for actual competition, it is necessary to examine the demands of the volleyball
match to be sure the correct energy system is being trained. The payoff is an athlete who stays strong throughout the match, recovering
quickly and efficiently between plays.
Volleyball is a sport made up of quick bursts of intense work, interspersed with short periods of rest. Indoor, rallies last
about 10-15 seconds, while beach rallies often only last 5-10 seconds. Between plays, athletes get 15-30 seconds to recover. This
being the case, volleyball relies almost exclusively on the phosphagen and anaerobic energy systems. Therefore, to optimally condition the body for volleyball, work and rest ratios should mimic the actual game.
The following workout is designed to specifically imitate the metabolic demands of volleyball, while also training to improve
vertical power, agility, and leg, back and shoulder strength. Below are progressions based on fitness level. Following a dynamic
warm-up, perform the first exercise for 10 seconds, choose the appropriate rest time, then perform the second
exercise and repeat. All exercises should be performed all out as hard and fast as possible. Start with 4-5 minutes and work your way to 10-15 minutes. Because workout time is minimal, it can easily be incorporated
into regular training 1 to 2 times a week.
1. MB Thruster
With feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, squat quickly and touch medicine ball between
feet. With no pause, reverse directions and stand while pressing ball above the head. Knees should be aligned
directly above the toes at the bottom of the squat while heels remain flat on the ground. Perform exercises
fast and explosively, doing as many reps as possible in 10 seconds.
Variations: 1) Throw the medicine ball as high as possible at the top to the squat.
2) Jump as high as possible with the ball at the top of the squat.
2. Side to Side Sprints
Start between two cones 10-20 feet apart (doubles players should do drill with more distance between cones). Shuffle as
fast as possible between cones touching each for 10 seconds.
Variations: 1) Turn and sprint from cone to cone rather than shuffling. 2) Repeatedly sprint forward to one cone, then backpedal to
the other. 3) Instead of just going back and forth, have a training partner direct you toward either cone and return to center after
each touch. This can also be done with 4 cones in a diamond or box configuration.
Exercises demonstrated by Michelle Smith
SSK-Feldkirch (first league team – Austria) middle blocker
Workout Progressions
Beginner – 1x/week:
Week 1 – 10s work, 30s rest
Intermediate – 1 to2x/week:
10s work, 25s rest
10s work, 20s rest
10s work, 15s rest
15s work, 25s rest
1
2
3
Advanced – 2x/week:
10s work, 20s rest
10s work, 15s rest
10s work, 10s rest
15s work, 15s rest
PA G E 3 6
Club
VCAP-Volleyball Conditioning Accreditation
Program Making Athlete Conditioning Volleyball
Specific VCAP Volleyball
Conditioning Scenario #6
Julie Kaiser & Ken Kontor
6-week Preseason Conditioning
Athletes transitioning from middle (or junior high) school to high school are perfect candidates for preseason conditioning.
With minimal conditioning training under their belt, these athletes are usually eager to learn and motivated by the challenge to participate in high school athletics. However, without a history of sports conditioning experience, athletes must learn from the ground
up. For example the foot patterns used in the ladder exercises will come easy to some, and far more challenging to others. Jumping
rope is becoming a lost art in the field of physical education. Therefore, many beginners will spend much of their time working on
consecutive jumps without stopping. For any conditioning program the learning curve will be different for each athlete before effective conditioning progress can take place.
When developing a preseason program for incoming freshmen, I like to focus on improving the athlete’s overall movement
while developing his or her speed and agility on the court. This type of preseason program has the potential to enhance the athlete’s
ability to maneuver on the court in a more efficient and mechanically sound manner.
Special attention needs to be given on the proper execution of each exercise. Direct supervision by the trainer is the most
effective means of ensuring a safe and proper form.
Preseason conditioning cycles typically run two to three days per week for 45 to 60 minutes and can be conducted in conjunction with a 6 week volleyball preseason training program.
The sample preseason schedule below is based on an athlete who has little or no organized conditioning experience prior to
this program.
Player Age: 14 years
Gender: Female
Training Age: 0 years (training age defined as how many years the athlete has participated in a
year-round periodization cycle).
Volleyball Age: 1 year (volleyball age defined as number of years the athlete has received on-court team skill training)
Player Position: Undetermined
Equipment Available: All equipment except boxes is available
Injury History: No injuries
Test Data: Interpreted data shows average speed, power and agility.
A proper warm-up routine is imperative to achieve maximum effort and results in the conditioning program.
Due to lack of experience in participating in a regular sports conditioning program, exercises need not only to be taught, but repeated
often for the athlete to learn the proper movement. Once the exercise is mastered, speed and a variety of exercises can be introduced.
How to do Ladder Exercises
Quick Feet Run: Run on the balls of the feet with one
foot in each hole. Move feet quickly, close to the
ground, with hands moving quickly back and forth by
the pockets.
Quick Skips: Skip forward on the balls of the feet
with one foot in each hole; hands move quickly by the
pockets.
High Knee Run: Run on the balls of the feet with one
foot in each hole. Drive knees forward and up to 90 degrees
with hands moving quickly back and forth by the pockets.
Crossover Skips: Skip sideways, bring crossover knee to
hip height.
.
PA G E 3 7
Carioca: Crossover the left foot in front of the right foot and
into the next box, then bring the right foot into the next box.
Now move the left foot behind the right foot and into the next
box, then bring the right foot over to the next box. Continue
laterally down the ladder.
Side Shuffle: Place left foot in first hole, leave next one
empty and place right foot in third hole. Start by stepping with the left foot into the open hole and then immediately place right foot into next hole. Always keep one foot in a separate hole when proceeding laterally across the ladder. Shuffle
sideways, look up and down.
Hop Scotch: Straddle ladder, jump with both feet into next
square, then out, continue down the ladder.
2 In/2 Out: Go down the ladder laterally or sideways. Start
with both feet in box sideways, then move the left foot out and
up next to the box, then move the right foot out and up to the
next box; then bring the left foot back in and up to the next
box, placing the right foot in the box. Repeat steps to the end
of the ladder. Note: make sure to change lead foot upon return.
Ickey Shuffle: Weight on the big toe and inside edge of heel. Follow the 1-2-3-4 foot pattern in the illustration.
Ladder Straddle: Start with feet straddling the first square.
Now jump 90° and straddle the side cord, repeat 90° jump and
straddle the next ladder; repeat pattern.
Quick Jumps: Start with feet together and jump down the
ladder. Keep feet together, staying on balls of the feet.
Hops forward: Hop continuously on one foot to midpoint of
ladder; switch feet until through ladder.
SUMMARY REPORT –Doing the Program
Julie conducted the program presented in this article on her athletes. She followed the traditional method of testing the
athletes, conducting the six week program and then finishing by retesting the athletes. The following is a summary of the results.
This case study approach is an excellent way of providing information to parents as to the importance of a conditioning program
from an improved performance standpoint. Not measured but certainly an equally if not more important outcome is the injury prevention aspect of conditioning. We encourage coaches to take the time to use this approach with their athletes. It might be extra
work in the beginning but the value of the outcome far out weighs the effort.-ed.
INTRODUCTION - From late September to early November, I conducted the Performance Conditioning 6-week preseason program
with four incoming 8th graders (13 year-olds) with 0 years conditioning experience.
TESTING - The pretest and posttest were conducted in a gym using a Vertec for jump measurement and an empty volleyball court.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGRAM - With 0 years of conditioning experience for all four athletes, I designed a beginning
level conditioning program. After the first week, the program was adjusted as necessary to meet the abilities of the athletes.
Workouts were 3 days per week with 2 days per week required for participation to count toward the program. Each workout
PA G E 3 8
lasted about 45 minutes excluding athlete warm-ups. In
all, 7 athletes participated
while only 4 athletes met the
minimum attendance requirement.
The jump rope exercises were conducted on outdoor tennis courts to provide
a smooth surface for the athletes to exercise. The first
week was extremely difficult
as most of the athletes were
not familiar with proper jump
rope technique. The time was
lengthened from 3 minutes to
5 minutes to account for
missed jumps due to improper technique. As the
weeks progressed, I kept the
athletes at 5 minutes as they
were becoming more accomplished at consistent jumping.
The ladder exercises
were done on the tennis
courts as well. Again, due to
lack of experience, athletes
were introduced to new footwork. Sometimes athletes
were allowed to repeat exercises just to learn the steps involved. Coordinated skipping
was challenging to some. By
the end of the workout, the
athletes had accomplished the
ability to perform most exercises, some with noticeable
faster speed.
Athletes
easily
adapted to the tubing exercises. The outdoor tennis
courts again allowed for a
smooth surface in execution.
Cone
exercises
proved to be challenging but
attainable. Athletes quickly
learned efficient ways to perform the exercises to the best
of their ability and speed.
Limited to no boxes
for box training, the beginning jump exercises were
used predominantly. A nearby
4” curb was ideal for ankle
jumps. Proper knee over toe
alignment was difficult for
those who tended to bring
their knees in prior to jumping.
PA G E 3 9
RESULTS - All four athletes exhibited improvement on all physical tests.
The T-run averaged 0.8 seconds faster (7.25% improvement), and the Shuttle
Run averaged 1.3 seconds
faster (6.75% improvement). In the jump testing,
approach jumps experienced a 2.8 inch (3%) increase, while the one leg
approach averages increased 1.9” (2%)
I was very pleased
with the improved test
scores for each athlete and
overall as a group. The athletes themselves were quite
surprised at the improvement of their own test
scores. I was especially
pleased with the T-run test.
The athletes became far
more physically capable in
recovering from the floor
due to stronger legs and better core strength. Although
most of them were involved
in a middle school volleyball league, they did not
specifically practice exercises that included going to
the floor and recovery based
on speed.
All things considered, the 6-week preseason
conditioning
program
proved to be successful and
worthy of the time spent in
teaching/learning.
PA G E 4 0
High School
VCAP-Volleyball Conditioning Accreditation Program
Making Athlete Conditioning Volleyball Specific
VCAP Volleyball Conditioning Scenario #5
Robert Smith & Ken Kontor
The following article done by VMI instructor Robert Smith is a sample of what participants will learn as part of the VCAP program.
VCAP Conditioning Program Scenario
Athlete Information:
Player Age:
18 years
Gender:
Female
Class:
Senior
Training Age: 4 years
Time of Year Pre-season (High School)
Sport:
Volleyball
Position:
Middle Blocker
Activity Level: Volleyball practice 5 days/week
Injury History: Patellar tendonitis in R knee during Junior season, currently asymptomatic
Program Information:
Program Duration:
4 weeks
Sessions per week:
2
Session Duration:
60 minutes before practice
Equipment:
Weight room, jump boxes, medicine balls, stability balls, cones.
Considerations:
Athlete compleed 4 week off-season program prior to start of pre-season program. Off-season program
primarily designed to increase strength levels and recodition after 2 months of summer break activities.
Goals:
Increase vertical jump and lateral quickness. Injury-free Senior season.
Performance Testing Protocol
Measured pre- and post-prgram
1. Standing Vertical Jump
2. Kneeling MB Chest Toss (5k)
Pre-program Performance Test Results
3. Shuttle Run (see attached)
Pre-season Program
4. T-agility Drill (see attached)
General Information
5. 1RM Squat (sub-maximal prediction equation)
Test
date:
7/25/05
6. 1RM Bench Press (sub-maximal prediction equation)
Height:
5’11”
Weight:
160
lbs
Warm-up Protocol
1. Core Chop circuit
Power Test
• MB Chop
Standing
Reach:
7’10”
• MB Rotation
Standing
Vertical
Touch:
9’6”
• MB Diagonal Chop
Standing
Vertical
Jump:
20”
2. Net-and-back (walk pace)
Kneeling MB Chest (5k): 17’2”
• High knees
• Butt kicks
SAQ Tests
• Straight-leg march
Shuttle
Run:
10.15 sec
• Forward lunge elbow to instep
T-agility
Drill:
11.26 sec
• Lateral low-hurdle/high-hurdle step (over/under)
• Lateral cross-over lunge
Strength Tests
3. Net-and-back (jog pace)
Predicted
1RM Squat: 142.9 lbs
• High knees
Predicted
1RM Bench: 94.1 lbs
• Butt kicks
• Lateral shuffle
• Carioca
PA G E 4 1
• Forward skip
• Backward skip
Week 1
This is the first week of the pre-season program after the athlete completed a four week program focusing on developing
strength and improving conditioning level after two months of summer break. Here we are introducing explosive exercises to develop
lower-body power, while continuing base strength exercises to maintain strength levels. The circuit exercises are intended to improve
conditioning and recovery, as well as to make the session more time efficient. For all circuits, perform one set of each exercise, then
take a rest period (equal to 2-3x the length of the circuit) before performing the remaining sets. The pre-season program is scheduled
to be completed five days prior to first match of the regular season.
Session 1
Power exercises (weight room)*
1. Power Clean 3x6 (sets x reps)
2. Box Jumps 3x8
3. Squat Jumps 3x8
4. Side-to-side Jumps over hurdle 3x8
Strength circuits (weight room)*
1. BB Squat 3x8
BB Bench Press 3x8
2. DB Lateral Lunge 3x16
BB Bent-over Row 3x8
Line drills (on-court)**
1. Lateral 3m-to-3m Touch 2x10
2. Sideline-to-sideline Touch 2x6
3. Baseline-to-baseline Touch 2x4
4. Block f/w to outside & trans. 2x10
Stability Ball circuit (on-court)*
1. SB Hyper 2x10
SB Knee-tuck 2x10
SB Reverse Hyper 2x10
SB Skier 2x10
Session 2
Power exercises (weight room)*
1. Power Snatch 3x6 (sets x reps)
2. Depth Jumps 3x8
3. Split Jumps 3x16
4. 1-leg Lateral Bound 3x8
Strength circuits (weight room)*
1. DB Lunges 3x16
DB Shoulder Press 3x8
2. BB Romanian Deadlift 3x8
Wide Pulldown 3x8
Cone drills (on-court)**
1. Ten-foot Up & Back 2x10
2. Twenty-foot Cross-over 2x10
3. Ten-cone, Two-row Weave Loop 2x
4. Star Drill 2x
Stability Ball circuit (on-court)*
1. SB Bridge 2x10
SB Leg Curl 2x10
SB Hip Lift 2x10
PA G E 4 2
BB = barbell, DB = dumbbell, SB = stability ball, f/w = footwork
* Rest:work ratio for each exercise is 3:1. For circuit exercises, rest period follows last exercise.
** Rest:work ratio is 1:1 between sets of each drill and 3:1 between different drills.
Week 2
In the second week of the program, we are looking to increase the intensity by reducing the number of reps performed and adding a
fourth set on the power exercises. Weighted power exercises should increase load, and bodyweight power exercises should be performed to maximal capabilities (EXPLODE!).
Session 3
Power exercises (weight room)
1. Power Clean 4x4 (sets x reps)
2. Box Jumps 4x6
3. Squat Jumps 4x6
4. Side-to-side Jumps over hurdle 4x6
Strength circuits (weight room)
1. BB Squat 3x6
BB Bench Press 3x6
Line drills (on-court)
Stability Ball circuit (on-court)
1. SB Hyper 2x10
SB Knee-tuck 2x10
SB Skier 2x10
Session 4
1. Power Snatch 4x4 (sets x reps)
2. Depth Jumps 4x6
3. Split Jumps 4x6
4. 1-leg Lateral Bound 4x6
Strength circuits (weight room)
1. DB Lunges 3x12
Wide Pulldown 3x6
Cone drills (on-court)
3. Ten-cone, Two-row Weave 2x
4. Star Drill 2x
1. SB Bridge 2x10
SB Leg Curl 2x10
SB Hip Lift 2x10
Week 3
In the third week of the program, we introduce the power and strength complexes to increase the intensity yet again. The
PA G E 4 3
power complexes combine two power exercises, and the strength complexes combine a strength exercise with a power exercise.
Here, our aim is to overload the body and increase lower-body power by having the athlete perform a loaded exercise (power cleans,
squats, etc.) first, and then immediately (2-4 seconds between) perform an explosive body-weight exercise (box jumps, squat jumps,
etc.). For the power complexes, the athlete then takes their rest interval. In the strength/power circuits, the athlete would then
perform the third exercise (bench press, etc.) in a reasonably short time (5-15 seconds) before reaching the rest period (equal to 3x
the length of performing all three exercises). Additionally, as we are getting close to season, we also add power exercises specifically
addressing game-like movements in week three.
Session 5
1. Power Clean ’Box Jump 3x5ea.
2. Lat. Box Hops w/Block Jump 3x6
Strength/Power circuits (weight room)
1. BB Squat ’Squat Jump 3x5ea.
BB Bench Press 3x6
1. SB Hyper 2x10
SB Knee-tuck 2x10
SB Skier 2x10
Session 6
1. Power Snatch ’Depth Jump 3x5ea.
2. Box Jumps w/Slide Attack 3x6
1. DB Lunges’Split Jump 3x10ea.
Wide Pulldown 3x6
4. Star Drill 2x
1. SB Bridge 2x10
SB Leg Curl 2x10
SB Hip Lift 2x10
In the final week of the program we hit the highest intensity levels, adding a fourth set for the power exercises. Performance
and conditioning levels should be at their peak, as both training sessions and practices should be challenging.
Session 7
1. Power Clean ’Box Jump 4x5ea.
2. Lat. Box Hops w/Block Jump 4x6
PA G E 4 4
1. BB Squat ’Squat Jump 3x5ea.
BB Bench Press 3x6
1. SB Hyper 2x10
SB Knee-tuck 2x10
SB Skier 2x10
Session 8
1. Power Snatch ’Depth Jump 4x5ea.
2. Box Jumps w/Slide Attack 4x6
1. DB Lunges ’Split Jump 3x10ea.
Wide Pulldown 3x6
4. Star Drill 2x
1. SB Bridge 2x10
SB Leg Curl 2x10
SB Hip Lift 2x10
Post-program Performance Test Results
How-To Do Exercise Menu
The following are selected exercise described in the program.
>Ten-cone, Two-row Weave: Run up and back in a “W” pattern forward and backpedal.
>Star Drill: Place a cone in the middle of the court with six around the perimeter as illustrated. Perform a variety of various movement patterns toward the cones (sprint, shuffle,
carioca, backpedal etc.) Move the cone closer to the center cone to increase quickness.
Romanian Deadlift
Start:
• The bar is griped with an overhand grip with hands shoulder width apart.
PA G E 4 5
• Bar is placed at mid-thigh or "power position."
• Eyes are fixed ahead with the head neutral and the back perfectly straight.
• Feet are hip-width apart with the toes pretty much straight ahead or slightly out. Weight is on the balls
of the feet.
• Shoulders are relaxed and in front of the bar. Bar is directly above the center of the feet.
• Arms are also relaxed and hang down, straight, to the bar.
• Elbows rotate out, so they are above the bar, not behind it.
Movement:
• Bending at the knees and hip the bar is slowly lowered. Back remains flat shoulder over the bar. Bar
brushes against the thighs as it is lowered.
• Bar is lowered until it passes just below the knees. Pause.
• Return the bar to the starting position by extending the hips and knees.
Split Squat Jumps – From an athletic ready position, jump landing in lunge position.
From this position repeat, and switch legs.
Tips:
• Land as long as you are tall with lead leg keeping knee and toe in straight alignment.
• Lower trail leg knee almost touches the floor.
• Lead leg should form a 90° angle at the knee. This should indicate your lead leg
stride is the right length.
• Trail knee should not hit the floor.
Lat Pull down-to the front
Start:
• Grab bar with palms out grip, wider than shoulder width.
• While holding the bar, sit on floor.
• Lean back slightly, looking up.
Movement:
• Exhale pulling the bar under control to the upper chest elbows pointed
out.
• Inhale while raising bar with control until arms are fully extended.
Tips:
• Maintain slight backward lean throughout.
• Some pulley machines allow legs to be anchored avoiding the body
from rising off the floor.
Stability Ball Skier:
Start:
• From a push up position with the ankles and feet on the ball, bring the ball in toward the abdominals so the knees and upper leg
are touching the ball. Hip are elevated in the air, knees flexed at 90 degrees.
Movement:
• With shoulder tight and stable, rotate at the hips turning the knees parallel to the ground. Return to the starting position and
repeat to the other side.
Tips:
• Think of a skier doing moguls.
PA G E 4 6
Collegiate
Florida Gator Volleyball
Pre-Season Weight Training Program
Robin Schmidt
With the competitive volleyball season beginning in September, it has been difficult for strength and conditioning professionals to implement a training program that allows volleyball athletes to begin their season with top strength and fitness levels.
This is especially true of collegiate athletes who often return to their homes during the summer, and neglect their training program
due to lack of facilities, proper instruction or intrinsic motivation. Volleyball athletes of all levels, like many athletes, put off getting
in shape, thinking that they will be able to "play their way" into match condition.
Unfortunately, volleyball is not a sport that produces a strong training effect. It is extremely dependent upon the ATP-phosphagen (anaerobic) energy system with primarily 6-10 seconds bursts of high intensity, followed by longer rest intervals, allowing
for full recovery. If one is in match condition before the season, she can perform at high intensities for a large number of repetitions
and still have adequate recovery for the next day's practice(s). By establishing a solid strength base, she will be able to perform at
a higher percentage of her maximum strength potential on volleyball skills (i.e. increased vertical jump, quicker first step), and
protect her joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons against potential injury. In other words, the athlete arriving at fall practice who
has taken pains to
Exercises by Catagory
prepare her body
physically will be
OLYMPIC
OLYMPIC COMBO
POWER
SUPPLEMENTARY BODYWEIGHT
more likely to
High Pull
Intermediate:
Squat
DB Row
Dip
achieve her volClean & Squat
Front Squat
Seated Row
Bench Dip
leyball goals dur- Hang/Power Clean
ing the season.
Push Press
Split Squat
Upright Row
Push-up
As
the
Advanced:
Bench Press
Good Morning
Triceps Push-up
former Strength DB Push Press
Snatch Pull
Combo’s 1 & 2
DB Bench Press Romanian Deadlift
Pull-up
and Conditioning
Coach for Women Snatch Balance
Incline Press
Chin-up
at the University
DB Incline Press
Towel Hang
of Notre Dame Hang/Power Snatch
Bent Arm Hang
and, most recently
(1995-1998), the
Glute/Ham
University
of
Power Calf Raise
Florida, I have
provided a comprehensive strength/power, agility, conditioning and flexibility program for Gator volleyball during the summer. We
trained for two six-week sessions, with a full week of active recovery following the first six -week cycle. Keep in mind that in collegiate sports, during certain times of the year, (the summer being one), athletes must train voluntarily. This means that the coaches
and strength staff cannot require the athletes to work out, either on the court or in the weightPush-ups x 1 minute
room. However, the Gator volleyball team was highly motivated and chose to stay throughout
the summer months in order to improve both academically and athletically.
Sit-ups x 1 minute
Our first summer training program was in 1996. Since that year, the Gators have been
Lateral Cone Jump x 30 seconds
to the NCAA Final Four three consecutive seasons. The athletes and coaches attribute much of
Standing Vertical Jump
their success to their commitment to annual physical preparation. The intensities vary at different phases during the year (a concept known as "periodization"), but with each phase, a speApproach Jump
cific goal is determined and worked toward by all players. For example, the Gators usually do
Sit and Reach
not complete the competitive season until mid-December. They are then able to take two weeks
off for Christmas break. When they return in January, we test each athlete on functional Table 1 - Gator Volleyball
strength/power tasks (see Table 1).
Functional Strength Tests
From observations made throughout the season and from the information the test results
provide, a program is created to target those goals, while allowing the athletes to decrease physical intensity from their season. At
this point, the Gators have been in training of moderate or high intensity since June. Spring is the time that we are able to focus on
foundational strength, balance and coordination. This prepares the body to train at higher intensities during the summer months.
Each year, an athlete should reach a new level of maximum strength and power. This means that they are able to maintain a higher
level of athleticism during each new playing season.
Although the schedule of younger athletes may not provide the same opportunities for training as the Gators, understanding
your own needs as an athlete and volleyball player can help you establish an effective training plan that is feasible for you. In most
PA G E 4 7
cases for volleyball athletes, the summer is the traditional time for training gains. By starting in June, or earlier if possible, you will
discover that you are able to make gradual increases in conditioning and strength/power. Your body will adapt as you train, and this
will greatly reduce the discomfort and dislike of training that many athletes associate with "getting in shape". Often, the "pain" is
caused by failing to train until practice starts. The body then has little time to adapt, and must do it in a much shorter time. This produces achy muscles and nagging injuries that a little planning could prevent. It is important that an athlete train at their own physical
level. It would be inappropriate to train a high school athlete in the same manner that a highly-trained college senior should be
trained.
Regardless of age, the athlete should begin off-season training by focusing on the foundational aspects of strength. Depending
upon your level of training, different levels of difficulty can be used through exercise selection. Initial stages of training should
focus on the torso, including the abdominals, obliques and low back. The torso supports all other parts of the body and allows
athletes to create strong movements during sports.
It is difficult to make an athlete stronger until they have established a solid base of torso strength. The torso is a part of the
power zone, along with the hips and legs. The power zone is the primary target for training for most team sports, as most require
explosive movements generated from these areas. The joints around the shoulder, knee, and ankle should also be primary training
targets at this time. Because of the ballistic nature of volleyball, the joints must be able to withstand great forces created by jumping,
landing and swinging. Greater joint integrity will provide protection against overuse injuries common to these key areas.
Most athletes benefit from developing strength in their hands and forearms. This, along with several of our goals, will be
improved simply through the use of free weights. Grasping the bar for Olympic exercises or DB rows, as well as performing a pullup, can improve hand strength for blocking.
Although you are trying to improve strength, it is important that I stress the role of flexibility at this, and all, times. By combining strength of movement with full range of motion, an athlete is able to generate greater amounts of power. This period of
training can be used to correct muscular imbalances from one limb to the other, and between opposing muscle groups, known as agonist and antagonist (i.e.. quadriceps and hamstrings). For this purpose, the Gators perform many exercises with dumbbells instead
of barbells, and with a single arm or leg instead of with two. The Gator training program spends a certain amount of time on balance
and body awareness, as these qualities are an integral part of one's strength and overall athleticism. As you will see in the following
training programs, body weight exercises are included, and lend to body awareness and coordination. For certain levels of training,
the body weight exercises may be the only exercises suggested. This is because I feel that an athlete is not ready to tackle the weight
room until they are capable of these basic exercises. This is usually the case with younger athletes, and allows their coaches to
design a relatively low maintenance program for developing strength.
Volleyball is an explosive sport that requires that the athlete have great levels of power. Power is defined as the rate at which
an athlete can exert force, or Power = Force x Velocity.
The training goal, then, is to increase strength and speed through the strength training program. Michael Yessis, training
consultant to U.S. Olympic teams, and expert on Soviet sports training, emphasizes the necessity of building a general level of initial
strength, in order to prepare the body for explosive training that increases power. I believe that each athlete responds differently to
a training phase, and should, therefore, not rush the more explosive exercises if her body has not yet reached an appropriate level of
strength. By continuing with the general strength program, she will recognize improvements in power although it has not been the
specific goal of the program. For example, a beginning level athlete will be able to jump higher by improving her lower body strength
through bodyweight squats and walking lunges. An advanced athlete will need a more intense stimulus to improve her vertical jump,
because she is likely close to maximum strength potential, and must then focus on increased neurological response or biomechanical
improvements of her jumping technique. In either case, both will become better athletes. It is critical not to skip the important base
stages of training.
For the purpose of this article, I will provide an eight week periodized pre-season weight training routine. Three variations
for skill level will be described in the order of: beginner, intermediate and advanced.
Only the advanced level will assume that the athlete has been weight training before this time in the season. Slightly different
priorities of training will be described for each level. All exercises/lifts will be classified as follows:
• Bodyweight exercises
• Power lifts
• Olympic style lifts
• Olympic style combination lifts
• Supplementary lifts
I suggest that athletes and coaches read each training level description to provide a better understanding of the "bigger picture"toward achieving athleticism that this program targets.
I. Beginner
The beginning level training program is designed to build the foundational aspects of strength and stability. Athletes will
strength train two days/ week. You will notice that a large portion of the beginner program is designated to build strength in the torso,
and to building leg strength. Some exercises will involve both strength and flexibility. Exercises that incorporate balance will ultimately help you develop strength through body awareness. Jump rope drills have also been included for each training day to increase
ankle strength and flexibility, and to develop a quick response to the ground upon foot contact. Jumping rope is a skill to develop
PA G E 4 8
for all levels of training. It can be a great tool for many aspects of athleticism including strength, speed and coordination. Also,
notice that the program has been arranged in a "circuit" format. This means that each exercise on the list is completed for one set,
followed by a one to two minute rest. The circuit is then completed for the desired number of sets. This number varies depending
upon the fitness level of the athlete(s). Several methods for increasing intensity of the circuits are shown (see BGN strength program).
Athletes may take up to 15 seconds rest between individual exercises, if necessary. It may be most beneficial to use the first week
to teach proper exercise technique for each individual exercise, as opposed to following the circuit format.
Beginner Strength Program
Weeks 1–4
Day 1
Moving Warmup
EXERCISE
Teach - March—tow up
March w/knee to side
Single foot toe taps
Jump rope
BW/M BALL CIRCUIT
Mountain climbers
Push-ups
Full sit-ups
Bodyweight squat
Pull-ups
Crab walks (hips elevated)
Step-ups
Dips (bench or floor)
Supermans
Slideboard/lateral walk
SET X REPS
4x10yds
4x10 yds
2x14 r&l
5x10 jumps
1–5 X SETS
x20
x6–10
x10
x10
x3
x20 paces
x5 r&l
x10
x10
x20
REST INTERVAL
15–30 sec.
15–30 sec.
15–30 sec.
30 sec.
15 SEC. B/T EXER.
1–2 min.
Day 2
Moving Warmup
EXERCISE
Teach - March—tow up
March w/knee to side
Jump rope
BW/M BALL CIRCUIT
Walking lunge and torso twist
Med ball chest pass
Flutter kick
Bodyweight squat
Static hold (chin-ups)
Med. ball twists
Med. ball overhead pass
Bear crawl
Alt. supermans
SET X REPS
4x10yds
4x10 yds
2x14 r&l
5x10 jumps
1–5 X SETS
x5 r&l
x10
x20
x10
x10–20s
x10
x10
x20 paces
x5 r&l
x20
REST INTERVAL
15–30 sec.
15–30 sec.
15–30 sec.
30 sec.
15 SEC. B/T EXER.
1–2 min.
PA G E 4 9
Weeks 5–8
Day 1
Moving Warmup
EXERCISE
March front and side
Skip front and side
Jump rope
BW/M BALL CIRCUIT
Kneeling overhead throw
DB bench press
Med ball sit-up throw
Med ball/DB split squat
Pull-ups
Med ball goodmorning
DB step-up
Tricepts push-up
Med ball side throw
Upright row
SET X REPS
2x10yds ea.
2x10 yds ea.
2x15 r&l
5x10 jumps
1–5 X SETS
x6–8
x8
x6–8
x6–8 r&
x5
x8
x6–8 r&l
x8
x5 r&l
x8
x20
REST INTERVAL
15–30 sec.
15–30 sec.
15–30 sec.
30 sec.
15 SEC. B/T EXER.
1–2 min.
Day 2
Moving Warmup
EXERCISE
March front and side
Skip front and side
Jump rope
BW/M BALL CIRCUIT
Med ball woodchoppers (kneel)
DB bench press
2-way linge (front and lateral)
Towel hang (chin bar)
Back extension
Med ball squat and toss
Med ball chest pass w/lat. slide
DB Row
Med ball partner twist (bk to bk)
Slideboard
SET X REPS REST INTERVAL
2x10yds ea.
15–30 sec.
2x10 yds ea.
15–30 sec.
2x15 r&l
15–30 sec.
5x10 jumps
30 sec.
1–5 X SETS 15 SEC. B/T EXER.
x5 r&l
x8
x4 r&l
x10–20 sets
x8
x6–8
x8 r&l
x8
x6 r&l
x20
1–2 min.
March - front toe is flexed knee and hip of support leg are fully extended; hug knee to chest.
Side March - arms extend out to side, raise knee to elbow keeping knee and hip of support leg fully extended marches also develop
balance if athlete platorflexes with support leg (calf raise) as he/she elevates knee.)
Toe Taps - Focus on hard dorsiflexion of toe and forceful planterflexion of toe into ground.
NOTE: Total number of reps and sets will be determined by fitness level of individual athletes.
PA G E 5 0
Progression
• Proper exercise execution
• Moving flexibility, developing good range of motion and control of all exercises
• Body awareness through use of DBs
• General body conditioning (aerobic endurance and strength)
• Weeks 5-8. Low-level explosive exercises for force development at high velocity
Program Adjustments
• Moving Warm-ups
• Teach skips (front and lat.), keeping front foot close to support knee; develop reacceleration of foot back into ground (snap foot
down).
• Weeks 5-8. May add additional drills to moving warm-up (carioca, buttkicks, etc.).
• Weeks 5-8. Have athletes skip moving in reverse and lat. For coordination purposes.
• Weeks 5-8. Add footwork drills to jump rope intervals (side-to-side, front-to-back, scissors, crisscross, etc.).
• Circuit
• Increase all reps x 2/week, if athlete can properly complete reps.
• Add 1 circuit/week, as athlete’s fitness level allows.
• Add medicine ball to lower-body exercises for additional resistance, held behind head (i.e., walking lunges, squats, step-ups).
• Athletes who progress quickly and have a fairly high level of fitness may add a set of jump rope or short shuttle run as last exercise of each circuit.
• Weeks 5-8. Try to increase reps x 2/week, up to 15, before increasing weight.
• Weeks 5-8. Start with 1-2 circuits and add 1 circuit/week.
• Weeks 5-8. Athletes who progress quickly and have a fairly high level of fitness may add a set of jump rope or short shuttle run
as last exercise of each circuit
II. Intermediate
The intermediate level training program is designed to focus on strength and power. The power zone will initally be the primary target area for strength. Athletes will lift three days/week (I suggest MWF schedule), with varied intensity throughout the
week. In addition, the program will build in overall intensity for three weeks, with the fourth week designated for recovery/adaptation.
This cycling will be repeated, building from weeks five through seven, tapering for testing and the beginning of practice on week
eight. The third day of the lifting program uses "circuit strength training", employing basic strength exercises, as well as several
jumping/plyometric exercises. This workout targets conditioning, while providing additional strength training. I have included ways
to increase the intensity of the circuit workout (see INT strength program). Individual fitness levels will determine the necessary intensity used for improvements in conditioning. Athletes should complete the "Moving Warm-up for INT and ADV" before each
strength training session.
On Days one and two, explosive training will be introduced at a low level to supplement strength gains using the Olympic
style lifts and plyometric and jump training. It is key that athletes understand the biomechanics of jumping when performing plyometric and jumping drills. During the take-off, the hips are shifted back, as when performing a back squat. The athlete's knee bend
should be slightly greater than 90 degrees. There will be some variation between individuals, but be aware that the knees should be
in line with the ankle, not projected out over the toe. A powerful arm swing will help maximize the jump. On the ascent, the hips
should reach full extension at peak height of the jump. Upon landing, the knees should be flexed (bent) again, just greater than 90
degrees, with the hips shifted back, as during the take-off. Attempt to land softly, without pounding the ground or landing surface
with your feet. As body control improves, a soft landing will become easier to perform. It is also important that an athlete have, or
has at some time had, extensive training in performing the Moving Warm-up for Intermediate and Advanced
Olympic lifts. Several basic combinations have been in- All drills - 2 x 15 yd
cluded, but stick with the individual exercises if athletes are
• Marches (front & side)
not well accomplished in their execution at this time. Also,
• High knees
remember that speed of movement is critical to improving
• Buttkicks
power. Avoid a load on the bar that slows the rate at which
• Lateral slide
the athlete can properly execute the lift. The key to improv• Jump rope 3 x 50 hits (vary footwork)
ing Olympic style lift technique is being consistent with a
• Skips (front & side, moving forward &backward)
program and keeping the load manageable. Be sure to inRot. Cuff Routine (with Theraband or light DBs) - 1x10 ea.
clude a flexibility routine for the entire body after strength
• Front raise, lateral raise, bent over raise, internal/external rotation
training.
PA G E 5 1
Weekly Progression for Intermediate
Week 1 Week 2
Week 3
Olympic
Olympic Combo
Power
Supplementary
Med Ball
Plyometric
4x6
4x5
3 x 10
3 x 12
2 x 7-10
NA
4x6
3x5
3 x 12
2 x 12
2 x 5-8
NA
4x6
3x5
3 x 12
2 x 12
2 x 5-8
NA
Week 4
2x lift only
2x6
2x5
2 x 10
2 x 10
1 x 7-10
NA
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
4x5
3x4
3 x 10
3 x 12
2 x 7-10
2x5
4x5
3x4
3 x 10
3 x 12
2 x 8-12
3x5
4x4
4x4
3x8
3 x 10
2 x 8-12
2x8
Week 8
2x lift only
2x5
2x4
2x8
2 x 10
1 x 8-12
3x8
For quick block jumps add 5 sec. on week 7.
Bodyweight. Add 2 reps when you can correctly complete given #. Pullups/Chinups may need assistance.
Program Adjustments
Change “squat” to “front squat” on week 5-8
Can use alternate “plyo” exercises (i.e., split squat jump for squat jump), but follow guidelines of
1 lateral drill
1 quick contact drill
1 maximal height drill
Weeks 4 and 8 are recovery weeks! 2 lifts only!
Weekly Progression for Advanced
% 1RM
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3 *Week 4 Week 5
Week 6
Olympic
Day 2
55-70%
3x6
3x6
4x5
2x5
4x5
4x5
Day 4
60-80%
4x4
4x4
5x3
3x3
4x4
5x3
Olympic Combo
Day 1
40-50%
4 Sets
5 Sets
6 Sets
2 Sets
5 Sets
4 Sets
Day 3
40-50%
4 Sets
5 Sets
6 Sets
2 Sets
4 Sets
5 Sets
Power
Day 2
55-65%
3 x 10
3 x 10
3x8
2 x 10
3 x 10
3x8
Day 4
65-75%
4x8
4x8
4x6
3x8
4x8
4x6
Supplementary
Day 2
65-70%
2 x 12
2 x 12
2 x 10
2 x 12
2 x 10
2 x 10
Day 4
70-75%
3x8
3x8
3x8
2 x 10
3x8
3x8
MBall
Day 1
NA
1-2 x 5-8 1-2 x 5-8 2-3 x 7-10 1-2 x 7-10 2-3 x 8-10 2-3 x 8-10
Day 3
NA
1-2 x 5-8 1-2 x 5-8 2-3 x 7-10 1-2 x 7-10 2-3 x 8-10 2-3 x 8-10
• Day 3 - decrease sets performed on Day 1 by 1-2
Plyometric
Day 2
NA
see chart see chart + 2 reps 1 set of ea. add 1 set + 2 reps
Day 4
NA
see chart see chart + 2 reps 1 set of ea. add 1 set + 2 reps
• Week 5 - start with original # of reps given, but add 1 set
Bodyweight
• Add 2 reps when you can correctly complete given #. Pullups/Chinups may need assistance.
Program Adjustments
• Can alternate “front squat” with “split squat” on Day 2
• Can use alternate plyo exercises, but follow lateral, quick response, max. height guidelines
• Can estimate 1RM (make sure reps can be performed with correct technique)
• Weeks 4 and 8 are recovery weeks - choose 2 lifting days only!
PA G E 5 2
Week 7
Week 8
4x4
5x3
2x5
3x3
5 Sets
4 Sets
2 Sets
2 Sets
3x8
4x5
2 x 10
3x6
2 x 10
3x8
2 x 12
2x8
3 x 10-12
3 x 10-12
2x8
2x8
add 1 set
add 1 set
2 sets ea.
2 sets ea.
Intermediate Strength Program
DAY 1
EXERCISE
SET X REP
Med Ball (all from kneeling)
Woodchopper
2 x 5 R&L
Overhead Pass
2x5
Partner Twist
2 x 5 R&L
Plyo/Jump Training (begin week 5)
Lateral Cone Jump
2 x 10
Quick Block Jumps @ wall/net
2 x 15 sets
Squat Jump
2x5
Lift:
High Pulls
4x6
DB Push Press
4x6
Squat
3 x 12
DB Incline Bench
3 x 12
DB Row
2 x 12
Romanian Deadlift
3 x 12
Triceps Pushup
2x8
Power Calf Raise (BW) (descend
2x5
for 4sec., up for 1sec.)
REST INT.
1 min.
1 min.
1 min.
45-60 sec.
45-60 sec.
45-60 sec.
1-2 min.
1-2 min.
1-2 min.
1-2 min.
1 min.
1-2 min.
1 min.
30 sec.
DAY 2
EXERCISE
SET X REP
Med Ball:
Sit-up Throw
2x8
Chest Pass
2x8
Over & Under
2x8
Plyo/Jump Training (begin week 5)
Ice Skater
2 x 10
Quick Block Jumps
2 x 15 sets
@ wall/net Tuck Jumps
2x5
Lift:
Clean & Squat
3x5
Split Squat
3 x 6 R&L
DB Bench Press
3 x 12
Upright Row
2 x 12
Good Morning
3 x 12
Bench Dip
2x8
Pull-up
2x6
Power Calf Raise (BW)
2x5
(Descend for 4 sec. up for 1 sec.)
REST INT.
1 min.
1 min.
1 min.
45-60 sec.
45-60 sec.
45-60 sec.
1-2 min.
1-2 min.
1-2 min.
1 min.
1-2 min.
1 min.
1 min.
30 sec.
DAY 3
Conditioning Circuit x 2-4.
Build number of reps as fitness and strength levels increase
EXERCISE
Jump-ups
Push-up
Plyo Step-up
Back Extension
Chin Up
Med Ball Overhead Pass
Russian Twist
DB Lateral Lunge
Bench Dip
Seated Row
REP
x3
x 6-15
x5-10 R&L
x 8-15
x 3-10
x 8-15
x 10-20
x 4-8 R&L
x 6-15
x 8-15
1 -2 min.
• Weeks 5-7 add jump rope x 10-20 between every 2-3 exercises.
III. Advanced
The advanced level training program is designed to improve strength/power, and power endurance. Athletes will lift 4
days/week, with varied intensity throughout the week. I advise that athletes follow the following weekly schedule:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Lift
Lift
off
Lift
Lift
The program will build in overall intensity for three weeks, with the fourth week designated to recovery/adaptation. This
cycling will be repeated, building from weeks five through seven, tapering for testing and the beginning of practice on week eigth.
It is important that athletes vary intensity over the week, take designated off days (or active recovery), and lighten their training on
designated recovery weeks. Adaptation occurs during rest periods, and allows the athlete to train at increasing intensities during
PA G E 5 3
subsequent phases of training. Explosive training will be a large component of the program, which is highly neurological, and
requires greater recovery periods. If an athlete qualifies as an "advanced" training age, but has not lifted in three weeks or more, I
suggest she follow the intermediate program for the first four weeks.
In the advanced program each lift day is a "total body" lift; however, day one and day three will focus on strength/power
endurance, while day two and day four will primarily be designated for explosive power training. Overall, the program is designed
to follow a light, medium, off, light, heavy weekly pattern. Medicine ball training and combinations of several of the Olympic lifts
will make up the training program for power endurance. The combinations can be done with very little weight (for some the bar will
be enough) and will provide power endurance by having the athlete repeat complex coordinated movements, most of them explosive
in nature.
In addition to volleyball conditioning, the Olympic-style combinations will enhance torso flexibility and stabilization, speed,
coordination, timing and balance. Both medicine ball exercises and combination lifts will allow the athlete to work through full
range of motion by keeping loads light and movements quick. Days two and four will include individual Olympic lifts, power exercises and jump training. Rest intervals between sets will be increased in order to allow for full recovery, necessary for building
strength and power. Athletes should complete the "Moving
DAY 2
Warm-up for INT. and ADV." to prepare the body for higher inEXERCISE
SET X REP REST INT.
tensity before beginning the lifting program. The hips and
shoulder joint are heavily targeted during this warm-up. AdPlyo/Jump Training
vanced athletes should review jumping technique, described in
Lateral Cone Jump
2 x 10s.
30 sec.
the intermediate section of the article before beginning plyoSingle Leg Push-off
2 x 6 R&L 30-45 sec.
metric and jump training. Be sure to include a post-lifting flexibility routine for the entire body.
Speed Jumps (low box)
2 x 10
30 sec.
Advanced Strength Program
DAY 1
EXERCISE
SET X REP
Med Ball (standing)
Side Plyo Throw
2 x 6 R&L
Woodchoppers
2 x 8 R&L
Speed Chest Pass
2x8
Granny Rev.Toss
1x5
Combo #1
3-6 sets of:
Snatch Balance
x3
Overhead Squat
x3
Good Morning
x3
Lunge
x 3 R&L
Bodyweight
Pull-up (wide grip)
3x6
Triceps Push-up
3x8
Russian Twist
3 x 10
2x6
• Descend for 4s.,up for 1s.
• AB Circuit x 5 min.
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REST INT.
30 sec.
30 sec.
30 sec.
15 sec.
1:30
45-60 sec.
30-45 sec.
30-45 sec.
30-45 sec.
Jump Ups
Clean (from block)
Hang Pull
Push Press
Front Squat
DB Incline Press
DB Row
Romanian Deadlift
2x5
3x6
3x6
3x6
3 x 10
3 x 10
2 x 12
3 x 10
DAY 3
EXERCISE
SET X REP
Med Ball (standing)
Side Plyo Throw
2 x 6 R&L
Woodchoppers
2 x 8 R&L
Speed Chest Pass
2x8
Granny Rev.Toss
1x5
Combo #2
3-6 sets of:
Hang Pull
x2
Hang Clean
x2
Fr. Squat
x2
Press
x2
Good Morning
x2
Bodyweight
Bench Dips
3 x 10
Chin-ups
3x6
Glute/Ham
3 x 10
2x6
• Descend for 4s.,up for 1s.
1 min.
2 min.
2 min.
2 min.
2 min.
2 min.
1 min.
1 min.
REST INT.
30 sec.
30 sec.
30 sec.
15 sec.
1:30
30-45 sec.
45-60 sec.
30-45 sec.
30-45 sec.
DAY 4
EXERCISE
SET X REP REST INT.
Plyo/Jump Training
Ski Jumps (low box)
2 x 10s.
30 sec.
Double Box Jump
x5
15-30 sec.
Quick Block Jumps
2 x 15 sets 30-45 sec.
Approach Jump (@ net
x4
15-30 sec.
/ Vertec)
Wave Squat
2x3
2 -3 min.
Power Clean
4x4
2 -3 min.
Snatch Pull (block)
4x4
2 -3 min.
Squat
4x8
2 -3 min.
Bench Press
4x8
2 -3 min.
Romanian Deadlift
3x8
1-2 min.
Seated Row
3x8
1-2 min.
Med Ball Sit-up Throw
3 x 10
1 min.
• “Combo’s” are performed by completing given
number of reps for each exercise, progressing
down list. Rest for 1:30 before next set.
Planning the In-season
Club
Volleyball Club Conditioning The 30-Minute Magic Bullet
Lauren Hinojos
The first consideration in establishing a club program is the level of athletes and the advisability to start a program. Research
has shown that an untrained athlete can show improved performance after two weeks of training three days a week of 60 to 90
minutes. Club teams are in a situation that doesn't allow them the luxury of this volume of training during a typical training week.
The norm is 30 minutes two days a week or one hour total as opposed to three to four and a half hours, which is necessary for
improved performance in a two week period. Because of this time limitation, improvement in performance in a club setting would
take up to six weeks for any significant gains. This is equivalent to about 10 sessions.
The next consideration is that each athlete adapts differently to training. Another factor is that some club teams will condition
prior to practice (fresh) while others condition after practice (fatigued). This makes a big difference as to what can be done and at
what level of athlete we are dealing with.
With regard to age of the volleyball athletes, again training response is individual. However, as a rule of thumb, starting
female club players at about 12 years of age will start to equate to improved performance. It is also a good time to teach these
exercises so the athletes can start to appreciate their benefits. Also of note is the type of program you initiate at this early stage. The
difference is in the intensity of training, the exercises can be done at all levels. A final note is that these exercises will aid in the prevention of injury.
Time Limitation the Critical Issue
The reason we have settled on 30 minutes of conditioning training in the club environment as magic is that most coaches
can live with it. Most practices last two hours, two days a week and giving up one hour to conditioning is asking too much. Therefore,
30 minutes is the norm. Usually practices are done in the late hours of the evening in school gyms and it's normal to have school custodians ready to walk out as soon as practice is over. We've had the lights go out so that we had to shag balls in the dark. With these
limitations, the conditioning coach has to select exercises that utilize the entire body to achieve maximum results in the 30-minute
timeframe. Another consideration for club players is that these athletes participate in conditioning activities at their school and they
play additional sports. We have to design the program so they are doing exercises that are different then what they are doing at school.
PA G E 5 5
Pre- and Post-Practice Workout Challenges
Generally speaking, the athletes who play club ball are hard workers. The pre-practice conditioning workout athletes are
usually fresh and ready to go. This gets them through their warm-up and conditioning drills. The results with these athletes are quick
and evident. During post-practice conditioning workouts we spend less time on the warm-ups such as the ladders. But when we do
warm-ups this tells us the fatigue level of the athletes coming into the workout. As a result we may have to change the workout. We
also do this observation in the pre-practice workout as well because the athletes may have had a difficult workout session at school.
Individualization Considerations
We try to individualize the workout as much as possible. This is touch to do in a team sport with only 30 minutes available.
We start by letting the players know what we are going to do for a particular session. We encourage 100 percent effort as much as
possible. In the case of an injured athlete, we have that athlete do a similar workout but with less stress on his/her joints. Thus the
workouts are very similar unless there is a specific condition that requires intervention. This is done to help in the rehab process and
provides these special needs athletes something they won't get at their school or with other sports.
The following is a sample of the Tuesday/Thursday conditioning routines that the club volleyball girls participate in two
days a week. Each team is given 30 minutes to train and within those 30 minutes it is our job to ensure that all the training essentials
are incorporated, such as footwork, agility, jump training, cardiovascular endurance, and strength. The coaches have important input
as to which exercises we'll do. If the coach is planning a heavy jumping day we adjust and lighten up on the jumping exercise and
focus more on close chained exercises like squats and lunges.
Circuit System
A sample of a circuit day (which is a majority of training days) would include:
• Warm-up with ladders (working footwork- see samples below)-5 different exercises performed 3 times each
• Followed by hurdles jumping with either both legs (6x) or single leg (3 each leg) (jump and hold, double bounce, etc.).
• Circuits, which are performed at least twice with 30 seconds to 1 minute at each exercise station. The exercises are alternated
between high intensity and less intensity to allow for some recovery. Athletes go through each exercise in the circuit one right
after then next for four to five minutes and then rest for half the time of the circuit (two to two and a half minutes) and then repeat:
P jump squats
P mountain climbers
P alternating lunges
P lunge jumps
P push ups
• Abs are always at the end of every workout. Abs might include anything from planks, toe touches, v-ups, to any variety of different crunches.
Spilt System
On other days we will split up the teams and have them run through agilities and strength training exercises. One team will
be doing agilities for 15 minutes and the other team will be strength training for 15 minutes. We then switch so that the strength
group does agilities and the agility group does strength work. This system also allows for a change up to add variety but the majority
of the time we do circuits. A sample of this type of workout includes:
• Warm-up with ladders.
• Agility drills, such as different types of cone drills (Star drill, M drill, shuffle drills) 6x each.
P M Drill is done with four cones in a squared circle one in the middle.
w start in the middle, backpedal to far right cone
w sprint to top right cone
w sprint diagonally to the bottom left cone
w sprint to the top left cone
P Shuffle Drill is done with four cones in a squared circle one in the middle.
w shuffle to the middle cone
w shuffle to an outside cone
w sprint to the next cone
w repeat shuffle/sprint sequence around the cones
We do a lot of shuffle/sprint contrast training with our volleyball players.
P Star Drill is done one cone in the middle and eight around from the middle
w do a variety of shuffles, sprints and back pedals around it
PA G E 5 6
The team with the strength exercises will do each exercise for 1 minute and then rotate.
• Bleacher blasts
P Bench four to six inches off the ground standing one foot on the ground the other on the bench.
P Jump explosively and switch legs
• Sit-up ball throws against the wall
• Single leg good mornings standing on blue pads or exercise mat
In the 30 minutes it is important to try to train every system in the body used during sport play. To achieve the best results
from each athlete, everything we do must be fast and efficient with little or no break time allowed.
Sample ladder Exercises:
1. Quick Skips: Skip forward on balls of feet with one foot in each hole; hands move quickly by the pockets.
2. Side Skips: Skip sideways with quick feet. Hands move by the pockets rhythmically and quickly.
3. Variation of the same pattern- do hops with quick feet.
4. Hop Scotch: Straddle ladder and jump with both feet into next square, then jump out. Continue process down the ladder.
5. Hops Forward: Hop continuously on one foot to midpoint of ladder; switch feet for the rest of the way to end of the ladder.
Collegiate
In-Season Maintenance Strength
Program for the Volleyball Athlete
Robin Schmidt
After preparing for several months for the competitive volleyball season, athletes have achieved a greater degree of strength,
power and overall fitness. As the season arrives, there must be a shift in training priorities, allowing for greater concentration and
energy expenditure on the court. The ability to practice more efficiently, execute volleyball skills with great competency, and create
more explosive court movement has been the goal of your off-season training, and it is now time to put your preparation to work!
Many athletes worry that they will be unable to devote the same amount of time and energy to the weight room and conditioning during the season. With the rigors of daily practices, competitive matches, academics and other demands, this is somewhat
true. However, by adjusting your strength program to include two days of strength training devoted to multi-joint exercises that work
several muscle groups at the same time, you can maintain your current strength level throughout the season.
It is important to remember that "playing volleyball" is your primary goal during season, and that strength training becomes
secondary. With greater energy directed toward your matches and practices, it is not realistic to set goals for increasing strength
during the in-season. This is why the off-season training program is so critical. Without practices and matches, strength training can
then be your first priority. The level that you gain during that time can only be maintained during the season.
There may be weeks when it becomes difficult to fit in a strength training session, or when your energy level feels too low
to add any more training than what practice demands. For these times, I have included strength sessions that can be completed in the
gym, without having to go to the weight room or using equipment. The exercises can be done at the end of practice in no more than
20 minutes. These workouts are beneficial because special arrangements or scheduling do not have to be made, giving you fewer excuses to skip your strength session!
PA G E 5 7
Maintaining your strength during season is very important to the level of play that you will be able to achieve at the end of
the season. This is the time that you have training for, as most play-off tournaments and championship matches occur at this time.
Being able to perform at your highest level during the most competitive time of the year is termed "peaking.” If you have adequately
prepared during the off-season, the decrease of intensity of a maintenance strength program should allow your body to adapt and
peak at the appropriate time.
It is especially important early on in the season that you not neglect your strength program. You will be amazed at the amount
of strength you can hang on to by simply following the two-day strength program each week. Check your practice and competitive
schedule as early as possible so that you can determine the best days and times each week to complete your strength training. Having
a partner or teammate that has the same goals that you do can be very helpful in keeping you motivated.
Be flexible with this aspect of your total training program. If other obligations make it difficult to follow your schedule during a
certain week(s), try the on-court workouts that I have suggested, reschedule your training, or try to fit in one strength session that
week.
Depending on the athlete, declines in strength usually begin to occur after two weeks of no strength training. The initial decrease in strength is highly attributable to neural factors or the efficiency with which the nervous system stimulates the muscles and
the muscles react to the stimuli. Actual changes in muscle fibers themselves occur later. However, once you neglect your strength
training, it becomes increasingly more difficult, mentally, to get back in a consistent schedule. Be flexible if you need to be, realizing
that one week won't ruin all of your hard work, but avoid making excuses that eventually result in no strength training at all.
In designing a maintenance strength program, recall the top training priorities for the volleyball athlete: the power zone. As
discussed in previous articles, the power zone consists of the torso, the hips and the legs. The power zone enable you to create powerful, explosive movements on the court. This includes your vertical jump in blocking and hitting, the strength with which you hit
the ball, as well as your quickness and first step. Volleyball athletes benefit greatly by having a quick first step, as the actual playing
space on the court is within 5-10 yards. Reaction time and movement are critical to making plays.
Strength in the torso, hips and legs also enables volleyball athletes to maintain a low defensive stance on the court when
playing back row. Keeping the body low to the ground increases your balance and provides an optimal body position for accelerating
and changing direction. Recall, too, that it is not only strength in the power zone that creates power, but also flexibility. Including
movements that maintain flexibility in these areas is important with each practice and match.
Another important point to remember in creating an in-season program is to realistically consider the amount of time that
will be available for each lifting session. The maintenance program should take between 20 and 40 minutes to complete, and should
be comprised of exercises familiar to the athlete. This helps minimize the soreness often associated with new exercises, and confusion
at a time when the athlete's focus is directed toward volleyball practices and skill execution. Simplicity in the strength program is
key at this time of year in order to make strength training productive and not just another drain on the athlete's energy level. The
athlete can then benefit from her pre-season strength building phase throughout the season.
One area of training that is often underestimated in importance during the season is nutrition. With the daily energy given to
training, academics, traveling to and playing matches, and other activities, the athlete is highly susceptible to fatigue. High levels of
fatigue can increase an athlete's potential for illness by compromising the immune system and injury by compromising levels of
concentration during activity.
Understanding the nutritional needs of the athlete can help you keep energy levels high and avoid unnecessary stress on
your body's immune system. Volleyball athletes should try to consume a diet consisting of 55-60 percent carbohydrate, 15-20 percent
protein, and 20-30 percent fat. Your nutritional goal is to replace the energy expended during training and supply your growing body
with nutrients to ensure good health.
Training has a cumulative effect on the body. This means that if you neglect proper nutrition and rest, you may feel overly
fatigued and unproductive by the end of the season. An easy way to maintain good sports nutrition is to eat 4+servings of fruits and
vegetables each day, 3-4 servings of 3-4 oz. of animal protein (chicken, beef, turkey, fish, pork), 6-11 servings of complex carbohydrates (breads, potatoes, pasta, rice, hot and cold low sugar cereals), 2-3 servings of dairy products for strong bones (milk, cheese,
cottage cheese, yogurt), and try to include sources of "good fat" such as peanut butter, olives, nuts, canola oil, avocado, or foods that
combine fat with another one of the food groups (i.e., cheese pizza, Italian salad dressing on salad, scrambled eggs, etc.).
Getting adequate nutrition is easy if you eat a variety of foods and maintain balance by eating from all of the basic food
groups. Athletes find it particularly beneficial to eat 4-6 small meals throughout the day to keep energy levels high for practice,
training and competition. Most athletes have a higher metabolism than a non-active person, and need more intake during the day to
function at high levels. This is why you may eat more than your friends who are not athletes, not to mention that your day is filled
with activities that most people are not used to doing.
For the athlete, nutrition is similar to your training. You must be aware of what will help your body perform at its best, while
remaining flexible with your plan. Nutrition and training should not be something that you become anxious about, but that you enjoy
because you know it will help you reach your goals as an athlete.
The following in-season programs are based on exercises in preceding articles so that you are familiar with each exercise.
Intermediate and advanced lifters can follow the same lifting program, adjusting the amount of weight used. Weight loads should be
determined by the amount of weight that you can lift with correct form for the given number of reps. You will notice that you may
have been able to do more reps with a certain weight load in pre-season training, and that your lifting ability may fluctuate from day
to day. This is normal, as most of your energy is now designated to volleyball skills, and some days may be more demanding than
others. For this reason, it is hard to use a 1 Rep Max to determine what percentages you should use. Try to stay as close to your prePA G E 5 8
season numbers as possible, but do not risk injury in doing so. In-season lifting programs for volleyball are made most effective by
keeping intensity high, but volume low. This tends to maintain strength and neuromuscular coordination, but does not elicit fatigue
or extreme soreness. A good rule of thumb follows:
Power lifts (bench press, squats): 60-75%
Olympic lifts (hang cleans, push press, high pull): 55-70%
Supplementary (DB Row, lat pulldown, Romanian deadlift): 50-60%
Remember the importance of flexibility during season. Stretching before and after practices and lifting sessions is an essential
part of having your best season yet!
Recovery
Overreaching vs. Overtraining
Understanding the Difference
Randall L. Wilber
Coaching Observation
“More performances are spoiled by slight overtraining than by slight lack of fitness.”
“An athlete who is 50% conditioned for an event will do better than an athlete who is 0.5% overtrained.”
-Bobby McGee
Understanding the difference between overreaching and overtraining are important considerations for the coach in the development and planning for their athletes. One can lead to optimal training advances, the other can lead to disaster. Overtraining
is the worst case scenario for the athlete, but it is the more easily defined of the two. Overtraining is a long-term effect that goes for
weeks and possibly months and doesn’t seem to be reversible with normally scheduled recovery periods. Performance suffers chronically, which means the athlete may have to end the season because they are not able to recover from the effects of overtraining.
In contrast, overreaching is a smaller, less serious version of overtraining. It is a period where performance suffers, but typically only for a couple of days. The effect is expected because it is the result of several days of hard training. It would be expected
that performance would suffer, but only on a temporary basis. Overreaching is reversible after a normal, planned recovery ranging
from a few days up to a week. The impact of overreaching is that it is a very necessary, positive aspect of training—particularly at
the elite level. When working with elite athletes, one should remember that the body must be stressed in order for it to adapt, get
stronger and ultimately perform better. The line between overreaching and overtraining becomes finer as the athlete advances along
the developmental continuum. It is important to note that the amount of stress before adaptation that can occur is lessened for the
beginning and recreational athlete.
OVERREACHING
-Short term (days)
-Reversible with recovery
-Positive training adaptation - necessary to improve performance especially at elite level.
OVERTRAINING
-Long term (weeks, months)
-Irreversible with recovery
-Negative training adaptation - performance suffers chronically - competitive season is over.
Characteristics of Normal Recovery
Recovery is essential in the overreaching process and overtraining avoidance. The recovery process is a highly individualized
situation. This is especially true for the recreational or beginning level athlete who works 40-50 hours a week and the sport participation is not their job. This is where the coach plays a key role. Knowing the athlete’s recovery rates and how hard the athlete
works on a given day helps the coach determine how much recovery to give the athlete before the next hard workout. The coach
should be on the lookout for signs in the lack of both physical and psychological recovery. It might be the fact that the athlete is not
able to successfully complete the initial stages of a hard work out. This is a good sign that the athlete is not recovered and not ready
to complete the scheduled hard workout. If this early difficultly is observed, the coach can either end the workout or choose alternative activities that would be less stressful on the athlete. This will hopefully facilitate recovery so that the athlete can come back
the next day and have a successful hard training session.
There are things that a coach can monitor, such as sleep, which can also give some insight to recovery or the quality of recovery that does not require blood work. These topics will be addressed in a future article. A lot of gauging recovery is intuitive by
PA G E 5 9
the coach. This stems from knowing their athlete well from a training/recovery perspective and being able to make the “no workout”
or “reduced intensity workout” calls quickly. This takes discipline for the coach. If a workout is taken off the board, the coach must
have the maturity and confidence to avoid feeling that the athlete has missed a quality workout and that it must be made up. The
coach should avoid this thinking and realize that the athlete needs to recovery naturally and in their own time. It is accepting the
idea that it is necessary to sometimes take one step backwards to move two steps forward.
Acute Overload and Overreaching
Table 1 illustrates the intensity, volume duration, frequency continuum and the relationship of acute overload and overreaching. The trick is to advance from acute overload (half full bucket) to achieve overreaching (full bucket), but avoid overtraining
(tipping the bucket over). This table illustrates that training is a continuum with both positive and negative zones. The athlete should
strive to keep their bucket at least half full without tipping it over. I liken the acute overload to today’s workout. The athlete has a
structured, challenging workout (acute overload) which is designed on a micro (weekly) cycle to stress the body. If this acute overload
is done correctly over several days, you have positive physiology adaptation and minor performance improvements. A track athlete
does a workout of 10 x 400 meters at race pace with minimal recovery. That is a hard workout that is an acute overload bringing
about positive physiological adaptations. The workout is designed to help the athlete run a faster competitive mile at some point in
the future. If you take this further for several workouts that are similar but not back-to-back and with proper recovery, we now get
into the part of the continuum that is overreaching. We may have several weeks of the 10 x 400 meters, but other workouts similar
to it are designed to push the athlete to the overreach line, from positive adaptations to optimal physiological adaptations and performance. The key word is “optimal,” whether the athlete is at a beginning, elite, or Olympic level. Trying to optimize training for
optimal competitive results is the center of every coach-athlete relationship. The balance imposes physiological stress through workouts which are designed to allow stress without being overstressed or overtrained.
Seasonal Considerations
The next question or challenge is to apply this acute overload and overreach model to the different training seasons, pre-inand off-season. As the seasons change, the nature of training changes. Accomplishing acute overload is an easy task that anyone
who can write a workout or a week’s worth of workouts can accomplish. The challenge is that a season can last several months.
The concepts of periodization and designing the systematic workout properly lead to the ultimate goal—having the athlete give their
best performance at the most important competitions. This is more difficult than designing the single-week workouts.
Creating a workable, optimal season plan is difficult under any circumstance. The biggest challenge for the coach and athlete
is to do it effectively the first year. This does not mean the first year will be disastrous, but a lot of things can happen as the coach
and athlete learn about each other. The first year should serve as a blueprint for the coaches to understand what they can do with the
long-range plans. This is in terms of how hard they push an athlete and when to rest an athlete in order to bring them to peak performance. A lot of coaches tell their athletes that the first year is a learning curve and that the athlete should hang in there for the
year. But there is an exponential increase in that learning curve from year one to year two. The intuitive coach will look at what
areas need improvement and design seasonal strategies. It is a huge challenge to take the athlete from one acute overload to several
over a few weeks’ time which overlap with pre- and competitive seasons. It is best for the coach to err on the conservative side so
that the results are positive, but not optimal. This leaves the athlete with a positive feeling. That will build trust in what the coach
is doing. If 80% of the goals are met within the first year, this will be a great way to improve the blueprint without making drastic
changes to the blueprint. That way, 90% of the goals can be achieved the next year. This is a great way to build a long and lasting
relationship.
The athlete must realize that it is important to be mature and disciplined in the decision-making process. There should be that understanding between coach and athlete that this is a commitment. It will take some time. The analogy can be made that a husband
and wife date a few years before the relationship is optimized. The same is true of an athlete.
Symptoms of Overtraining
Identifying overtraining is not a simple, quick fix where one thing will serve as a bull’s-eye to identify the condition. Overtraining is a complex picture that is changing by the year because of research with many gray areas. The more information for a
coach, the more characteristics can be evaluated, determined and checked off. The coach will also be better able to make judgments
as to whether an athlete has overreached or overtrained.
Performance Symptoms
-Consistent decrease in performance compared with:
+earlier in the current season
+at the same point in the previous season
-Prolonged recovery after WOs & competition
-Reduced toleration of training load - inability to complete WOs
-Decreased muscular strength
-Loss of coordination
-Deterioration of technical skills
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This is an area where a coach can observe a great deal without the reliance of medical/laboratory testing and data. This is
where the coach of the beginning athlete should focus on how the athlete is responding to both the training and competitions. One
can hope that the training is telltale enough to indicate problems before the athlete gets into the competitive environment. If a beginning-level athlete enters a competition in an overtrained state, their result may be poor and this novice will be dealt a psychological
blow that will be difficult to get over. This creates doubts with the coach, the program and whether the sport is for them. Watching
the early performance of a workout can immediately tell the coach that the athlete is not ready for the work to come and can be
adjusted accordingly. The coach can cut the workout short, change the intensity or send the athlete home. If this continues, it is a
good indication that the athlete may be on the road to overtraining. If the coach acts with maturity and discipline, many overtraining
situations can be avoided before they become serious. Performance symptoms are the first line of intervention indicators.
These early indicators occur even at the elite level. I have seen coaches here at the training center send athletes who have
been ranked number one in the world home right after warm-up. If the athlete is not ready for the scheduled stress, the stress applied
will do more harm than good. The coach can make the mature, disciplined decision to send the athlete home to let the body get the
additional rest it needs. The stress will then be applied at a later date.
Physiological Symptoms
-Increased HR at rest, during submaximal exercise & recovery
-Increased O2 consumption during submaximal exercise
-Reduced maximal exercise capacity
-Decreased blood [HLa] during submaximal & maximal exercise
-Decrease in total body weight and body fat
-Poor sleep and chronic fatigue
-Loss of appetite and GI disturbances
-Muscle soreness
-Increased muscle & joint injury
One of the areas that a coach can explore rather easily is sleep. The athlete can be asked to chronicle not only how much
sleep they get, but also the quality of that sleep. This can be easily done with a diary. Another area that can be evaluated rather
simply is appetite and diet. All the other areas require a laboratory set-up to measure.
Immunological Symptoms
-Increased susceptibility to colds/flu/allergies
-Swelling of lymph glands
-Bacterial infection
-Abnormal WBC differential
( lymphocytes, eosinophils)
-Minor cuts heal slowly
These too require a laboratory set-up, and some are rather sophisticated. From my experience as a coach, the area that
always pops up at the time of major competitions are illnesses such as colds and the flu. This is a time when athletes seem to be the
most susceptible to these types of illnesses. Lifestyle changes such as contact with people during this delicate time can help reduce
the chances of illness.
Biochemical Symptoms
-Reduced muscle glycogen concentration
-Elevated serum cortisol
-Decreased serum ferritin (Fe depletion)
-Mineral depletion
-Menstrual dysfunction (oligomenorrhea, amenorrhea)
-Decreased bone mineral density
These symptoms are based on objective blood tests or other fairly sophisticated tests. The menstrual dysfunction is one that
a coach can monitor as long as the athletes are honest and candid. Blood chemistry can be a good investment for some intermediate
and beginning-advanced athletes because it is not overly expensive for the objective information that is obtained.
Psychological Symptoms
-General apathy and lethargy
-Lack of concentration
-Mood changes
-Decreased self-esteem
-Fear of competition
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-Gives up when the going gets tough
A good sensitive and intuitive coach can pick on most of the items in this list. If the coach checks off five or six items on
this list and three or four items on the performance list, then the coach should be aware that overtraining may be occurring. Adjustment
must be made quickly. If the coach sees an athlete who is normally very competitive complaining and/or lethargic during warm up,
this can be a huge red flag.
There is a distinction between fear of competition and anxiety that the coach should have a handle on. This is another
intuitive scenario. Competition anxiety is something I would equate to putting on a game face. The athlete is serious, focused and
anxious to get started. There is a challenge ahead, but the athlete is confident that s/he is ready to meet that challenge. The competition
is tough, but the athlete is up for the competition because that is why they are an athlete—to compete and give it their best. The fear
of competition is the “what-am-I-doing-here?” look or the “ I-don’t-want-to-be-here” look. Body language is lethargic and the face
is fearful—not a game face. Another indicator of fear is expressed verbally. The athlete makes excuses for poor results in advance
of competition. The words “I can’t” come up frequently. This is an especially good indicator for athlete who otherwise is very positive.
Table 1 adapted from: Armstrong, LE, and JL VanHeest. The unknown mechanism of the overtraining syndrome: clues
from depression and psychoneuroimmunology. Sports Medicine, 32: 185-209, 2002.
Table 1
Increasing Training Variables
Undertraining
Bucket
Acute Overload
Bucket
Over Reaching
Bucket
Minimal training
adaptations, performance
the same
Some training
adaptations and small
performance increase
Full training adaptations,
high performance increase
Overtraining
Bucket
Training adaptations stop,
performance decreases
Zone of positive training
T-3 Tools
The type of equipment you have to condition with is unique. It will determine if you use a weight room, the volleyball court
or a combination of the two.
Add to Your Exercise Menu with These
Simple Off-the-Wall Exercises
Ed Dudley
The main reason I do these exercises is to “mimic” everyday movement patterns in sport—throwing, swinging, being off
balance, coordination, etc. These movement are all compound, demanding total body muscle recruitment in a functional pattern.
These exercises also add variety and challenge the athlete.
Some of the top high school and college wrestlers in the country come from Iowa. I think one of the major reasons is because
many of these athletes are “farm boys” or at least worked on a farm. Throwing bales of hay, lifting odd objects, etc. made these kids
tough and “everyday” strong!!
These exercise can be done individually as part of an overall
program or selectively for an “off-the-wall” day in the weight room.
One-Handed Tire Flip
Equipment: 11x24 tire, 150-pound truck tire
Start/Movement:
• Squat, grasping edge of the tire.
• Extend at the hip and knees, lift tire on its edge and flip.
• Alternate using left and right hand.
• Do 45-60 seconds.
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Tips:
• Do one-handed if tire is too light for two hands.
• Use 90% legs.
Tire Pound
Equipment: 11x24 tire, 150-pound truck tire
For the female athlete at the intermediate to advanced level of training, use a 6-pound sledgehammer, 8-pound for male athlete.
Start/Movement:
• Be sure to slide hand down to opposite hand at the end of the handle.
• Repeat opposite side.
Tips:
• Go for distance, usually 20 to 40 yards or until athlete's form starts to
deteriorate.
• If athlete is struggling with one hand, they can use both, until strength
and form improve.
• Use entire body to drive the hammer down, generating power through the hips and legs.
• Go as fast as possible, without losing form.
Machine Pull with Rope
Equipment: Rope is 1 ¼ inch for female athlete (men 1 ½ inch), length is approximately 30 feet. Machine weight
about 180 pounds. Weight can be added to the machine if necessary.
Start/Movement:
Variation one – Seated with the rope fully extended.
• The athlete sits on the floor, at the far end of the rope, with the rope between their legs.
• Lean forward and grip the rope with both hands.
• Dig heels into the floor, legs slightly bent
• Lay back, extend the legs and use the entire body to pull the machine.
Tips:
• Pull the entire length of the rope, until machine touches feet.
• Go as fast as possible.
• If the athlete is having problems with their feet slipping and pulling the
machine. Block one or both of their feet with your own.
Variation 2 - Walking Drag
• Grab rope with both hands, 3 or 4 feet from the machine.
• Lean back and walk backwards, pulling the machine.
Tips:
• Walk at a steady to fast pace.
• Keep back flat and use leg power.
• Drag for distance, 20 to 30 yards.
• This is the easiest variation, you may want to add weight to challenge.
Variation 3 - Arm Pull
• Extend rope to full length.
• Leaning back, in a standing position, pull the machine towards
you, hand over hand, using grip, arm, and upper back strength
only.
Tips:
• Try keeping your body in the same position for the entire pull
• Pull at a steady, even pace.
• Try and pull the entire length of the rope.
• This is the hardest of the 3 variations – you may need to drop
weight - or have someone give light assistance from behind.
Sand Bag Lunge
Equipment: Bags can be purchased through equipment company catalogs or you can find heavier ones through army surplus stores.
Weights vary, and bags have side grips.
Start/Movement:
• Place a 40-pound bag under the chin.
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• Take one step forward with lead leg as long as you are tall, keeping knee and toe in
straight alignment.
• Lower trail leg until the knee almost touches the floor; pause.
• Push off of lead leg; maintain straight leg and body alignment.
• Perform a lunge three times in the same position, step forward and repeat three times
with the other leg.
Sandbag High Pull to Chest
Start/Movement:
• Grab the sandbag on each side.
• Stand holding bag at hip level.
• Bend your knees and simultaneously with the knee extension, raise the bags up to your armpits while coming
up on your toes.
• Hold your body in a vertical position and do not lean your trunk or head forward.
• Keep your arms at your sides.
Sandbag Shoulder-to-Shoulder Push Press
Start/Movement:
• Grasping the sides of the bag power clean the bags to one of the shoulders, then
place hands on the center of the bag.
• Stand with the legs straight, drop into a jumping position, keeping heels flat.
• Immediately reverse direction, fully extending the hips.
• Finish the movement by pressing the bags overhead. Be sure to initiate each repetition with the hips fully extended before dropping into the jump position.
• Catch to the other shoulder and repeat.
Sandbag Clean and Press
Start/Movement:
• Grab the sandbag that is on the ground on each of its sides.
• The athlete explodes upwards from the starting position, through extension of the legships-back, then executes a powerful shrug at the top. Turn the elbows quickly under
the bag in a pull-press motion while re-bending the legs to get under the weight.
• Hold your body in a vertical position and do not lean your trunk or head forward.
• Keep your arms at your sides.
• Push-press overhead and return, slamming the bag to the floor.
Water Jug Lunge
Equipment: Plastic water jugs are filled in five-pound increments to various amounts, providing a variety of
resistances. The tops are plugged. The thick grip and the water’s movement challenge the athlete to stabilize
the body.
Start/Movement:
• Water jug is placed on the shoulder.
• Take one step forward with lead leg as long as you are tall, keeping knee and toe in straight alignment.
• Lower trail leg until the knee almost touches the floor; pause.
• Push off lead leg, maintain straight leg and body alignment.
• Perform a lunge three times in the same position with the front leg on the side of the shoulder with the
jug, switch the jug to the other shoulder, step forward and repeat three times with the other leg.
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Water Jug Bear Hug Lunge
Start/Movement:
• Hold water jug tight to the chest.
• Perform a lunge three times in the same position, reverse with the other leg, turn and perform a walking
lunge back to starting position.
Water Jug Standing Inverted Press
Start/Movement:
• Hold the handle straight, controlling the jug.
• Press overhead and repeat to the other side.
Farmer Walk
Start/Movement:
• Holding a jug in each hand, walk as fast as possible while controlling the jugs.
Two-handed Kettlebell Swings
Start/Movement:
• Grab handle with both hands and set feet at a wider than shoulder stance.
• Keeping the back flat, bend the knees and swing the bell between the legs.
• With an explosive extension of the hips and knees, swing the bell up to face height.
• Let the bell swing back down to the starting position and repeat the process.
Tips:
• You should never feel like you are lifting the bell, it's all swinging momentum
• Don't bend too far forward, at the bottom of the movement.
• The driving force of this movement is the hips. Make sure you drive them forward as the bell swings up.
• Keep weight evenly distributed on your feet, at the bottom of the movement.
• Shift body weight to the heels, as weight is driven up. Body should be leaning slightly back, at the completion of the swing.
• Can also be done with a one hand swing, once the two hands has been mastered.
Kettlebell Push Press
Start/Movement:
• Clean the bells to shoulder level, palms facing forward.
• Push-press with extension of the knees.
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Kettlebell Switch
Start/Movement:
• Athlete stands with feet wider than shoulder width, knees bent.
• The Kettlebell is held to one side, in hanging position.
• Athlete extends the hips and knees, explosively pulling the bell to above the waist and toward the
other side.
• Athlete quickly switches hands, catching the bell with the other hand.
• Bell is lowered to starting position and the movement is repeated to the other side.
Kettlebell Swing Walks
Start/Movement:
• Do Kettlebell swings, taking a step as the bell moves out.
Tips:
• As the athlete becomes stronger, this can be done with one hand.
Kettlebell Bent Press
Start/Movement:
• Bring the bell up to the shoulder and press, bending to the side opposite of the Kettlebell.
• Repeat to the other side.
Kettlebell Hang Clean to Push Press
Start/Movement:
• With a bell in each hand from a hang clean position, palms facing forward.
• Clean the bell to shoulder level, then push-press with extension of the knees.
Kettlebell One-Hand Snatch
Start/Movement:
• Use the squatting position, the bell is between the knees, mid-calf depth.
• Explosively swing the bell forward and up through extension of the legs-hips-back. Next, execute a
powerful shrug at the top to a fully extended arm position, straight overhead.
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Where to get 'off the wall' training stuff
Sandbags: http://tinyurl.com/yc2fxm These are top of the line bags, and the only one I recommend for durability, handles, etc.... One could also go to the army surplus store and buy canvas bags for this purpose.
Tug of war type ropes: Omaha Sling (a company in Omaha). I recommend 1 and 1/4" for females and 1 and 1/2" for males.
Truck Tires: Any tire store that sells truck tires will give used ones away for free.
Sledge Hammers: Any hardware store for six, eight, and 10 pound sledges.
Water cooler bottles: Whoever has a water cooler - order extra full ones, keep the empties.
Add the water to desired weight and seal tops with silicone caulk.
T-4 Teaching
The exercises you select must be taught using perfect technique whether you teach it or have outside assistance.
Introducing the Power Pull: Enjoying the Benefits of
Explosive Lifting for Soccer, Volleyball, Baseball/Softball
Without theHarvey
Risks
and Hassles
S. Newton
The explosive lifts, more commonly known as Olympic-style weightlifting, are important to the development of any
power/power endurance athlete. This includes baseball, softball, soccer and volleyball players. Why? Because they are all groundbased sports. Players’ need for ground-based strength training movements is based on the conditioning principle of specificity; they
should train like they play. Their sports are explosive and we believe that explosive lifting has good transfer similar to these sports
in the execution of the “triple extension.” This refers to the simultaneous extension of three joints: the ankle, knee, and hip. Traditional
weightlifting (Olympic-style) lifts require this same explosive extension, with resistance; so again, the lifts are specific training for
these sports. However, these lifts are advanced, not introductory lifts that may create teaching challenges for the coach.
Coaches’ Hesitation About Explosive Style Lifts
Given the positive results these lifts bring, it’s important to explore what coaches need in order to proceed. First is flooring/facility concerns related to dropping barbells, as done in weightlifting halls. This is the #1 reason clubs don’t want this type of lifting.
But don’t worry, there is no need for athletes from other sports to drop weights. For the most part, these athletes are not aspiring to
become Olympic weightlifters. Since these athletes do not aspire to become competitive weightlifters, they will NOT be lifting maximum weights so there is little need for concern over flooring issues. That said, athletes must be taught to properly lower weights
and some sort of platform area is needed just in case of missed lifts. Proper weightlifting equipment minimizes many concerns. The
biggest expense is good bars and this is where one should NOT scrimp. Use of rubber bumper plates is recommended, but not absolutely necessary. Some form of squat rack/power rack is helpful. Most high school PE facilities today include the necessary gear.
A major concern is having access to a qualified weightlifting instructor to teach these exercises. Sports where overhead
skills are preformed such as volleyball, soccer and baseball/softball, coaches might be reluctant to have their players do full Snatch
and Clean-and-Jerk lifts. The primary concerns are possible stress on the shoulder with the barbell overhead and stress on the elbow
joint in racking the power clean. Non-weightlifting coaches often state these are the major concerns, especially with heavy loading.
A final concern involves the time needed to master the full competitive lifts with a fair degree of efficiency, which is often
well beyond the scope of most programs. There just isn’t enough time to properly teach this supplemental activity to athletes focused
on their chosen sport.
The Dumbbell Solution
Some conditioning coaches advocate the substitution of dumbbells in place of barbells when doing explosive lifting. Use of
dumbbells can address muscle imbalances and should not present much of a problem for most athletes. Nevertheless I can’t think
of too many good reasons to use dumbbells for the snatch or clean-and-jerk exercises. One concern is the difficulty in controlling
both arms against separate loads. This can be a challenge and will not make for a better athlete. Another problem with dumbbells is
the usual failure to produce triple extension benefits. Dumbbells do not give themselves well to the ‘double knee bend’ technique
PA G E 6 7
needed to maximize the benefits available from these lifts, if performed with a barbell.
While dumbbells are fairly inexpensive, a team would require many dumbbell sets of near-similar weights. There is little
differentiation between players’ level of strength. Depending on the number of athletes being trained at the same time, a coach might
need as many as 10 to 12 pairs of dumbbells at the same or close to the same weight.
Most dumbbells today are not adjustable and few, if any, have revolving sleeves. This makes dumbbell application for the
quick lifts very limited.
Dumbbell use has some application, but perhaps mostly in assistance movements. They can be a fun diversion but the classic
lifts should be taught and primarily performed on a barbell. Dumbbells can create false hopes and expectations.
The Sub-Maximal Effort Solution
Many sport coaches advocate the use of explosive style lifts but only with sub-maximal resistance. Sub-max is absolutely
necessary for learning technique. Technique cannot be learned with heavy weights, so for drilling technique, light weights and fairly
high (5) reps make sense. Many reps does NOT translate to maximum strength and power results. Most athletes who use these lifts
are shot putters or football players, so moderate weights are the order of the day and may benefit women and juniors; however, power
production is lessened with sub-max loads, depending on the exercise. Traditional explosive lifts are designed to be performed with
moderate to heavy loads. This can be a problem for coaches of juniors and women, due to popular misconceptions explained later.
What is a sub-max load? Sub-max load is normally anything under 90% of 1-RM. Let’s assume non-weightlifter or combative
athletes will never need to know their true 1-RM, so any lift will most likely be sub-max. Sub-max loads CAN produce more power
(and limited pure strength improvement) if the object of the sport is light (volleyball, baseball/softball, soccer). Sports requiring
heavy objects or strong opponents require nearer to max loads, at least some of the time. For our purposes, maximal load performed
at maximal speed will develop the greatest amount of power. The question becomes, how much is necessary based on the demands
of the sport and level of athletes? This can be tricky. Determining the right load to use is difficult.
Getting Started
There are six things that need to be addressed to start an explosive lifting program: knowledge, equipment, teaching skills,
a program, confidence and support.
Knowledge
As with any sport or activity for athletic improvement, at least the coach (if not the athlete) needs to totally immerse him or
herself in learning the nuances of the sport. Many so-called ‘experts’ are not that knowledgeable and far too many certified fitness
professionals know little, if anything, about this form of lifting. Knowing what is best for your athletes is most important. Coaches
must either learn a great deal about this form of training before using it with their team OR they must secure a well-qualified person
to teach the lifts.
Equipment
As discussed above, it’s best to have the team train at a location that has the necessary equipment. This may be a high school
or college weightroom or something like a sports performance training center.
Technique Teaching Skills
Whole lift technique must be taught first and it may be months before anything other than technique is taught. This presents
a problem in terms of keeping athletes motivated. It also can present an unbalanced program. It is necessary to include other significant
strength-building exercises at the same time one teaches advanced (explosive) lifting techniques.
Beginning Training Program
The following exercises can be safely introduced to athletes with a solid foundation of strength training behind them. Advanced exercises should NOT be introduced to total novices. Some of these exercises (with heavier intensities) make up a more advanced program as well.
Overhead Squat
Press/Push Press/Power Jerk
Snatch Pull (high blocks)
Power Snatch (high blocks)
Possibly other variations
Other necessary S&C exercises
There is no program that will address all needs and all scenarios.
This is ONLY for a beginner learning Olympic-style explosive lifts. This player is assumed to have done at least six months
of preparation work, with myriad exercises for total development. Special consideration has been given to upper body pushing and
pulling (multiple joint), squats, front squats, lunges, back extensions and abdominal exercises. When learning explosive lifts, reps
are max of 5; sets can be multiple up to 7-8. Not all exercises are used in all workouts. Resistance is minimal with proper technique
PA G E 6 8
usually taught with broomsticks, dowels or empty light bars. When learning the lifts, 3X weekly is appropriate, with additional
‘shadow’ lifting at home on off days.
Confidence/Support
One must have a long-term approach to learning and training the explosive lifts. These are complex, highly coordinated
sports skills that need to be properly learned. Non-weightlifter athletes’ motivation may be quite low for this type of training as their
training priority is usually their sport.
“Can I teach this?” This is a necessary question with no easy answer. It is possible, but somewhat unlikely that an average
coach can effectively teach Olympic-style lifts in the proper way. Most sport coaches need to enlist solid support. First, become educated. Second, create a total sports performance program that addresses your needs. Third, create a means for having the lifts effectively taught and supervised. This probably means finding someone well qualified (no easy task). These lifts are highly complex
and it’s beyond me how so many novices seem to think they know how to properly teach the lifts. Teaching the lifts improperly
greatly reduces their value and may introduce safety issues. Athletes of coaches reading this article should NOT get hurt in the
weightroom. Similarly, they should not waste time and effort attempting advanced lifting techniques half-heartedly. Don’t attempt
to teach that which you do not understand. Get outside help!
Depending on the age and development of the athletes (this varies tremendously and all scenarios require
different training contingencies), one should:
• Set a base (during which explosive technique MAY be taught).
• Develop appropriate strength and power in order to be able to adequately execute advanced moves.
• Use explosive lifting at the appropriate time of the year (need for a periodized program).
• For established athletes, use explosive lifting as their primary, year-round approach to strength and conditioning
training.
This procedure with a young player could take several years to accomplish. With a senior athlete or college
student, adequate time to both prepare properly and learn technical skills is seldom available. Properly learning explosive lifts prior to reporting to college can be a blessing, for coaches and athletes alike.
A Simple Solution—The Power Pull
Implementing the full snatch and clean-and-jerk lifts for non-weightlifters, although potentially very beneficial for many, is a huge challenge and a big gamble. If you look at the starter
program it can be a very intimidating proposition—one that is best left to the major college strength
program with a wealth of teaching resources and equipment. But the benefits of these movements
are just too great to ignore. What is the coach to do?
Some strength and conditioning coaches will advocate the hang power clean with or without finishing with a rack of the bar with the elbows. Others may use only a high pull type of movement from the floor, hang, or blocks (rack). This lift does not include the final receiving position
of the bar on the shoulders. Lifting from the hang (not the ground) has its own problems, namely
a lot of stress on the lower back due to fatigue.
Well-intentioned coaches quite often teach the hang position improperly. This causes all
sorts of technique and efficiency problems that can lead to poor results or injury for nonweightlifter athletes.
The solution is to focus on one exercise that gives you the most bang for your buck. Something that is easy to learn, produces the most absolute power, is safe for all athletes to do, doesn’t
require a lot of equipment and can be done with heavy loads—the power pull. Athletes don’t have
to lift catch the bar, which puts stress on their elbows or push the bar overhead (snatch) or catch
the barbell on the shoulders (clean).
The power pull (or high block pull as I call it in Explosive Lifting for Sports) can be done
off blocks, pulling stands or from a power rack using a barbell and non-bumper plates. Athletes of
various heights need to be able to do this exercise with the barbell at the same relative position,
which can be a challenge. You’ll have athletes of various heights, so have available an adjustable
pulling station or solid mats to raise the athlete and ensure getting into the right pull position (mats
are not necessary if you have access to an adjustable power rack). An alternative would be to have
the ability to raise or lower the height of the blocks. You’ll need to be able to quickly adjust either
the pulling station or the athlete up or down a few inches. This requires creative blocks or solid
mats for athletes to stand on.
Blocks or a power rack eliminate the concern of having the weights damage the gym floor.
The environment is controlled and safer. For the purpose of this sport it’s not necessary to pull the
weight into a rack position or overhead. Now all we will do is simply execute an explosive triple
extension with the near simultaneous firing of the muscles that extend the hip, knee and ankle.
PA G E 6 9
The bar only needs to travel a short distance.
Learning the Power Pull
The movement is simple with two basic things to remember. 1) Jump explosively with the barbell and 2) don’t use your
arms. The starting position is an athletic “power position,” ready to jump. The positions to consider are two: from the clean position
and from the snatch position. In the snatch position a lighter weight is used and the bar is in a high position at the start. The bar starts
near the crotch or top of the thighs. After an explosive vertical jump, the bar ends up just below the chest bone (sternum). The arms
are not involved—the athlete is taking advantage of the lighter weight and the momentum generated with the jump. The explosive
jump will cause the bar to rise this high, but don’t have athletes focus on a big arm pull….this needs to be a big jump.
In the clean position the bar is at mid-thigh because of the narrower grip, which also allows more weight to be used. After
the explosive triple extension as one jumps the bar travels only to about navel height. Again, don’t emphasize a big arm pull.
In either case, if your athletes can pull the weight higher than the stated target zone, the weight is probably too light. As far
as loading is concerned, a general guideline to use is that if the athletes can pull the weight to the sternum or above, the load is too
light. If they can’t pull it to the navel or slightly above, it’s too heavy. This makes determining how much weight to use a simple
task.
All lifters will benefit from using pulling straps. These require a little instruction, but they are necessary in order to lift appropriate resistance and gain the proper benefit.
Also, the term jump does NOT mean to come off the floor—we are NOT interested in losing contact with the floor. Jump
violently (there’s no time to create any force production over time) and then rise on the toes and shrug the trapezius muscles of the
upper back. The athletes should be able to hold a balanced, on ‘tip toes,’ position momentarily before lowering the weight in one
smooth motion back to the pulling station.
Doing the power pull is a great alternative to Olympic style weight training.
The New, Right Way of Teaching the
“King of Exercises” (Squat) to Athletes
Ken Kontor
For years strength and conditioning coaches have treated the squat as royalty, making it the cornerstone of their strength and
conditioning program for athletes. This was done for good reason—the squat is a multiple joint, ground-based exercise that involves
many major muscle groups working the legs and core simultaneously, thus making it a time efficient activity. It is and a key component
in improving explosive power from the strength side of the power development equation. Coming out of the squat position is specific
to many movements in sports such as firing off the ball in football and jumping in volleyball to name two. The title of king is well
deserved.
But not all is well in the kingdom of squat. Athletes are misusing the exercise and are becoming injured by doing squats.
Trudie Milner, Practice Administrator for Atlantic Sports Health, a Morristown Memorial Hospital (Morristown, NJ) has seen an
alarming increase of squat related injuries.
“Because we are a sports program we see a variety of different sport athletes. In the academic year starting last September
I was amazed at the number of kids coming to us for rehab who suffered significant back injuries (from squatting) as a result of unsupervised weight training in high schools and clubs. These injuries are severe enough to jeopardize the
playing careers of these young athletes.
It was so alarming that we assembled a team of different doctors to see these athletes including a
pediatrician, internal medicine specialist and orthopedic doctor. We find this a terrifying situation and one
that parents and coaches need to be aware of. The age of kids getting involved in competitive sports is getting
younger and the intensity in which kids are competing is much higher. As professionals, this is something
we are now addressing.”
The reason for this problem is two-fold. Certainly, improper loading is a culprit but is easily corrected
if there’s proper supervision. If technique breaks down, reduce the load. The other problem, poor technique,
is more complex. The root of the problem is not only are the athletes doing the squat wrong but also conditioning professionals are teaching it wrong!
For years the squat has been taught using the classic coaching rules based on the sport of power
lifting. In working with these athletes whose only goal was to lift maximum poundage, the technique was
acceptable because the squat was the primary focus. However, applying these techniques to the general ath- (1)
letic population has its drawbacks. Athletes generally aren’t built like power lifters who are short levered. Notice how the lower
Squats are not a primary focus for most athletes whereas gaining functional strength to prevent injury is a back is arched (a gap
primary goal with performance enhancement secondary. It’s not how much but how applied. With all the between the lower back
complexity involved with athletic development, the squat has to be carefully integrated into total athlete de- and straight edge) when
velopment in order to prevent injury, not cause it. A collegiate strength and conditioning coach and former a straight edge is placed
on the back.
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power lifter and world record holder has evolved teaching the squat to make it safe for athletes. The
following is his rationale.
“One of the most basic of exercises, the squat, is often the cause of many back problems. This
is because proper mechanics are not used when performing the squat. Most coaches tell athletes to keep
their backs tight and chest up. The intention is good—to prevent back injuries—but it is the very cause
of back problems. When an athlete hears the words “keep your back tight or chest up,” what muscle
group do you suppose he contracts? In picture (1) the hip flexors are turned on in an attempt to keep
the back straight. Notice how the lower back arches. It is impossible to squat into a deep position with
the back arched. The hip and spinal joints lock up and doesn’t allow mobility.”
“In picture (2), the lifter is able to keep an upright position and get deep. Notice how the back
is in a flat position. This is an example of greater hip and spinal mobility when the pelvis is in the
correct position. In the second picture, the athlete was told to keep his abs in a static position (distance
between ribs and pelvis maintained), especially as he gets deeper. Now the hamstrings can keep the (2)
pelvis level as the squat is performed. The abs stabilize the spine and allow maximum mobility at the Notice the straight edge is flat
hip joints. The back muscles react by lengthening to control the forward lean, keeping the center of against the back leaving no
gravity over the feet, similar to cables on the shaft of a crane.”
gap.
Compare the two pictures. Note the gap between the bar held against the lifter’s back and his
back in picture (1). In picture (2) the gap is gone and the back is in a neutral position. Which is more “athletic” and functional to
sport movement? What position do you want your athletes’ in? Let’s look at the wrong and right way of teaching the squat using the
correct coaching cues to your athletes.
Carefully compare the two methods and adapt the right way that’s best for your athletes.
Teaching the Squat to Athletes the Wrong Way
Note: The wrong coaching cues are stricken out.
Start
• Grasp the barbell palms down, slightly wider than shoulder width.
• Place the center of the bar on the upper back so it is balanced, resting securely across back of shoulders.
• Elbows pointed back, eyes straight ahead, chest up, squeeze shoulder blades together.
• Straighten legs to lift the barbell off rack and step backward, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width and toes pointed out slightly
with slight arch in lower back and tight.
Movement
• Under control bend hips backwards, bend knees and ankles.
• Keep bar over middle of foot to heels, feet flat on the floor.
• Inhaling, descend slowly until tops of thighs are parallel to floor; pause.
• Do not let knees come together on descent.
• Keep back straight and chest up.
• Exhale as you straighten hips and knees to return upright under control.
• Keep hips under bar, eyes focused straight ahead.
• Back as flat as possible.
• Knees over ankles.
Tips
• Do not bounce at bottom position.
• Do not bring knees together coming up.
• Stay tight throughout movement.
Teaching the Squat to Athletes the Right Way
Note the new, right coaching cues are underlined.
Start
• Grasp the barbell palms down, slightly wider than shoulder-width.
• Place center of the bar on the upper back so it is balanced, resting securely across back of shoulders.
• Elbows pointed down, eyes straight ahead.
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• Straighten legs to lift barbell off the rack and step backward, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width and toes pointed out slightly.
• Fill lungs with air (the creation of intra thoracic pressure) and hold.
• Attempt to exhale forcefully but close nose and mouth air passages so that air is not allowed to escape (the creation of intra abdominal pressure, Valsalva maneuver).
Movement
• Under control, squat down as if sitting down on a chair.
• Descend under control until tops of thighs are parallel to floor.
• Keep feet flat on the floor and knees in alignment with feet.
• Important: maintain the intra thoracic/intra abdominal pressure created at the start. Try to keep back relaxed the back will take
care of itself.
• Upon start of the ascent, exhale forcefully using the abdominal muscles to return to the upright position.
• Keep eyes focused straight ahead.
Tips
• Control, do not bounce at bottom position.
• Knees together coming up. The thigh adductors are hip extensors in the low position and help get you through the sticking
point.
• Keep abs tight Stay tight on the descent and ascent using abdominal pressure and not the tightening of the lower back.
• Avoid the shifting of weight predominately to one leg. This indicates a muscle imbalance.
Final Look- The King is Dead Long Live the King
With all the misinformation on teaching the squat which potentially can lead to injury of the athlete the question becomes,
is keeping the squat as a viable part of your conditioning program for athletes worth it? Learning the new technique prescribed in
this article is a major undertaking and will challenge many conditioning programs. Current thinking and conditioning practices in
the collegiate and professional levels is that single leg exercises such as the lunge and step up are more functional to the athlete in
many instances. Certainly the loading for these exercises is less than a barbell squat. The king, the squat, may be dead but it’s important to find a alternative to work these major muscles groups in a ground based environment- long live the king!
T-5 Testing
Find out where your athletes are at and what they need to develop.
Seven Habits of a Highly Effective Volleyball
Conditioning Program: Proper Testing Protocol
Robert L. Brown
Habits, and for our discussion good habits, are things that are repeated time and time again to the benefit of the individual.
Most players in volleyball have not formed good habits. They go from program to program, piece by piece, trying different things
that never really settle into good habits. Players and coaches must set some good guidelines or habits to establish principles that say,
“My program consists of this.” Some coaches think that they have a speed/agility program, but they do not know how it all fits together. Nothing is said about injury prevention and other aspects of a comprehensive program. It is just out there floating in air and
not really part of anything.
Good habits allow for a systematic approach to conditioning volleyball players. They are consistent, organized and produce
results—a program with a purpose.
The Habit of Proper Testing Protocol
There is a lot of testing being done at various gyms and programs to collect data on athletes. What should be done with the
testing protocol results? It is like going down the highway and not knowing where you are going. Establishing a proper program
needs proper testing protocol. You do not need 1,001 tests to start a program. A good volleyball program can be established on
three to five tests.
Selecting the Right Tests
Tests should be quantifiable (done over and over again in a reliable fashion) because the results have meaning from testing
session to testing session. The end result is to see if the program is working. The tests must be simple so that the athletes can easily
see what the tests are for and what the results mean. This way they “buy into” the program, which is an important part of testing.
The simple tests for athletic ability are the vertical jump test, a standing long jump for horizontal power and a medicine ball toss (see
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How-to Three Simple Tests).
The coach may choose to do strength testing such as squats, cleans, etc. This takes more time and may not really be necessary.
We do not do strength testing and I do not recommend maximum strength testing in things such as the Olympic-style lifts. There are
simply too many problems maintaining good techniques My bottom line: results over time.
Results and Their Use
We are in a team concept. We can take the data in this environment and establish team norms based on age, position, etc.
Another way to use results over time is to examine the testing mean scores—a team average vertical jump of 22 inches, for example.
Those above the average may not need a special plyometic program and those below may need extra programming. The results are
explained to the athlete on an individual basis. The coach cannot come down on an athlete who is not at team average, but the
average is something the athlete should work at until they can achieve it.
This task of averaging becomes more relative if you collect and keep yearly data. This information should mainly be for the
coach to compare every year. What have you been doing, and why are the results better from one year to the next? Kids, especially
female athletes (from my experience) do not like to be compared to past results. We live in the present when we discuss results with
the athletes. It is critical not to lose perspective on improvement. An athlete may work hard and go from 20 to 22 inches. That
person may now be average, but the percent of gain is excellent and s/he should be recognized for improving 10%! It is not as easy
to get these improvements as you may think. It takes time and hard work. If the coach acknowledges the hard work, the athlete will
keep working hard.
Effects of Training History
When administering a testing protocol, the coach should be aware of the athlete’s training history. There is a phenomenon
in strength training and conditioning of quick and massive gains at the start of an athlete’s strength training programming. Results
come slower and less dramatically as the athlete’s training age increases. This has to do with reaching genetic potential.
This is a tough situation for the coach and his/her program. The coach may be doing everything possible to get the
athlete achieve some gains. However, the athlete may be close to their potential when small gains equal huge amounts
of work. This can discourage the athlete. As a coach, I delve into their history to see if something was overlooked,
such as movement speed or power training. The coach should also look at other tests where there was improvement.
This is a good reason to strength test. If they make improvements, some positive things are happening. You may not
be able to go up any higher but at the net, but you will be able to demonstrate more strength in holding the block and
making the play.
Test and Parents
The parents should be part of the testing protocol process. They must know what the tests are, what they
mean and how their child is doing. They should also be educated. They pay the bills and they have a right to know
how their money is being spent. If you cannot validate your program, the bottom line is that you won’t have the kid
very long.
How-to Three Simple Tests:
Test #1 Vertical Jump
• Determine reach with the dominant hand.
• The score is the difference between the reach and the height touched.
• The score is the best of three jumps.
Test 1
Test #2 Standing Long Jump
• The athlete should initiate the movement with the feet shoulder-width apart and the hips lowered
into a jumping position.
• Using a big arm swing, flex the hips and jump forward as far as possible.
• Record the distance best of three jumps.
Test 2
Test #3 Med Ball Squat and Overhead Toss
• Grasp med ball with both hands and place
med ball at the chest to a squat position.
• Explosively throw the ball out as far as possible.
• As the med ball is released, perform a maximum vertical jump.
• Record the distance best of three throws.
Test 3
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T-6 Total Workload
Determine your Total Workload to insure your athletes develop in a progressive fashion with adequate recovery by controlling
practice/competition work with conditioning work. This is a challenge because of the busy life athletes lead today. The ultimate
responsibility of the strength and conditioning program must be that of the volleyball coach. This is done by establishing your calendar (T-2) that identifies and integrates total work load based on competition, practice and strength and conditioning training. Competition should include scholastic and club play. Practice should consider strength and/or conditioning activities done on court
including warm-up and jump training etc. Strength and conditioning should include training with the school’s/club’s strength and
conditioning coach and other training outside the volleyball coach’s control such as at a private gym. In the case of a multi-sport
athlete the volleyball coach should have the additional task of communicating with other sport coach(s) as to the progress of the athlete. The final outcome is to provide adequate recovery based on total workload to allow the athlete to progress physically, improve
volleyball skills and reach their full athletic potential through this seamless integration process.
Seamless Series - Integration of Strength and
Conditioning with Volleyball Practice/Competition in
Designing a Winning Year-Round Volleyball Program
John Cook and Laura Buttermore
This seamless integration is achieved through the planning and communication between the volleyball skills coach(es), the
volleyball strength and conditioning coach and by the inter-education of each coach. The ultimate goal is a better performing, injury-free volleyball athlete and to win championships. Before the interview, each participant received the following definitions in
order to be on the same page:
Strength/resistance training is defined as activity normally carried out in the weight room using external resistance including
barbells/dumbbells/weight machines with the goal of increasing overall body strength and explosive power and prevents injury on
a general basis. This training is dictated by the principles of periodization based on the competitive schedule of the team.
Conditioning training is defined as training activities usually performed on-court that includes warm-up, volleyball-specific
movements (SAQ-Speed Agility Quickness) with or without the ball and jumping activities. These activities are done with body
weight and/or portable resistance devises that do not confine volleyball specific movement. The goal of these activities is the "refining"
of overall body strength achieved in the weight room by improving volleyball skills and/or volleyball-specific endurance based on
the demands of the game and reducing the chance of injury. This training is dictated by the principles of periodization based on the
competitive schedule of the team.
Program design is defined as the integration of strength/resistance training, conditioning training to the volleyball
practice/competition schedule to develop volleyball athletes, improve performance, reduce injury and win championships.
PC: Let's talk about communication and how the two of you work together. Laura, you are the conditioner and John, as
head coach you are responsible for the technical and tactical development of your players leading to and during competition.
How often do you talk to one another?
JC: Daily!
LB: Our daily discussions include our trainer Jolene text messaging, e-mail and in person meetings. This is especially true if there
is something going on with one of the athletes as far as injury is concerned.
PC: John, you have an extensive conditioning background and you have contributed to Performance Conditioning Volleyball
on numerous occasions dating back to your days at Wisconsin. We have even published a booklet on the topic with you and
Laura. How do you allow Laura to do her job without too much intervention?
JC: As I said we communicate daily. It's Laura's job to figure out what to do. I give her full authority to run the program. My job is
to give her feedback on how the players perform, how they move and how healthy they are. We test a couple times a year, which also
gives us information. As a volleyball coach one must have an eye for the athletes on how they look and perform. As a volleyball
coach one must be constantly monitoring their team's physical development to make sure they are in the position to achieve the
highest level. We have worked together for seven years and from this experience we feel we both are on the same page with regard
to the program and the needs of our athletes. We are constantly adjusting based on the monitoring and communication process to
meet the needs of our student-athlete to meet their potential. That's why it's important to get feedback from her on how they are
doing in conditioning.
In addition, another thing to our advantage is that we have accumulated a lot of testing data, which tells if we are making a
difference with our conditioning program.
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PC: Same question to you Laura but with a different slant. Unlike many strength coaches, as an All-American volleyball
player you have a huge background in the technical and tactical side of the sport. How do you handle the fact that you are
well-versed in the technical/tactical area of the sport in your relationship with John?
LB: Things have really changed since I played so my challenge is to create new conditioning drills and exercises that fit the needs
of the team. Every team is different and each individual is different. On the court, coach Cook and I might not see the same things
as far as a player's movement abilities are concerned and that's why it's so important to communicate on a daily basis. I see things
from a conditioning aspect whereas he sees things from a stats and on-court performance aspect. For example, a middle back is not
going to her left very well-he may see that, communicate it to me and I incorporate that movement into agility drills.
I would like to go to all the practices but I'm responsible for the conditioning in four sports so my observation opportunities
are limited. I think the best thing to do is go to games and rather than watching like a general spectator in terms of each point, I
watch individual players and the way they move in the game setting.
PC: One of the things that is important in the seamless process is total loading and its management by you, the head coach.
Total load is the summation of play, practice and conditioning. How do you plan and monitor total load to insure peak performance and avoid over training and injury?
JC: In term of the in-season, the approach I use is a "gut feel". But this feel comes from knowing each player's academic schedule,
stress load, mental fatigue state based on how much we have been playing and traveling, and how they look to me on the court in
practice and games. As a result it's easier for me to adjust workloads on the fly then it is for Laura. She has her program that is
designed to get the athletes to peak condition at the times that are most important to us. So her adjustments are more of a challenge.
PC: How does your relationship change during the year based on the collegiate season and calendar year?
JC: Our communication does not change-we make sure it happens daily. This is why I tell Tom Osborne, our athletic director, and
on down the line that Laura is one of our most important staff members because she spends more time with our athletes than any
other staff member because of NCAA rules. So the times when I don't have the opportunity to be with them, I can still check in with
her to see how they are progressing.
I do this even when I'm on the road. The only thing that really changes is my anxiety levels when I'm not around the players
as much. This is especially true during the summer when we can't be around them period. I can't even go watch workouts.
PC: Laura, let's talk about testing. When do you do it, what do you do and how is the information used?
LB: We test in March after our eight-week winter program and then again in August after our eight-week summer program. We start
with the vertical jump, approach jump test, pro agility, and the 10-yard dash electronically timed. We have a Performance Index, the
goal of which is to get each athlete over 2,000 points total for all four tests combined. This is done based on a modification of the
scoring of the decathlon where a world record is basically 1,000 points and other results work down from there. Usually coach Cook
is there for the testing and we'll discuss the results right after.
We then turn over the scores to our support staff who covert the result to points and we plot each athlete's point total in a file
that stays with them throughout their career here at Nebraska. From the results we can look at how they did in power training by the
vertical jump results and analyze agility work through the pro agility test results. This collectively gives us feedback on the effectiveness of our program and what we might want to work on. An athlete may test out poorly on a particular day so we look at averages
as a better indicator as to if we are headed in the right direction with our conditioning program. We have the players meet with me
and coach Cook to set goals.
PC: How do you use testing from a head coaching standpoint coach Cook?
JC: Outside of our locker room we have a wall chart that indicates the top five performances for each test and a chart for the top
five overall performances calculated by adding the five point totals together. These results are very visible. As Laura mentioned, we
set goals after the winter conditioning session tests as well as the summer session. To me, it's very black and white-you either hit
your number or you don't. It's simple. It tells the players if they worked hard because numbers don't lie.
What is interesting is that the records for football, which uses the same system of scoring that we use, are, for the most part,
old. If you take a look at our volleyball records, many of the records are broken each time we test. Laura's results are still up there
from her playing days, but that is an exception rather than the rule. This indicates to me that our strength and conditioning program
is working. Not only are we breaking individual records but our team records continue to go up.
PC: Why do you think these records are being broken so frequently?
JC: I think that we are getting better athletes and we are improving our training methods. The kind of athlete that comes here is
really into all of this type of testing and training. We have kids who really train hard. Right now, we have seven former players that
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play pro. I'm sure we have the most number of pro players playing now than any from any other program in the country. I ask our
pro athletes who come back here for the summer to train with Laura if they see anything out there that's better than our program that
maybe we can improve upon. I've yet to hear of any recommendations. They all say this is the best. These players are all over the
world including Brazil, Italy, Germany and Russia. They are exposed to everything.
PC: How do you individualize a program for a team sport? To me this is one of the great oxymorons in sport. Can it be done?
LB: When we look at conditioning, we try to condition as a team. We individualize somewhat by position. The setters and liberos
do things somewhat differently usually in relation to volume of training. For example, the liberos won't do as many block jumps but
do more shuffling and footwork. I like to train the team together. My thinking is that they will compete together on the court so conditioning should also be together. Individual training occurs more with our trainer who might work on a specific area based on issues
a player might have in order to stay injury free.
PC: How do you handle the individualization issue coach Cook? For example, do you do individualized conditioning exercises
on the court as part of practice?
JC: We do a little but mainly by position. For example, outside hitters will do lateral movements as a group and our setters will be
doing balancing exercises. I will give Laura feedback to let her know if I don't think someone is moving correctly. Then it's between
her and our trainer to work on the issue.
PC: Laura, this brings up another seamless connection-you and the trainer. How does that work?
LB: Usually a movement issue is injury related. But if it is injury related I'll know before the athlete's conditioning session. This
way it's always the trainer telling me of the issue and not the athlete. When this occurs, then I'll individualize the strength program.
For example, we had an elbow issue with one of our players. We modified the program by replacing hang cleans with clean jumps
in order to not involve the elbow but still get in explosive work with that athlete. If it was a shoulder issue we'll only do pushing
movements and not any pulling movements.
PC: With such a great tradition established here at Nebraska, how do the two of you work together to carry on this tradition?
How do you work together to make the athletes accountable?
JC: It's about the culture we have established in the past and the goal setting that goes with it. The players know that goal setting is
important for us and for them and their team to see. They all see this and that is a tremendous motivator.
LB: I think that the seniors are a big part of it as well. The younger athletes see their leadership and how they give 100 percent. That
makes my job 10 times easier. I also think that with support of the head coach it makes it even more effective. We do some things at
the end of conditioning that add to the tradition and culture. We emphasize how important the last two points are in rally scoring.
Last summer we did a mental toughness drill to work on our fifth game mindset. This is done usually in the summer to keep the
athletes motivated at 6:30 in the morning.
JC: A final thing as far as tradition and culture are concerned is that we give a lifter of the year award to a player who the team votes
on. This is presented at our annual January banquet. This is something we have always done.
T-7 Team Position
This T is for programs that are more advanced. The training needs of a middle blocker are different than the libero. The
basic strength/power program is basically the same for all positions but variance occurs in movement patterns and the conditioning
demands. This requires more specific training. This is a coaching choice based on the other 6-Ts.
Volleyball Roundtable: Ask the Experts
Welcome to Volleyball Roundtable: Ask the Experts. Conditioning concepts for the volleyball player are as diverse as
the different surfaces and situations on and in which we play our great sport. It is said there is more than one way to skin the "conditioning cat." There is no single, absolute answer. For this reason, Volleyball Roundtable was created. It provides expert multiple
perspectives on one topic. It gives you different ways of looking at conditioning to help you make decisions for establishing your
volleyball conditioning "culture". A group of volleyball coaching experts have been assembled to help you. If you have a question
for the experts, write us at Ask the Experts, P.O. Box 6819, Lincoln, NE 68506, or drop us an e-mail at [email protected]. While
we can't guarantee an answer, it will help us know what's on your mind for future topics. Enjoy!- Ken Kontor, Publisher.
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#1 At what age, level of skill and/or physical abilities should a volleyball player start to specialize in a specific court position?
Please give practical on the court indications of skills and/or physical abilities that would steer a player into a specific position.
Please list for each position categories you look for based on your tactical beliefs.
First off, I don't agree with the degree to which some coaches specialize these days. Yes, you do need setters and yes, you
do need to decide what position a player will play. What I disagree with is front row players who can't receive serve and play defense,
back row players who can't attack and players who are afraid to set the ball. Players should specialize once they are proficient in all
the skills; serving, passing, setting, digging, hitting and blocking. It's important to remember that young players grow and mature.
Once a player has the fundamental skills, they can "specialize" according to their physical capabilities (athleticism, speed, size,
strength, etc.) and the team's personnel needs. Perhaps all beginning players should be trained first as setters (speed, vision, decision
making) and middle blockers (lateral movement, transition, explosiveness and arm speed), then moved to other positions on the left
or right side, or as a primary passer or defensive specialist.-Patty Dowdell
I assume this question refers to indoor volleyball. As a beach player I like the fact that I get to be a defensive specialist,
blocker, setter, attacker and even server, sometimes all in the same service rotation. As a coach, I like seeing kids playing doubles
because they get more and varied opportunities to play the ball.
Regarding traditional six person team development, I believe players should be given the opportunity to play all positions
at the early stages of their development. Using age appropriate equipment (e.g. ball, net height, court size, etc.) provides a level
playing court for all athletes and they should have fun trying all positions. A player shouldn't be told s/he can't be a hitter because
of size just as child shouldn't be told s/he can't play volleyball because s/he is too little. Too often I've talked to players who were
discouraged from playing indoor volleyball because of size, lack of skills at an early stage of development, or some other reason.
These same players found plenty of opportunities on the beach. The time to specialize is when the player develops an interest in and
proclivity for certain positions.
Certain physical attributes may predispose players to certain positions (e.g. smaller players tend to be better defensive specialists, taller ones better middle blockers) but this should not be the only consideration. We've all known good defenders who were
tall and short players who played front row.
Stereotypically, I believe attributes by position sould be as follows:
Setter - quick, good hands, leader, good decision making abilities, ultimately a good blocker, also.
Hitter - good jumping ability or tall, quick arm swing, good hand - eye coordination, and competent blocker.
Blocker - good jumping ability or tall, ability to read the hitter, quick lateral movement, penetrates net well.
Defensive specialist - quick, able to read the attack, moves low to the floor, good passer.
Serve receive - good lateral movement, pass well.-Dale Hoffman
Limiting the number of front and back row positions is needed so athletes do not have to learn six skills in six positions.
However, specializing in that role is not encouraged. Indeed, The Nederlands won the Gold in the 1996 Olympics, largely because
the players were able to play any and all positions, and enhancing skills from the backrow. I train my players to be versatile and play
positions for a period of time, then change them.
In this regard, beach or grass doubles is a very important game for all players to play, as it expands the player's skills from
a smaller area of position to most the court. Once a teammate touches the ball, you have the entire court, and may choose all skill
options but serving. Indoors, even our National Teams play a great deal of triples, which increases this versatility.
That said, it is also important to give players, especially your better athletes, the chance to learn from the leadership role of
setting. I wish everyone would use a 6-3 for 14 and 12 and unders, as it lets your athletes hit in the front row. Half the players on
the court each game are learning to set and how to move from the back row, but only in positions 1 and 6.
The only skill/position I change for younger players (and again, a version of this idea was used also by our USA Olympic
team) is to not have all players learn to block. If your digger is great, having that same player block just means your great digger gets
hit around. Whereas, if they dig, they can read and react with more time. At the same time, having short players learn to block any
of the front row is often a waste of time and talent. They should learn to block when they are tall enough. Note that, contrary to some
coach's opinions, while everyone is tall enough to be a hitter (even if only from deeper off the net), not everyone is tall enough to
be a blocker.-John Kessel
As for the situation in the Czech Republic, there is a great difference between current practice and the theoretical opinions.
We recommend to postpone specialization of players up to about 15 years of age, i.e. the age at which we play younger junior competitions. Practical coaches, mainly those of girl's teams, specialize their players since the age of 12 or even younger. The reason is
quite clear - the better and more efficient organization of play gives more chances to win various championships of these young categories. Also, FIVB (and as a consequence the CEV "YOUTH" competitions, for girls WCH under 17, ECH yet one year earlier)
means, if one wants to reach success, that the specialization must start earlier. Thus, one issue is to use specialized play and the
other is to practice more general training with youngsters in order to not limit their possible future arrangement into teams of adults.
Distinguishing between future (middle) blockers and (outside, receiving) hitters should not be overly stressed in practice.-Miloslav
Ejem
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I think we often look at specialization backwards in volleyball. The traditional view is that athletes develop from "generalized
to specialized" as they get older, while systems gradually develop from "middle front sets" to a 5-1 with each athlete playing one position. The complexities of motor learning and skill acquisition suggest that it should be the opposite with players initially specializing
on the skills and positions which they develop most naturally then progressively developing broader proficiency with the objective
of becoming versatile all-around players.
With this "specialized to versatile" model in mind, while I would encourage players under the age of twelve to play minivolleyball with little structure and a coaching focus on the basic skills of serving and passing, I believe players should learn in specialized positions starting in junior high school. This opens the door to players who are still developing coordination, strength and
particular motor patterns to be on the floor rather than on the bench. For example, many tall girls and boys in junior high are still
learning to coordinate their limbs in order to successfully serve or time the attack of a high set, but they can create a major presence
at the net as blockers and quick hitters. Allowing them to specialize as middle or right side players who come out of the backrow in
favor of smaller players who also need their niche opens the door to feelings of contribution and success that will keep these athletes
motivated. Placing them in a situation where they must demonstrate broad
general skills in order to get into the lineup can lead to feelings of frustration and failure which causes them to turn to another sport
such as basketball where coaches never dream of having the big bodies ballhandle.
Expecting general skills from young players and utilizing systems that demand broad abilities often results in medium-sized
athletes with all-inclusive but average abilities playing and succeeding while the small and the tall or those who stand out in just one
skill area languor on the bench and watch or, worse yet, quit. Specialization at these early levels where practice time is very limited
also allows a coach to elicit maximum growth in a few areas for each player that when pieced together means greater potential for
team success.
Unlike the "generalized to specialized" model that eventually fits players into molds and leaves them there for their careers,
as players grow older and develop more coordination and game familiarity I believe they should be called upon to broaden their
abilities until they can successfully step in at any position and execute the skills involved limited only by unchangeable factors such
as size and natural athleticism. This allows diversification of systems and lineups at higher levels of play that will make a team
much harder to predict and prepare for, much more capable of handling broken plays successfully, and far more adaptable in the
case of the loss of individual players to injury. This "specialized to versatile" model, which is used throughout much of the rest of
the volleyball world, leads to star players who can do it all while the "generalized to specialized" philosophy popular in the U.S.
often produces dominant middles who cannot hit a high set, All-American outsides who cannot step in to set, and setters who understand little about adapting to the needs of players who execute the skills preceding and following their sets.-Sean Madden
#2 If a player is unsure that the position you have selected is right for them, what methods would you use to convince the player
and their parents?
Such a situation should be handled on a case by case basis. The following rationale, in no particular order, may be employed
to encourage a player to try a new position. Having them play this position is what's best for the team's success at this time. Given
their capabilities (leadership, physical, mental), this position allows them to make the most of what they got. Given the depth at a
certain position, they could be better utilized somewhere else.
When a player is asked to play a new position, it's important to encourage them to try it for a while. Point out that it will be
a learning experience and they may not be as successful at first, once they've grown in the position, how much they can contribute
to the team.-Patty Dowdell
I would stress the positive attributes instrumental in my making my decision (e.g. I certainly would have talked to the player
encouraging her to try the position because we need someone with good hands like hers to deliver balls to our hitters). I would emphasize the importance of the position to the team and why that individual's unique skills are necessary for the position. I would use
this approach with both the player and parent. -Dale Hoffman
As I get players to play different positions through the course of a season, this is not a problem. If not in matches/tournaments,
it should be happening at practice during the scrimmage and wash scrimmaging times. In the course of a season, everyone should
experience playing all positions, even setter, for some brief period of time, to gain an appreciation of what one's teammates do.John Kessel
The question of changing position is very delicate although easier to solve in youngsters. They are not yet accustomed to
playing a certain position. They also often believe much more in their coaches. Methods: I always try to convince them by theorizing
and by giving them reasons for change. Also, to position them into desired positions in less important matches. Sometimes by chance
it is necessary to align them into positions because of injury, bad performance or whatever, with the usual player at that position. All
of this, of course, is supported by stats and discussion. To make up the mind of my players is main issue, and maybe the opinion of
an independent, but well known, personality (coach, player) may help.
My personal experience - a woman player of my Czech first division team, former best junior Czech javelin thrower, was
first convinced by myself to go into volleyball and later I wanted to make her a setter. For her this was a kind of an offense or insult.
I had to leave the team before summer break, and during this break she changed teams. To my surprise, since fall, she has played
PA G E 7 8
the setter's position in the new team and under the other coach. She later became a permanent member of the Czechoslovak selection,
playing on several world and European champships.-Miloslav Ejem
If the "specialized to adaptable" model is applied, little convincing should be done when an athlete is first allowed to specialize. As a coach I sit down with the player and parents to discuss natural abilities and why they fit the chosen position. Then, if
there are disagreements over those natural strengths, I establish practice situations that demonstrate the athlete's ability to succeed
in the relevant skills in comparison to other players on the team. Unlike the "generalized to specialized" model where classification
is forever, the "specialized to versatile" model is less frightening to athletes and parents because the limitation of a position is viewed
as temporary rather than permanent. The athlete needs only demonstrate versatile skills to be given more diverse roles.-Sean Madde
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Fit-to-a-T-Volleybal.. - Performance Condition

Transcription

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