My Approach to Volleyball Training

This blog will cover more about my principles in training for volleyball, as well as how my programs will be structured.

As an introduction, let's go over some terminology for training. In order to understand the why, we have to go over the how.

Aspects of Programs - The three principles that most fitness programs are structured by are Volume, Intensity, and Frequency.

• Volume: The total amount of sets and reps (repetitions). You can have higher volume or lower volume. These can be adjusted to achieve different goals.

• Intensity: How difficult and strenuous the exercise is. Examples can be how fast you're running or jumping, how heavy the weight is, etc.

• Frequency: How often you train, usually on a weekly basis. Since the program is twice per week in person, this variable won't change. However, I will include separate programming for athletes to complete outside of the in-person sessions.

Adaptation - The body responding to stimuli and makes changes in order to compensate for training. There are endurance exercise adaptations and strength exercise adaptations. Due to volleyball being a sport with frequent down times between rallies and the use of explosive movements like max jumping, strength training correlates more with the sport.

• Strength Adaptations: Increased maximal force production. Strength training will increase our strength, and this correlates to improved vertical, speed, and power. Being strong helps athletes have good foundations.

• Hypertrophy Adaptations: Otherwise known as muscle size increases. Bigger muscles have larger cross-sectional areas, which basically means it is thicker. Muscles with a larger cross-sectional area holds greater capacity for force.

• Neural Adaptations: Adaptations in the nervous system from training that allow more efficient activation and coordination of the muscles being utilized. This is extremely important, and there are even studies that show older people see higher performances on strength tests mainly from neural adaptations, due to the diminished potential of improving on the other two adaptations at that age.

Progressive Overload - Gradually increasing training. We want to slowly and steadily increase the variables mentioned above so that the body adapts and continueto make adaptations. Due to frequency not really changing, the program will introduce increases in volume or intensity. This has to be balanced, or the athlete will not progress due to not enough progression, or will get injured due to too much volume/intensity for their body to handle.

Training Age - The total amount of time since an athlete has been training for their sport. As training age goes up, we usually see less results due to the law of diminishing returns. Newer athletes with low training ages are able to progress faster and easier.

Periodized Training - A structured programming of training that splits up training into different phases, or cycles. These cycles focus on different qualities of training that are tailored to athletes in order to focus on different goals. Each cycle has different volumes, intensities, and exercise selections.

There are different forms of periodization in the ways they progress, but the roots stem from endocrinologist Hans Selye's model of the General Adaptation Syndrome. This model splits up into 3 phases. The first stage is the Alarm stage, where the initial shock and stimulus of new exercises affects the athlete, leading to drops in performance and soreness. The second stage is the Resistance stage, where the body has adaptations to these stressors leading to higher tolerance and increased fitness and performance. The third is the Exhaustion stage, where the stressors are beyond what the body can handle. Periodized training can help us avoid the Exhaustion stage and keep athletes progressing.

Fitness Fatigue Model - A more modern theory compared to the General Adaptation Syndrome model. Model of fitness, fatigue, and performance and how they interact as training progresses.

Figure 1: Fitness Fatigue Model

Deload - A period of time after progressive overload where training volume is dropped heavily to allow the athlete to recover. This allows for fatigue to drop and increased performance as a result. Training intensity will stay high to maintain fitness and adaptations.

These are the basic terms that can help present a more clear picture of the program and the principles that I will be addressing in order to optimize training for my athletes. As you can see, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration. I am sticking to a program that covers a longer period of time (12 weeks). This way, athletes can progress in the right direction along with guidance on how to perform lifts the correct manner.

I'll also be including Olympic lifting and coaching athletes through the motions. These lifts are pretty specific to jumping higher and improving power output, and they also include a technical side that I believe will be fun for them to break down and figure out the kinks of.

These videos were taken about 40 minutes apart. This is an athlete that I've coached for a few years, and I taught her the foundations of lifting on the side. She's now really into it and enjoys training, allowing for consistent improvements and seeing a correlation to higher output and performance on the volleyball court.

I'll be making sure to coach each and every one of my athletes through the cues and techniques needed to safely perform the lifts. If they lack the mobility and strength, I'll have them start with easier progressions. Every athlete has their own journey, and my training hopes to encompass all volleyball athletes who are willing to put in the time and effort to improve.

As for what the program covers, it will be 2 weekly sessions a week for a total of 24 sessions through the 12 week period. I will also be including take home workouts that cover more aspects that aren't addressed during the in person sections. The in-person sessions will focus on the most intense training catered to the athlete's needs. These will include agility and change of direction work, strength and power exercises, plyometrics, and many more specific qualities that we see in the game of volleyball. The take home workouts will have sprinkles of exercises that help with injury prevention, mobility, volleyball techniques, and miscellaneous general strength. Additionally, athletes and parents will have access to me through a groupchat where they can ask questions.

The training will factor in all of the principles mentioned above. As you can hopefully see by now, this will take a lot into account, and having committed athletes that sign on for the full duration of the program is extremely important. Players of all positions are welcome, and the training will reflect that. Liberos will have a different emphasis compared to middle blockers, etc. The cycles will be planned out to progressively overload the athletes, and then each new cycle will have new exercises and stimulus for them to adapt to. Each cycle will have 3 weeks of progressive overload, followed by a deload week to recover. Therefore, there will be three cycles in the 12-week program. Each new cycle will have new focuses and goals, along with new exercises to progress on.

This is my approach to volleyball training, and I look forward to having some of you as potential clients. I aim to combine strength and conditioning with my experiences in volleyball in order to create an optimal training program for each athlete. Please reach out to me via email if you have any questions, I'm more than happy to go more in depth.

Let's Put in the Work Together.