Drills – Page 6 – Volley Expert

Stamina is what makes the difference between a good and great volleyball player! In fact, even if you’ve got the better skills, a player with better endurance could still outlast you in the later sets of the game … This article addresses just that! You will learn several ways to build your stamina quite fast and in an effective manner that will allow you to perform at the best of your abilities. Exercises to build stamina for Volleyball People are in many different situations! There are those who prefer to work outdoors, others who prefer to work solely on the gym and others who just prefer to perform their endurance work at home … Below, I’ve provided solutions to all those situations! Outdoor Exercises First on the list is running. As the biggest part of stamina can be easily built with only running, be it with a friend or alone. Running increases your blood circulation; it activates your lungs and increases your heart rate significantly … Running is the best option for building stamina. Of course, the more and harder you run the more stamina you get, hence the more endurance you build up. There is no need to mention the leg muscles that are the most active while running. Next, there is rope jumping! Although it might seem easy it is not to be underestimated. Just like running, jumping rope (Check my favorite Jumping rope) increases your blood pressure, it also activates your lungs and increases your heart beat. It also puts a rhythmic kind of pressure on your leg muscles. Jumping rope is also good for your agility, which is an essential part of volleyball. Lastly is sprinting. So basically, you need a set of cones or anything that can make a border for you. Place the cones on a distance of about 15 to 20 meters. Start from sprinting from one set of cones to the other. When you reach the other side, quickly reverse and start sprinting to the starting point. This exercise helps you with the endurance you need in such short bursts of energy that are frequent in volleyball. Helpful Tip: Don’t do all those 3 exercises at the same time (especially at the beginning). This could get you overwhelmed hence overworked which could have negative effects. Rather pick the exercise you like the most and focus on it for a while until you start noticing results. Then, you can pivot or even add up other exercises. Gym Exercises When it comes to gym exercises and stamina, they can be somewhat repetitive. Since it is a closed environment and can sometimes be monotonous, but nonetheless during times like winter it is best to go the gym, which has all the equipment needed for a workout. So stamina in the gym is best practiced on a treadmill or a stationary bicycle. Those two contraptions are the most suitable, the bicycle for endurance of the muscles and the treadmill for long term stamina. In modern gyms you can find all sorts of stamina and endurance related gear. Some of them include the legendary jump rope, which is recommended for all uses, outdoor, home and the gym. There is also gear you can combine with stamina exercises. That gear includes wrist weights, for both legs and arms. These weights help you strengthen your muscle in the first place, but when you combine them with, let us say running on a treadmill, you can feel the resistance of the weights and that eventually makes you try even harder, which in turn builds up endurance and stamina. Helpful Tip: To take your gym stamina training to the next level, then I highly recommend you to check this comprehensive book. You will learn the exact detailed steps to build endurance the right way. Home Exercises When compared to the gym, home workouts can be better, but they might require additional equipment … First on our list is the stamina impact strider (Check my favorite strider) , which is the ideal home stamina builder. It is small, compact and it can be transported anywhere you like. It has adjustable tension, a fitness monitor, that keeps track of your distance, large pedals, that are not slippery. It can provide you with the necessary help when it comes to keeping in line with your stamina. However, it is not suited for high intense purposes, that being intense exercises. Next on the list is a home bike (Check this Quality Model), similarly to the bicycle that you would find in the gym, a home bicycle is the ideal machine for building stamina and endurance at home. It is fully adjustable, silent and can be pedaled at high speeds that help your stamina and endurance build up in a reasonable amount of time. Third on our list is something similar to the impact strider, but on a larger scale, the elliptical exercise machine. This machine serves a similar purpose as the impact strider, but you make wider circles and have handles to hold on to, thus employing your whole body. Unlike the impact strider the elliptical exercise machine lets you exercise at a high pace, by that giving you room to improve your stamina and endurance, and not just maintaining them. Finally, keep in mind that stamina is one of the most important aspects that volleyball coaches are looking for in tryouts! Stamina exercises to add for beach volleyball … So far all the practices we have mentioned can be utilized to help you with your stamina and endurance. However, there is couple of exercises you might add … For extra stamina you can do burpees x15, resisted step-up also 15x each leg, mountain climbers x50. Also you can do the bosu ball shuffles x15 and medicine ball passes x15. If you have a treadmill nearby you can do 3x30 seconds of sprints on a treadmill. That is the first set of suggestions. The Second set of suggestions includes resisted sprints 3x15, resisted side shuffles 2x10 each side and resisted pulling footwork. There are also dumbbell split jumps x15 and the legendary jump rope. Also, if there is a stationary bicycle near you, be sure to do a rep of aerobic interval biking of six minutes. How does proper nutrition help building stamina? Excessive meat consumption can slow down your motoric abilities and your entire body, it drains your of energy. Below some helpful guidelines you need to consider … Essential nutrients The essential nutrients that can be found in everyday use are: Complex carbs Vitamin c Proteins Iron Omega3 Magnesium is also the recommended since it stops cramps and muscle contractions. Foods that enhance your stamina Just as the nutrients before, these foods can be found everywhere, any day. These include: Beans Green leafy vegetables Bananas Peanut butter Lean Fish Does volleyball muscle training impact stamina? The short answer is yes, volleyball muscle training does impact stamina, but not on a substantial level. Even the exercises that we have covered for indoor volleyball and for beach volleyball so far impact the muscles but their focus was on the resilience and endurance of a player. You can learn more about the best practices to build muscles for volleyball! Is jogging good to build stamina for volleyball? Yes, jogging is good for volleyball stamina and endurance! Long jogs can enhance your stamina when it comes to games and practices that require a great amount of moving around and running. However, short bursts of sprints can give you the needed explosiveness and endurance. Short bursts of energy usually require more energy in a smaller amount of time, while long jogs require a steady flow of energy that is somewhat monotonous. So, long jogs are for overall stamina and endurance, short bursts of speed and energy are for explosiveness and the need for more energy during a game. By the way, jogging is one of the fastest ways to get in volleyball shape! Does playing volleyball itself increase stamina? Although stamina is one of the main volleyball players strenght points … It is not advised to rely on volleyball matches in order to build it up. You need to build up endurance and stamina before the game, on numerous practices. You need to be fit enough to endure a whole game, and to have enough stamina for the majority of the game. That does not mean however that you do not gain any stamina or endurance during a game, but it is not advised to rely just upon that. Final Thoughts … As a beginner, stamina (despite its importance) should not be the top of your priorities; you should rather focus on learning the skills... This will give you the initial needed push and motivation that will (hopefully) allow you to invest on other aspects of the game like stamina, conditioning and cardio … Also, don’t overwhelm yourself with exercises, focus on one or 2 exercises for a while, then you may want to pivot to others. Finally, it is worth mentionning that some volleyball players rely on CrossFit to build their endurance!