One of the main issues volleyball players (Amateurs & even professionals) suffer from is the soreness they feel and have to deal with almost after any game or practice session!
Learning the right ways to prevent that from happening in the first place and how to relieve this soreness when it happens is key to make sure you protect yourself and play at the best of your abilities.
Let’s dive in!
What causes volleyball soreness?
During a training session or a game your muscles are under constant pressure, they are active and are working with full capacity.
Below is what might cause post volleyball games soreness …
- Pushing your limits – going over your limits when your muscles are already exhausted.
- Stretching beyond normal range of motion – This could happen for example if you are diving for the ball.
- Repeating eccentric contracting movement – causes damage to the connective tissue.
If your muscles are not in good shape or if you have gone over your limit you can sometimes run into serious problems. There are a few examples of these problems …
- Muscle damage – muscle contractions and microscopic tears in the muscles cause pain and lead to inflammation, which in turn creates more pain.
- Damage to the connective tissue – this one is tied to the microscopic tears. The contractions are eccentric meaning that the muscle lengthens rather than shortens.
- Ischemia – Ischemia represents a lack of oxygen and the build-up of metabolic products which in turn causes the muscles to spasm.
Helpful Tip: There are many ways you can help your muscle recover after a hard training sessions. The easiest method I’ve found is to massage the sore area using a massage gun. This Massage Gun is a very good example that you can refer to.
Main body parts affected by volleyball.
The body parts that are affected by volleyball are diverse. These are in fact scattered throughout your entire body, so in a sense volleyball affects your entire body.
Below a short list of only the major muscles that are affected by volleyball …
- The upper legs and hips (gluteals, hamstrings, quadriceps).
- The muscles of the lower leg (gastrocnemius, soleus, anterior tibialis).
- The muscles of the shoulders (deltoids and the rotator cuff).
- The muscles of the upper arm (biceps, triceps, wrist flexors and extensors) and forearm.
- The core muscles (rectus abdominus, obliques and spinal erectors).
Tips to relieve volleyball soreness.
One of the easiest ways to relieve soreness is to utilize some gear to favor that …
Knee sleeves and arm sleeves (Check this Example Here at Amazon) both provide muscle support and help in the recovery of the muscles even while practicing.
Besides this gear there are a few techniques that help muscle recovery …
Cold or hot baths are quite effective in so many ways!
The cold bath is called „Cryotherapy” and is a good effective for reducing inflammation, easing pain and hastening recovery. It has a wide range of possibilities and shapes, from pure cold baths across ice baths to nitrogen chambers.
The nitrogen chambers are getting more popular by the day, since it can get athletes back in game quickly.
Meaning that it is very effective against muscle soreness. The other baths are also effective as well. So cold baths can do the following to your body.
- Reduce inflammation – Cryo-therapy can significantly slow down the process of inflammation, or it can even stop it completely.
- Treating existing injuries – It can help reduce swelling and inflammation, and also it can speed recovery time.
- They can also hurt you – If you enter the chambers with liquid nitrogen you are surely going to recover however it is not recommended for people with high blood pressure, heart problems and certain autoimmune conditions.
Warm baths, on the other hand, have some other qualities that the cold ones do not possess …
- Heat relaxes the muscles – Icy baths help with the reduction of inflammation, hot baths on the other hand help the muscles relax by dilating the blood vessels and promoting blood flow.
- Heat helps a lot – When it comes to applying heat to the muscles it is good to know that saunas can help also. They have a few benefits. The first one is that they can be used to help the players acclimate if they will play the next game in a hotter part of the world.
- Heat and hydration – It is important to know that when you want to use a sauna or an infrared sauna right after a workout, you need to be hydrated. Since you can be dehydrated from your workout the sauna will only dehydrate your body even more.
So in conclusion the cold therapy helps with the treatment of inflammation and injuries, while the hot therapy helps with the relaxation of the muscles and blood flow. Either way both are good.
The cold bath is recommended to be practiced only once after the exercise, while the hot therapy bath is recommended to be practiced two to three days in a row.
Finally, one great way to relieve shoulder sorness is by properly taping your shoulders for volleyball! You will find that to be amazingly helpful!
Does the ball type or quality cause any soreness?
Volleyball balls (Check this quality example Here at Amazon) are not the same; there are many differences in volleyball balls and the overall quality of the balls!
They are essentially made from the same materials but the cheap balls are to be avoided since they are made from cheaper quality ones.
Cheaper balls would generally cause slightly more soreness than higher quality ones. But this is not something really significant.
On the other hand, if you know how to hit the ball correctly, you can avoid soreness even with a lower quality ball. However, if you are new to volleyball generally you would get your muscles sore no matter the ball quality you are playing with
How to prevent volleyball soreness in first place?
There are pretty much 2 types of soreness: The one related to muscles and the one caused by the contact between your hands and the ball.
You can prevent hand soreness for example by using arm sleeves (Like This one), knowing how to hit the ball, positioning your hands in a right way etc. Here are some examples on how to prevent arm soreness.
- Properly bumping the ball – first learn how to make a platform, secondly get into the right position, and finally use your legs and arms to push it, not hit it, to avoid the sting.
- Avoid contact with the interior of your forearms – this part of the forearm is most susceptible to soreness and it is best if you avoid hitting the ball with the interior of your forearm.
- Avoid cheap balls – the materials a ball is made of are very important, avoid cheap balls that are made from bad materials, since bad materials can have a bad effect on your arms when hitting them.
- Follow the recommended PSI – If your ball is overinflated it might be best if you let some air out. An overinflated ball can easily hurt you, same goes for a ball that is not inflated very well. Recommended PSI is between 4.26 to 4.61.
When it comes to preventing muscle soreness the most important thing to consider is not to overwork your body on the exercise, that way you will not have any serious consequences after the exercise, but you can still relax it with a cold or hot bath.
Do beach volleyball players suffer from less soreness?
When it comes to muscle soreness beach volleyball players are no exception. They, too, as their cousins that play indoor volleyball suffer from muscle soreness and wrist soreness.
Their ball is softer yes, but they too need time to adapt to the pain it causes, improving their technique in the process.
When it comes to muscle soreness, well volleyball players also have sore muscles and maybe they have it a bit harder.
They use some of their muscles more often than indoor volleyball players do, because of the sand and the resistance they have when moving on it.
Final Thoughts …
This is a very important article and I am really glad that you’ve went through it. Indeed, most people who get started in this sport feel discouraged because of the soreness they feel after practice sessions …
This might even cause them to quit the sport!
That’s why I am happy to help ad provide those simple tips that will definitely help you bypass that.
To learn more, I highly invite you to understand exactly what causes that volleyball hurt your beloved arms! You should also learn how to avoid breaking your arms in volleyball!