Volleyball specific exercises that target the stomach, legs and rear

[NoBadSets]

I have watched the exercise threads and haven’t seen one that mentions exercises that are Volleyball specific and that target the stomach, legs and butt. I’m looking for some help. I would like to tighten these areas rather quickly but safely, I’m figuring three months. I don’t want to go to classes or get a personal trainer. It’s not the money it’s that they are not the gods they think they are and I’m tired of listening to their B.S. Give me an iPod Treadmill and weights, I’m all over it happy, the gym should not be a social experience. You are there to get healthy.

Any help, any at all would be great, pictures always a plus.

[JPMac]

Abdominals -
Get a swiss ball and use the hell out of it. Oblique crunches and straight crunches will work the abs effectively. There are tons of exercises you can use this ball for, google it.

For legs and butt, specific to volleyball use your going to want to use plyometric excercises in conjunction with typical training routines. Box jumps, jump and hangs, squats (1 legged, standard, hack), sprints (if you have a beach nearby, do them in the sand), stair climbs, leg presses, seated and standing calf raises, leg extensions.

[NewEnglandRT]

Pilates! Pilates! Pilates!


PS: don't forget your back!

Proper pilates workouts will yeild total body results which is what as a vb player you really need.

I take issue with you're I'll give it three months statement as there is no such thing a quick fix when it comes to fitness. You've got to have a long term plan and stick with it.

PPS: don't forget your diet! All the exersize in the world isn't going to help you if you eat like crap.

[BHitterDPasser]

Don't forget the shoulders... If you do you will undoubtedly be remembering to work them out when you are give all sorts of PT to work them out. Light weights and a resistance band are all you need.

[nmsvbteam]

Many trainers don't know what they are doing and like to chit chat more than anything, true. For some people, they want a therapst and motivator to do a little exercising. There are other trainers that are more knowledgeable and can be of great help in showing proper technique and developing a program. Your body is not a simple piece of machinery like all the others that will respond in the same way.

Anyhow, three months is short. The notion that working in a specific area will cause you to burn fat off in that area is nothing but a wives tale. More muscle mass will increase the rate at which you burn calories and convert fat, but not in a localized area. As was mentioned above, diet is just as important.

The swiss ball is king for abdominal a and back exercises. Of course, if you only focus on specific body parts and neglect others, you can cause imbalance that may result in injury on or off the court. Chek out coreperformance if you are really interested in strengthening your core while addressing overall fitness. For more volley specific performance, if you only did squats and deadlifts PROPERLY your glutes, legs and core would receive extreme benefits while supporting your on court performance.

I would caution on JP Mac's advice. While he mentions a number of great exercises for the lower body, unless you are performing them properly and have developed an adequate strength base (primarily aongst your tendons and ligaments) you can run the risk of injury.

You don't really need any fancy exercises or equipment to make fitness or athletic gains but you do need to be smart about what, how and when you work out.

Here is a site with some exercise animations:
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/PowerExercises.html
It is still helpful to have someone watching your technique, because you can't always judge for yourself.

[revjim27]

I need to get back in the gym myself...
I had the trainer at my office gym design this workout for me. The "Power" days are all plyometrics and require little equipment and can easily be tweaked to require no equipment. Message me if you have any questions.

Power Day

Dynamic Stretch FIRST! For about 5 min

1. Prisoner Squat


2. Walking Lunge Rotations


3. Tube Waking Side to Side


4. Med. Ball Flex/Ext


5. Deceleration hops - front/side/rotation

Power Day is done in Time not Reps

Do each "cardio" section for 1 min

Do each "power" section for 45 sec

Repeat 3 times (it should take you 12.25 mins approx. to complete one round)

Then it is core at the end!

Power Circuit

1. Ladder drills - High Knees, Ins/Outs, Skaters (1 min)


2. Push - ups with gliding discs (45 sec)


3. BOSU lateral jumps (1 min) Keep it quick!


4. SB (stability ball)Back Extensions with Tube Rotations (45 Sec)


5. Frog Jumps (1 min)


6. Wall Sit with Shoulder iso contractions (45 Sec) Hold arms out at side with weight


7. Box Jumps ONE leg Alt (1 min)


8. Tricep Dips (45 sec)


9. Carioca (1 min) Keep it quick!


10. Lat Rolls on SB (45 Sec)


11. Butt Kicks (1 min)


12. Powerball Squats (45 Sec)


13. Cone Jumps - Front Back/Side to Side (1 min)


14. Power Ball Lunges (45 Sec)

Core Circuit

Planks - 30 sec, 45 Sec, 1 min (get through as much as you can) DO NOT TOUCH DOWN UNTIL ALL IS COMPLETE!!!

1. On Elbows


2. On Hands


3. Feet Apart


4. T-Plank (on side)


5. T-Plank 1 leg


6. Repeat 4 & 5 on other side


7. On Hands Feet Together


8. One Leg

Repeat 2 more times going up in time!

Strength Day

You can do this any way you want. Just do opposing muscle groups and try not to rest to long in-between set and exercises.

Do a and b together than c and d together.

Do these for 3 sets of 10 - 12. Make sure the weight is challenging!!

Cable Crossover Circuit

1. Chest/Back


1. Chest Fly


2. Rows


3. Chest Press on SB


4. 1 arm pull downs on SB



2. Bicep/Triceps


1. Bi Curl one leg


2. Tricep Rope


3. Bi curl 30's


4. Tricep Press down 1 leg



3. Shoulders


1. Internal Pull


2. External Pull



4. Abs - Use rope


1. Front Crunch


2. Rotation Crunch

Leg Circuit

1. Leg Press - 2 leg


2. Leg Curl - 1 leg


3. Leg Press - 2 leg


4. Leg Ext - 1 leg


5. Leg Press - 2 leg

This is one set. Remember you have to complete this 3 times

Do not eat 1 - 2 hours before you workout.

Have some food with in 45 min to 1 hour after your workout. You want to replenish your glycogen stores and keep the muscles growing.

[Air Diney]

To get into a little bit more of the pilates,

Pilates is a full body workout. However, you say you specifically want to work on abs, gluts and hamstrings. Someone with an anterior tilted pelvis, tends to have weakened abs, hamstings ( AKA lordosis) I wish I was computer friendly enough to find a picture online and add it, but I am not good at all at that stuff- Strazz, get on that for me .

Anywho, if you get a pilates instructor who is knowledgable about posture, they can help you to target the muscles that you are not using as much ( abs, gluts, hamstings) instead of mucles that are more used (quads, hipflexors and back). Now of course, I would have to do a posture analysis on someone to tell if this was the case, but sounds like those are your problem areas.

I agree with some of the other statements, that some personal trainers are not good, but others are, you just have to find the right place.

[river]

Originally Posted by NewEnglandRT

Pilates! Pilates! Pilates!


PS: don't forget your back!

Proper pilates workouts will yeild total body results which is what as a vb player you really need.

I take issue with you're I'll give it three months statement as there is no such thing a quick fix when it comes to fitness. You've got to have a long term plan and stick with it.

PPS: don't forget your diet! All the exersize in the world isn't going to help you if you eat like crap.

My wife is a Pilates instructor with those reformer machines. After 2 weeks of Pilates I was able to jump higher then ever before plus the ability to be there.
Better presence on the court no doubt.
I play beach volleyball 2x per week.