Gym Workouts For Volleyball Players

Do Volleyball Players Need Gym Workouts | Types Of Training | Exercises | Workout Plans

Whether you play football, tennis, or another sport, it takes more than just regular practice to be great at it. Developing athletic skill takes dedicated training, both on the field and in the gym.

In this article, we look at the best gym workouts for volleyball players to build strength, agility, and power for better volleyball performance.

If you want to improve your overall fitness and sport specific performance while reducing the risk of injury, then yes -- you should be following some kind of volleyball gym workout plan.    

The best workouts for volleyball will help with:

• Increased speed and agility. Volleyball players need to be quick on their feet and able to pivot and take off in a different direction instantly.

• Improved cardiovascular endurance. Volleyball requires good cardio fitness, with players expected to keep up a fast pace for prolonged periods of time.

• More powerful, explosive movements. Volleyball players have to jump, hit, and move quickly and with power to keep up with the game.

While the average person’s gym routine consists of mostly strength training or cardio, the best workouts for volleyball players will include elements that train all the above.

Strength training builds overall strength, power, and muscular endurance, translating to better hits and throws on the beach or court. Strength training also builds more stable and resilient joints and can improve bone density, protecting against impact injuries.

• Upper body. Building upper body strength will help players when passing, catching,  and serving the ball.

• Lower body. Having good lower body strength helps with running around the court, and can even help with catching and hitting the ball.

• Core. Core strength and stability helps players to stay upright, twist, and catch.

Plyometric exercises are great for building explosive power and developing fast twitch muscle fibres, which help with speed. They also can help improve cardio fitness, especially when it comes to stopping and starting during a game.

Including sport-specific agility drills helps to improve speed and agility, particularly when it comes to quickly turning and taking off.

Cardio is crucial for building both aerobic and anaerobic fitness so that you can stay at the top of your game for long periods, while still being able to produce short bursts of speed and power.

Mobility and flexibility are an important part of minimising injury risk as it allows you to increase your reach and depth of motion without overstretching the muscles and ligaments.

Looking to create your own volleyball player gym workout? Here are some of the best exercises to include.

Choose compound exercises that build full body strength and coordination and translate to the movements you'll do in volleyball.

• Overhead press - builds shoulder, chest, and arm strength and stability, helping with catching and throwing power

• Push ups - strengthens chest, arms, and rotator cuff, increasing throwing power and helping to protect the shoulders from injury

• Pull ups - trains the lats, shoulders, arms, and core. They increase overall shoulder stability and protect against injuries

• Skull crushers - improves overhead strength, stability, and mobility and helps with overhead movements

• Deadlifts - builds forearm and grip strength as well as strength in the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back and can help with vertical jumping power

• Squats - strengthens quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and core and can build speed, vertical jump power, and help with catching and passing the ball

• Lunges - builds lower body strength while working stability, balance, and coordination, helping to protect against injuries and falls while improving power and strength

• Squat to overhead press - builds full body strength and coordination and teaches how to transfer power from lower to upper body

• Paloff press - builds core stability and rotational strength and power

• Russian twists - builds rotational strength

• Leg raises - strengths the core and hip flexors

Plyometric exercises train speed and explosive power, helping you to run and jump with ease during a game.

• Box jumps - improves power, speed, and vertical jump height

• Tuck jumps - builds power and speed while strengthening the hip flexors

• Overhead kettlebell swings - builds lower body strength and power, transference of power from lower to upper body, and shoulder strength and stability

• Wall balls - builds full body strength, coordination, and explosive power

• Dumbbell snatch - strengthens jumps while building power and explosiveness

• Ladder drills - improves footwork, coordination, agility, and speed

• Shuffle drills - builds coordination, balance, and agility

Incorporate a mix of HIIT and steady state cardio to improve overall endurance and ability to product short bursts of speed and power.  

• Sprint intervals - builds speed and anaerobic endurance

• Shuttle runs - builds speed and trains quick change in direction

• Skipping - improves agility, footwork, speed, and overall cardio fitness

• Cross-trainer - improves cardio fitness while being low impact on the joints

• Cycling - builds cardio fitness as well as quad strength and endurance

Having good mobility can protect against common volleyball injuries. Aim to include a mix of dynamic and static stretching in your programme.

• Cossack squats - builds strength and mobility in side to side movement, protecting against injuries when moving quickly to the side

• Calf wall stretch - improves ankle mobility, protecting against injuries like shin splints

• 90/90 lunge stretch - stretches the hip flexors and quads which can get very tight from running and jumping

• Standing hamstring stretch - the hamstrings can also get tight from running and jumping and are a common cause of injury

• Standing chest stretch - a tight chest can lead to poor posture and poor overhead mobility, affecting many volleyball movements

If you don’t fancy making your own workouts, you can try some of our sample workouts below.

This HIIT workout will help with cardiovascular conditioning while training explosive power and agility.

Warm up

• March or jog on the spot - 30 seconds

• Arm swings - 30 seconds

• Leg swings - 30 seconds each side

• Jumping jacks - 30 seconds

• Squat jumps - 30 seconds

• Plank - 30 seconds

Workout

Perform each exercise for 45 seconds with a 15 second rest. Repeat the circuit 2-3 times.

• Box jumps

• Burpees

• Wall balls

• 5m shuttle runs

• Lunge jumps

Cool down

• 30 second static stretch for each muscle group: calves, quads, glutes, chest

This lower workout combines weight training and some plyometrics to build serious strength and power.

Warm up

• 3-5 minutes moderate paced walking

• 60 seconds deep squat to forward fold

Workout

• Trap bar deadlifts - 3 x 6-10 reps

• Front squats - 3 x 6-10 reps

• Tuck jumps - 3 x 5 reps

• Single leg dumbbell glute bridges - 3 x 12-15 reps

• Kettlebell swings - 3 x 10-12 reps

Cool down

• 30 seconds static stretch for each muscle: calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes

This workout includes a little bit of everything for the weeks when you only have time to train once or twice.

Warm up

• 5 minutes moderate cardio of choice

• 30 seconds deep squat to forward fold

• 30 seconds world's greatest stretch each side

Strength

• Squat to overhead press - 3 x 8-12 reps

• Superset: push up and Pallof press - 3x 10-12 reps

• Pull ups - 3 x 8-12 reps

• Deadlifts - 3 x 10-12 reps

• Farmer's carry - 2 x 1 minute

Conditioning

Perform each exercise with 10 seconds rest in between. Repeat 1-2 times.

• Lateral shuffle ladder drills - 15 seconds each direction

• Box jumps - 5 reps

• Overhead kettlebell swings - 10 reps

• Burpees - 10 reps

• 5m shuttle runs - 40 seconds

Cool down

• 30 seconds static stretching per muscle group: calves, quads, hamstrings, lats, chest, glutes

Training in the gym can help you to become a better volleyball player by improving your speed, endurance, and power. However, it's important to periodise your training to avoid overdoing it. During in season, scale back the volume of your workouts and aim to maintain strength while allowing for adequate recovery. During off seasons, focus on building strength and power with more volume and intensity in the gym.

Need a gym to train out? Find your nearest PureGym here.