After receiving a lot of positive reactions regarding our post on the Top 10 Fitness Blogs for Beach Volleyball, we asked David from Chape Fitness to create an effective volleyball training program that is tailored to the needs of beach volleyball players. Read what he’s suggesting to step up your fitness game and do also check out his awesome videos!

Beach Volleyball is a sport with high intensity and anaerobic metabolic needs. It is necessary for volleyball players to be able to produce a lot of energy in a very short period of time (explosiveness) and also to recover between the rallies, during the time-outs and between the sets. Both capacities are needed: aerobic and anaerobic systems.

The anaerobic energy system kicks in in the first few minutes of all exercise. This is because when you first start running for example, there isn’t enough oxygen available in your muscles for aerobic metabolism. It is also used for short fast, powerful bursts of energy.

The aerobic energy system utilises fats, carbohydrate and sometimes proteins for re-synthesising adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for energy use. Aerobic means that the energy system uses oxygen to function. This system also relies on the circulatory system to transport oxygen to muscles before it creates ATP. Waste products of this system are H₂O (water), CO₂ (carbon dioxide) and heat.

Physical training sessions should be implemented to training plans to prevent injuries, increase the vertical jump ability, increase the velocity of arm-swing and power produced by the body to hit and to serve the ball harder and to make moving on a court more efficient.

Before planning a beach volleyball training program, it is important to be aware of all different activities, competitions, and rest periods. Thus, training and performance improvements have to be organized in periods or cycles within an overall program with pre-planned, systematic variations in training specificity, intensity, and volume. A macro volleyball program should be based on the concept of periodization and divides the annual plan into training phases to guide athletic training over the year.

Throughout the year, we must do different types of training (called microcycles) oriented to different objectives. Thus, when returning from the holidays, we should do a general conditioning training, focused on building lean body mass, increasing work & power capacity, and improving explosive lifting skills. As we get into the competition, the training should be more specific and individualized.

Your Beach Volleyball Training Program

The example workouts that follow are the first phase (microcycle) of four weeks length based on three workouts per week that will get you started with your beach volleyball training plan.

 

Warm-Up (all days)

 

Exercise	Sets	Time or distance
Light jog	1	5-10 minutes
High Knees	1	Full court width
Butt Kicks	1	Full court width
Carioca	1	Full court width
Pendulums	1	2 minutes

High Knees: Keep your head up and move your arms in rhythm with your legs. Exaggerate the knee lift so your thigh goes parallel with the ground. Use a short stride length and perform fast repetitions on the balls of the feet. Start with a light intensity and increase the intensity progressively.

Butt Kicks: Jog forward and touch heels to butt without lifting the knee or moving it forward. Maintain a fast tempo and stay on balls of feet.

Carioca: Keep your head up and limit the upper body rotation during the movement. Run sideways with legs crossing each other, leg in front, then leg in back. Hold arms straight out from shoulders for balance and while keeping your shoulders straight, twist from hips as legs cross. Stay on the balls of your feet with your hips in a low semi-squat position.

Pendulums: Stand parallel to a wall and use a hand for support. Swing nearest leg forward and back like a pendulum, keeping leg straight when in front of the body to get a stretch in the hamstrings, and bending knee when leg is behind body to get a stretch in the quads.

Day 1

Plyometric

Exercise	Sets	Reps or Time
Line hops – Diagonal	3	Half court width
4 Square hops	3	15 seconds
Cone hops – Linear	3	Full court width
Cone Jumps	3	10 reps

Line hops – Diagonal: Start with your feet close together on one side of the line. Lower into a slightly knee-bent position and hop slightly forward over the line. Land on the balls of the feet and rapidly return across the line. Keep the foot contact time with the ground as short as possible and stay close to the ground while hopping.

4 square hops: Draw a cross on the ground. Each sector is numbered from one to four. Stand in sector 1 with your feet together and knees slightly bent. Move from numbers 1 to 4 as quickly as possible and repeat. Perform low, rapid hops facing the same direction throughout. Change the position of numbers to vary the movement pattern.

Cone hops – Linear: Place a series of 8 cones about 2 feet apart. Start with your feet close together and lower yourself into a slightly knee-bent position. Hop forward over the line, land on the balls of the feet and rapidly sprint forward over the next cone. Keep the foot contact time with the ground as short as possible and stay close to the ground while hopping.

Cone jumps: Start with feet shoulder-width. Squat down fully while keeping your spine tall, then jump as high as possible and slightly laterally over the cone with your arms overhead in blocking form. Land softly into a full squat and repeat, jumping back over the cone.

Movement drills

Exercise	Sets	Reps or Time
Star drill	2	1 minute
Sprint	3	Full court
Figure 8 backpedal with sprint	3	5 reps

Star drill: Begin at starting cone, sprint/backpedal/slide to middle cone. Sprint to first cone and breakdown. Jog back to middle cone. Continue sprinting to each cone and jogging back to middle cone.

Sprint: Start a one side-line in ready position and sprint to opposite side of court. Work on explosive power in your first few strides. Alternate your lead foot each repetition.

Figure 8 backpedal with sprint: Place two cones five yards apart. Face the same direction at all times and shuffle through a figure 8 pattern. Key is to keep hips low and keep feet moving.

Weight Training

Exercise	Sets	Reps or Time
Squat	3	12 reps
Barbell Deadlift	3	12 reps
Bench Press	3	12 secs
Barbell Row	3	12 reps

Day 2

Plyometric

Exercise	Sets	Reps or Time
Single leg hop	3	10 reps
4 Square hops – Single leg	3	15 seconds
Cone hops – Diagonal	3	Half court width
Hitch hops	3	5 reps

Single leg hop – Forward/Backward: Hop over the cone landing on the ball of your foot and bending at the knee. Now, hop backwards over the cone using the same landing technique. Be careful not to snap your knee back to straighten it. You want to maintain a slight bend to the knee.

4 Square hops – Single leg: Stand on one leg with the other leg bent at 90 degrees in front of you and your hands on your hips. Create an imaginary square around you. Hop on one leg to each of the four corners, hopping back to the middle before proceeding to the next corner. Switch legs halfway through the exercise.

Cone hops – Diagonal: Set 4 cones, or an equivalent replacement in a square, each a metre apart. Start at one corner. Landing with your leading foot, hop to the cone at your side. Hop diagonally to the next cone. Hop to the remaining cone to complete the circuit. Following the same path, return to the starting cone.

Hitch hops (Single leg Tuck Jumps): Jump as high as you can and slightly forward on one leg. Bring knees quickly up in front of body to hip height. Land softly in a controlled squat, and transition immediately into the next jump.

Movement drills

Exercise	Sets	Reps or Time
Triangle drill	3	10 reps
Get-Up to Sprint	4	10 reps
Cone hop with backpedal	3	5 reps

Triangle drill: Set up three different colored cones 10 feet apart in a triangle. Assume an athletic position in the center of the triangle. Sprint to the first cone, stop at the cone and sprint back to the center of the triangle. Continue and repeat in the other cones.

Get-Up to Sprint: Start lying face-down outside one side-line of the court. Get up as quickly as possible and sprint to opposite side of court.

Cone hop with backpedal: Place 5 cones about 2 feet apart. Jump laterally over and slightly forward the cones.

Core Training

Exercise	Sets	Reps or Time
Plank	3	1 minute
Glute bridge	3	20 reps
Lateral Plank	3	30 secs
Bird dog	3	20 reps

Day 3

Plyometric

Exercise	Sets	Reps or Time
Line hops – Diagonal	3	Half court width
Box hops	3	15 seconds
Cone hops to Sprint	3	4 hops, sprint court width
Pike Jumps	3	5 reps

Line hops – Diagonal: Start with your feet close together on one side of the line. Lower into a slightly knee-bent position and hop slightly forward over the line. Land on the balls of the feet and rapidly return across the line. Keep the foot contact time with the ground as short as possible and stay close to the ground while hopping.

Box hops – Multidirectional: Place your hands on the edges of a stable box or bench. Bend at the waist and keep your core tight. Keeping your gaze towards the bench, put a slight bend in your knees. Explosively jump, launching your body to the opposite side of the bench. Land on both feet and check your form. Again, make sure your core is braced. Repeat the movement, gaining speed as you advance.

Cone hops to sprint: Place 3 cones about 2 feet apart. Upon landing after hopping the third cone immediately accelerate explosively away from the cones in a straight 5-meter sprint.

Pike jumps: Jump as high as you can and slightly forward. Once in the air keep knees extended and bring feet up in front of the body as high as possible. Reach forward with your hands to try to touch your toes while in the air.

Movement drills

Exercise	Sets	Reps or Time
W drill	3	10 reps
Sprint	3	10 reps
Forward lateral backpedal	3	5 reps

W drill: Set 5 cones out in a “W” formation 5 yards apart (top of the W to the bottom). Start backwards at the first cone and backpedal on a 45 degree angle to the next cone, then go to the next cone on a 45 degree angle.  Repeat and run through the last cone.

Sprint: Start a one side-line in ready position and sprint to opposite side of court. Work on explosive power in your first few strides. Alternate your lead foot each repetition.

Forward lateral backpedal: Place 5 cones in line about 2 feet apart. Forward sprints across cones.

Weight Training

Exercise	Sets	Reps or Time
Pull Up	3	12 reps
Pullover	3	12 reps
Shoulder press	3	12 secs
Rear delt fly	3	12 reps

 

Post-training stretching (4-8 minutes, all days)

We will come up with further phases of the beach volleyball fitness training program soon. In the meanwhile, you can also reach out to David directly. In case you are looking for the right shoes to perform these workouts, check out our Asics Gel running shoes review.