P ERFORMANCE

CONDITIONING
VOLLEYBALL

A NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO IMPROVING VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS

www.performancecondition.com/volleyball

Off-Season Program at the

University of Minnesota
Part One: Strength Training
Sara Wiley, Strength and Conditioning Coach, University of Minnesota

The following program is part one of an in-depth look at a top-level volleyball program. I rec-
ommend readers apply our "Fit to a T" 7-T System of Program Design, take Sara’s information and con-
sider how it might fit into your situation. Net Link: for the 7-T's click HERE.
Sara Wiley introduces her training principles that formulate the program. She discusses the wide
variety of conditioning experience athletes bring to the program beginning with T-1 Training Age and her
approach to this complex issue. The off-season incorporates T-2 Time and is restricted by NCAA time
limitations (eight hours a week). T-4 Teaching and T-6 Total Workload are essentials to the program as
she applies percentage maximums and uses techniques as an indicator of excessive loading. Her triphasic
method application provides a direct carryover from the weight room to volleyball positions and play
movement patterns from those positions. T-5 Testing will be presented in part two of this article as well
as some considerations of T-7 Position Specific movements. We hope you enjoy this holistic and compre-
hensive approach to volleyball conditioning.—Ken Kontor, Editor

W
e use strength and conditioning principles and philosophies as core beliefs in de- Sara Wiley
INT veloping our program. We must consider the volleyball athlete, their training age
ADV
T1-7 and what they bring to the University of Minnesota before we apply these principles. This is a very difficult
thing to determine so we consider every incoming athlete as having training age of zero because they never
trained with us. That said, we do not immediately "max test" any new athlete. They may claim to have squat-
ted a certain weight, but as a strength and conditioning coach I will not throw her under a bar and see what she's got. From the long-
range view and safety concerns, we start from scratch.
As part of our dynamic warm-ups and the tests we list in this article, we depend on our observation and experience how the
athlete moves on the court. How an athlete does a vertical jump test on the Vertec and how they jump off the mat are a good indication
of body control and movement issues. One of our primary objectives is to help the athlete move better on the court. I know “core” is
overused as a buzzword, but it plays an important role in this dynamic control. My definition of core includes overall body tightness.
This is well beyond the concept of abdominal/low back strength. When we teach some athletes the clean and squat exercise progression,
it becomes clear they are not correctly locked up in doing the movements. It is not that their technique is bad; they just lack the right
motor patterns, so we back off and do body weight control exercises. This teaches hip mobility, abdominal/low back strength and sta-
bility before they continue our programming. This intervention usually takes two to three weeks and the entire process takes a great
deal of vigilance on our part.
New athletes have a wide variety of training experience. We see athletes from very specific volleyball strength and condi-
tioning programs all the way to basic, general fitness programs. Others have no training at all! It is difficult to say which is better.
Another factor in our favor is that we get high-level athletes, which means they are wired differently than the average person and
tend to pick up things quickly.
We see a wide variety of exercise techniques from those coming into the program. We make fine tune adjustments rather
than tell the athletes they do the entire exercise incorrectly. This is especially true for such exercises as the power clean and squat.
The technique is not bad, but when loading occurs, small technique errors can manifest into larger ones. Overloading is critical to
improve performance. Another issue is progressing from one exercise to another. It could be doing a goblet squat with a kettle bell
and progressing to a barbell squat. Many programs jump right into the squat, which is where problems are more likely to occur.
University of Minnesota Volleyball Strength and Conditioning Principles
To start we have establish some basic principles which form the foundation of what we do. Here they are.
#1 Establish and maintain joint mobility
Ankle and hip mobility are a priority for our players because they allow athletes to achieve proper positions on court, par-
ticularly with defense and passing. We perform mobility work daily within warm-ups and even during rest periods in the weight
room. It might include hurdle drills for the hip, Spiderman lunges, lateral/crossover-type lunges. We also include reaches: straight
overhead, overhead with side bend or with a trunk rotation. Many lunge movements also promote ankle mobility, particularly dorsi
flexion. We may include movements where the athlete stands away from the wall (12 inches or so), keeps the heels down and presses
the knee forward into the wall to promote dorsi flexion.
#2 Improve force reduction capabilities
Volleyball athletes must reduce large forces across the lower body as they move into positions or transition into jumps. If
they are unable to manage these forces efficiently, the likelihood of injury increases. We understand that we must produce high
levels of force very quickly from a performance standpoint. However, there is a preceding loading that occurs in many movements.
The energy stored during that loading will be used in the subsequent contraction and the result is greater force production than would
occur without the loading (stretched/shortened cycle that is commonly referred to in plyometric training). Teaching the body to
absorb more force improves the ability to produce more force. Therefore, improving these qualities addresses injury prevention and
enhances performance.
#3 Ground-based and multi-planar exercises build and maintain strength and rate of force development
We typically employ conventional ground-based exercises and include movements in all directions since movements on
court will not strictly occur in one plane of motion.
#4 Energy system specific/movement specific
Conditioning and agility work are done in a manner that reflects work-to-rest ratios common to volleyball. Movements
during a training interval will include multiple changes of direction as well as reaction to visual or verbal cues.
#5 Progressive intensity and complexity as movement efficiency improves
As the athlete’s movement efficiency improves, we can increase the complexity of drills or exercises by advancing loads,
varying tempos to apply different stresses or increase complexity by combining movement patterns.
#6 Shoulder and ankle complexes—improve strength, muscle balance and stiffness capabilities
These are key areas for injury prevention as well as performance enhancement. In addition to general strengthening, we
also progress to more reactive or ballistic-type movements which also occur in these complexes during play.
With our volleyball-specific strength and conditioning principles and philosophies in place, we are ready to design and im-
plement our program.
PROGRAM - OFF SEASON PHASE 1
Time of Year: 6 weeks before spring break
Weekly Schedule
• MWF—Lifting: 75 minutes
• T/TH—Movement on court: 45 minutes
Time restrictions: 8 hours
Foundation: All athletes except one (an incoming freshman who enrolled early) have completed three weeks of general preparation
(GPP) work which included Olympic complexes, core, shoulder, ankle work and long duration isometric work.
Long Duration Isometrics—What It Is and What It Does
A lot of what we do is considered (GPP) work. Some coaches may not be familiar with long duration isometric work. The
basic concept is to hold an exercise position from 30 seconds up to five minutes for the last rep of the last set. The exercises include
the major muscle group activities, such as the squat. We would start holding a bodyweight isometric squat for one minute. Another
example would be the squat wall sit (Net Link: click HERE for how-to do) that we sometimes use as an introductory exercise. We
build up to three minutes on this.
Something else we do is to arrange the exercises into a circuit. They only do each exercise one rep, but they hold the isometric
position for three minutes (for example) before moving on to the next exercise. We use this long duration isometric circuit right
when the athletes come back from a long vacation like Christmas break. They can do this circuit bodyweight on their own during
the break and when they come back, we are that much more into our total program.
I like this type of volleyball-specific training. It allows us to work the athlete's "bottom positions," commonly done in the
game. The athlete can transition into movement on the court from these positions. It also helps us develop an understanding of what
that position is. We revisit this training in a two-week block as outlined in our weight room focus (see below). Another benefit is
that it develops joint-tendon-ligament complex strength. I noticed athletes had difficulty in holding the landing position in drop
landings off boxes. The isometric work really helped develop this athletic skill, strengthen weaker positions and transition into
movements more readily. We become more reactive and is volleyball specific when we do eccentric work followed by concentric
work.
Priorities -Weight room:
• Warm-up: Mobility work, general movement proficiency, activation
• Workout:
- Strength development, includes Olympic lifts variation to work on technique and we load these more significantly as the
cycle progresses
- Includes triphasic methods—two-week focus on eccentric work, two-week isometric and active rest over spring break
- Ankle prehab, shoulder prehab.
- Barefoot work to improve strength in ankle/foot complex as well as ankle stiffness
Triphasic Method—What It Is and What It Does
We incorporate the triphasic method in our six-week program. It is broken into two weeks of eccentric work, isometric work
and concentric work. This method is specific to sports where you have a large amount of stop, start and directional change. The long
duration isometric we introduced actually sets the stage for this method. Table 1, Phase 1, "Lift 3 Week" shows one exercise, the front
squat, with a tempo of 3:1:1:0. This means is that the athlete lowers the weight with a three count, stops for one second and explodes
the weight back up. This tempo can be anywhere from three to a six count. In Phase 2 (Table 2), you see in the front squat is a 6:1:1:0.
In the third week of Phase 2, we go to a 1:5:1:0 tempo. This means that we go down in one second, hold in the deep position for five
seconds and then explode up. Tempo gives us a specific execution to a general lift. We use a 78% of maximum with this count (see
Table 3 for player max on each lift). When you do this load for two to four reps, it is something recommended for the more advanced,
older players. I lower the max percentage so that athletes can gain confidence. I rarely go over 90% of one repetition maximum with
volleyball players. The rule of thumb we use to determine these percentages is that nothing changes the lift’s execution. If you go
over, you will see players shorten up range of motion; this is an important indicator of going too heavy. You can see a high correlation
of exploding out of the low position and jumping abilities in volleyball when you go through the phases.
Max Sheet
Table 3 is our max sheet. We do this because we emphasize speed in our strength movement. The directive for our players
that I will give is a number that I think is accurate based on max. This can be adjusted up or down based on movement qualities. If
we are doing a heavy day I will bump up the poundage. If it is a speed/reactive day, I might want that at only 55%. It is the strength
coach’s responsibility and not the athlete’s, so it removes a lot of guesswork.
We usually do a test with older athletes to determine max. The test is done with three repetitions and not one or what we call
a “rep out,” doing as many reps as possible at 90%. Once we have a number, we feel good about what we call “rep sets.” These
would be done at the end of a warm up. Let's say on a heavier squat day we might do a 5-3-3 rep warm-up at 65-75% and 80% max,
respectively. In the last set which we call the RED set because we highlight that the athlete should be able to move the bar efficiently
in red. That determines what we use for the day. If they do it easily, we might bump up their max. The reason for the red is that the
athlete knows that she must have a strength coach watch that set since we cannot necessarily watch every warm-up set.
Net link: To get a copy of Triphasic Training by Cal Dietz and Ben Peterson go HERE
Pairing Exercises
We "Pair W" which are pairing exercises with an exercise in the lifting program (Tables 1-3). I do not like idle players; I
want them to keep their focus on the main goal we try to accomplish. We put in a mobility or shoulder exercise which is a great way
to get our shoulder pre-hab in without spending an extra 15 minutes doing it. We may do this as part of complex training which al-
ternates exercises. In the course of practice they do not stand around after a drill; they move on to another drill or at least listen to
coach. This keeps the player engaged in the workout just like they are engaged in practice.
Once Spring Practice Starts—Cycle #2
Three weeks to spring season schedule:
• 20-hour time period, full practices
• 3 days in the weight room for 3 weeks
• End of triphasic/concentric work 3 weeks
We drop to two days in the weight room at the end of these three weeks until spring practice concludes due to the
physical/mental loads placed on athletes. We followed a similar protocol to the three weeks. We unload one week and then work
with moderate-based loads (75-80%) over two days for the last two weeks until we hit dead week and finals week. Table 2 shows
 Table 1
For the entire table please click HERE
 Table 2
For the entire table please click HERE
 PCLEAN BSQUAT PCLEAN HCLEAN CLPULL RDL CL&JR FR S 1LEG PUSH PRESS
Player 1 165 225 165 132 182 180 132 160 124 100
Player 2 170 240 170 136 187 192 136 192 132 130
Player 3 125 135 125 94 138 108 100 108 74.25 95
Player 4 105 105 120 90 116 84 84 84 57.75 80
Player 5 115 125 120 90 127 100 92 100 68.75 90
Player 6 135 165 135 108 149 132 108 132 90.75 105
Player 7 130 165 130 104 143 132 104 132 90.75 100
Player 8 125 145 125 94 138 116 100 116 79.75 95
Player 9 135 185 120 90 149 148 108 148 101.75 105
Player 10 140 235 140 112 154 188 112 188 129.25 105
Player 11 155 255 155 124 171 204 124 204 140.25 120
Player 12 100 100 100 80 110 80 80 80 55 75
Table 3
how we back off our program from the off-season. The reason we drop to two was that Hugh McCutcheon increased the load at
practice so we had to back off. This is important because this is the last time Hugh can educate them until the pre-season in the fall.
It is a critical volleyball learning time and backing off in strength and conditioning plays an important part in the athlete’s ability to
recover.
This weight program is done on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In our next issue, we will discuss the movement phase of
our program that we do on Tuesday and Thursday. Don't miss it! O
More Information Please! Contact Sara at wrkhorse1@yahoo.com