Building Upper Body Strength for Volleyball
Volleyball is a sport that has an impact on all groups of muscles. Different parts of a body are used during the game of volleyball. If you play the game of volleyball, you’ll tone your body and build muscle strength.
We all know that volleyball players use the power of legs to move quickly and perform well on the court. An athlete should have strong legs to make fast and explosive movements and jump high in the air when such a need arises.
Volleyball players have to use the muscles of upper body during the game. Athletes use the upper body when passing, serving, receiving and hitting the ball. Strong upper body is required for blocking. With a strong upper body, blockers can resist the attacks of their opponents easily and successfully. That’s why it’s so important for volleyball players to strengthen upper body muscles.
That means that upper body workouts have to be a key part of volleyball player’s training program. And of course, volleyball players should aim to build upper body strength effectively.
In this article, we are going to provide tips that volleyball players have to follow to get the most out of their training and build upper body strength in the best possible way.
So, let’s get started.
Upper Body Muscles that Volleyball Players Have to Strengthen to Perform Better on the Court
Building upper body strength for volleyball means that athletes have to develop the certain groups of muscles. Athletes have to focus on strengthening back muscles, biceps, forearms, chest muscles and shoulder muscles. Strengthening upper body helps athletes build muscle strength, prevent injuries and perform well on the court.
Strengthening biceps and forearms
It’s necessary to move arms quickly during the game of volleyball. Athletes have to use the strength of arms when hitting, passing, serving and receiving the ball. Strengthening biceps and forearms helps volleyball players make hitting actions in the best possible way. So, they will be able to send the ball forcefully and precisely.
Strengthening the muscles of chest and shoulders
There has been a lot of talk about the importance of blocking in volleyball. Blockers are the first line of volleyball team’s defense. The main task of volleyball blockers is to resist attacks of the opponents. Blocking a ball is a motion that requires a lot of upper body strength. Volleyball players find it easy to do blocking and stop the attacks of the opposing team if they have strong muscles of chest and shoulders. That’s why strengthening these groups of muscles need to be the number one priority for blockers.
Strengthening the muscles of back
Back muscles help volleyball players maintain balance and move upper body successfully during the game. Therefore, the exercises for strengthening back muscles have to be included in volleyball player’s training program.
Exercises that Volleyball Players Have to Perform for Building Upper Body Strength
It’s possible to strengthen upper body for volleyball in a number of different ways. In fact, there are volleyball exercises for each group of upper body muscles. And of course, volleyball players need to know how to get the most out of upper body training and achieve the most effective results.
Exercises with a resistance band
It makes a lot of sense to use a resistance band in volleyball training. The help of a resistance band is immeasurable in the process of building upper body strength. There are several exercises for building upper body strength with a resistance band.
Hold a resistance band in front of you and extend your arms. So, a resistance band will be parallel to the ground. After that, you have to start moving your arms in different directions. Move your arms to chest and to the sides. Finally, you have to return your arms to the initial position.
The resistance band can be placed under feet and around the hands. As a result, your bicep muscles will be tightened. It would be great to do such an exercise with the resistance band several times.
It’s possible to do the exercise with the resistance band in another way. Initially, you have to hold the resistance band behind the body. At this stage, you should keep the back straight and outstretch arms and elbows. Now, you have to bend the elbows and move them against the resistance band. As a result, your bicep muscles will be tightened.
Using an exercise ball for upper body strength training
An exercise ball can be successfully used for strengthening upper body. With an exercise ball, volleyball players can strengthen core and spine. It’s also important to note that doing this type of exercises helps volleyball players maintain balance and stability.
First of all, you have to lie down on an exercise ball. It’s necessary to put the body in the central part of the ball. Then, press the ball towards feet. You can make a drill even more difficult. At the next stage, it’s necessary to extend the arms forward and begin to raise and lower down the upper body.
Performing the exercises with a medicine ball
A medicine ball is widely used for training in different sports. It’s possible to use a medicine ball for volleyball training as well. Exercises with medicine ball gives volleyball players an opportunity to build upper body strength and increase the hitting power for volleyball.
For example, volleyball players can do the so-called medicine ball throws. It’s worth noting that this exercise is useful if you are a volleyball hitter. A volleyball player can do medicine ball throws either with a teammate or against the wall.
Use Weights to Strengthen Your Upper Body for Volleyball
It’s important to know that many athletes give a preference to weight training. Exercises with weights helps build upper body strength for volleyball. However, it’s crucial to select the weights for upper body stretching correctly. Weights depend on each individual volleyball player.
Volleyball players should use lighter weights for upper body training at the beginning. It’s possible to build upper body strength with 45 pounds. Using the lighter weight minimizes the risk of injuries.
Later, volleyball players can use heavier weights for building upper body strength. Athletes have to be very careful when it comes to increasing weights for building upper body strength. Keep in mind that it takes time for muscles and joints to adapt for extra weight. That’s the reason why you should always add more weights slowly to prevent volleyball injuries from happening. Add more weights if you find it easy to work with current weights.
Let’s assume that you find it difficult to work with new weights. That means that you’ve added too much weight. In this case, you shouldn’t overload yourself. So, decrease your weight and do an exercise again.
Build Upper Body Strength for Volleyball at Home
Volleyball players can build upper body strength for volleyball in a gym and at home. It’s worth noting that volleyball players work a lot with their teammates in a gym. So, they often have no time for strengthening upper body. However, they have an opportunity to work on this aspect at home.
The truth is that the vast majority of volleyball exercises for building upper body strength can be done at home. These include: bicep curl, triceps dip, push-ups, planks and others. These types of exercises don’t require any equipment. Volleyball players don’t need to attend their home to do these exercises. Such exercises can be easily done at home.
Even if you strengthen your upper body for volleyball in a gym, you can continue doing workouts at home. In this case, you will get the additional training that will allow you to build more upper body strength.
Final Thoughts
Thank you so much for reading this article. Without a doubt, it’s incredibly important to strengthen upper body for volleyball. As you can see, volleyball players can do many things to build upper body strength.
Nevertheless, you must be prepared that strengthening upper body for volleyball is a time-consuming process. That means that you shouldn’t expect quick results.
However, you’ll manage to accomplish your goals much faster if you work hard and build upper body strength for volleyball regularly. Keep in mind that the success of your training program depends a lot on consistency. Train smart, train hard and train regularly. As a result, success will not keep you waiting for a long time.
Best of luck!