Volleyball Academy

Possibly a pair of Pallof Press prodigies?.. Perhaps. Alliterations are fun, don't let any one convince you otherwise.

Like I said in my last post - great warmup exercise and the @vcrep_burnaby program is going to get comfortable with it. Baseline testing completed today, time to prep the bodies, create foundational strength, and get comfortable in movement.

Loading specific movement patterns is what helps to increase performance of an athlete. Increasing weight on a squat or deadlift does not directly translate to a similar increase in performance. @chlo3ng demonstrating a passing pattern that moves the center of gravity further laterally and around the transverse plane. Loading this puts a greater demand on core stability. It's very much a @pedlowsamuel type exercise.

@chlo3ng working on the flick aspect of the set. It's not necessary to set the @badensports weighted volleyball, the focus is to produce as much power through the end of the motion with no deceleration required. Shout-out to @coachmueller for pointing out these training ideologies. Opened my mind to another aspect of training.

Conditioning never gets easier, and @chlo3ng is learning that today. I tell her she'll learn to love it, but I have serious doubts.

Panda socks - the hardest flex I ever did see. @chlo3ng back in Day 1 of @richmondsportsandfitness reopening. This girl, always striving to be better . . .... . See more

@teambc.vb alumni setter skills coaching the most current @goteambc setter. . For those who don't know, I recently started my own volleyball training company. How it works - athletes train in the weight room and optionally on the court. It is 1-on-1 in both scenarios which gives players a better opportunity to learn and develop even during school/club season. I'll train in the weightroom while a skills coach related to the same position as the client trains on the court. . La...st night I saw it all come full circle when @chlo3ng had her first session with @sfu_volleyball alumni setter, @tamaranipp and it went fantastic. Tailored training, specific and instant feedback, video analysis, and (for me in the weight room) suggested areas of growth. . If you know any student athlete looking to improve let me know or check out volleyballacademy.ca See more

Originally this post was a creative example of using equipment to stretch. . Though the sandbag can be used for many stretches, these are just the 2 we got photos of before the phone's battery died. . What these photos showed me:... My lats are wicked tight. Not as bad as some, but still, bad. How is it visible and why is it important? My lumber spine lacks flexion during the toe touch stretch which shows signs of tight lats not allowing the pelvis to posteriorly rotate. Straight back allows me to reach beyond my toes which is more than enough for my sport. This is important because tight lats are antagonistic towards full contraction of the glutes and core as they pull the pelvis in the opposite direction; both of which are necessary for building a strong athlete. . Give this a shot. Do a toe touch stretch with a rounded back, take a photo, see how it looks. You'll probably be able to feel it in the lower back if you're tight. @ Richmond Sports & Fitness See more

Scapular control determines if you tool the block or tool the wall.

Working on ankle supination before doing some single leg exercises with @chlo3ng. This is a common occurrence where someone can't get pressure to the outside of their foot. This helps. It can be done by strapping the band to a stationary object but I like a close visual.

Can't stress enough the beauty of a medball squat toss. - Works the triple extension (ankles, knees, hips). - Easier to learn than the clean/snatch and is a great start to learning Olympic lifts. - Works the speed-strength segment of the absolute spectrum. - Concentric focused so it saves the stress on the joints.

Boring post: a car with it's tires perfectly contacting the road will perform best. Statement stays true to feet when training. When performing exercises, especially single leg/lunging ones, most people tend to favor the heel for balance. Keep some pressure in the toes to keep the foot planted. The more you know

Why do I have an athlete on a leg press and not doing squats you didn't ask.. Athletes in a swinging population tend to lean more heavily on tight lats, and even though @chlo3ng is an all-star setter, she still has tight lats. The best plan of attack for us is to avoid heavy lifting which will engage the lats to brace the core, thus not helping our case. We don't back squat due to the effects of shoulder health, and we are avoiding front squats until we can get ample range o...f motion in the lats. We could safety bar squat but we are working on having her track her knees out correctly before loading a compound movement which could cause injury. Just because squats are a staple in most programs doesn't mean we can't be smart about implementing them. See more

Anything you can do my setters can do equally as well if not maybe marginally better Speaking from the heart though, been feeling quite honored to be working with my setters and seeing how their performance numbers and movement proficiency continue to improve.

Tip for deadlifts: pulling from a deficit. Say you are not at your standard height (45s or bumper plates on each side). Having the bar lower puts you in the position of a deficit deadlift which, when programmed for, is great. However, we are aiming for closer to a standard height. See what you have around the gym that could be used to raise it up. Fortunate for us, we have 2 milk crates that, when places under the collars, get us pretty close to the mid-shin mark.

Lateral agility is huge for a setter, can't always guarantee a dime from your passers. Got Isabella training in the frontal plane to help her get those low, off target passes. Huge shout out to @excelfitcoach with @excelfitnessinc for letting me borrow the slider. Went out and bought a set right after.

This hits a lot of the marks for a stronger athlete. The single leg bridge w/ KB pullovers. What marks does it hit? - Glute strength - Hip mobility... - Core control - Shoulder flexion - And a whole host more Give these a whirl, they sure do a number on you, in the best way possible. See more

Here is a perfectly boring post about trap raises. Lower traps are often neglected when considering back exercises, mostly due to people's favoritism for the lats. The lower traps help to gain upward rotation of the scapula which, in conjunction with the serratus anterior, helps to allow smooth motion of the scapula. This means smoother arm swings with less potential for injury. Here I am using a plyo box on its side to give me awareness of my arm positioning while raising it... up. Other hand is on a ball to help raise up my body to allow the my working arm to not contact the ground and cause any interference. Chin stays tucked to keep the levator from fighting the upward rotation. Important note: this is not a rear delt exercise. Think about your scap pulling your shoulder back and your arm is just a weight. You don't need weight for this exercise, it's hard enough as is when done correctly. See more

Isabella getting some balance work in with the new weighted @badensports volleyball in between her deadlift sets. The ball doesn't weigh a whole lot more than your standard volleyball but the increase does allow for the forearm muscles to work harder to catch and release the ball smoothly.

James just hammering out the cross body medicine ball scoops. This variation is great as both an intro to medball scoops and for working on thoracic rotation as the leg positioning helps to pin the hips in place.

Kneeling Med Ball Rotating Slam w/ catch demonstrated by Owen. This variation allows you to take out the involvement of the legs and focus more on core control and flexion of the spine while rotating to square the torso up to the target. Shout out to @seth.sakamoto for holding the phone steadier than a tripod.

Head-supported Dumbbell Rows are a great variation for those who like to bounce and jerk around when performing single arm DB rows. Keep forehead contact on the equipment at all times with a straight back and neutral neck (no excessive cervical extension). These can be done bilaterally (shown here), unilaterally, or alternating.

Recovery has become a larger emphasis as we get started in the club season. Here is Amelie flushing out some of the congested fluid of the swollen knee with help from the @roguefitness voodoo bands. Recently I've started learning more about recovery methods and about what works and what doesn't. Check out the work by Kelly Starrett and Gary Reinl on the topic of icing. It truly is game changing.

How should we go about recovering an injury? RICE protocol probably comes to mind. What if I told you that protocol is dramatically wrong and only creates more of a problem? Give this video a watch where Dr. Kelly Starrett and Gary Reinl talk about what works and what doesn't work. For a more in-depth discussion, you can listen to a podcast between Gary and Eric Cressey: https://bit.ly/2FsirIM