Preparations for War
Spartan volleyball co-captain Nikki Colson stairs at the 245-pound barbell
for a moment and then commands, "lets do it." She proceeds to squat this
enormous amount of weight for three sets of eight. Forty-five pound plates
clanking, onlookers gawking - she's un-phased, focused and all about
business. After we finish the third set Nikki smiles and questions, "what
else do have me?" as she dances across the room high fiving her teammates
while leading me to the next challenge. Only a sophomore and already
one of the more impressive players I've ever coached. Even more impressive
is that Colson's focus and work ethic are the rule, not the exception
in the Michigan State University women's volleyball program. Without
a doubt they are one of the most competitive teams I train, and I work
with over 500 male and female athletes. Using the Spartan volleyball
players as a model, you and your team can also reach higher goals.
Hard Working
The Spartan volleyball players have learned to be committed to hard
work both on the floor and in the weight room. The following story illustrates
the process many of these future gladiators build from. Jenny Rood came
into the Michigan State program as a highly touted and hard working middle
hitter. She guaranteed us she'd be fit upon her arrival. Six weeks after
her promise, I brought Jenny through her first workout. After 5 exercises
she was as pale as our white walls and sat with her head in her hands.
One year later Jenny Rood has put on 7 pounds of muscle, is at the top
of our testing results and may be the hardest working athlete I train.
If I told Jenny that today's challenge was to swim the pacific - she'd
grab her goggles before I finished the command.
Competitive
The MSU Volleyball players have a competitive fire that burns almost
out of control, whether your playing with them on the court or walking
with them up the stairs - they want to win. For their summer practices
I pair them up, creating a positive rivalry to bring up the intensity
of each conditioning drill. On one of our summer conditioning days we
had an odd number of people. I thought, "what the hell - I was an all-state
track guy in high school - I'll jump in." Bad idea, I ended up racing
one of our most gifted athletes Emmy Miller who has blazing speed. I
should have tried to sprain my ankle when I started hearing teammates
yell, "crush him Emmy." Needless to say, she took her teammates advice.
The lesson I learned, when you walk into the MSU volleyball environment,
it doesn't matter who, what, where or when, you better be prepared to
compete against an unrelenting adversary.
Toughness
As outside hitter Kyla Smith says, "you learn a lot about perseverance
and determination when you go through the Spartan program." She's right
and there are endless stories to demonstrate how tough these women are
becoming. Six foot four middle hitter Angela Morley came in as a freshman
and struggled through many of her physical assignments. Rightfully so,
her long arms and legs put her at an extreme disadvantage when performing
our 'finishers'. Finishers are exercises performed at the end of a workout
that are prescribed primarily to create enthusiasm in the weight room
while challenging the player both mentally and physically. Examples include
sand bag carries, wheel-barrow walks, sled or board pushes across a football
field, high quantity sets and ninety degree arm hangs. I remember seeing
Angela with tears in her eyes battle through great frustration during
exercises like the 100 cumulative repetitions of bench press and 90-degree
arm hang for 75 seconds (cumulative). She'd have to stop and start many
times while some of the smaller players finished more easily. There were
times it was tough to watch - you could tell she wanted to quit but her
fellow players would never allow it. That was two years ago - now you
couldn't break Angela if the assignment was one set of a thousand bench
presses. She doesn't question or complain she simply does whatever it
takes to complete the task.
Results
I always say that sooner or later, people end up getting exactly what
they deserve. These amazing women are no exception. In her three years
with us, Spartan volleyball player Erin Hartley has added 15 pounds of
muscle to an already chiseled frame and defensive specialist Emily Engel
says her added muscle has improved her performance. "The biggest change
I've seen is being able to keep my jump serve explosive throughout the
match." It appears Emily's perceptions are right on. She leads the team
in aces and her jump serve paralyzes opposing players match after match.
My coaching and training philosophy for the Spartan volleyball players
follows and can be applied to players at every level to some degree.
Spartan Philosophy
The Michigan State volleyball team adheres to three general weight room principles
for gaining strength and lean body mass. First, train to the end, meaning push
until you can't push any more. I want these athletes to achieve every inch
possible, every set, every day. Second is to lift with discipline. This means
lifting weights with precise technique without throwing, yanking, or trying
to cheat by using momentum. And lastly, enthusiastically coach one another
without sympathy but with respect. We teach each player to find the appropriate
phrase, tone, and expression to motivate their lifting partners.
These three principles are taken very seriously. All Michigan State
athletes receive the reward of positive feedback regarding correct
decisions and behaviors. However, if after being taught, reminded, and reinforced,
athletes fail to demonstrate these policies, they are told to leave the weight
room and their name goes on a 'Throw Outs" list that is posted on the weight
room door.
Weight Training Workouts
I utilize a multi-dimensional approach to developing volleyball players' workouts.
By multi-dimensional, I mean the athletes are prescribed mostly multi-joint
exercises that require them to move through multiple planes using multiple
modes of equipment. This approach provides outstanding muscular development
and sport preparation.
Athletes are assigned a variety of modes to train with. For example,
we use free weights, machines, body weight, bands/tubing, balls (medicine
and swiss), sand bags, and manual resistance. The MSU volleyball team
has performed squats using a bar, machine, and swiss ball; hanging knee
raises with different weight medicine balls between their knees; and
various finishing movements using sandbags. Our players also use weight
plates to perform side crunches, dumbbells with a swiss ball for torso
rotations, body weight to perform chins and dips, and pressing and pulling
movements using barbells and dumbbells along with Hammer, MedX, Cybex,
and Nautilus machines.
The majority of the prescribed exercises are multi-joint lifts. Training
using multi-joint exercises is a time-efficient weight training method that
stimulates large amounts of muscle. Examples of multi-joint movements prescribed
at Michigan State include the squat, dumbbell lunge, deadlift, leg press, bench
press, shoulder press, and various pull-down and rowing movements.
Athletic movements occur in three major planes: sagittal, frontal, and
transverse. For balanced and maximal total body muscular development, routines
are designed so athletes move through each plane frequently. The sagittal plane
divides the body vertically into left and right parts. Forward and backward
movements occur in this plane. The frontal plane divides the body vertically
into front and back parts. Side-to-side or lateral movements toward and away
from the midline of the body occur in this plane. The transverse plane divides
the body into top and bottom parts. Movements parallel to the ground occur
in this plane. Here are some sample exercises for the major musculature of
the upper body, torso, and lower body.
Upper Body
Sagittal Plane
Pushing: incline press, decline press
Pulling: seated high row, seated low row
Frontal Plane (above the shoulders)
Pushing: seated or standing press
Pulling: pull-down
Frontal Plane (below the shoulders)
Pushing: dips
Pulling: upright row
Transverse Plane
Pushing: bench press
Pulling: horizontal row
Torso
Sagittal Plane: back extensions, sit-ups
Frontal Plane: side crunches (lying or standing)
Transverse Plane: swiss ball torso rotations, medicine ball lateral throws
Lower Body
Sagittal Plane: forward lunges, squats, leg presses
Frontal Plane: hip abduction (lying or standing), hip adduction (seated using
manual resistance)
Transverse Plane: bent knee or straight knee rotations (lying with medicine
ball between knees)
The MSU Volleyball team has a two-workout rotation of exercises that they move
through for 16 weeks before any new exercises are introduced. Repetitions
usually start moderately high during the first four weeks and descend every
four weeks for variety. Workouts are designed based on the most frequently
injured areas, the needs of the sport and athlete, the preferences of head
coach Chuck Erbe, and other practical variables such as allotment of time,
number of athletes, and space and equipment availability.
Frequency/Volume/Time: Volleyball players lift each body part an average
of two to three times per week, depending on their ability to lift progressively
by using more weight and/or repetitions. Because of time constraints,
full-body workouts are usually prescribed. The exception comes during
the team's off-season when upper body and lower body + core (torso) split
routines are assigned. Full-body workouts are composed of an average
of 14-17 sets. The major muscle groups (upper back, hips, chest, shoulders
and core) average three sets of work. In addition to the major muscle
groups, special emphasis is also placed around the hamstrings as a way
to decrease chance of major knee injuries. An entire workout usually
lasts around 60 minutes.
Level of Effort: The effort level assigned to each exercise depends
on the degree of technique involved. Low technique exercises like those
performed on machines have a DF assigned to them meaning athletes must
continue to lift until they achieve demonstrated fatigue. Demonstrated
fatigue means continuing until the technique is significantly broken
or the player cannot achieve a repetition without assistance from her
partner. "I love the fact that we go until demonstrated fatigue," says
senior co-captian Lisa Ashton. "Seeing teammates work that hard is exciting." High
technique exercises like the deadlift, squat, and various swiss ball
exercises are usually labeled NF. This stands for 'not to fatigue' which
instructs the athlete to stop when the goal repetition is achieved or
technique significantly breaks down. Explosive exercises like jump squats
and similar plyometric drills are labeled NF. Fatigue should never be
a factor when performing explosive movements. Because of this reason
all explosive movements are performed at the beginning of our workouts.
Athletes are instructed to increase their weight load as much as possible
every time they accomplish the assigned repetition target for a particular
set (*excluding ballistic movements). If the repetition target isn't
achieved, athletes are asked to progressively accomplish more repetitions
until the target is attained. To ensure purposeful training, the players
chart their progress on workout cards every time they lift. Each workout
is graded and grades are devised by calculating the total number of exercises
improved upon compared to the total number of exercises performed.
Philosophy vs. Implementation
I have not witnessed any incoming volleyball player stay close to our veteran
players. Most rookies don't even make it through our Spartan workouts without
being completely devastated. The difference between our workouts and many
others is the implementation. I have had many rookies and transfer players
come to our program and tell me how hard they work. These are usually the
same athletes that lie on the floor after half of our workout and who want
to be put in a body cast the next day because of soreness. When talking about
workout implementation we believe there's a difference between activity and
purposeful achievement. The difference is in the attention to detail. When
training for strength and muscle, virtually every Spartan repetition averages
4-6 seconds to perform (2-3 seconds to lift and 2-3 seconds to lower). Only
precise technically executed repetitions are recorded. A majority of the
time, our players continue lifting until they literally cannot move the weight
a millimeter. Demonstrated fatigue, as we refer to it, is accomplished through
vigorous partner coaching. At the point of demonstrated fatigue, the spotter
very lightly assists in the completion of the positive portion of the repetition.
The finish of the last repetition can sometimes take 10-15 seconds to grind
out. Rest time taken between sets is the time needed to load weight or set
up the next exercise. As previously mentioned, every time a goal repetition
is achieved the player increases the weight, while still trying to stay within
two or three repetitions of the target. This progressive increase means that
every workout is harder than the last - every one. I do not recommend this
type of intensity as a starting point for those who are just beginning a
training program. Beginners should start off with comfortable weight loads
and rest times to establish a level of success and progress steadily.
Pride
When we finished our summer training phase I sat every player down and said, "there
are two types of women - those you want to take to dinner and those you want
to take to war. Don't check your mailboxes for dining invitations. Instead,
buckle your ankle braces and tighten your shoe laces because we're preparing
for war." I am proud to say that a very young MSU volleyball team is well on
their way to becoming physically and mentally prepared for many future successes.
Utilize the principles set forth in this article, and the same will be said
of you.
If our staff can ever assist you with the procedures described here
or any other aspect of the Michigan State Program, please contact us
at: (517) 432-2647 or email wakeham@pilot.msu.edu
Tim "Red" Wakeham has been Michigan State's strength and conditioning
coach for Olympic sports since 1996. He has also guest coached at a Nashville
Predator Training Camp, Tampa Bay Buccaneer Training Camps, and Minnesota
Viking Training Camps. Red earned his masters of science in sport and
exercise science from the University of North Dakota and his bachelor
of arts in physical education from Northern Michigan University. He is
an established author and speaker, having presented his philosophy at
Coaching Clinics, Seminars and Conferences throughout the country.