FIVE PHYSICAL KEYS TO VOLLEYBALL SUCCESS

Back in the old days, training and discipline meant drinking light beer after a long day of competition or at the beach. But in today’s world of sports if you are not working out or eating right you will fall behind. Athletes in every sport from car racing to gymnastics practice a variety of health and fitness routines that help them stay at the top of their games.


In volleyball, there are five physical keys to proper training: power, agility, flexibility and nutrition. Through, sports-specific exercise and discipline, those skills should be developed at an early age and continue to grow with your game.


Here are five physical keys that will take your volleyball game, whether indoor or beach, to the next level and beyond.


1. POWER – Power is the ability to move strongly with speed. Plyometrics and Olympic weight lifting help improve power.

2. AGILITY - Agility is the ability to move quickly and easily. Speed drills and Plyometrics increase agility


3. FLEXIBILTY – Flexibility is the ability to move through a full rage of motions. This skill improves an athlete’s performance in a variety of volleyball situations. Passive stretching of the muscles used for volleyball and its movements, before and after activity, improves flexibility.

4. FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH – Functional strength is the body’s ability to generate force for volleyball-related skills. Plyometrics, Olympic weight lifting and supplemental resistance exercises like using kettlebells help develop functional strength.

5. NUTRITION - Nutrition is the process by which the body breaks down food to supply nutrients ad energy to maintain health and athletic performance. Eating balanced meals from the four basic food groups provide nutrition.

Funk Roberts

excerpts from Heat

Parallel Dips

The parallel dip could be my all time favourite exercise. ALL TIME!

I remember going to a Fitness Expo in Toronto, where they had a Dip Contest. The person who could muster up the most dips would win prizes from a supplement company. I knew 3 weeks ahead of time about this, so I trained. Up to that point, I could only perform about 25 dips max. Every day for 3 weeks I dipped after my workouts.

Finally it was Expo day. When I entered, I dashed to the booth that housed the Dip Contest.
Now up to this point, the record was 29, keep in mind it was Friday evening. The attendant had me jump onto the bars and away I went.

He counted. One, two, three, four, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. “You have the record now” he said. Forty, fifty, sixty, sixty eight…sixty nine…SEVENTY! I performed 70 dips in a row. That’s right 70. The look on everyone’s face was of amazement… “Are you serious, you didn’t just do seventy dips?” He said.

That was 3 weeks of dips after every workout, just to win a t-shirt, gym bag and water bottle
But for me it was more than that. It was the satisfaction of setting a goal and overachieving. Also without really noticing, my arms were bigger and I had more strength.

When you train and have a goal, it is amazing what other nuggets come out of it. Things you don’t even think of start to surface. You may be training to lose weight, and with doing a program you also gain muscle definition and better heart cardio.

The parallel dip works the bottom edge of the pecs and gives size on the triceps. With this exercise you want to prop up on the dipping bars and then slowly lower yourself to a point where your arms are at 90 angles. You then explode back up, all the time keeping your breathing on pace with the movement. Inhale on the way down, exhale on the way up. Try to blast out 5-10 without the assist. You will soon see that after practice, because that is what it is, you will be able to blast out 15-20.

The key is no matter what you do, when dips are preformed before or after every workout, you will see an improvement in all of your workouts.

Funk Roberts
Don’t Rush the Beat

Funk's Fitness Tip of the Week

Tip of the Week

When doing any resistance exercise, choose a weight that will minimize the number of repetitions you have to do to reach your point of failure. If you do not have to struggle on your last rep, then you are not getting maximum results. If you want to pack on the mass, do no more than 6 to 8 hard reps before failing.

Funk Roberts
Don’t Rush the Beat!

HOW LINDSAY LOHAN WILL STAY FIT IN JAIL

I wrote this article for Paris Hilton a few years back when she was going to jail, but I thought I would regurgitate this for the ever beautiful Lindsey Lohan

So Lindsay Lohen has gone to jail. Whether this causes you to weep or rejoice, you have to wonder, how is she going to stay in shape while she's in the slammer? There are no personal trainers in the Big House; you can't get low-fat smoothies in the Mess Hall.

But if anything, 90 days in the Lynwood’s Century Regional Detention Facility could offer Lindsay a chance to get into the best shape of her life. And if your apartment is the size of jail cell, this workout plan might appeal to you, too.

1. Cardio

The 2,200 inmates at Century probably can’t wait to get their hands on Lindsay, and running away from them would certainly fulfill the cardio portion of her regime, but Lohan will be segregated from the general population for her own safety.

 She will however get one hour each day outside the cell, where she can go to the yard and do a slight jog for 30 minutes, three times a week. You, on the other hand, have the freedom to choose a route through your neighbourhood or local park.

 

2. Arms

Too bad TMZ cameras won’t be able to follow Lindsay to prison - wouldn’t it be great if they caught her pumping up Cape Fear-style? Comedy gold! Maybe picturing it will help you get motivated.

You can do push ups and chair/bed dips anywhere, even a 12-by-8 foot cell, and three sets of 10 reps each exerciser a day should have Lindsay looking like the hardened criminal she is by the time her sentence is up.

 
 

3. Abs


There's no rest for the wicked and there will be no lounging in bed until noon once Lindsay starts serving her time. But she can get to work on her abs from the comfort of her cot.

Using different variations on the traditional sit-up - like bicycle sit-ups, crunches, leg raises and oblique twists - she can chisel her abs til they look like even the sharpest shiv would just bounce right off. If three sets of 10 reps of each exercise is too much for you, vary the exercise each morning.


4. Butt and Legs

While less motivated cons just pace their cells, our girl would do well to practice lunges instead. That way, when she's released she can celebrate by going out on the town sans underwear to show off her assets, as per usual. Lindsay is probably used to doing squats with hand-weights, but unless she tears out the sink and toilet, she'll have to go without for three weeks. Upping her reps from 10 to 15 will help her keep her legs slim until she's out.

5. Diet

The only institution more renowned for its bad food than prison is the hospital. And it does sound pretty miserable: dinner is the only hot meal of the day, beef and pork are not permitted, so protein will come in poultry form and all the meals are low in sodium. Starving yourself slim does not fly with the guards, and Lindsay will be expected to eat her fill.

Three healthy square meals a day combined with regular exercise will improve Lindsay' muscle tone and with any luck she'll look better coming out than she did going in. Or maybe not: hair extensions are forbidden in prison.

Funk Roberts
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Four Important Elements of a Fitness and Health Program

Whether your goal is Fat Loss, to become Lean, Toned and Strong, or to gain Size and Strength, there are 4 elements that play an important role for you to succeed in reaching your goals. Weight Training, Aerobic Exercise, Diet & Nutrition and Supplements.

Weight Training
Weight training is the most important trait of weight loss and muscle gain. Did you know that one pound of muscle mass added to your body can burn up to 50 extra calories each and everyday? Lifting weights will burn away the fat during your workout and will continue to do so after you have stopped exercising for the day. The stronger you become the quicker those fat reserves will go away. A good daily stretching program helps to keep the body lean, the muscles limber and you off the injury shelf.

Cardio Exercise
Cardio exercise programs are the primary means of maintaining your heart health and helping you to lose unwanted fat. Whether you walk or run, swim or bicycle, do aerobics, or better yet I prefer lifestyle exercise activities such as tennis, beach volleyball, hiking, dancing, etcetera…they are the type of activities that you don't think of as exercise; they create a passion in your life and will lead to a lasting victory over your weight problems.

Diet and Nutrition
There is no single dietary program that works for all people. You must eat 6 - 7 meals per day and each one should contain protein and carbs. Don't allow yourself to get hungry. Keep your appetite in control with smaller meals and healthy snacks in between.

Supplements
In the quest for your goal, diet supplementation is the last of the elements that you need to add to your regimen. Multivitamins, protein, glutamine and depending on your goal a creatine or weight gain products and a fat burning product are great starts. Supplements make it much easier to get the necessary nutrients to build muscle and can even give you an advantage and enhance your training when taken right and combined with a good diet. Keep in mind to check with you physician before you take some supplements

Make this your lifestyle and remember there is no quick and easy weight loss or muscle gain program. Don’t rush the beat!

Stay tuned next week for Funk’s Weight Training Schedule