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Volleyball Pre-Season
Volleyball Pre-Season is an intermediate volleyball program that runs 6 weeks at 3 sessions per week. It is built into Ægir Iron and free to load for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster.
What this program is
A 6-week pre-season program for volleyball players, three sessions per week as team practice ramps up. Front squats, Romanian deadlifts, hang power cleans and pull-ups held at low reps, short reactive jumps (depth jumps, pogo hops, lateral bounds) at small totals, and a court conditioning day of short sprints, lateral shuffles and bike intervals. Rotator cuff, shoulder blade and balance work in every session. Week 4 is a deload and the last two weeks are lighter.
At a glance
| Discipline | Volleyball |
| Experience level | Intermediate |
| Length | 6 weeks |
| Training days | 3 per week |
| Equipment | Barbell + Trap Bar + Dumbbells + Cable + Bands + Pull-up bar + Bike machine + Plyo box |
| Season phase | Pre-season |
| Loading | RPE targets on the lifts, with jumps and landings counted in ground contacts. |
| Price | Free for individual lifters and rostered athletes |
Free for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster. Coaches pay only for roster tools.
How it works in Ægir Iron
Inside Ægir Iron the plan is real Cycle, Block, Week, Day structure. The 6 weeks are grouped into 2 blocks, and the sets, reps and effort targets change from one block to the next. Lifts carry RPE targets rather than percentages, and you choose the weight. If you would rather run a lift off a percentage of your max, switch that row to a percentage in the editor. You load it in a couple of taps, then adjust any session, and a coach can push it to an athlete's account in real time.
Original source
Ægir Iron's template is built from these sources. Under each one is what the template takes from it.
- Ramirez-Campillo R, Andrade DC, Nikolaidis PT, Moran J, Clemente FM, Chaabene H, et al. (2020). Effects of Plyometric Jump Training on Vertical Jump Height of Volleyball Players: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Randomized-Controlled Trial. J Sports Sci Med. 2020;19(3):489-499.Why the volleyball jump rows stay low: in volleyball, 2 or fewer sessions a week, 16 or fewer sessions and under 2000 jumps did as well as more; and the position notes that give liberos a lower jump dose
- Ramirez-Campillo R, García-de-Alcaraz A, Chaabene H, Moran J, Negra Y, Granacher U (2021). Effects of Plyometric Jump Training on Physical Fitness in Amateur and Professional Volleyball: A Meta-Analysis. Front Physiol. 2021;12:636140.Jump training is safe for volleyball players (no injuries in 18 studies) and pays off more from about age 16
- Skazalski C, Whiteley R, Bahr R (2018). High jump demands in professional volleyball-large variability exists between players and player positions. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2018;28(11):2293-2298.Volleyball practice already supplies the jumps (setters about 121 a session), so the in-season and pre-season jump rows stay small and the notes vary them by position
- Visnes H, Bahr R (2013). Training volume and body composition as risk factors for developing jumper's knee among young elite volleyball players. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2013;23(5):607-613.Why volleyball jump rows are cut as practice ramps up: each extra weekly hour of volleyball raised the odds of jumper's knee
- Bahr R, Lian O, Bahr IA (1997). A twofold reduction in the incidence of acute ankle sprains in volleyball after the introduction of an injury prevention program: a prospective cohort study. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1997;7(3):172-177.Volleyball landing and balance work: take-off and landing technique plus balance-board work for players with recurrent sprains halved ankle sprains
- Verhagen E, van der Beek A, Twisk J, Bouter L, Bahr R, van Mechelen W (2004). The effect of a proprioceptive balance board training program for the prevention of ankle sprains: a prospective controlled trial. Am J Sports Med. 2004;32(6):1385-1393.The caution on the volleyball balance rows: balance-board work helped only players with a prior sprain, and raised overuse knee injuries in players with a prior knee injury
- Andersson SH, Bahr R, Clarsen B, Myklebust G (2017). Preventing overuse shoulder injuries among throwing athletes: a cluster-randomised controlled trial in 660 elite handball players. Br J Sports Med. 2017;51(14):1073-1080.Rotator cuff external rotation and shoulder blade work three times a week in the volleyball programs, from a handball trial used as an analogy for another overhead sport
- Reeser JC, Joy EA, Porucznik CA, Berg RL, Colliver EB, Willick SE (2010). Risk factors for volleyball-related shoulder pain and dysfunction. PM R. 2010;2(1):27-36.Why the volleyball shoulder notes single out attackers and jump servers: they report more shoulder problems than setters, defensive specialists and float servers
- Weldon A, Duncan MJ, Turner A, LaPlaca D, Sampaio J, Christie CJ (2022). Practices of Strength and Conditioning Coaches: A Snapshot From Different Sports, Countries, and Expertise Levels. J Strength Cond Res. 2022;36(5):1335-1344.The volleyball programs' Olympic lifts: the hang clean and power clean are what strength coaches prescribe
- Petushek EJ, Sugimoto D, Stoolmiller M, Smith G, Myer GD (2019). Evidence-Based Best-Practice Guidelines for Preventing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Young Female Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Am J Sports Med. 2019;47(7):1744-1753.Landing stabilisation (single-leg hop and hold) in every volleyball program that jumps
- McGuine TA, Keene JS (2006). The effect of a balance training program on the risk of ankle sprains in high school athletes. Am J Sports Med. 2006;34(7):1103-1111.The volleyball Single Leg Balance row: the outline of the balance-board program, 3 times a week in season and more often before it (the hold length and progression are ours)
Start Volleyball Pre-Season
Open Ægir Iron, go to Program and choose New Program, then the Program Wizard. On the first screen pick your discipline, then choose Volleyball Pre-Season from the cards under WHAT DO YOU WANT TO RUN? It is free on iOS, Android, and the web, with your data synced across all three.