Whether you’re preparing for the upcoming season or have downtime away from the court, staying fit and in shape is important for any volleyball player. In this series, Marie Zidek shares the best volleyball exercises you can do at home to train the upper body, lower body, core and shoulders and improve stabilization.
To complete these volleyball workouts at home, all you need is a small space (try your living room, porch or backyard) and something to hydrate with!
Top 5 volleyball workouts to try at home
- Burpees to block jumps: Reach your hands to the floor a little wider than shoulder width, kick your feet out straight behind you, jump them back underneath you, then explode up into a max block jump and reach your hands high.
- Jump downs: Stand on a low table or box and step off with one foot. Land softly on both feet by absorbing the impact with a toe to heel motion and bent knees, then immediately jump straight up by using the arms to explode upwards.
- Double-legged bounding: Throw your arms back and lean your shoulders forward while bending at the knees, then explode them forward while you jump forward, pushing heel to toe and landing heel to toe with bent knees.
- V-ups: Lie on your back and hold a weight (or bag of books!) with both hands over your head. Curl your body up while bringing the weight forward and lift one leg up to meet the weight in the middle. Lower your hands and leg and repeat with the other leg.
- Shuffle sequence: Start in a loaded blocking posture with arms bent at the elbow. Keeping hands high, shuffle step to the left and block jump, shuffle step to the right and block jump, turn and run a few steps behind you then perform a 3-step volleyball approach.
For a comprehensive 4-day plan of volleyball home workouts, check out the day-by-day breakdown below.
Day 1: Bodyweight conditioning and strength
Grab a coffee table or chair, a towel and some water, and let's get to work with this short but effective bodyweight strength and conditioning routine!
Let’s begin with a dynamic warmup involving squats, hip bridges, knee hugs, planks and jumping jacks.
After the warm-up, we'll move into a circuit with squats, push-ups, hurdle lunges, tricep dips, squat presses, single leg squats and prone supermans.
Perform each exercise for 1 minute, then rest for 20 seconds before moving onto the next exercise. After you complete the workout, take 5 to 10 minutes to stretch, roll and recover.
Download the Day 1 workout plan >>>
Day 2: Jumping, stability and agility
We'll start with a dynamic warm-up consisting of a few plyometrics to lubricate the muscles, spike the heart rate and warm up the joints: hops, high knee drives, butt kickers, inchworms and hip openers.
Next, we'll work on a series of jumps using a surface to jump off of that will help teach your nervous system to absorb the load during jump landings.
For these at-home volleyball exercises, use a small coffee table or surface to jump onto and jump off of. You’ll perform jump downs, single leg over-and-back jumps, split jumps, skier jumps, block jumps and burpees to block jumps.
We'll end with some deep stretches to open up the hips and create better mobility. Don't skip out on the cool down! Sometimes the hardest part is taking the time to perform proper recovery, and deep stretching is a great way to help the body recover from high-impact work.
Download the Day 2 workout plan >>>
Day 3: Full body strength
Having a strong lower body, particularly in the glutes, hamstrings and quads is imperative for a volleyball player’s health. This workout will activate the glutes, core, quads and hamstrings with glute bridges, side planks and light core work.
Next, we'll transition into our lower body strength exercises including overhead squats, lunges, kettlebell swings (but with a backpack filled with books!) and single arm squat presses.
Lastly, we'll work the upper body and core using a backpack filled with books as our weight. We'll perform v-ups, weighted push-ups, bent over rows and mountain climbers. This workout will get you sweaty, focused and fatigued.
Download the Day 3 workout plan >>>
Day 4: Agility and conditioning
This at-home volleyball workout improves dynamic conditioning and agility by simulating many of the explosive footwork patterns in volleyball.
We'll begin with a dynamic warmup that includes knee mobilization, light conditioning and strength to warm up the body. Use any object that weighs anywhere from 10 to 30 lbs. for the warmup exercises.
After performing several deep stretches and core exercises, we'll transition into agility movements. Those include high skips, quick skips, lateral quick hops, single leg hops, hopping sequences and shuffle sequences.
During the agility exercises, try to think about simulating approach and blocking movements. Stay light on the toes and imagine blocking and attacking during the movements to improve your form. These volleyball training exercises are explosive, high-intensity movements, so make sure to hydrate!
Download the Day 4 workout plan >>>
Bonus: Cardio and shoulder strength
Want to go the extra mile? Check out Marie Zidek’s bonus at-home workout that you can complete outside!
Begin with a dynamic warm-up before cardio, then work on some shoulder strength throwing exercises. Download the bonus cardio workout plan >>>
Explore more volleyball workouts and training plans
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