Get Fit For - and AT - the Beach!

(eDiets.com) - Looking for a fun way to stay fit this summer? Try beach volleyball. More than just an enjoyable way to spend a day along the ocean, playing volleyball on the sand also provides a great cardiovascular and muscular workout. What could be better than hitting the beach and getting fit at the same time?

Volleyball tones the entire body. You use your arm and shoulder muscles when you hit the ball, leg muscles when jumping to block the ball and abs when twisting and lunging for the ball. Playing volleyball raises your heart rate and strengthens your cardiovascular system. And because playing on sand requires more effort, you burn extra calories.

"Beach volleyball is a very physical game," says Stephanie Roberts, a personal trainer at Sports Club/LA at Irvine and a professional Volleyball player who moved to Newport Beach from Michigan so she could play on the beach. "It's very hard, and you're not always in control. You need a lot of endurance. And, in my case, I'm trying to focus on focusing, because sometimes I get a little excited and anxious."

Roberts says that in beach volleyball, leg strength is key. Players need to be able to carry themselves in the sand at all times, and they need strength to jump and push off. Roberts began strength training back in November, and plyometric, or jumping, training in December.

"We alternated between plyometrics and strength training, but now I'm working more on muscular endurance more than strength," she says. "We also practice in the sand a few times a week. I usually train with a partner because it's nice to have someone to work out with and to throw out new ideas. When you train by yourself it's easy to do fewer sets. It's nice to have someone push you, and that's helped in my jumping. When we train, we jump over hurdles, over boxes, side-to-side, front to back. We jump on two legs, on one leg, we get up and jump down, which helps with decentric contractions. We do a lot of single leg exercises for stabilization and a lot of shoulder work."

Roberts notes that Volleyball is one of the few sports that requires good core strength and good abs.

"The abdominal muscles are one of the least used muscles in the body," says Roberts. "You laugh or cough and your abs contract, and that's about the only time most people use them, but in volleyball, when you're hitting the ball and you go into a pike position, which means your torso and legs kind of crunch together, you use your abs. If I have not played Volleyball for a while and then go and try to play, my abs hurt."

Roberts says she like to make sure she has a lot of core strength going into the beach volleyball season, which began in March. It's often difficult for players to maintain a workout program once the season starts. She usually takes a day or 2 off before a tournament and just does a light cardio routine to let her body repair itself.

"When you're in a tournament, you just go and go, and you're very susceptible to pulling something," she explains. "It's hard for me, because I want to constantly improve, I want to work on everything. It's hard to step back and just focus on the game."

Roberts says that for anyone who wants to get into beach Volleyball it helps to have someone in the know teach you fundamentals of the game.

"Volleyball is very technical," she notes. "You need good form, you need to know the basics like passing, serving, setting, hitting, how to approach the shot, how to hit the ball and how not to hit the ball, things like that."

Bottom line: Learn the basics, then go out and have fun while you're getting fit on the beach.

Indoor Volleyball

Alexis Henry has tried beach Volleyball and finds it challenging. The 22-year-old Huntington Beach woman who recently moved to LA has been playing indoor Volleyball for the past 3 years at Occidental College in Eagle Rock. She says that hardwood floors are much easier than sand.

"After I played beach Volleyball for a while, I noticed an improvement in my indoor game," says Harvey. "Sand gives your muscles more of a workout."

Of course, Harvey was already pretty well conditioned for indoor Volleyball. She played 4 years in high school and three years on the varsity team at Occidental and is currently active in club leagues, where she plays a couple of nights a week.

"Our coaches designed programs for us with a lot of explosive lifting, including squats, cleans, and dead lifts, because that's what Volleyball consists of," recalls Harvey. "We also did a running workout to keep up endurance, and we did a lot of plyometric workouts."

Harvey says her team - one of the top 5 in the area - trained harder in the off-season than they did during Volleyball season. Once the season started, she says the workouts focused on the major muscle groups with the goal of just keeping in shape and keeping the leaping strength up.

One important thing that Harvey learned from playing Volleyball: multi-tasking and time management.

"When you're trying to balance classes and homework and you have a 3 hour practice well, you have lots of time management issues," notes Harvey.

VOLLEYBALL FITNESS PROGRAM

Exercises to prepare your body for beach Volleyball:

JUMP ROPE: 3-5 sets of 100 reps, then 2 sets (1 on each leg) of one-legged jumping of 100 reps.

SQUARE JUMPING: Create a square with 4 quadrants on the floor and jump around into each square in a clockwise and the counterclockwise pattern. Do 4 sets of 25 reps alternating clockwise and counterclockwise rotation.

JUMP AND REACH: Find an object just beyond reach and jump from a standing position while reaching for it. Five sets of 15 reps.

NO-ARMED JUMPS: Jump with your hand clasped above your head striving to touch your knees to your chest on each jump. As your feet hit the ground, rebound and bounce back into the air. Three sets of 15-20 reps.

APPROACH JUMPS: Do normal approaches with maximal jumps. Reach for something just slightly out of reach. Three sets of 10-15 reps.

Start in a kneeling position with the forward leg bent at 90 degrees and the back leg slightly off the ground. Jump and land with the opposite foot forward and the opposite foot backward. Try and keep from bending the ankle so that the knee is more forward than the foot. Three sets of 30 repetitions.

BLOCKING JUMPS: (10-12 reps) Take two side steps to the left or right and exploding upward while reaching up with both hands.

STANDING JUMPS; (10 to 12 reps) Find a point (the top of a basketball rim, for example) and jumping to touch it. Don't take any steps, explode upward and reach with both hands. As soon as your feet hit the ground explode back upward. Time on the ground should be minimal. Do this until you can't reach the target anymore.

DEPTH JUMPS: (10-12 reps) Stand on a step about 20''-24'' high. Step off, land with both feet simultaneously and explode upward reaching with both hands. Time on the ground should be minimal.

A good Volleyball training schedule could include alternate days of plyometrics (jumping exercises) and weight training, with a day off. But remember: If it hurts, stop.

Stretch the muscles you plan to work before your exercises. A warm muscle will get propel your body a lot higher than a cold one. The goal of plyometrics is to get the muscles acting quickly and strongly. Stretching is just like jumping, only not as extreme.

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