Lifting for Volleyball
This is not the most common of topics when discussing volleyball, but I've been asked by enough people to warrant a brief post on the subject. The question at hand? "What can I do in the gym to improve my game?" (Or some variety of that. Usually it's more like, "How do I increase my vert?")
In general, I don't stress my high school athletes to spend hours in the gym "getting huge, brah." But maintaining an overall, well-rounded, fitness regimen in addition to their volleyball training is important. However, there comes a time when a player desires increased performance and has the drive to do everything possible to improve in their game. Improving upon your pure physical capabilities is certainly one way to improve on-the-court performance.
I'd like to just put a disclaimer out there that I am not a certified strength and conditioning coach. I am not a personal trainer. I have, however, been involved in competitive athletics long enough to know in general what works.
The first, and quickest answer, I give to any athletes who ask me how to increase their vertical jump is "Squat. And Olympic lifts." Fortunately, I was lucky enough in my high-school years to have had access to Olympic bars and bumper plates, as well as coaches who were able to teach the basic clean&jerk.
The focus on lower body training is important. Squats and lunges will improve your overall strength. Cleans and snatches will help improve your explosiveness. Combine them all into your training program and you will see improvement in your vertical, as well as in your endurance throughout a match or tournament.
All of the above exercises are free-weight based and require a strong core. There are some misconceptions about what your "core" is, and I'd like to just give my take on this. Your core is not just your abs. Your core is everything that provides stabilization for your body throughout your midsection. Doing endless sit-ups is not sufficient enough to work your core. In fact, I tend to shy away from doing any exercises that are focused on a single muscle. Compound exercises that involve more than a single movement and coordination of muscle groups is more important. There is not a single moment in life that you use only a single muscle at a time. Especially in sport. This is why Olympic lifting is so important, because it requires you to use multiple muscle groups at the same time (coordination.)
The most important fact I can really come up with, for any athlete really, is to stop worrying about going to the gym to get huge. This is quite possibly the dumbest thing you could possibly do (in sport, and in life.) It comes down to the simple concept of strength to weight ratio. My old roommate explained it best, albeit using basic physics. It isn't difficult to follow, so please take a look here.
One final note, is know what you are training for. Although many exercises and training plans can benefit your overall fitness and strength, there are always certain things you can do to specifically benefit your sport. For more on that you can see my old post on 10 Rules of Training.