Learn how to use sit-ups, ab crunches, leg lifts and other exercises as a total body workout geared at improving your overall volleyball skills.


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Video Transcription

Speaker: Sit-ups, here we want to work the abs while we are working the total body. Hands across the chest touching the shoulders, the back is flat, bring the knees and the chest up at the same time. Leg Lifts, here we want to lift the heels just a couple inches off the ground with the arms out wide we have a more stable base. We are working on contracting both the abs and the lower back to stabilize the core, bringing the arms across the body makes the core more unstable and make the work more difficult. We want to do this five sets of 5-15 seconds. Knee-ups, we want to start with the heels one inch off the ground with the arms out wide, bringing the knees up as high as we can. Bring the knee up, the heel up and the toes up towards the shin. Do these for 3 sets of 10, bring the arms across the body to make this more unstable and more difficult. Here is a variation of the knee lift, bring the heels just up off the ground. Now focus on single leg, bring the knee all the way up, straighten the leg, bring the other up. Do three sets of 10 with each leg with the arms out wide we have a much more stable base, bringing the arms across the chest creates an unstable base and makes the work much more difficult. Superpersons, here we want to extend the arms and the legs as far as possible. Flex the lower back lifting the chest and the legs up off the ground, hold for approximately a two-second count; stay under control don’t flop down to the ground like a fish out of water. Do three sets of 10-20 repetitions. We can also do these single-arm, single-leg; you use opposites here right arm left leg, left arm right leg. Try not to push with the opposite arm and leg, make the core of the body and the back do the work. Focus here on three sets of 10 with each side. Pillars, here we get the front side, our elbows are straight down from our shoulders pull up with our toes pulled up toward our shins. We want to raise the hips up, so we have a straight line from the ear right down to the ankle; we don’t want the hips up high so the butt is up in the air and we don’t want a sway in the back. A nice straight line through the body focussing on flexing the abs and the lower back at the same time; do three sets of 10-30 seconds. Now, let’s do our pillars from the sides; stack the feet on top of each other with the elbow straight down from the shoulder, keep the body in a straight line and the head in a natural position. Lift the hips so we are in a straight-line, working our inner and outer obliques, our abs and our lower back all at the same time. Start with three sets of 5 seconds building up to three sets of 20-30 seconds. Make sure you work each side equally both right and left, focus on balancing the body. So we work each sides equally, what you do with the right side you have to match with the left. If you are weak on one side maybe hold for an extra five seconds to work more specifically to balance out your body so that you have good strength and stability at your core. Back Pillars, here we are resting on the ankles and the heels. Hold the toes up towards the shin, lift the hips up so you are in a straight line; keep the head in a natural position, focus on controlling the core, flex those lower back muscles and your abs to keep solid total control of the body. Three sets of 10-30 seconds will do a great job of locking you in for great performance. Core Rotation, bring the knees straight up in the air and we will take side to side, leave the shoulders and the head flat on your back, keep the arms out wide for a good stable base. Next lift the leg straight up in the air, try and bring your toes down and touch your fingers, keep the shoulders and the head flat and back. Start with three sets of five of each of these; work to the point where you can do 10, 15 maybe even 20 each direction. This will really work your inner and outer obliques and your core for great stability and performance.