As a volleyball player you are using your legs constantly during a game to keep the ball in play. Your body will complete lunges and squats during every game and practice, leaving your legs feeling sore the next day. You can reduce some of your soreness by doing an active warm up before you play and stretching after.
Muscles Activated
In volleyball there is a great demand on your body. Volleyball practices tend to train movements and not muscles, meaning that there are many repetitive exercises being completed to improve efficiency. Power exercises like jump squats are often used to encase the power in your jump and blocking abilities. These exercise place a great demand on your glutes, hamstring, calves and quadriceps, leaving your legs feeling sore.
Dynamic Stretches
Sports Coach, Brian Mac, explains that dynamic exercises should be used in a warm up to reduce muscle stiffness and even prevent soreness. A dynamic warm up requires stretching with movement. Exercises like butt kicks, high knees, lateral lunges and knee hugs all warm up the body while stretching the major muscles of the legs. These exercises will help loosen the body, preventing injury and even offset future soreness.
Static Stretches
Static stretches are isolated stretches that focus on lengthening your muscles. Complete static stretches after you play volleyball to help elongate your muscles, holding your stretches between 30 seconds and one minute, or longer. Stretches like a forward fold or a seated toe reach help to lengthen the back or your thighs. A standing quadriceps stretch or a supine quadriceps stretch opens the front of your thighs to reduce soreness.
Yoga
Yoga focuses on lengthening your muscles and can help reduce soreness from volleyball. Adding yoga to your fitness routine one to two times a week can help you reduce injury and even improve your game. Yoga lengthens the body and builds strength allowing you to perform better and even reduce soreness in your legs.
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