LESSON 8:
12 Nutrition Tips that get Results

It’s simple to suggest workout intense, eat well, and you’ll improve your strength for volleyball. Unfortunately this advice doesn't explain why your friend can make great gains in volleyball strength and power while hanging out at the pool and not working out very much all summer. 

As you know, not all metabolisms are created equal and research has proven that some of us can improve strength, build muscle, and burn fat faster than others. If you feel like you’re doing everything right but are still not in the great shape you would like to be in, check out the tips and tricks below. 

Here are 12 secrets that will help you increase your strength and power for volleyball. You should combine as many of these techniques as possible so that you experience a huge difference in your volleyball game. 

1. Follow a specific, pre-set nutrition plan so that you know exactly what you’re supposed to eat and what times and in what amounts. Many volleyball players (especially teenagers) are simply not eating enough. You will be more likely to get your meals in and consume enough food if you have a plan to follow. Print it out and post it on your refrigerator.

2. Read nutrition labels being precise about your food intake and ensure your food plan matches exactly with what you’re consuming.

3. If you aren't getting the results you want, plan to raise your caloric intake one time every five days, minimum. 

4. As you increase your caloric intake, you should be doing more interval training. You should build up to at least three 20-minute workouts at 85% intensity.

5. For interval training, rely on the classic and effective 1-minute hard followed by 1-minute easy protocol for a total of 10 intervals. Don't make the mistake of adding aerobic conditioning to your training. Training aerobically is just going to make you less athletic and slow your process to becoming a more strong and athletic volleyball player.

6. Incorporate muscle-saving supplements like creatine and branch chain amino acids with a liter of water before your strength training sessions.

7. Train hard with weights and train often. With any program, progression is key. Be prepared to move from 1-day or 2-days of weight training to at least 3-days or even 4-days of weight training a week.

8. For anaerobic conditioning, improve anaerobic endurance by keeping rest periods between 30-60 seconds. Obviously, your intense strength training workouts need to have longer rest periods.

9. Don’t plan to eat perfectly without any unplanned cheat, I mean treat meals.

10. Eat as many fibrous vegetables as possible like broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, and/or asparagus to name a few.

11. Only bring food items that appear on your meal plan into your home.

12. Set a deadline for the day you want to have your desired results. 

Just one of these tips above could be the game-changer that gets you the strength you need for volleyball. Your instincts will tell you which ones to begin leveraging starting today.

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