Lindsay from Moxie Strength & Nutrition works with four-time national champion Ellie Duffy on core exercises for volleyball blockers. They progress from high planks and dolphin pikes through glider drills, stability ball work, and TRX movements, each building the core stability needed for powerful blocks at the net.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Lindsay with moxie, strength and nutrition back again. And with me, I have again Ellie Duffy, four time national champ. We played at Concordia St. Paul. And we're going to talk about core work today, specifically in the form of planking. And so with that core work, we're really focusing on building core strength, which is crucial for all aspects, but really specifically for the blockers. So we're talking about front row blocking, that pike position that you get into, really having a nice, strong, stable core. So we're just going to jump right into it. So Ellie's going to demonstrate just a standard plank for us. So she's going to set up plank right here. So basically right here you see she has shoulders stacked over wrists, weight evenly distributed amongst all ten fingers. Micro bend in the elbows so she's not hyperextending. Core is pulled in nice and tight, not dipping in the low back here it's nice and lifted, which is great. Quads are engaged, total body's engaged. Heels are pressing towards the wall behind her. So everything is engaged. So if you do a plank properly, you're talking total body engagement. So she should be on fire, right neck in line with her spine. She's like, yeah, I am. So this is perfect. This is great. Plank. Okay, so this is a great starting place in a staple. So you can hold planks for 30 seconds. Minutes. Okay. Working up and trying to hold longer. Then she's going to take down into a low plank. And so this is same thing, right? Everything's the same, except now her shoulders are stacked over her elbows. Okay, so this is like low plank right here. We're going to take this into what we call a beginner pike. So Ellie's going to do dolphins. So basically she's going to come up into like a pike position and then swoop back down and come up into a pike position and swoop back down. Okay. So it's called the dolphin. It's very common in yoga. This is a great beginner plank. So this is a great place to start for that piking. So back up into dolphin and back down. Perfect. You can take a quick break. So that's a great place to start for people that are working on that pike position. Okay. So that's great for beginners. If you want to up it up, amp it up a notch. We'll take it into an advanced pipe. So I'm going to give Ellie these gliders. She's just going to put them right on her toes. You can do this with. You can also do this Just with towels on your feet. So towels. I have these awesome gliders. They're pretty cool. But she's going to get back into high plank for me, set it back up. Everything's nice and engaged. And then from here. Awesome. So Ellie's going onto her fists, as you can see. So if you have wrists, fists can be a little bit more stabilizing, so you can go onto your fists as well. She's going to pull her legs in on the gliders. Up into plank. She's piking right here. Peaking. And back down. Awesome. So just pulling up, keeping those legs as straight as possible. Up into a pike position and down. Great for the lower abs and really targeting that pike position. One more time. Up. Nice and tight. That's awesome. And back down. Go ahead and break. So that's basically the pike. And then if you want to advance that even further, you can take this out onto a stability ball. So now Ellie is going to put the stability ball on her shins and walk out into plank very gracefully. Nicely done. Nicely done. Awesome. So from here, basically what she's going to do is go. Same thing. She's going to go up into that pike position. Pike. I'm just going to turn the camera a little bit so you can see she's going up into that pike position on the stability ball. So this is a little bit more advanced, a little bit more difficult of a move. And up into that pike and back down. Awesome. One more time. Up into that pike and back down. Awesome. You can take a break. So that's adding a lot of stability and strength because you're on a stability ball. Right. So it's that constant movement. So that's a really tough one. Again, advanced, but a great place to aim for. And then we have one more that we'll do. We'll take it over to the trx. So another aspect you can add, if you want to add more stability, you can take this into the trx. So TRX is hanging from the wall, right? There's suspension system. Getting into the trx with her feet right in there, she's going to get into that pike position again. So she's in pike and she's going to pike up and back down. Piking up and back down. So this is again a lot more difficult. You're using the suspension, using your own body weight and resistance. Piking up and back down. Go ahead and break. Awesome. From here, Ellie, what she's going to do is she's going to go squat, then she's going to go up into a pike. So she's going to squat down, take the maximal overhead and pike so you can come up onto your toes, squeezing your core overhead. And now she'll take it off to the side, so she'll squat, come over, off to the side, back down into squat, back up to center or off to the side, either or. So you're just alternating really holding that pipe with the medicine ball and going from squat to pike. So this is a great stable place to start, with both feet on the ground, too. Okay. Really building that core strength, which is so important for everything, injury prevention, but most importantly, really good for blockers in that front row. So thanks for tuning in. Hopefully these core exercises are beneficial for you. I'm not much of a conscious girl, but I do love a good play. And thanks, Sally, for your help. So thank you.
