Volleyball Assessment: Fitness, Heart Rate, Glycogen Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the fitness factors crucial for volleyball players. It examines the importance of flexibility, endurance, and cardiovascular fitness, detailing the role of cardio exercises and the expected heart rate during a match. The report analyzes circulatory responses, including oxygen demand and muscle fiber types, and explores how the nervous system influences muscle function. It further investigates the impact of exercise on resting heart rate, muscle fatigue, and recovery processes. The report also includes a comparison of glycogen concentration in volleyball players versus Australian Rules Footballers, offering recommendations for post-match nutrition to replenish energy stores and aid muscle repair. Key references from sports medicine and physiology are cited to support the findings.

Running head: EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE
Volleyball Assessment
Student Name
University Name
Author Note

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Answer to Question 1
In the game of volleyball, a number of fitness factors needs to be considered for the
player to perform well in the game. The primary factor, which needs to be considered by the
player, is to be flexible with good balance and co-ordination. Flexibility can be gathered with
regular cardio exercises (Celik 2017). Cardio exercises mainly include squats, pilates,
burpees and jogging. This help the player in gathering enough energy for the play. The
average time of the play is 60 to 90 minutes (Kraemar, Caldwell & Barnhart 2017). High
level of endurance is required by the players to help sustain them for this long duration of the
game.
In the game of volleyball, aerobic endurance is required in high amounts. For this, the
player needs to regularly undertake cardiovascular fitness regime. This helps in strengthening
the heart rate of the individual by allowing it to function efficiently (Kraemar, Caldwell &
Barnhart 2017). Proper delivery of oxygen to the muscles which are involved in the play will
be initiated if the body functions properly. It will function properly if the individual does
regular aerobic exercises. Repetitive motions during exercise like jogging and walking
increases the endurance of the muscle (Kraemar, Caldwell & Barnhart 2017). For athletes
like volleyball players, it is advised to exercise at least 30 to 60 minutes at 80 per cent of the
heart rate for five days per week.
Answer to Question 2
In the first 15 minutes of the play, the heart rate of a player was observed to be around
140 to 180 beats per minute. In the first half of the play, the volleyball players are expected to
do numerous effort jumps and short and quick sprints to make a pass for the ball. This is the
reason why the heart rate tends to be increased (Bazyler et al. 2018). The volleyball match
goes on until one of the team drops the ball to the ground. The amount of endurance required

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to keep them on their feet is extremely high. The maximum heart rate of a player can
sometimes reach 190 beats per minute. This is mainly because of the quick movement
patterns like, high intense jumping, sharp change of direction from one end of the court to
another and walking. Once the ball drops to the ground, the players take a little rest. This is
when the heart rate decreases in the player. In figure 2, this can be observed during 20-25
minutes into the play (Bazyler et al. 2018). It is right after this that the heart rate starts to
increase more. It can be understood that the play has resumed. The spikes that are given by
each player to pass the ball, is of high intensity, which requires lot of energy in the hands of
the player.
Answer to Question 3
In the game of volleyball, circulatory responses are observed. There is an increased
demand of oxygen during the high-intensity game of volleyball. The heart contracts in a high
speed to deliver the oxygen to the muscles that are involved in an individual during the game.
The arms and the legs are the body parts which move a lot during the play. The calf and the
thigh muscles push a lot much during the high jumps to pass the ball to the opponent’s team
(Mersmann et al. 2017). The heart anticipates before the start of the play which can be
observed by increased release of adrenaline in an individual. The amount of blood that is
being pumped out of the left ventricle of the heart is high during the game which can be
observed by the increased heart rate in figure 2. The amount of oxygen that the body of a
player can consume and turn into energy is the VO2 max. In Figure 1, the VO2 max that is
found to be average in an athlete is 57.8 ml/kg/min. With the increase in the work rate, the
VO2 max rate of an athlete also increases linearly.
The nervous system in the body helps the muscles understand what to do and when.
The neurons present in the nerve cells send signals to the muscles whether it should behave as

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a slow-twitch fiber or a fast-twitch fiber. A group of motor units present in the nerve cell
work together for the muscle to contract. The players who possess fast-twitch muscle fibers
tend to change directions in the play much quickly when compared to slow-twitched muscle
fiber players (Jacob et al. 2018). Fast twitch muscle fibers help in powerful bursts of
movement like sprinting, which is required in volleyball.
Answer to Question 4
For athletes like volleyball players, the resting heart rate is observed to be around 60
and 80 bpm. Regular exercise helps in strengthening the muscles by allowing greater amount
of blood to be pumped to the muscles and cells. During the match, the heart rate of an player
is observed to be higher than their resting heart rate. The match of volleyball is continuous
until a team drops the ball to the ground. When the ball touches the ground, one set has been
played. The second set starts after sometime allowing the players to take some rest. In this
time, the heart adjusts itself to the sudden stoppage of activity (Scribbans et al. 2015). The
heart slowly returns back to the normal resting heart rate for the player. This mechanism by
the heart to slowly reduce the amount of blood being pumped helps to shield the heart from
sudden attack. After the match resumes, there is a sense of fatigue of the muscles but the
heart adjusts itself again with the sudden rush of activity. This affects the players
performance in the later stage of the game.
Answer to Question 5
a. It can be assumed that player B is the Australian Rules Footballer on the basis of the
muscular glycogen concentration post match. According to Maughan and Shirreffs
(2017), footballers have a glycogen concentration of 1g/100 gms of muscle. As per
figure 3, the concentration that is observed for player B after the match is around
1.3g/100 gms of muscle. It is nearer to the value of 1g/100 gms of muscle than what is

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observed for the player A who is assumed to be the Volleyballer. More glycogen
depletion results in fatigue experienced by players after the match has been played.
b. Water or an electrolyte drink like Gatorade should be given to the players to replenish
the lost hydration post game. This will help in replenishing the lost body fluids and
coming back to normal levels. Carbohydrate-rich foods like yoghurt, porridge with
milk, cheese sandwich or a wrap, pasta and sushi can provide the body with the
necessary carbohydrate to produce enough energy to play the game (Burke 2017). The
glycogen levels can be fueled by the ingestion of a fruit, sandwich or sport bars with
enough protein for longer lasting matches. Milkshake and sport bars can be taken after
the match to replenish the lost protein from the muscles (Burke 2017). The protein
helps in repairing the muscles that have become sore as a result of the match.

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References
Bazyler, C.D., Mizuguchi, S., Sole, C.J., Suchomel, T.J., Sato, K., Kavanaugh, A.A.,
DeWeese, B.H. and Stone, M.H., 2018. Jumping Performance is Preserved but Not
Muscle Thickness in Collegiate Volleyball Players After a Taper. The Journal of
Strength & Conditioning Research, 32(4), pp.1020-1028.
Burke, L.M., 2017. Nutrition for optimum volleyball performance. Handbook of Sports
Medicine and Science, Volleyball, p.15.
Celik, A., 2017. Acute effects of cyclic versus static stretching on shoulder flexibility,
strength, and spike speed in volleyball players. Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine
& Rehabilitation (2587-0823), 63(2).
Jacob, Y., Spiteri, T., Hart, N. and Anderton, R., 2018. The potential role of genetic markers
in talent identification and athlete assessment in elite sport. Sports, 6(3), p.88.
Kraemer, W.J., Caldwell, L.K. and Barnhart, E.C., 2017. Developing a resistance training
program for volleyball. Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science, Volleyball, p.38.
Maughan, R.J. and Shirreffs, S.M., 2017. Energy demands of volleyball. Handbook of Sports
Medicine and Science, Volleyball, p.1.
Mersmann, F., Charcharis, G., Bohm, S. and Arampatzis, A., 2017. Muscle and tendon
adaptation in adolescence: elite volleyball athletes compared to untrained boys and
girls. Frontiers in physiology, 8, p.417.
Scribbans, T.D., Berg, K., Narazaki, K., Janssen, I. and Gurd, B.J., 2015. Heart rate during
basketball game play and volleyball drills accurately predicts oxygen uptake and
energy expenditure. J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness, 55, pp.905-913.