Strength for the Court: Greg Herceg & Miles Partain Break Down Volleyball Performance

VBSC Podcast — Joint Episode with Greg Herceg & Miles Partain In this special joint episode, volleyball strength coach Greg Herceg sits down with professional beach volleyball player and Olympian Miles Partain for a wide-ranging conversation about training, performance, and what it actually takes to maximize your game on and off the court. About the Guests: Greg Herceg (@the.volleyball.strength.coach) is a former D1 All-Conference Opposite at Ball State University with a master's degree in sports performance. He's trained over 1,000 volleyball players — from high school to the pro level — and runs an online strength and conditioning business focused on volleyball-specific training for adult players. Miles Partain (@milespartain) is a former D1 All-American Setter at UCLA and a professional beach volleyball player who competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He's based in Los Angeles and works as a high-performance coordinator, helping junior and adult athletes maximize their potential through strength, skill, and mobility development. What We Cover: Muscular vs. elastic jumpers — understanding the two types of force production and why it matters for volleyball training The fascia training debate — is it overhyped, or are traditional strength coaches just protecting their brand? Sand vs. hard surface jumping — how beach volleyball changes your elastic qualities over time and what to do about it Standing jump vs. approach jump — why the gap between the two reveals your jumper type (Miles shares his shocking 14" standing / 39" approach split from UCLA) Jump counts and training load — drawing parallels to baseball pitch counts and how to think about weekly jump volume The Vert wearable — how Greg uses it with clients to track jumps and measure max effort height The "pick two" principle — you can have health, skill improvement, OR vertical jump improvement — but not all three at once Total recoverable volume — the framework for understanding why you can't train everything at max intensity all the time Off-season vs. in-season programming — triphasic training blocks, GPP phases, French contrast training, and how to peak for playoffs Conjugate vs. triphasic periodization — which approach works best for athletes who are always "in season" Full depth vs. partial squats — when to go deep and when sport-specific range of motion is what you actually need Upper body training for volleyball — the role (or lack thereof) of arm isolation work, and why reducing it has Miles jumping the highest he has in years Eliminating weak links — why ankles, calves, and wrists matter more than most athletes realize Connect & Resources: - Greg Herceg: Instagram/YouTube — @thevolleyballstrengthcoach | TikTok — @vbstrengthcoach - Miles Partain: Instagram/TikTok — @milespartain | YouTube — @milesjpartain Resources & Links:VBSC Coaching Application (Link to apply for personalized volleyball coaching)Connect with Coaches:Greg - YouTube | Instagram