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Beware the Thighs of Karch
Volleyball champ Karch Kiraly
trains hard to get a beach-worthy body
By Lisa Altobelli, Sports
Illustrated
Tuesday, June 14th, 2005
At 44, Karch Kiraly is the oldest player on the pro volleyball
tour. At 6'2" (he weighs 200 pounds), he's also one of
the shortest. But he has a record 147 professional wins as
well as three Olympic gold medals, and, with Mike Lambert,
formed the tour's top team last year -- all thanks to superb
conditioning. He trains using a unique plyometrics program
designed by former Long Beach State volleyballer Mike Rangel,
who learned about plyometrics -- in which muscles are stretched
and contracted in rapid succession -- watching Russia's volleyball
teams train in the 1970s. In January 2003 Rangel approached
Kiraly at a charity event and asked if he could train him.
"I was wary," says Kiraly. "I thought of plyometrics
as high-impact workouts like hopping over metal chairs. But
Mike's program was low-impact. I'm in the best shape of my
life." Here are key components of Kiraly's workout, which
he does twice weekly from January to October, and once a week
the rest of the year.
Side-to-Side Sprints Start in the middle
of the court. Holding a medicine ball (Kiraly uses a 25-pounder),
sprint to the right edge of the court, then to the left edge
and back to the center, then squat for two seconds (court
width is 26'3"). Two sets of six with a 10-second break
between sets. Says Rangel, "The plyometrics aspect
is that it builds both strength and speed. It especially improves
lateral speed and is a great conditioning exercise for the
whole body."
Around the Worlds With hips locked, knees
slightly bent and arms as straight as possible, rotate the
medicine ball in a clockwise motion, without bending at the
waist. Do 12 complete circles. Rest for 10 seconds, then rotate
12 times counterclockwise. Says Rangel, "This works
the shoulders, chest, arms and core. In other words, it builds
those muscles that help with the fundamentals of volleyball:
hitting, serving and blocking."
Granny Tosses Stand with legs slightly wider
than hip width and knees bent, holding the ball at your waist.
Keeping head and chest up, bring the ball down between your
legs in a squat position. Bring arms forward and toss ball
to a partner six feet in front of you. Says Rangel, "Works
the arms and lower back, which helps for arching your back
-- the key to a powerful serve and to attacking the ball.
Also works the hamstrings."
Seated Trunk Twist With legs bent, twist
to your right side and touch the ball to the ground behind
your tailbone. Then, going around to your left, bring the
ball to the same spot. A set is 10 twists in each direction.
Two sets with a 10-second rest in between. Says Rangel, "For
abs, lower back, obliques. The key to blocking in volleyball
is the stomach. In mid-jump you really need to contract your
abs in order to move your arms and legs forward."
What I Eat: A Day in the Life
• Breakfast "A glass of half
orange juice, half club soda. It has a lot less sugar than
a full glass of orange juice and it still tastes good. I'll
also have any kind of whole-grain cereal. My two sons, Kristian,
14, and Kory, 13, had milk allergies when they were young,
so we use rice milk."
• Lunch "A bowl of fat-free cottage
cheese with a handful of red grapes mixed into it. Water to
drink. If I'm going to work out, I'll also have a cinnamon-raisin
energy bar."
• Dinner "I usually have a green
salad, then a pasta dish like fettuccine with vodka sauce.
We subscribe to Cook's Illustrated, and I make a good corn
chowder from a recipe I found in there, so sometimes we have
that. We're not wine connoisseurs, but we'll have a glass
of Chianti with dinner. For dessert I'll have chocolate-chip
cookies. I don't think you should deny yourself. We need to
indulge the moderate vices in life or else our mind will build
them up and we'll crave them too much."
Issue date: June 20, 2005
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