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