TRAINING TO IMPROVE SPEED

PRIORITIZE SPEED

ON ACCELERATION AND ABSOLUTE SPEED DAYS BEGIN WITH AN EXTENSIVE MOVEMENT WARMUP AND GO TO FULL SPEED WORK THEN MULTI-JUMPS AND THEN STRENGTH TRAINING. FULL SPEED WORK IS JUST THAT WITH TOTAL RECOVERY BETWEEN REPS. WHEN FULL SPEED REPS BECOME LESS THAN FULL SPEED IT IS TIME TO CONCLUDE THE SESSION.                                                                                                                      

KEEP IT SIMPLE

RESISTED SPRINT WORK IS EFFECTIVE FOR DEVELOPING FORCE. THE MORE ADVANCED THE ATHLETE, THE MORE THE NEED FOR RESISTED TRAINING. HILL TRAINING AND SLED TRAINING ARE THE MOST SIMPLE AND FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE WAYS TO PROVIDE RESISTANCE. TEACH PISTON LIKE ACTION AND DON’T CONFUSE ACCELERATION WITH TOP END MECHANICS. REFRAIN FROM CYCLICAL DRILLS WITH ATHLETES SPENDING A LARGE PERCENT OF THEIR SPECIFIC DEMAND REQUIRING  ACCELERATION.                                                                                                                      

TRAIN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

TRAIN HEAVY OR FAST.    INCLUDE OLYMPIC LIFTS, STATIC STRENGTH TRAINING SUCH AS SQUAT VARIATIONS, SPRINT WORK AND VARIED TYPES OF JUMPING AND BOUNDING. QUALITY OF REPETITION IS CRUCIAL TO SUCCESS. LOW VOLUME AND ADEQUATE REST SHOULD BE THE STANDARD FOR EACH OF THESE CATEGORIES. THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ONLY UNDERSTANDS INTENSITY.

KEEP TRAINING CONSISTENTLY OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME

PATIENCE IS CRUCIAL TO DEVELOPING SPEED. AN ATHLETE NEEDS TO BE INVOLVED IN AN INTENSE PROGRAM THROUGH SEVERAL TRAINING PHASES TO PROGRESS. ONE OF THE MAIN OBJECTIVES MUST BE FOUNDATIONAL STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT IN THE PROPER MUSCLE GROUPS THAT IMPACT FORCE DEVELOPMENT. SOME COACHES LIKE TO REFER TO THIS AS BUILDING THE ENGINE. GENERALLY UPPER LEG AND HIP DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE A PRIMARY GOAL.

RECOGNIZE YOUR WEAKNESSES AND STRENGTHS

TRY TO BUILD YOUR BACK SQUAT TO A MINIMUM OF 2.2 X BODY WEIGHT. THE BEST ATHLETES I COACHED WHO MADE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL POWER CLEANED MORE THAN THEY BENCH PRESSED.    VARIATION AND COMPONENT MOVEMENTS OF THE POWER CLEAN CAN BE EFFECTIVE WITH INDIVIDUALS WHO CANNOT RACK THE BAR PROPERLY..                                                                                                                        

FAST TWITCH QUALITIES CAN BE IMPROVED

THIS MEANS WITH ENOUGH HARD WORK YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE RESULTS. THIS HAS BEEN OBSERVED THROUGH THE MOST RECENT METHOD OF IDENTIFYING MUSCLE FIBER TYPE KNOWN AS HOMOGENATE GEL ELECTROPHORESIS.