Attention Athletes and Parents!!
Strength Training Is Speed Training
by Travis Self, Owner, Performance Enhancement Specialist
FITT Warehouse Training Systems
Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings
With the ever evolving world of sports performance, nutrition, psychological preparation, and recovery methods, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all of this information, especially on the internet. It can be extremely overwhelming to any athlete or parent of an athlete looking to improve performance. The improvement on athletes and their numbers over the last 50 years are astounding. Take track and field for example; 70 years ago Jesse Owens ran a 10 second 100 yard dash (91m), while today sprinters are regularly eclipsing the 10 second mark at 100 meters, and that includes some high school and college kids. Reasons besides the obvious of knowledge and technology are the advancements in strength and conditioning training.
I’m constantly approached by parents of athletes asking if my program involves “speed and agility” training. All too often parents and athletes (especially parents of young athletes) focus on speed enhancement and agility training without first implementing proper movement skills or a base level of strength within the body better known as “relative” strength. This is understandable as you may have heard that “In Sports, Speed Is King.” The issue behind this is that young athletes are not yet prepared to handle the forces generated by speed training nor due they posses the technical aspect of running mechanics, movement efficiency, neural response, and what I believe is most important aspect……strength. Strength training builds all of these aspects and improves the efficiency of the athlete providing all of the above while in turn translating to better speed and agility on the field. Young athletes of all sports and genders must participate in a strength training program in order to build “Relative Strength” or strength in relation to your body. Coaches and parents; if you have a weak athlete (and no, that doesn’t mean that their a terrible athlete) and you’re seeking or operating a program that consists mainly of speed training without providing that base level of strength, then your athletes are really missing out. They will not be able to achieve enough strength to properly accelerate, drive those knees, create the optimum torso lean, generate arm/elbow drive due to weak delts, and maximize why they are there in the first place. Strength is also important in the deceleration of an athlete. A lot of times you see terrible knee injuries in women’s sports on a sudden cut such as in soccer due to poor strength levels of the athlete.
I will give you an example, in an article published in British Journal of Sports Medicine, they noticed a strong correlation between max effort strength and the positive effects it had on sprinting speed, jumping ability, as well as agility. They go on to mention that “athletes should focus on maximal strength of concentric movements which will help improve their sprinting and jumping performance.”
In addition to athletic performance another positive effect is injury prevention. Athletes who participate in a year round strength program tend to have fewer or suffer few serious injuries. This is due to part that strength training not only strengthens the muscles but the tendons and ligaments that attach the muscles to bone.
So the next time you’re seeking to improve upon your athlete’s speed and agility performance make sure that they are participating in a “BALANCED” strength training program to compliment there speed work. Implement strength training into your program and help your athlete get faster!!
“From the minute I first met Travis I could see the energy, excitment, passion, and knowledge he has for helping athltetes develop the skills necessary to succeed on the field and in life. His gym, FITT Warehouse is an extension of his personality and the training atmosphere is guaranteed to take you to the next level."
[...] To recap on bodyweight training and it’s importance for progression, It is very important for proper development. There are some athletes who are very natural and can get into the required positions rather quickly while others need some work constantly. Remember, by the time we see young athletes, they’ve got 13-18 years of IMPROPER movement and CNS wiring that cannot be fixed overnight that’s why any good coach and gym encourage “program(s) as it develops proper movement, strength, flexibility, speed, agility, safety, etc. For the parents who want there kids faster or want additional training on speed, let me say that until they can manage there own weight under control and efficiently eveytime all the time there is no need for moving faster and continually re-enforcing bad habits. In the mean time check out “Strength Training Is Speed Training.” [...]
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