Let's talk Speed Training

Patrick Beith

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There is too much emphasis on running pretty nowadays. Coaches spend all of their time talking about body angles, and positioning, and are neglecting to actually train their athletes. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place to work on mechanics, but as a coach, you must train the entire athlete. There are too many aspects of speed training and conditioning to only be focused on exit angles, shin angles, etc.

If you truly want your athletes to have dominant speed and reach their full speed potential then you must incorporate a total training program.  Let's take a brief look at some of the major components that should be in every athlete's speed training workouts.

Workout Prep – Warming up

If you want to be ready to perform speed work or compete at full speed, you have to get warmed up properly. For example, many coaches are still using static stretching as a way to get athletes loose during the warm up. Unfortunately, this outdated method actually reduces speed and power. Studies show that certain types of stretching, prior to activity reduces power output, therefore reducing sprint speed.

Think about it: How often during a practice or competition does an athlete hold a stretch position as part of their sport? I can't think of any either. That's why, during the warm up, it is important to put athletes through exercises that are similar to the types of movements they'll be going through during practice and competitions. Otherwise, not only will athletes be slower and less powerful, but the likelihood of injury is increased greatly. 

The warm up exercises should be structured from the most basic, low intensity exercises and should progress through to the more complex movements that simulate the speeds athletes will be moving during practice and competition.

You want to take advantage of the hard work you put into your practices, not start out at an immediate disadvantage because of tight, cold muscles that just won't produce. Give your athletes the tools they need to succeed starts by getting them ready to compete the right way.

Speed Work

If you are performing 100 meter runs or repeat 40 yard sprints with little rest, you are not doing real speed work!

Speed work is performed in the Anaerobic Phosphagen Energy System. This means that performing any thing longer than 7-8 seconds, you are training outside this energy system. In order to become more efficient and challenge this energy system, speed work must stay in within 2-8 seconds, which is approximately 20- 80 yards. Please also note that one of the most important elements of speed training that many coaches still don't follow is the fact that speed work requires full recovery. Because it is so demanding on the body, if athletes don't recover fully between every repetition, they can not develop the coordination to continue to make improvements. That means athletes must rest between 2-3 minutes, minimum, between every repetition of speed work.

It also takes roughly 36-48 hours to fully recover from a speed workout since it places so much stress on your central nervous system (CNS). This basically means you can not perform speed work everyday or on back to back days!

Power Training - Plyometrics

Plyometrics are an excellent supplement to your speed, strength and power training program. They can greatly improve your power levels and help increase body control since they deal with moving your own bodyweight.  I'm sure you have done bounding exercises, box jumps or medicine ball throws before. The question is, how do you know whether athletes are actually benefiting from these activities instead of putting themselves at risk for injury?

Athletes always want to do the most advanced, most technical movements that they see the professional athletes doing in their training. However, because these exercises require so much power and coordination, there needs to be progression in the structure plyometric training (like all other aspects of training). It may not be glorious and exciting, but in the short and long term, learning to evolve from basic to complex movements will always reap the greatest rewards. Your athletes must learn how to stabilize and absorb forces appropriately. The key is to land softly and absorb the forces created with the muscles (not the joints!). If you are landing quietly then you are probably on the right path. If we jump right into single leg bounds or depth jumps, without the proper progression, then we are putting our bodies at risk for avoidable injury.

Strength Training

The problem with most strength training programs is that they focus too much on hypertrophy work (getting big). Uninformed athletes go into the weight room with the idea that the bigger they get, the better they will perform. I don't know many athletes that want to be bodybuilders since they can't move very well with that useless bulk. Size may matter at the beach, but not necessarily on the playing field. That is why we focus on power in the weight room.

Weight training is supposed to be a supplement to our overall speed training. Since speed and power go hand in hand, when in the weight room we must focus on the same elements of training that will help us to be faster on the field or the track. Maximum Strength and Power are the prime focus during weight training sessions. Also, because of such high intensity per set, rest will be a lot longer since you are looking for efficiency and you need to be fully recovered.

Agility Training

Before we get into agility training, we have to remember that the 40 yard dash (or 30 meter sprint) is not the only way to assess an athlete's speed. There is a difference between quick and fast. Someone that is considered fast, may not necessarily be quick and vice-versa. The best athletes have a combination of both quick and fast characteristics and they must train both. Lateral speed and agility work lays the foundation for any athlete in any sport.

Lack of coordination is a big problem for many athletes. How many times have you seen a good athlete stumble when making a simple cut, performing a new skill, or better yet, try to dance? It happens far too often and it is all due to lack of coordination. The inability to easily coordinate movement affects their footwork and their ability to quickly make the moves that top athletes seem to do naturally. Therefore, no matter what sport you coach, agility training will help develop the balance, coordination and timing that will allow athletes to get to the ball or away from the defender when the game is on the line.

You know that agility training is used to improve foot speed, quickness, acceleration, changing speeds, cutting, starting/stopping, change of direction, and reaction, right? Great! But, did you know that agility training aids in preventing injuries by improving body control through proper movement mechanics? The benefits of this training are universal.

Conditioning

In the end, it doesn't matter how fast you are if you aren't in good enough shape to finish strong at the end of your competitions. Traditionally, coaches use running workouts to improve aerobic conditioning. However, those types of workouts only cover one of the many areas that are required to get athletes in great shape. That's why we use general strength circuits as a means of getting athletes in the overall condition that wins championships.

These circuits are usually bodyweight exercises that don't involve any external loading (weights).  Because of the structure of these workouts, not only do they give the aerobic benefits that many running workouts give, but they also help the body recover from, and prepare for, intense speed days, improve the physical strength and core strength that many young athletes are lacking, as well as improve balance and coordination, which is a major part of getting faster. There is only so much time in a day and any opportunity to accomplish multiple tasks in less time only means that athletes can spend extra time working on the particular skills of their individual sport. As coaches, we know that this is a blessing!

This was just a glimpse of what your athletes' speed training program should look like in order for them to develop their full speed potential. If your training workouts look similar, great, you are a step ahead of the game. If not, and you have left out any aspect of this complete speed training system, your competition is going to leave you in the dust!

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