WHAT’S GOIN DOWN!?

This is a follow up to Part 1 of the video I posted up last week. If you haven’t been able to check out Part 1 yet, you can do that by clicking HERE.

Check out part 2 of the video series from about a week ago about how to really develop the “freak” levels of speed and strength we all desire as athletes.

As always, be sure to leave a comment below if you have any questions or comments.

Later!

John Cortese

Been busy as a mofo lately, but I made up a cool 2-part video for you speed demons out there!

Part I is below, be sure to leave me a comment or question below. After watching this video, I came to at least 1 conclusion… I look TIRED haha. That’s what 4 – 5 hours of sleep a night for a while will do to ya!

Part II coming soon! Stay tuned…

See ya,

John Cortese, CSCS

But you shouldn’t have to analyze the program to death and try to make it perfect. Why? Because there is no perfect program in existence. In reality, every program/workout/routine (whatever you’d liked to call it) will work for some time; but eventually you’ll stall out and either hit a wall or regress. Not good!

There are many common mistakes that I see all too often and most of the time they just need a simple fix to help get results. Check ‘em out…

1.) Too Much Volume – Less is more, especially when you are looking for all-out, blazing speed. Speed is the critical “game-changer” and more often than not, the faster team or athlete will ALWAYS have the advantage. I usually almost always start my athletes out with low volume sprints 1-2 times per week, never exceeding 200-300 yards in total volume (the number of sprints you ran X the distance on each sprint). Think about it: do you think running endless repeat 100 yard sprints , as fast as possible,with 30 seconds rest will do anything for your speed? Sure, it might make you tired; it might make you sore; you may even throw up… Most sports require you accelerate anywhere from 5-30 yards. I usually recommend the “short-to-long” approach with most team sport athletes, where you begin sprinting at shorter distances for a couple weeks, then gradually extending the distance and volume out each week.

2.) Too Many Exercises – This one is extremely common. For example: you walk into a regular gym on a Monday (also known as universal bench press day) and everyone and their mother is performing every exercise known for the chest; bench press, incline press, decline press, chest flyes, machine flyes; and often times each one will be performed with ZERO warm up, too many sets, and way too little rest. This basically is doing absolutely nothing but getting you the “pump” which only lasts for a short while after you’re through exercising anyways. Instead of focusing on how many exercises you should be doing, I think the better choice would be to focus on the quality of movement and continually adding weight to the bar each week.

3.) Body Part Splits – This is another very common occurring trend that really is only effective if you’re very advanced and have built up a substantial base of strength and muscle. Body part split routines typically explore a bodybuilder’s routine, for example:

• Monday – Chest
• Tuesday – Back, Biceps
• Wednesday- Legs
• Thursday- Shoulders, etc..

You see that each workout works in isolating muscle groups; in reality, when does the human body EVER work in isolation? Not only is this routine very ineffective for most trainees in building muscle and strength, it’s really BORING. That type of routine would leave me bored to tears and who really wants to perform 5-6 different chest exercises in 1 day? Instead of a split routine, switch up to either 3-day per week “full body” workouts, or 4-day per week upper/lower split. By doing this you will eliminate boredom, your workouts will be much more effective, you’ll be in the gym much less, and you’ll get way better results. I prefer 3-day per week full body workouts for most people, but 4-days per week has also served me well too.

4.) Employing Fancy Gadgets and Gizmos – This is pretty funny, but sad also. Parachutes, ladders, ankle weights, hand weights, thigh

Looks Cool, but not my thing.. I'll take the hill, please!

weights, tubes, cones, velcro/band strapped to every joint on your body, etc.. The list could go on. When it comes to speed training, the simplest methods and tools yield the greatest results. I have used nothing but a hill, sled/tire with a strap and belt for resisted sprints, set of cones to mark off distances, and a medicine ball to develop extremely fast and explosive athletes. In order to move fast… You need to practice moving fast. If you’re going to utilize resisted sprints that’s fine; sprint up a hill, or use a sled/tire with a 25-45 lb. plate in it and start sprinting. Keep the rest period longer if you’re after speed, keep them shorter if you want some extra conditioning and fat loss.

Remember, this stuff is simple. Yes there is a science to programming and planning (that’s why there are professionals out there that do this for a living), but you can still get results by doing the simple things, being consistent, and making sure you are making progress every time you train.

Have a purpose, a goal, and a plan, and you will not fail.

See ya,

John Cortese, CSCS

Recently, I was asked by one of my newsletter subscribers about how I would structure a training program for athletic strength and speed development with athletes that could only train 2 and/or 3 days per week.

Luckily, this is actually quite easy and most athletes that I have worked with have actually done very well training only 3 times per week. 2 days per week is not “ideal”, however with a busy schedule and sometimes playing multiple sports, 2 days would often suffice and still enable an athlete to make significant progress.

What is the key here? It’s really very simple. First, let’s examine an example template for a football player who can only train 3 days per week during the off-season. When training 3 days per week, the intensity of the workouts on each day would be higher. Due to this, however, you must have a day of rest in between each training day.

Example: Train Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Rest Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. *This is a HUGE mistake most coaches and athletes are making. A big reason that progress is not being made is because these athletes are constantly bombarded with training EVERY day. The body adapts to the stressor (exercise) while it rests, not when you are training in the gym or on the field. When you rest and recover, you allow yourself to build back up to a level beyond where you were at before. This is the basic principle of adaptation and why we as human organisms can get bigger, faster, and stronger. You either come back better, you stall out, or you regress. Hopefully you aren’t stalling or regressing; if this is the case you’re probably doing too much. Rest is very important.

Regardless if you’re training 2, 3, or 4 days per week, you still need to rest. Here’s a general rule of thumb and probably the key to planning: The less you train per week, the intensity needs to be adjusted. Think of it as spreading the wealth around. If you only have 2 days to train, you’ll be able to tolerate more work each day because you will be resting longer between sessions. Training 4 days per week will allow you to spread the stressors around a little more evenly throughout the week, but each day would not be as intense on the central nervous system, muscles, joints, etc. Make sense so far?

Here’s an example 3-day per week training cycle. Let’s use an American football player who needs to get stronger in the early off-season (February) and build up some muscle mass. Remember, this is an example. You’ll notice a pattern here though.

Monday

1. Speed:  5×10 yard sprint, 2×15 yard sprint on hill or with light sled.
   
2. Weights: Clean, Squat, Bench, Push Ups/Pull Ups, Glute Ham Raise.
   
3. Foam Roll, Stretch, Regeneration
   

Wednesday

1. Med Ball Throws x 8-10
   
2. Weights: Power Snatch, Military Press, Inverted Row/Dips, Band Good Morning.
   
3. High Rep Ab Circuit 200 repetitions.
   
4. Foam Roll, stretch, regeneration work.

Friday

1. Speed: 5×10, 3×15
   
2. Weights: Deadlift, DB 1-arm Clean/Press, DB Rows/DB Floor Press, Back Extension/Romain Chair Sit Up, 10 min beach work.
   
3. Foam roll/regeneration/stretch.
   

Couple things you’ll notice here is that each day, we attack the entire body from multiple angles and use lifts that will hit the most amount of muscle in the shortest time. I strictly adhere to training economy here, meaning pick what gets you the biggest “bang for your buck”.

Also since this is early off-season, no sense in doing tons of speed work. Do enough to maintain sprint form for now, while striving hard to get strong and add some muscle. Twice per week is great, even once per week would suffice with low volume sprints.

So what about twice per week?

You’ll simply condense the training stressors into higher intensity training sessions. If you are training twice per week, you’ll want to take 48-72 hours between sessions, i.e. train on Monday and Thursday, or Tuesday and Friday, etc. I have done this with many athletes during their competitive seasons, as well as with clients/athletes who simply could only train twice per week and they still made progress. Example:

Day 1

1. Speed: 5×10, 3×20
2. Jumps: SLJ x 10
3. Weights: Squat, Bench, DB Row/DB Bench, DB Lunge/Back Extension/GHD Sit Up
4. Foam Roll, stretch, etc
   

Day 2 (2-3 days later)

1. Speed: 5×10, 2x3x15-20
2. MB Throws x 10 (Overhead back, Squat Throw, Coil Throw, etc)
   
3. Weights: Clean/Deadlift, Overhead Press Variation, DB or KB Swings/Pull Ups/Dips, Band Good Morning
4. High Rep Ab Circuit 200-300 reps
   

You’ll see that each day on the 2-day split is a little more intense and the volume is a bit higher as far as training load goes. This can be tolerated due to the fact that you get a little bit more time in between sessions to recover.

Now that you have some ideas on how to structure training for different training splits, you have zero excuses. No more of this “I don’t have enough time” BS! Get it done, even if it’s only twice per week!

Remember to adjust accordingly, monitor volume, and know where you’re at during your training phase. If you were in-season, you would need to adjust to let the demands of the sport be the primary focus; these templates were mainly focusing on off-season training.

Train hard, but train SMART,

John Cortese BS, YFS

A fast  and powerful sprint start is essential for all athletes who hope to run a faster 40 yard dash, steal more bases, or win a state championship sprint race. Most team sport athletes are tested in a distance over 30-60 yards, so you would bet that training them to get very good at sprint starts would be top priority… Right?

I would hope so! By simply following a few simple cues, learning how to get set up properly, feeling and seeing how it’s like to be in the right start position, and a couple other cues, you’ll be on your way to faster sprints in no time.

Watch the video below to see a great sprint start from Asafa Powell, one of the fastest men on the planet today who shows great starting mechanics.

Now, after watching that, a couple things stand out to me. I’ll make it as simple as possible as to not bore ya to tears with biomechanics and stuff like that, but here we go.

-He fires out forward from his start, not up. Try to pause the video exactly at 45 seconds and notice his body is in a straight line from his rear leg all the way to his head. This is the full extension of the rear leg we want.

-He’s very aggressive with his arm drive. Coming out of a sprint start, think quick and fast with the lead arm (same side as front leg in a sprint start).

-The rear leg clears fast and low. In otherwords, the rear foot doesn’t need to be pulled up aggressively; just focus on fast and low clearance to the track while using aggressive arm drive.. Which leads me to my next point..

-Stay relaxed! The start should be very aggressive, but the body operates best and most efficiently at 9/10th’s effort. Trying to muscle out a sprint will exert energy quickly and cause you to tighten up; which will cause you to lose sprint form and mobility, and possibly costing you a slower time or losing an important race. To quote the great sprint coach Bud Winter “Go Faster, but Run Looser”. Maintain composure and remain relaxed; let the hands, jaw, and face remain relaxed and loose. Once you tighten up, the race might as well be over..

Try these out next time you run some sprints!

See ya,

John Cortese

If you were ever curious to see how I structure speed and strength training programs for athletes that I work with, you’ll enjoy the sample week of training that I’ve been putting a group of athletes through recently (2 football players; 1 HS, 1 College; and 1 female College soccer player). We have a unique situation in that I only see them 4 days out of the week (M, T, Th, F); Normally I would prefer a 3-day training week, but this schedule worked out for everyone. Also, due to scheduling and other group programs being run, we have 2 days in the actual facility itself where I work for traditional strength work; the 2 speed days are out at a local park that has a nice set of hills and flat grass field- perfect for us! Ideal schedule/template? There are “better”, but it actually has worked out really well. Some would stress out about this, but you gotta make it happen!

Weekly Breakdown

Mondays and Thursdays: These days are devoted to getting the athletes FAST and EXPLOSIVE. Since these qualities are in higher priority for all 3 of these athletes, I placed them on days where they had at least 1 full day of rest prior to engaging in this type of work. We work on different qualities on this day including: speed drills, speed mechanics, explosive medicine ball throws, hill sprints, short COD (change of direction) drills like the pro-agility or 3-cone drill, and some basic 1 and 2-legged jumps. Usually we are done in 55-60 minutes tops, including the warm-up. Sounds short, but if you are truly training for explosive power and speed, the focus should always be QUALITY not QUANTITY. I definitely watch form closely on everyone of them and if they start to look sluggish or tired, I will call whatever drill we are doing and move on to something else, or even cut it short and call it a day.

Tuesdays and Fridays: These days are devoted to developing muscular hypertrophy and relative/absolute body strength. Since the legs are worked pretty damn hard on the speed days prior, the lower body lifting volume is not nearly as close to the upper body lifts we do; not to say we don’t squat or deadlift, the volume just isn’t as high as usual. These sessions are pretty short as well, normally taking no longer than 60 minutes with a 10-15 warm up. They usually show up 5-10 min early anyways so this helps me out also. I make each of their lifting programs slightly different because they all have different needs, even working around a nagging injury(s).

Wednesdays/OFF Days I don’t see the athletes on this day, but I’ve encouraged to do lots of mobility and stretching on their own. Something very basic and easy that they can do on their own is tempo runs on a grass field; 10 x 100 yard “rhythm runs” with a set of 20 crunches or push ups in between will help promote recovery between sessions and keep the body active; also acts to “flush” the muscles and remove any excess waste product. The number 10 is nothing special, that’s just what I like to start most out at. Keep in mind these are not run fast; they are run relaxed and at a 65-70% effort (if your 100 time is 11.0, the runs would be in the 18-19 sec range).

OK, enough with the boring stuff. Check out the sample week below.

*Disclaimer= use at your own discrepancy. I’m not responsible for any injury that may arise from strenuous exercise. Make sure to warm up properly and be smart! To see how I warm up for speed training, watch my warm-up video below. This is just an example for the given scenario (I only have 6 weeks, 4 sessions per week to work with these athletes so this is unique to the given scenario and needs of the athletes); just a friendly reminder.

Also note: 1A/1B = Perform 1 set of “1A”, then move onto “1B”, then back to “1A”. Rest periods are not set in stone. Take as little rest as possible/needed without it negatively affecting performance. For heavier/max strength sets typically 3-4 minutes, sub-max weights typically 60-120 seconds. Females and younger athletes need less rest, older/experienced lifters and males typically need longer rest breaks. Use this as your guideline.

Week 1

Monday and Thursday

Warm up (assume same warm up for All 4 days):

• Dynamic Flexibility/Movement Prep x 10 repetitions each: front leg swings, side leg swings, arm circles, walking lunge, reverse lunge, lateral lunge, toy soldiers, back roll over/v-sit stretch, Hip Circles.
  
• Glute Activation x 8 repetitions each: Bird-dogs, bridging, Fire Hydrants
• Drills 2 x 10 yards: Running A’s, A-Skip, B-Skip, Skips for Height, 1-leg hop forward, 1-leg hop side-side, Pogo Jumps.

Med Ball Throws: Squat throw x 5, OHB x 5.

Speed: 2 x 10 Hill sprint, 5 x 15 Hill Sprint, 5 x 20 Hill sprint (use various starts); walkback recovery.

Jumps: 2-leg hops up hill x 3 x 15-20 yards.

Cooldown light strides, stretch, mobility, foam roll if possible.

Tuesday

*Warm Up

1a.) Bench Press work up to 5RM

1b.) Stretch Lats and Hip Flexors between each set of BP.

2a.) Pull Ups 3-5 x 6-8 (add weight when necessary)

2b.) Push Ups 3-5 x 10-15(add weight when necessary)

2c.) Walking Lunge 3-5 x 10/leg (long strides)

3a.) Band Good Morning OR GHR 2-3 x 8-12

3b.) Hand Walks on Power Wheel or Planks 3 x 30-60 seconds

4.) Sled Drags 4-8 x 30 yards (forward/backward), 45-70 sec rest between drags.

Wednesday: Active recovery. 10 x 100m tempo runs on grass at 65-70% effort. Perform 20 crunches and 20 push ups between each run during your rest period. Once you’re done with the crunches/push ups, get right back into the next run. Keep the same speed! Finish as you start. Long stretch afterward.

Thursday: See Monday above. Same format as Monday, except this time the hill sprints will be as follows: 5 x 10, 2 x 5 x 20. Walkback recovery. Distance is in yards.

Friday:

1A.) Deadlift 4-6 x 3-5

2A.) DB 1-Arm Clean/Press 3-4 x 4-8/arm

2B.) Inverted Row 3-4 x max reps

3a.) DB Bench Press 2-3 x 8-12

3b.) Bulgarian Split Squat 2-3 x 6-8/leg

3c.) Pikes or Hanging Leg Raise 2-3 x 10-15

4.) Sled/Tire Drags (optional) 4-8 x 30 yards

Sat/Sun: Typical OFF day but I encourage moving somewhat i.e. getting out the house and walking around, swimming, hike, go run around at the beach, etc. Just stay moving and have fun but this is the time your body will use to recover from a tough training week.

Go ahead and try this out if you want! If  you have questions post them below.

If  you liked this post and sample training program, keep your eyes open in the next couple months. I just may have the speed and strength/power training solution you’ve been waiting for to totally dominate your sport and blow away your friends/family. Stay tuned!!

See ya,

John Cortese

Yes, IMPROPERLY PERFORMED WEIGHT TRAINING IS BAD FOR YOU. This should be not confused with PROPERLY EXECUTED, WELL-COACHED, SOUND-REASON weight training. Unfortunately somewhere along the road the two got mixed together because a couple of morons got hurt deadlifting with a rounded back or not warming up at all and tearing a pec or injuring their shoulder on the bench press because they used a weight they were simply not ready for.

So, let’s go over a couple myths and lies about Strength Training for Athletes, shall we?

1. “Squats are bad for your back and knees” OK this has got to stop. Bad squatting is bad for your knees and back, this is true. Properly performed, full range of motion squats are NOT; in fact, done properly, they should be alleviating your problems. I don’t remember where I read this, but to loosely quote the author “If the exercises you are doing are making you feel like shit, evaluate your technique. If they are still making you feel like shit, STOP!” Look, we all like to making things more complicated than they really are for some reason or another. Take a look at the leg development of some of the best speed and power athletes in the world; Maurice Jones-Drew, Barry Sanders, Maurice Greene, Ben Johnson, etc. They didn’t earn legs like that overnight! I don’t care about genetics, natural athletes, etc because most of that garbage doesn’t apply to you or me! Properly executed squats will yield tremendous benefits to your athletic performance and physique. If you are unsure of what a real squat looks like, check this video out below:

2.) Machines are Safer/Easier: This drives me nuts. No athlete should ever be allowed to use traditional “fitness” machines. You know, the funny looking, expensive, space using, pieces of equipment that do most of work for you, while sitting down? Catch the last part of that sentence? DO MOST OF THE WORK FOR YOU, WHILE SITTING DOWN. Athletes need to train movement patterns that require some form of coordination, rhythm, timing, balance, mobility, strength, and speed. What machine allows you to do this? I know plenty of barbell exercises that train all of these qualities at once: Squats, Cleans, Snatches, Overhead Presses, Unilateral upper/lower body exercises, sprints, jumps, throws, etc. Yes machines are EASY because the machine has a fixed path that the resistance travels; usually up and down on some form of cable and pulley apparatus. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few machines out there such as the reverse hyperextension and glute-ham developer that have merit and are excellent for athletes and regular Joe’s to use; but if you’re looking for results, stick with free weights and body weight exercises such as push ups, jumps, pull ups, dips, etc.

Pretty sure she lifts weights.. Not very bulky or manly looking if you ask me!

3.) “Weight Training Will Make Me Slow and Bulky” I usually hear this garbage from females and inexperienced athletes in general who don’t really have a clue. I don’t blame them though, since the majority of popular media would like us to believe that women should only perform aerobics and use frilly 5 pound dumbbells, and athletes should be performing 1-leg balances on a swiss ball, juggling, while catching a football because it’s totally sport-specific (I hate that term by the way; “SPORT SPECIFIC”. I’ll touch on that topic in a future post). Let’s clear the air here; ladies you don’t have enough testosterone to turn “bulky” in the first place, and weight gain is simply a result of taking in more than you burn, simple as that. Nothing will get you “toned” faster than some good ol’ fashion weight training, coupled with a day or two of metabolic conditioning like sprints, jump rope, sled drags, etc. Same goes for athletes; getting stronger will only HELP your sprints and jumps. As long as you stay on top of mobility and flexibility (which you are, right?) and you continue to sprint and/or do some form of jump training at least once a week,  then you should see no loss in speed.

Now that I’ve had my soap box minute, what about you? I’d like to hear your thoughts below.

What myths and lies about strength training for athletes (or just people in general) frustrate you?! Leave ‘em below!

See ya,

John Cortese

Where to Start

A very simple way to begin to incorporate jump training into your program is to place them in the warm up prior to engaging in your strength work. I like to stick with a lower volume approach; 10-20 jumps for a while until you adapt. Any more than this is pretty much unnecessary and only increases the likelihood of you hurting yourself or your athletes/clients. Performing jumps prior to strength training has a number of benefits, including:

• Priming the CNS (central nervous system) to recruit the HTMU’s (high threshold motor units), which will call upon the fast twitch/white muscle fibers to start working NOW and get ready to lift very heavy.
  
• They get the body and mind warmed up efficiently.
  
• Keeps you moving and feeling athletic (what good is all that strength if you can’t display it on the field with some speed and power?)
  
• Trains mobility, spatial awareness, and body control. As you land from a basic jump, box jump, etc, you must have decent mobility to get into proper positions to avoid injury; and you must have good body awareness and coordination to stop from falling over.
  

How often should I be jumping?

It depends, really. If you are involved in a sport that requires a HIGH amount of jumping already (basketball, volleyball, etc) then the need for extra jump training may not be very high on the list of priorities. If you are not involved in a sport but still want to jump and feel athletic again, begin by placing 1-2 jump training sessions in per week, preferably before you lift and on non-consecutive days. For example, you could simply perform your warm up, then perform 8-10 sets of 1-3 box jumps, working up to a max height for the day. Then, 2-3 days later, you could perform 6-8 sets of 2-3 standing long jumps going for a max distance. Each time you jump you would ideally work to break the previous weeks’ record. This is a big key to making consistent gains and progress; always shoot to break records! (Below you’ll see a recent video of me hitting a PR Box Jump of 50 inches. Use caution and be smart when performing box jumps at near-maximal heights!)

Don’t make this very fancy or complicated. I think every person, regardless of whether you are a competitive athlete or looking to add some muscle and lose fat, should be jumping and sprinting. It is fun and keeps you athletic, which in the long run will prevent injuries just in case you decide one day to play a game of pick up football or need to sprint. After all we were designed to move this way!

Leave me a comment below with your favorite ways to develop power in your own training or for your athletes! This is NOT the only method I use to develop power, but when in doubt, basic jump training will win over any fancy method any day!

See ya!

John Cortese

If you want to run fast and excel in your given sport, you need to train properly for it. Unfortunately most of the athletes and coaches I come into contact with have zero clue on how to train for optimal sprint speed, or still are under the assumption that “Speed can’t be taught”. That’s just a pathetic excuse for not knowing what you’re doing, or simply a lack of “know-how”.

It pisses me off to no end when I see athletes run into the ground 4-5 days per week year round; this is NOT speed training. Everyone can get faster with proper training; it doesn’t mean EVERY athlete has the potential to run a 4.3 40, but EVERY athlete has the potential to run faster than they think.

Here are 5 ways that should set you on the right path to running faster, as well as decreasing your risk of injury (i.e. hamstring pulls which can be easily prevented with a properly designed program and competent coach) and prolonging your athletic career as long as possible.

#5- Less is More- Training for speed is definitely a minimalist approach. You should always, always, always follow the “less is more” philosophy. Endless repeat sprints done while fatigued will do absolutely nothing for speed development; sure you’ll be tired and sore, but the longer you stay sore, fatigued, and beat up from training, the less likely your so called “speed” sessions will be effective. Most people can see great gains in speed from only sprinting twice a week, with at least 48 hours in between speed sessions.

#4- Run Fast, but know when to STOP- If you want to be a speed demon, you must practice running fast; this is a skill, peeps. You must get repetitions under your belt to get better at it, just like any other skill you want to get good at. But, like I mentioned above, you must know when to call it quits in a training session. If fatigue sets in, form suffers, or you just don’t feel “right” don’t be afraid to cut your losses and end the session early. You can always come back next time. It’s always better to under-train than to over-train and risk serious injury. Be smart!

#3- Plan Ahead- Don’t just go out and run random distances and drills. You should always have a purpose or method to your madness. Know your sport; for example, does it make any sense whatsoever for a baseball player to run 3 miles every single day, when the furthest he will sprint from base to base is 30 yards? Think about that for a second… You will NOT get faster from running slow, long distance runs. It will do nothing but make you slower and weaker.. Not a good recipe for making an athlete fast and explosive.

#2- Develop Acceleration FIRST If you want to run fast, you must have your ability to accelerate in place first. I follow the “short-to-long” principle for speed development (thanks Charlie Francis) which basically starts any athlete learning how to accelerate over very short distances of 5-20 meters for a few weeks, then gradually extending the distances out as the acceleration mechanics and times improve.

#1- Throw the gadgets away!!- Parachutes, ankle weights, hand weights, partner resisted harnesses, acceleration ladders,  etc. These are the biggest waste of time and money for speed development, period. When you are trying to execute proper technique, relaxation, and speed drills under heavy resistance that will slow limb velocity down, what do you think is going to happen? All form will most likely go out the window; do this repeatedly over and over and you can expect to run slower and have shitty sprinting mechanics. Ever hear the term “going nowhere fast” or “spinning your wheels in the mud”? Same principles apply here..

Once you’ve realized that you don’t need a whole lot of fancy gadgets, 45 minute warm ups, parachutes, and scientific-breakthrough-advanced-Russian-Soviet squat program to become a better athlete, you’ll never go back. Keep it simple!!

Leave me a comment below and let me know your take on speed development! I welcome all suggestions, comments, and questions.

Til next time..

John Cortese

Check out this video I put together. This is a training session I went through on Monday and lemme tell ya- it was BRUTAL.

The hot Cali sun sure didn’t help much though HAHA! I’m sure you’ll enjoy this video of me and my training partners gettin’ after it.. We train like ATHLETES year round. I firmly believe in this– you gotta be able to MOVE, regardless of what your goals are: fat loss, build muscle, get faster, etc. I’m training for an upcoming alumni football game (get to put the pads on again!) so this is somewhat tailored to what I would have a football player (or similar sport in nature: lacrosse, wrestling, baseball, etc) do. You’re gonna have to check back in the next few days to see part II! Enjoy the vid!

Any questions/comments, be sure to leave ‘em below!

See ya!

John Cortese

PS- I mean in all honesty that the Truth About Quickness manual from Alex Maroko and Kelly Baggett is considered by me to be one of the best weapons in my arsenal to get my athletes REALLY quick and REALLY fast. If you don’t have it, you’re missin’ out!

Click HERE to get it!