Here’s Why You Are NOT Getting Faster (PS- It’s NOT Your Fault!)

Speed training is a very hot topic. Hell, it always has been. In sports such as football, baseball, soccer, etc., the faster players will almost always have the upper hand on their opponents. Speed literally does take the life out of another team. No matter how well you prepare yourself for a given team, if they have a couple more speedsters than you do, they automatically have the upper hand.

How often have YOU been on the other side of being beat deep for a touchdown by a player who just was flat out faster and more explosive than you? How frustrating is it to race for the ball in the middle of an open field during a soccer game and get beat there every single time by a player who had a better set of “wheels” than you?! These are just some examples, but you get the point? I wanted to address this topic because of a comment that I heard last night from one of the announcers during a high school football game. It was along the lines of “you CANNOT teach speed”. I’m sure we’ve all heard this before. I USED to believe in this. No matter what I did in high school, it seemed nothing worked to get me faster and more explosive. I was told I’d probably never break 4.6 seconds in the 40 yard dash-My freshman year of college I ran a 4.66 40 weighing 176 lbs; a little over 1 year later (after some hard/smart training) I ran a 4.47 40 yard dash weighing 189 lbs, while being significantly stronger!

What is the point of all this you say? Speed is a skill that can be taught to any athlete. Anyone can get faster than they previously are with some smart planning, hard work, and doing just enough to create an adaptation (QUICK TIP- Do enough to stimulate, NOT annihilate). Here’s some reasons WHY you may not be getting faster.

• You’re doing TOO Much- If you’re going out and running endless 100 yard sprints every single day, your body will start to break down. Injury will result soon enough, or you will get frustrated as fatigue starts to accumulate and get slower. My general rule is keep a speed session above 200 total meters/yards but no more than 500 total meters/yards in a given session, and do no more than 3 speed sessions per week. The rules are rough guidelines, so follow them loosely. If your form starts to break down, or you feel fatigued, then the session is called off. Which leads me to the next guideline…
  
• You’re not focusing on QUALITY- If you try to turn these speed sessions into a conditioning session, then you’re defeating the purpose! In order to facilitate improvements in speed, you MUST achieve complete recovery after each rep in order to teach your nervous system what a fresh, full speed sprint feels like. You will not be able to achieve the types of speed you’re looking for if you’re resting 30 seconds between 60 meter sprints. The effort might be there, but the times will show otherwise. Take home point- rest enough to make each rep QUALITY.
  
• You’re not lifting weights- Yes, most young (and even some college) athletes are flat out weak. If you aren’t strong enough to apply force to the ground, absorb force (each sprint stride places around 4-5x your bodyweight on each limb upon footstrike), and consistently do that rep after rep, you aren’t going to be as efficient as you need to be. Again, like number one, don’t over do it and go and lift 5 days a week and expect to get faster. My rule here is lift AFTER speed sessions (if speed is your main priority, this must be emphasized as supplemental to speed work) and keep it simple. Often times you may be too drained from a great speed session and only be able to perform a few sets of heavy squats, cleans, and chin ups- FINE, as long as you are striving to get strong and not afraid to pay your dues in the squat rack. Most fast athletes are also very strong (Ben Johnson, former world record holder in the 100 meters is said to have squatted ~600 lbs for 2 sets of 6, and bench press 440 lbs for 2 sets of 5- at a bodyweight of 175 lbs. He ran 9.79 seconds in the 100m). Think about it like this- you need to add some horsepower in that engine of yours, so get stronger!
  
• You’re not warming up properly- A thorough warm up is critical in order to generate the heat necessary for your muscles to perform optimally. Since sprint training is such a high velocity activity, you must be warmed up prior to engaging in this type of activity. No this doesn’t mean static stretch for 5 minutes and expect to be ready- I’m talking a full dynamic warm up (lunges, hip circles, leg swings, skips, jumps, throws, push ups, sit ups, drills, etc). This shouldn’t take you more than 20 minutes. Not only will you be ready to sprint, but you’ll notice decrease in some painful problem areas such as your back, knees, shoulders, etc. QUICK TIP: Don’t turn the warm-up into the workout itself; this should be something that gets you “warm” and lightly sweating before activity.
  
• You’re Not RESTING- Your body gets better while it rests in between high intensity bouts of training, not during the training itself. A training demand of this nature requires you rest so your body can repair and come back rested for the next session. The nervous system generally requires 48 hours in between bouts. So if you’re going to sprint on Monday, wait until Wednesday or Thursday to do it again.
  
• You’re Out of Shape- Yes, even sprinters and power athletes must have some sort of general fitness in place. The key here is to keep it low intensity. Low intensity activities can include extensive tempo running (“rhythm running” i.e. stride at 60-75% of your best time over a given distance with short recoveries), bodyweight/calisthenics circuits, jump rope, incline walks, swimming, even an extended warm up of 30-45 minutes without resting. Benefits of this type of activity are that it improves capillary density to promote greater bloodflow and recovery between training bouts, increases the amount of high intensity activity you can tolerate (aka work capacity), decrease recovery time the day after a hard training session, keeps the athletes “fit” and body fat  percent down (ever seen a fat, soft, pudgy guy who could run really really fast? Not very often!), and promotes rhythm through cadence. This can be done in between high intensity days and the younger or less fit you are, the more this type of work should be done. Start out with 2-3 times per week. *NOTE- There is a time and place to partake in those gut-wrenching, ball-busting conditioning training sessions, but keep in mind that the further away you are from your competitive season, the less this type of work should be done (this is my opinion, others may think I’m full of shit, but what are you gonna do?! Can’t please ‘em all!)
  

Putting it all together: Ok, so we’ve established some general guidelines, but how the hell do you put a sample week together, or a given training day? Here’s an example speed day:

Full Dynamic Warm Up: Light jogging 400m, leg swings, hip circles, knee hug/quad stretch, walking spiderman lunge, crossover lateral lunge, a-skips, b-skips, pogo jumps, mb throws, practice starts.

Speed Work (acceleration focus) : 5×10m, 4×20m, 2×3x30m (complete recovery)

Jumps: Standing Long Jump 2×6, Standing Triple Jump 2×5

Weights (full body): Back Squat 4 x 5 (increase weight each set to a heavy set of 5 on last set), Bench press 3-4 x 5-6, 1-Arm DB Row 3 x 10/Pull Up 3 x max reps, Glute Ham Raise 3-4 x 8-10, Front/Side Planks 2 x 60 sec.

Regeneration: Foam roll x 5-10 minutes, static stretch 5 minutes, post-workout carb/protein shake, contrast/hot-cold shower.

EXAMPLE TRAINING WEEK FOR AN 18 YEAR OLD FOOTBALL PLAYER:

Sunday- OFF

Monday- Speed (linear)/Weights/Jumps

Tuesday- Tempo (1500 yards tempo running 100 yard intervals at 70%, 30 seconds rest) Bodyweight circuit of push ups, sit ups, and squats.

Wednesday- Off or Light Skill work

Thursday- Speed (linear and non linear)/Lower Body weights/Throws

Friday- Upper body weights/incline treadmill walk w/ weight vest 5.0%, 3.5 mph 20 minutes

Saturday- Tempo runs 3×6x60 yards @75%, rest 20 seconds between runs, 60 seconds between sets, high rep ab circuit, soft tissue work/regeneration.

So there you have it. It doesn’t have to be rocket science. Keep it simple, lift weights, do some speed work with complete recovery, recover smart, break records each week, and you should see yourself finally get FASTER! Although the proper planning and periodization is also a factor in creating fast athletes, the principles remain here. Don’t over analyze the situation! Assess your goals and get started!

Here’s to getting you faster, stronger, and an explosive machine! And remember, it’s not your fault- Speed can be taught!

-John Cortese, YFS

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