The Speed Encyclopedia · Ferrugia, Jim Wendler, Mark Rippetoe, Louie Simmons, Bret Contreras, Eric Cressey, Mike

The Speed Encyclopedia

By: Travis Hansen

3 Copyright, 2013, Travis Hansen, All rights reserved.

The Speed Encyclopedia By: Travis Hansen Editors: Scott Wilson and Scott Underwood Cover: Cassie Drake Copyright 2013, Travis Hansen All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The information contained in this book is meant to supplement training for a sport. Like with any type of training, the training discussed within this book does pose some inherent risk. The author advises readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the exercises described in this book, be sure that your equipment is well maintained, and do not take risks far beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and comfort. As with any form of exercise, please consult your physician prior to commencing any strenuous activity.


THE SPEED ENCYCLOPEDIA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………..8 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………..9 TESTIMONIALS………………………………………….……10 VERTICAL + HORIZONTAL FORCE=TOP SPEED………18 THE NEED FOR ACCELERATION MORE THAN TOP SPEED IN MOST SPORTS…………………………………..24 BUILD YOUR HORSEPOWER………………………………26 -The Power Development Model STRENGTH TRAINING WHY EVERY ATHLETE SHOULD TRAIN SIMILAR TO A POWERLIFTER………………………………………………..31 -Maximal Strength Training for Maximal Speed -Strength Principles -Supplemental Strength Training to build your acceleration and speed musculature -Specific Strength Training to perfect sprinting technique POWER TRAINING OLYMPIC LIFTING FOR AN EXPLOSIVE START…..……57 -Explosive strength training -Jump tests


SPEED TRAINING PLYOMETRICS……………………………...………………...68 -High-frequency drills -Low-frequency drills -Medicine ball training SPRINTING…………………………………………………….75 -Speed Principles *Principle of Specificity *Overspeed” Principle -Sprinting Technique -Sprint Start Technique *Sprint Start Setup *Sprint Start SPRINTING EXERCISES………………………………….102 -10, 20, 40, and 60-yard dash -Flying sprints AGILITY AND QUICKNESS……………...…………………106 -Agility and quickness techniques -Rehearsed exercises -Reactive exercises JUMPING……………………………………………………..113 -Jumping technique- Mastering the 3 phases of a jump -Jumping exercises SPEED VS. CONDITIONING…………………………….…115


SPECIALIZED SPEED TRAINING METHODS………….120 -Complex Training -Assisted Sprinting -Hip Flexor Training -Technical Drills PROGRAM DESIGN………………………………………..125 -Sprinting Frequency -Sprinting Volume TEMPO TRAINING…………………………………………..131 FAT LOSS SYSTEM……………………….………………..136 GET SHREDDED ‐Energy Balance -Fat Loss Fundamentals -Fat Loss Cardio -Fat Loss Supplements -Fat Loss Nutrition *Carbohydrates *Protein *Fats 5-step Fat Loss Nutrition Plan MUSCLE BUILDING SYSTEM- GROW YOUR WAY TO BECOMING FASTER………….161 -Energy Balance -Muscle Building Fundamentals -Muscle Building Cardio


-Muscle Building Supplements -Muscle Building Nutrition *Carbohydrates *Protein *Fats 5-step Muscle Building Nutrition Plan BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED SPEED PROGRAM………………………….………………187 SPEED WORKOUTS………………………………………..192 EXERCISE INDEX…………………………………………...209 FAQ’S………………………………………………………….211 SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES………………………………..232 ABOUT THE AUTHOR………………………………………242


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Before we get started there are several thanks I would like to deliver. First, to my wife, Anna. I love you. Secondly, to my family for their support with this book and my business, and their contribution to purchasing and constructing equipment that allowed some of the results in this book to occur. Next, I would like to thank the entire South Reno Athletic Club Staff who have invested and supported my mission of athletic development since the beginning. Without their collective effort this book would have been far more difficult to create and my pocketbook would be hurting to say the least. Thank you! Next, I would like to thank Kelly Baggett, Charlie Weingroff, Charlie Francis, Vladimir Zatsiorsky, Yuri Verkoshansky, Joe DeFranco, Latiff Thomas, Barry Ross, Lee Taft, Lyle McDonald, Tom Venuto, Jason Ferrugia, Jim Wendler, Mark Rippetoe, Louie Simmons, Bret Contreras, Eric Cressey, Mike Boyle, Sol Orwell, and the rest of the “Underground” scientific community for their hard work and relentless effort to make the industry better. Without these people I would have never have been able to generate this book. This group is not nearly recognized as much as they should be in the mainstream, and it’s sad and frustrating. These are the real experts in fitness and training that you have probably never heard of, or will hear about. I would also like to thank my sales page design team, Deckermedia, who did a phenomenal job in helping promote the book, Cassie Drake for the wonderful cover design job she did, and Jon Goodman for his referral and support. Lastly, I would like to thank the thousands of clients who invested in my training system and approach. Without you none of this would have ever been possible.


INTRODUCTION

For the past several years, I have dreamed of researching and creating a guide for team sport athletes that could deliver fast results for anyone. I think that this final product accomplishes that, and I hope you will agree after you read it and apply the information inside. I really think that team sport athletes are in need of a resource that can provide them quality and unbiased scientific information that they can rely on throughout their respective athletic careers. So much of the credit needs to be paid to every researcher you see cited in this book, and the countless hours and study they put in to basically not be recognized by our society. Much of the information has existed for decades. It was just a matter of going out and finding it and then applying it. It is my hope that the information contained within is technical but simple enough, so that you can apply it immediately to make you or your athletes better. I’m honest when I say that I have poured every bit of myself into this project because I love speed science and want to help you succeed. Everything about speed is fascinating and amazing to me, especially learning , watching, and analyzing the most elite speedsters out there, and then studying what features they possess that make them so great. Speed truly is one of the most athletic actions an athlete can possess and express, and it is also one of the most coveted. Everyone wants it, and I will show you exactly how to get it! It requires such a high degree of athleticism, including speed, power, strength, coordination, technique, patience, repetition and so much more to master it. You need a complete program to make it happen. Be ready to put in the work and you will be rewarded.


SPEED ENCYCLOPEDIA TESTIMONIALS

#1: Nolan Wilcock-College Student-Former Athlete BEFORE: 155 lbs. AFTER: 183 lbs.

* Squatted 410 lbs. at 170 lbs. * Improved his 40-yard dash time from 5.1 seconds to 4.6 seconds. * Nearly maintained original body fat percentage while gaining 29 lbs. in 12

weeks!


#2: Scott Underwood-Minor League Baseball Player BEFORE: 175 Lbs. AFTER: 205 lbs.

* Improved exit throwing velocity (outfield to home plate) from 85 MPH to 94 MPH.

* Bench press increased from 225 lbs. to 305 lbs. * Squat increased from 300 lbs. to 410 lbs. * Deadlift increased from 350 lbs. to 505 lbs. * His 40-yard dash has gone from 4.9 seconds to 4.5 seconds. * 60-yard dash has improved from 7.0 seconds to 6.47 seconds. Scott was

timed twice by scouts in the 6.4-6.5 second range. * His vertical jump has gone from 30” to 35”. * Lastly, Scott has bulked up 30 lbs. naturally while maintaining a low body fat

percentage!


#3: Erik Underwood-Minor League Baseball Player *Bench press increased from 195 lbs. to 265 lbs. *Deadlift increased from 225 lbs. to 430 lbs. *Vertical jump increased from 27” to 32” *40-yard dash improved from 5.2 to 4.6 seconds (fully electronic) *60-yard dash improved from 7.2 to 6.5 seconds *Eric also amassed 25 lbs. of muscle.

#4: Brent Koontz-Former Collegiate and Arena League Football Player

Brent improved his 40-yard dash time by almost a half-second. When he first began training he recorded an unofficial 5.2-second run. At his tryout with the San Jose Sabercats of the AFL, Brent ran an unofficial 4.86-second 40-yard dash.


#5:Garrett Grenert-High School Baseball

Garrett has improved his fully electronic 20-yard dash from 2.97 seconds to 2.79 seconds, his 40-yard dash from 5.10 seconds to 4.69 seconds, and has gained 16 lbs. of muscle in the process.

#6: Josh Barrett-New England Patriots

“As an NFL athlete I've trained all over America, and working with Travis, his hands-on approach, challenged me as an athlete. His knowledge, passion and work ethic is amazing. I recommend Travis to anyone who aspires to reach their athletic goals.”


#7: Me @ 5’11”! While following this program for the past 3 years I have been able to take my athletic performance to a whole new level. *My standing vertical jump has improved from 30” to 37”, and my running vertical jump has soared from 39” to 46”. *My fully electronic 40-yard dash has gone from 4.92 to 4.54 seconds. *I’m 30 lbs. bigger (170 lbs. to 200 lbs.) * Bench press has gone from 225 lbs. to 300 lbs. * Deadlift 350 lbs. to 475 lbs. * Squat 275 lbs. to 400 lbs.

#8: Sean Cochran-College Student-Former Athlete

*Sean’s fully electronic 40-yard dash has gone from 5.08 (4.84 handheld) seconds to 4.76 seconds (4.52 handheld) *His vertical jump has increased from 27” to 33” *Sean has experienced 50% improvements in strength since he began the program as well. He now squats 365 lbs. and deadlifts 440 lbs. at 180 lbs.


#9: Jake Morris-Lacrosse and Football Player *Jake’s 40-yard dash has improved from 5.2 to 4.8 seconds! *Jake recorded the fastest shuttle run on his team as a lineman at 4 seconds flat. His vertical jump has increased from 19” to 26”.

#10: Skylar Schroeder-High School Basketball Player

*Skylar has taken his fully electronic 40-yard dash time from 5.2 seconds to 4.74 seconds

*His vertical jump has improved from 23” to 31” *He’s gained 31 lbs. of muscle!


#11: Rene Capps-Amateur Bodybuilder and football player

*Rene improved her 40-yard dash from 5.2 to 4.9 seconds! It’s great to watch her tear it up and beat many of the guys in the gym.

*She also squatted double her bodyweight and bench pressed plates for the first time on this program.

#12: Ally Gunderson-Junior High Volleyball Player

Ally has increased her vertical jump from 19” to 24” and taken her fully electronic 20-yard dash from 3.42 seconds to 3.28 seconds.


As you can clearly see, these are REAL testimonies. None of this “I feel better,” or “my trainer motivates me,” or “my trainer is the best” nonsense. This is what a program is all about. Results! These testimonies are just some of the dozens of athletes that have made remarkable progress on this training system. I apologize to anyone who I omitted above.


VERTICAL + HORIZONTAL FORCE=TOP SPEED

The debate between whether or not vertical or horizontal force display is the superior type of directional force for faster running is still alive. Some experts advocate for vertical while the others insist horizontal is king. So who is right? Neither of them. Before I get started, I must admit that I, too, was guilty of this for years until it was recently brought to my attention by experts through very discrete aspects of research that I simply missed. The truth is that both are powerhouses for dictating speed potential. Biomechanically, sprinting involves both the total amount of force we apply into the ground (power), as well as the different types of forces (vertical and horizontal) that are transmitted. We will never be our fastest without a solid combination of both types of forces in the highest amounts possible. I’m going to do my best to disclose and explain all of the research which strongly supports both types and then categorize each one into specific training categories. The bottom line is that there is going to be lots of research and facts, as well as a list of exercises you can use immediately to make fast gains in speed! We will discuss vertical force production and its role in speed first. From a general and cumulative standpoint, vertical force is always going to be higher in sprinting than horizontal. Below are two tables adopted from various sprint studies in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. The first illustrates vertical force outputs, which can top out at around 2500 Newtons according to one study, while the second table discloses horizontal productions which can top out around 800 Newtons according to that same study. It’s no match. Vertical output is up to three times greater than horizontal force production.

(Chart courtesy of strengthandconditioningresearch.com)


(Chart courtesy of strengthandconditioningresearch.com) Please keep in mind that the absolute value, although important, is not the be all and end all to speed regulation. Horizontal forces are going to play a critical and essential role later on. Moreover, some might be concerned with the notion that vertical force is higher, when sprinting certainly could be perceived as an activity that is horizontally dominant. Biomechanically, the reason for this is due to gravity. When we are sprinting, our landing foot hits the surface. As this occurs, there are horizontal braking forces that push back against us, which is countered by our momentum, which is obviously moving forward horizontally. The only way to continue motion is to drive up vertically past gravity. This is only one scenario, but it logically explains why vertical force is present in sprinting, and I first heard it from track and field coach Barry Ross. There are more than a half‐dozen studies that indicate the significance of vertical force for speed. 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 For example, in The Journal of Applied Physiology in 2000, Peter Weyand identified that faster runners generated as much as 1.26 times as much vertical force at top speed. 8 Lastly, as you will see later on, the vertical jump shares a strong correlation and is based primarily off of vertical force production. Now it may seem intuitive to assume that horizontal forces are a key player since our body mass is moving in a horizontal direction while sprinting, but after reading the research above, it can become hard to see the equal value horizontal force has in sprinting. Recall that the absolute amount of force favors vertical, so it’s then easy to assume that it’s the hands‐down favorite. At least that was the case for me. It’s a little more complicated than that, though. The manner in which force is distributed throughout a sprint is the complicated part. To help understand this,


let’s break the sprint down into the standard 3 parts; acceleration, top speed, and top speed maintenance/deceleration That’s the natural progression of events that would occur during a sprint if it’s long enough in duration and distance. In the first stage of the model, horizontal and vertical forces are going to both be high. Consider the near 45‐degree body angle as we leave the blocks or a 3‐ or 4‐point stance and it’s easy to see that there is a lot more hip drive and horizontal force produced since we are lying more flat. Here is a study from Mero in 1988 in Exercise and Sport Science that supported more horizontal force production for greater acceleration due to an increased forward body lean position. 9 Vertical force will still be very present since gravity is constant. According to Mero, vertical force production will be about 1.60 x BW, and horizontal was .73 x BW during the acceleration phase. Where horizontal force production will matter the most is in the middle to end portions of a sprint; top speed and deceleration‐speed maintenance, specifically.

(Photo courtesy of Eckhard Pecher) Because of the position of our body in an upright stride, the runner will naturally drive more horizontal force into the ground as they drive the stance leg back behind them. See the runner closest.

You can clearly see that in the upright position the hip will hyperextend past the body more than in a lean stride, since the body does not have to travel as far forward over the foot to hyperextend the hip. This will create more hip hyperextension and horizontal force. This helps to explain why horizontal forces continue to be generated at higher speeds when the body is upright. Below is a table from Brughelli (2011) that shows percentage increases of each type of force from 40 to 100% of maximum velocity.


(Chart courtesy of strengthandconditioningresearch.com) Quite frankly, this single table is all that is necessary to realize the extreme value horizontal forces will play in a sprint. If you break it down into pure numbers, what it means is that very little force is continuing to be exhibited vertically at 40% of top speed on. 40% is not very fast, so it plays a role quick in the sprint. This is what I was missing, and why I was always a huge advocate of vertical force production being superior to horizontal in sprinting for many years. You simply cannot continue to accelerate beyond a moderate speed or effort without a dominant amount of horizontal force production. It’s really that simple. It sealed the deal. Furthermore, maximal running speed was correlated significantly with mass‐specific horizontal force, and there are almost a dozen other studies that show a relationship between speed and horizontal force production. 3 5 6 10 11 For example, a simulation was conducted by Hunter, Marshall, and Mcnair in 2004 in The Journal of Biomechanics. 11 They selected 28 team sport athletes in the first part of the study, 36 athletes in part 2, and they were paired by gender average sprint speed and other factors. What they found after this simulation was that both vertical and horizontal force outputs are key to running performance. Next, we will break the training of each force type into two specific categories that you can use. Almost every single exercise you do for your lower body can be


classified into one or the other. I first heard this classification style from Bret Contreras, so he gets the credit here. Axial Loading=Vertical Force Exercises Anterior‐posterior=Horizontal Force Exercises Axial loading is termed for the fact that you are applying resistance or an external load on the axial skeleton and driving force up “vertically” for the most part. You still create horizontal force with this type of exercise, but not as much as the anterior‐posterior variations. This axial sub‐skeletal system consists of mainly the cranium, the spine, and rib cage. I will be discussing all of the benefits of this type of exercise mainly in the “Maximal Strength” portion of the book, along with lots of research and studies, so stay tuned! Examples include squats, deadlifts, lunges, and high box step‐ups.

Axial loading via the back squat is a key exercise for greater speed! Anterior‐posterior exercises are where you apply resistance or an external load and require your body to move the load in a horizontal direction, or more front to back. Anterior‐posterior also produce vertical force, but not near as much as the axial type exercises. I will be discussing the benefits of this type of training in the strength section of the book as well, specifically in the “Hip Dominant” portion. Examples include barbell hip thrusts, sled pulls or sprints, and hamstring curls.


Erik is feeling the wrath of the barbell hip thrust! So if we address and regularly implement both types of exercise, the athlete is guaranteed to have strong legs through a full range of motion, achieve both force types, leaving no weak links and greater speed! This program has plenty of both, so not to worry.


`THE NEED FOR ACCELERATION MORE THAN TOP SPEED IN MOST SPORTS

Just like the title states, most circumstances in athletics involve a greater need for acceleration versus top speed. What’s the difference, you might ask? Mark Rippetoe in his book “Starting Strength” states that acceleration is “the increase in speed.” 12 In other words, acceleration is how quickly we can create speed or move faster. Top speed is how fast we can move, and does not necessarily factor in the time it takes to get there. We can have great speed or have the capacity to move fast, and not produce it immediately if our acceleration is poor or less than optimal. The main thing I would like to point out here is that a majority of field and court sports and other activities are functions of acceleration first and speed and top speed second, if at all. “In sports where average sprint distances range from 10 to 30m, it would appear that the ability to achieve maximum velocity within the shortest time frame is more important than the maximum velocity itself. That is, acceleration rather than maximum velocity would seem to be of greater importance to many sportsmen and women.” 1 Of course there is greater speed when you have faster acceleration because you are increasing speed, but the main issue is one of how quickly an athlete can accelerate and increase speed in a given direction, and not how fast an athlete is capable of sprinting if allowed more time.

(Photo courtesy of Keith Allison)

Tony Parker is a great example of someone that can go 0‐60 like nothing. His ability to accelerate and increase his speed in any direction immediately enables him to blow by his opponents at will!

Think about this example for a second. John has great speed and top speed,

and can move faster than anyone. Unfortunately, it takes John awhile to accelerate and increase his speed appreciably (40‐100 yards). Consequently, John seems slow


and suffers in his sport because a majority of the activity occurs very quickly across really short distances (5‐40 yards) and requires rapid acceleration. In order for John to be successful he has to increase speed and reach his speed potential much sooner, and the only way he can do this is by increasing his acceleration (0‐40) and training as such. Not only is this the case for John, but the vast majority of athletes in society need to perform great and focus their training on very short distances, and it’s rarely the case in my experience. So the next time you hear a mom, dad, or coach say they want to improve their son, daughter, or athlete’s speed or “game speed,” what they really are looking for is faster acceleration from their kid. Being able to move faster as soon as possible is absolutely key! As an interesting side note, the body actually does not reach top speed until the 40‐80 yard mark, depending on the level of the athlete, so top speed does not even occur in most cases. “Deceleration only becomes a factor after a sprinter passes his point of maximum speed. For the top sprinter, this might be at sixty meters, and he would not decelerate appreciably for another twenty. The intermediate sprinter reaches maximum speed at about 45 meters, and thus has a much greater deceleration potential. And the beginner begins decelerating fairly rapidly after he hits his maximum speed at 35 meters.” 13 According to this scientific fact, many athletes generally never come close to reaching top speed in competition, but they constantly have to accelerate, decelerate, and re‐accelerate as fast as possible in multiple directions. I just feel it is important to clarify terms and define the actual needs of an athlete, so that we are better able to design a program and prescribe the right type of training for our athletes to afford them the best chance to excel in competition. And now that we know more about the value of acceleration and speed, how do we go about obtaining these abilities in our training?? The answer is to develop more POWER, since it will be the make or break skill in this department.


BUILD YOUR HORSEPOWER

I am sure just about anyone who is reading this has previously heard the term “power” used before. This is the master regulator of sprinting speed. You generally hear it when an elite Olympic line of sprinters blast out of the blocks during the 100‐meter dash, or when an NBA superstar posterizes his opponent, or when a major league baseball player skies up to nab a would‐be home run above the fence line, or when an NFL athlete jumps 40” or more in the vertical jump test at the annual NFL Combine. There is no question, it is truly one of the most impressive and highly coveted abilities, and there are many who are willing to do just about anything this day and age to get it. Fortunately for us, power can be taught, learned, and improved by ANYONE with the right training approach. But before we can train and gain power, I think it’s important to define it and have a basic understanding of what power really is. By doing so, you will have a deeper core understanding of the term. With this generally comes a stronger appreciation and willingness to want to perform it in potential times of doubt, resulting in greater adherence to the program and increased long‐term success. Power, by definition, is the end product of force x velocity. To simplify terms, I am going to use Strength x Speed because everyone is typically more familiar with these. The more of each of these we possess, the greater our power levels. *Strength= The amount of force we produce. The more force we produce, the stronger we are and vice versa. *Speed= How fast we produce force. The faster we produce force, the greater our speed and vice versa. Maximizing your strength and speed will always yield the highest output of power and athletic ability, period. The bottom line is that if you want phenomenal power and explosiveness, then you have to be able to generate the highest amount of strength in the shortest period of time. It does not matter if you are lifting heavy weights, lighter weights, or just your bodyweight, you have to produce strength and produce it as fast as you are capable. Power is without a shadow of a doubt, the “master regulator” of sport performance. If you want to jump out of the gym, cut on a dime, sprint faster than you ever thought possible, or increase the efficiency of your movements, to name a few, then you have to elevate your power output. In 1999, McBride and his team of researchers conducted a study to measure power levels in certain types of athletes. 14 The study involved a control group, and a series of powerlifters, sprinters, and Olympic lifters. Researchers wanted to measure relative power ratios (bodyweight to power), and absolute power measures from all of the participants in each group.


Subjects performed a vertical jump, a smith machine squat, and a smith machine squat jump. The results showed that the sprinters had the highest relative power (power to bodyweight ratio) and best vertical jump height, while the Olympic lifters generated the highest total power output, and powerlifters had the highest levels of absolute strength. Surprisingly, though, sprinters and Olympic lifters did possess similar levels of strength in this particular study. What was most convincing about this study was how much more total power the three groups achieved relative to the control group, indicating a really strong need for power. It was dramatically higher in the three types of athletes, and indicates just how important this skill is to general athletic performance, and in the case of this book, speed!. Here is one of the charts of the study that shows sprinters as having the highest level of power output in the vertical jump test. I would also like to mention that the sprinters in this study weighed 170 lbs. on average, and squatted 450 lbs. on average. That’s more than 2.5 times their own bodyweight! 24

(Chart courtesy of strengthandconditioningresearch.com) If you still naturally question, or have any doubt on whether or not elite sprinters, or those who are fast require greater levels of power (strength x speed) to enable faster running speeds, then there is a host of studies and data that will support this notion later on in this manual. Real power training is one of the most rewarding training styles available to the public, once you dismiss the apprehension surrounding it and you become familiar with the exercises and how they should be performed. This manual will show you how. There are various methods we can select to improve our power development. Some are better than others for developing power in specific areas of the body, some are safer than others, and some are less technical and complex than others. But the one thing all methods share in common is that they ALWAYS demand you to


summon as much force and energy as possible, as fast as you can, each and every time you attempt to move. I cannot state the importance of this enough! Next, we will look at a universally accepted and technical model that serves as a representation of power. If you have ever studied human movement science before, then I’m sure you have probably seen the diagram I’m about to show you. It’s called The Force‐Velocity Curve. Just think of it as the portrayal of the actual power definition where you have force (strength) on one end and velocity (speed) on the other. The two together form power. By applying this useful model properly through sound training over the long term, we can effectively maximize our power output and thus sprinting and speed skill. How do we do this? Basically, we need to integrate the essential and supremely underrated triad of powerlifting, Olympic lifting, and sprinting to maximize both our power output and running speed. Of course, there are other techniques and training types performed in this program, but these three are the primary ones that will always get you faster on the field, track, or court. Each one of these disciplines has a lot to bring to the table, and we will never be as fast as we can be if we neglect or underachieve on any one of these skills. Never.

THE FORCE-VELOCITY CURVE

(Chart courtesy of articles.elitefts.com) Training all along this entire curve is key to running faster!

Now we have some solid scientific evidence and a specific accompanying model to show just how important power is to developing speed. It’s now a good time to reveal the practical and permanent training model we will need to utilize to implement everything mentioned previously. To reflect all of this, I went ahead and created The Power Development Model for my athletes or those deciding to try our system who wanted to get faster. The beauty of this model is its consistency,


simplicity, and reliability of it. It has a strong and unshakable structure that emphasizes all that we need to drive up our total body power and then some!

THE POWER DEVELOPMENT MODEL:

UPPER BODY SPEED TRAINING + UPPER BODY POWER TRAINING + UPPER BODY STRENGTH TRAINING *Plyometrics Olympic Lifting Maximal Strength ‐Medicine ball drill ‐Hang snatches and cleans ‐Bench press ‐Hitting or throwing Explosive Strength Supplemental Strength ‐Plyo pushups ‐Speed bench press ‐Chins/pulls, military press, row variations LOWER BODY SPEED TRAINING + LOWER BODY POWER TRAINING + LOWER BODY STRENGTH TRAINING *Plyometrics Olympic Lifting Maximal Strength ‐Jumping ‐Hang snatches and cleans ‐Squat or Deadlift ‐Sprinting Explosive Strength Supplemental Strength ‐Agility and quickness ‐Speed squat or deadlift ‐Single leg movements, GHR, RDL’s ‐Jump Squats Specific Strength ‐Sled sprints, pulls, or marching

With this model, you will always be incorporating a majority of the training

you need to be powerful throughout both the upper and lower body. Ultimately, both regions of the body are going to be utilized in any movement pattern, with generally one half being primary in certain movements and the other half secondary. Therefore we will definitely need both halves functioning at a high level if we truly want to maximize a movement pattern, especially in the case of sprinting or speed‐based movements. The luxury of this approach is that you could literally optimize any target movement by training within the confines of this model, as long as you successfully address each aspect. As a testament to this, I’ve utilized this model with long ball hitters, golfers, boxers, baseball players, lacrosse players, soccer players, skiers, basketball players, football players, etc. several times and the results were fantastic. I should quickly note that the only real differences between devising this approach for a football player and a tennis player would be alterations in the speed and specific strength categories. A large majority of sport‐specific movement patterns are lower or upper body speed‐based motions (throwing, kicking, hitting, running , jumping, cutting etc.). A tennis player’s speed work prescription to swing a tennis racket should arguably differ from a football player, who may potentially do less swinging and more throwing or pressing activities. Honestly, though, each of these activities are going to create the same speed or plyometric effect in similar areas of the upper body. The only other discrepancy would be the “Specific Strength” category under lower body strength training, which I will discuss in detail later on.


Next, we will examine the model in full detail so you’ll see what will actually help make you faster. I will introduce and discuss each component of the model (strength, speed, and power) directly, along with key principles, research, and techniques for each. Once I’m finished here, it is my hope that you will have an overwhelming acceptance of just how influential power can be for the sake of making athletes or anyone faster across any sport. Before I do, though, I want to leave you with a quote from a team of highly credible researchers in the field about the future and direction of their research on speed development and two confirming studies. “It is generally accepted that maximal running velocity requires high force production. 15 16 17 As such, strength and power training methods are almost universally promoted as a means of training to improve running velocity. 15 18 19 Therefore, the relationship between strength and power and velocity are of considerable interest in attempting to identify possible mechanisms for the enhancement of running performance.” 15 18 20 21 1 In 2012, Morin and his colleagues published a study in The European Journal of Applied Physiology that examined a series of sprinters from different skill levels, including 9 non‐sprinters, 3 French national‐level sprinters, and a world‐class sprinter. The world‐class sprinter was Christophe LeMaitre, who is the fastest European sprinter ever to date. The conclusion of the study was that Lemaitre’s power output, especially in the horizontal direction, was the difference maker in his elite times comparative to slower runners. The researchers did mention that vertical force at top speed correlated significantly, but horizontal force was more important. 22 24 In 2012, Beneke and Taylor published a study in The Journal of Biomechanics called “What gives Bolt the Edge‐A.V. Hill knew it already!” They assessed Usain Bolt’s past performances in the 100‐meter dash, and eventually identified that the reason Bolt is superior is primarily due to the fact that he is able to maximize his position on the Force‐Velocity Curve and generate more power into the ground than any of his competitors! 23 24 In fact, the researchers compared the difference in power between someone running a 9.96 second 100‐meter dash versus Bolt’s 9.58, and it was about 6%. That’s quite a bit when you figure we are discussing tenths of a second. They also noted in the study that Bolt is reaching what previous researchers indicated as the human limit of physical power output. 24 Pretty incredible.


WHY EVERY ATHLETE SHOULD TRAIN SIMILAR TO A POWERLIFTER

Strength training is simply the ability of the body to develop more force in movement. This style of training is also most athletes’ missing link to getting faster. VERY rarely do I witness athletes lifting hard and heavy like they should, especially enough to increase speed. NO ONE, and I mean no one, embodies this approach better than a powerlifter. Yes, you read that right: a powerlifter! To clarify, powerlifters gear their programs and approach around improving three core lifts: the bench press, deadlift, and squat. That’s it. There are other exercises involved of course, but everything they do is centered on performances in these three exercises. Their methods have been explored and validated, and they absolutely work and always will. Now I’m pretty certain that many will be rolling their eyes, shaking their heads, and quite possibly shouting obscenities as they read this, since heavy weightlifting is automatically associated with injury and extreme fear from the general public. Fair enough. I used to perceive the sport in the same way until I realized my own ignorance and all of the unprecedented value powerlifting provides to an athlete, and we should be crediting this culture for their philosophy. All I ask is that you please hear me out and get outside your comfort zone for a moment, and honestly consider all that I am about to share with you. I absolutely sympathize and understand why so many do not embrace the notion of lifting heavy weights, but there is no question on the positive and substantial effect that a modified style of this type of training can have on athletes. If you are not training heavy then you are making your athletes weaker, slower, unhealthier, and less capable and athletic in competition. Period. There generally tends to be two primary reasons why coaches, athletes, trainers, and parents dismiss this type of training from their athletes’ training model, regardless of the type of sport. The first is injury risk. This is a fair assumption since many tend to get injured at some point in the training process. I’ve been there. However, if your program design and technique are where they should be then this should not be a problem, and the risk of injury is drastically reduced. Many studies have measured the rate of injuries associated with weight training compared with the rate in other sports. For example, a study published in the November/December 2001 issue of The Journal of American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons cited research showing that in children ages 5 to 14 years, the number of injuries from bicycling was almost 400 percent greater than the number of injuries from weightlifting. There’s more. In a review paper on resistance training for prepubescent and adolescent athletes published in 2002 in Strength and Conditioning Coach, author Mark Shillington reported in a screening of sports‐related injuries in school‐aged children that resistance training was the likely cause of only 0.7 percent (or 1,576) of injuries compared with 19 percent for football and 15 percent for baseball. 25


The truth is that weight training and competitive lifting sports are among the safest activities an athlete can participate in. This fact is known worldwide. For example, renowned Russian sports scientist Vladimir Zatsiorsky in his book Science and Practice of Strength Training has this to say about the dangers of weight training. “The risk of injury from a well coached strength training program has been estimated to be about one per 10,000 athlete‐exposures, with an athlete‐exposure being defined as one athlete taking part in one training session or competition. Compared to tackle football, alpine skiing, baseball pitching, and even sprint running, strength training is almost free of risk.” 25

Every single time someone comes to me with a present underlying injury, there is always something definitively wrong with either their lifting technique or program design, or both. And just so we are on the same page, program design refers to the specific structuring of all of the training‐related variables (exercise selection, training frequency, rest period, training volume, type of workout, skill focus, etc.) that dictates how our body will respond and adapt to the training we are performing. If any of this is improperly assigned then we will not benefit as much from our training and we could risk potential injury. After a decade of training athletes, I’ve more than realized that this is the most difficult part of being an effective coach and getting the results you and the athlete both want. Program design is an art that requires careful and precise understanding of all scientific parameters or guidelines. I view it as a tax return. If one number is out of whack then the whole return is compromised and we receive a bad outcome, by either paying more money or not receiving as much of a return. Training works in much the same way. Many times, a model will be strong in certain areas, but lacking in others and the result is not what it could be. Lastly, strength training is one of the best forms of exercise for injury prevention and general rehabilitation treatment, contrary to popular belief. The reason is pretty simple. With bigger and stronger tissues (tendons, ligaments, muscles) derived from strength training, our collective body structure will be more resistant to all of the external forces and demands being placed upon it in sport and training, and we will be far less likely to get injured. I always elect to use the analogy of a bigger rubber band versus a smaller one to my athletes when attempting to convey the message that strength training will make us healthier. Which one will tear first if there is an equal amount of effort placed upon each? Obviously, the answer is the smaller rubber band. So as long as our program design and technique are fantastic, then building a dense body structure is going to help keep athletes healthy over the long term. The next concern that coaches or others have with powerlifting or lifting heavy weights is “specificity.” In other words, they feel that squatting and deadlifting have no bearing whatsoever on whether or not an athlete can run faster or perform sport‐specific movements better. But wait, everyone believes in stretching and that is not specific to the act of sprinting, right? Again, I can understand this perspective


in that many are fearful of heavy weightlifting, or they are simply ignorant, but the fact of the matter is that movements do not have to always be exactly the same to translate and benefit one another. Powerlifting and speed training are no exception, to say the least. Let me pose this question before I get into the science. Why does nearly every legitimate Division 1 football program integrate heavy weightlifting into their off‐season programs, and why are these guys constantly the fastest people in sport outside of sprinters, who also utilize heavy weightlifting? Of course it gets them stronger, but if you were to ask any of the unbiased, informed, and objective athletes and coaches, I am sure they would tell you that it helps make them much faster as well. Aside from personal experience here, I’ve heard it from too many of my athletes in the past and present. It’s something that you truly have to experience to appreciate completely. A large majority of speed development systems to date completely disregard heavy weightlifting, and it’s at the expense of each and every athlete entering that program looking to get faster and it re‐embeds the long‐held notion that speed cannot be taught, learned, or improved that much, when it definitely can. Now to help refute this commonly held misperception, we need to consider and introduce 3 unique functions of muscles in the human body to better appreciate what “non‐specific” training exercises can bring to the table. #1‐Muscle can move in multiple directions. #2‐Muscles move through large ranges of motion. #3‐Muscles move through a variety of different joint angles. This is extremely important information in refuting always being “training specific” in the context of developing speed, and even other areas of training. I will be providing you with specific evidence here shortly, but the fact is that the muscles that we utilize heavily while deadlifting or squatting are the exact same ones that we will call upon when the time comes to run sprints of all distances, contrary to popular belief. Of course the direct activity levels of each of the individual muscles are going to be a little bit different at different phases of each movement, as well as the angles and ranges of motion, but the simple reality is that it’s the same muscle groups working. Always keep in mind that muscles are very versatile and adaptable in nature. This helps simplify many of the confusing movement comparisons listed in literature. To help reinforce this notion, below is a series of EMG reports for what would be typically known as very “different” movements. Electromyography is a technique used mainly by researchers to test the specific skeletal muscle activity in target motions. Please note that all muscles in the entire body are active in these movements, but I’m only going to share the results of the lower body since this is the main driver in sprinting.


Back Squat: In 2002, Caterisano and his colleagues found that “as squat depth got deeper, the gluteus maximus becomes more active during the concentric contraction phase of the lift. Muscular contribution shifts from the biceps femoris, vastus medialis and lateralis to the gluteus maximus. This suggests that the gluteus maximus is the prime mover during the concentric phase of the squat, and the other muscles play a secondary role.” What this study found is that the hips, especially the glutes, are more active than the quads in a back squat movement performed correctly. 26 Conventional Deadlift: In 2002, Escamilla performed a study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. This study found the majority of muscle activity was in the quadriceps and gluteus maximus when greater knee flexion angles were present, whereas the hamstrings were very dominant with less knee flexion during the deadlift. 27 Vertical Jump: There was a study conducted in 2011 that analyzed muscular activity of various muscles in the squat, deadlift, and vertical jump. The results indicated that the hips, primarily the glutes, were the prime movers in the vertical jump. I could not find the specifics as to how much they were dominant, but other authorities have cited the glutes along with the hamstring muscles as contributing up to 60% in the vertical jump pattern. 28 Sprinting: In a study in 1995, Dr. Wiemann and Dr. Tidow utilized EMG testing to see the various skeletal muscle activity levels at the knee and hip during sprinting. They concluded that the muscles mainly responsible for forward propulsion in full speed sprinting are the hamstrings, the gluteus maximus and the adductor longus. The hamstrings are singled out as the most important contributors to produce the highest level of speed. 29 So now you clearly see how powerful your hips are in movement and the strong relationship between many movements of the lower body. With all of this in mind, increasing strength potential in these muscles through now arguably labeled non‐specific exercises like deadlifts and squats will allow you to effectively be able to drive more force into the ground and run faster since these muscle groups will be much stronger. Moreover, the squat and deadlift are more similar to sprinting than we usually give them credit for. This has to deal with “torque‐angle curves” that will be discussed in greater detail in the Hip Dominant Training section. Don’t worry about the big fancy word. It just means being range–of‐motion specific. If you analyze when we sprint, from the landing up until mid‐stance our hips, knees, and


ankles will be bent or flexed, just like with a squat or deadlift. The more force we can drive out of a squat, the more force we will produce in this phase of the movement. The third similarity that powerlifting and sprinting share is the structural likeness that each type of athlete generally possesses. Below is a chart taken from Tudor Bompa that shows very similar levels of fast‐twitch muscle fiber that both weightlifters and sprinters share.

Lastly is the value of “vertical force” that is present in squatting, deadlifting, and sprinting. You saw earlier just how important vertical force production is for speed. Squatting and deadlifting produce horizontal force, just not as much. It sounds ridiculous because we seem to be moving almost PURELY in the horizontal direction as we sprint, and our moving mass is definitely traveling in this direction, but there is still some vertical‐based force assisting us in getting there. Hence, a squat or deadlift, which can only be achieved through POWERLIFTING! The squat and deadlift are the two exercises that are going to allow us to develop the most of a certain type of directional force necessary to run faster. “Ben Johnson won because he had the most vertical displacement. When he was pulling away from his competitors, he exhibited measurably greater vertical displacement than they did; when he slowed down towards the end of the race and cruised to victory, he had less vertical displacement than he had featured at maximum velocity. In fact, every sprinter in the talent‐packed finals at Seoul had some measure of vertical displacement.” 13 This quote is referring to former 100‐meter world record holder Ben Johnson of Canada, and how his ability to propel and lift his body up in the vertical direction while sprinting was integral to his amazing performance. Oh, and Johnson also squatted 600 lbs. for reps at a body weight under 200 lbs. before he ran his gold medal‐winning 9.79 second 100 meter run at the Seoul Olympic games. Ben Johnson was the fastest during the ‘70‐‘80s era, and Usain Bolt is now. What’s interesting is that Usain Bolt too exhibited the highest degree of vertical force out of all of his competitors, and he is the best


currently in this era. A study in 2012 in The International Journal of Sports Medicine identified the fastest 3 men on planet earth. Usain Bolt exhibited far more vertical force than either of the top 2 competitors, Osafa Powell and Tyson Gay. 24 31 Now let’s look at some of the popular studies as well as a personal case study I did to help solidify the need for higher levels of strength for improved speed performance. The first study was performed in 2009 and was found in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. This study involved 17 Division 1‐AA collegiate football players. Each player performed a 1 rep maximum squat with 70 degrees of knee bend. Within the next week, a 5‐, 10‐, and 40‐yard dash time was taken for each participant utilizing electronic timing measures. The researchers concluded that there was a very strong correlation between 10‐ and 40‐yard dash times, and strong correlation across 5 yards. Subjects of the study were divided into 2 groups: those who squatted 2.10 x their bodyweight or more, and those who squatted 1.90 x their bodyweight and less. The former had significantly lower sprint times in comparison with the weaker group. 32 The second study I found was also located in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and was published in 2012. This study contained an introduction that mentioned previous research had expressed a relationship between maximal squat strength and sprint performance. This study aimed to test that theory once more. Nineteen professional rugby players were tested in the back squat for 1 rep, and 5‐, 10‐, and 20‐meter dash at the onset of the study. Next, each player was put through a strength mesocycle (one month) and power mesocycle. After that period of time, both absolute and relative strength levels had increased considerably, as well as performance across all 3 distances. Pre‐strength levels were at an average of 1.78 x body weight, and 2.05 x body weight after. 5‐meter performance average was 1.05 before and .097 after. 10‐meter was 1.78 before and 1.65 after, and 20‐meter was 3.03 and 2.85 before and after. 33 The third study comes from Mann and his team of researchers, who filmed a series of male and female sprinters at various competitions to assess them biomechanically. What they found during their analysis was that horizontal velocity is key for maximal speed and that is best satisfied through both strength acquisition and technical proficiency. 34 The fourth study analyzed data and information from the 100‐meter races at the 1988 Olympic Games. Researchers recognized that functions of strength at the beginning of a race during the acceleration phase are different than after maximum speed has been attained. Thus, strength training for each phase of the race could utilize a different approach. The concentric or shortening action of primarily the quadriceps is huge during acceleration. This is an acceleration‐based program, so this information serves great for this program, and this is why squats and max strength work are beneficial. Furthermore, eccentric loading was smaller and reserved for after longer strides and impacts have been created (Top speed). Thus,


more eccentric and reactive strength work would improve this phase of the sprint. The authors mentioned drop jumps here. 35 The fifth study was conducted by Bret in 2001 in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness.36 In this study, 19 national male sprinters competed in a 100‐meter race. The race was broken down into three phases for analysis, as well as the speed differences for each. The results showed that concentric half squat strength was the best indicator of the 100‐meter sprint, and leg stiffness played a major role in the second half of the race. Last is my own personal study. I decided to test this same concept and research the two sports that regularly and undoubtedly possess the fastest people on the planet year in and year out. Below is a brief list of elite sprinters and pro football players, along with their specific weight, 1 rep max squat, strength to bodyweight ratio and fastest 100‐meter and or 40‐yard dash time. Please note that these results were not referenced from scientific journals like most everything else, but rather university websites, NFL sites, and other online sources. As you are reading these, keep in mind the study from 1999 by McBride with the sprinters, Olympic lifters, and powerlifters. Sprinters in that study averaged a strength to bodyweight ratio of over 2.5 times their own bodyweight in the squat, which supports the information below. 24 Athlete: Weight (lbs.): 1RM Back Squat: Strength: BW: 40: 100: Tyson Gay 177 400 2.2 N/A 9.69 Asafa Powell 194 500 2.5 N/A 9.77 Ben Johnson 180 600 3.3 4.38 9.79 Maurice Greene 170 505 2.9 N/A 9.79 Donovan Bailey 200 505 2.5 N/A 9.84 Dwayne Chambers 200 506 2.5 N/A 9.87 Linford Christie 190 660 3.4 N/A 9.87 Walter Dix 195 400 2.0 N/A 9.88 Chris Johnson 195 425 2.1 4.24 10.38 Taylor Mayes 230 600 2.6 4.24 N/A Michael Vick 214 515 2.4 4.25 N/A Randy Moss 210 425 2.0 4.25 N/A Lamichael James 195 485 2.4 4.27 10.41 Devin Hester 190 415 2.1 4.27 N/A Desean Jackson 175 395 2.2 4.29 N/A Bob Sanders 206 497 2.4 4.30 N/A Patrick Peterson 219 535 2.4 4.32 N/A Reggie Bush 203 550 2.7 4.33 N/A Knile Davis 225 570 2.5 4.37 N/A Adrian Peterson 217 540 2.4 4.38 N/A


Vernon Davis 250 685 2.7 4.38 N/A I found this to be pretty fascinating to see and I hope you do too. Please keep in mind that this is just a small sample size selection. I probably could have located hundreds of more examples like this, and hopefully it is more than enough to convince you as a reader of the influence strength has on speed. Conversely, of course, there are examples of individuals who have less than stellar strength skill, but still run very fast. Obviously, these individuals possess some specific genetic factors that can enable greater physical functioning that will create elite speed. I would be willing to bet, though, that these same individuals would absolutely benefit more if they incorporated strength work into their program on a routine basis and distinguished themselves even more, just like these genetically predisposed individuals in this small case study did. However, examples of these anomalies are very rare it seems, and it really discredits all of the hard work committed by so many in an attempt to take it to the extreme and be the best they can be, genetics or not. Plus, we cannot use these scarce examples as a model for athletes who need other outlets to improve, especially those who are on the cusp in a sport, where speed can be the difference between making it to the next level or not. Speed training has been traditionally viewed as a skill that your parents either gave you or didn’t, and that is all there is to it. Pretty simple, but far too simple. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. We can develop it just like any other physical skill with the right type of training. The extent to which we can develop speed will be primarily dictated by our lineage, however, everyone can get substantially faster with the right mindset and training program. The bottom line is that sound strength work can make the average person above average in speed. And it can make the above average elite. Or it can work in the reverse manner if it’s omitted. I’ve seen this so many times in my own practice. The reality is that most athletes are born and then made through hard work over time. Moreover, don’t start to believe that strength is the sole factor in accomplishing blazing speed. It’s simply one of the primary factors along with power and speed training, and not to mention other secondary training methods that will help get the job done. Next we will look at the 3 types of strength training that will be performed on this program. In addition, I will introduce more principles, research, and useful models that you will need to rely upon to stay healthy and make the absolute most out of the time spent in the weight room.

Maximal Strength Training for Maximal Speed:

Maximal strength training is really reiterating all of the heavy powerlifting that was just discussed previously, so you should have a pretty thorough understanding


at this point. Once more, the primary objective with this style of training is to train the neuromuscular system to generate “maximum” force when lifting. We will adopt the powerlifting approach in this particular program, and utilize the main 3 lifts; the squat, deadlift and bench press to effectively achieve this extremely important training objective. More specifically, we adopt a modified version of Westside Barbell’s strength system popularized by training mastermind Louie Simmons. These guys are scientific and regularly breed some of the strongest human beings in the world, so it would only make sense to do what they do to get as strong as possible. Specifics on why and how we modified their system to coincide with an athletic and speed‐based system is discussed in the FAQ section in detail if you are interested and want know more. I did not get to elaborate on the underrated value of upper body strength on speed performance, so I am going to elaborate a bit on that shortly, as well as put the icing on the cake and provide you with three more final reasons why maximum lower body strength is essential for optimal speed! After that there should be no question of the role strength has on speed. Two will be discussed in the next two paragraphs and you will find the last one in the “Lift” technique in the sprinting technique section later on. It may seem as though I’m overreacting towards the strength side of the force‐velocity curve, which was discussed earlier, but I assure you I’m not applying any bias here whatsoever. Scientific research has just happened to truly favor strength as it pertains to speed. I think it’s a good sign and a step in the right direction because everything in the current speed development market excessively advocates the other end of the spectrum. If strength is being encouraged, there is generally a lack of concentration on the term maximum, or the implementation of it is poor, or the promotion of the skill is minimal at best. The increased input of information on strength training here should help to balance things out. I’ve already dwelled on a variety of reasons why strength is key, but there is still more. Another important reason why maximum lower body strength is key is because it reflects Newton’s Second Law of Motion: F=MxA. Basically the more force we can generate from our muscles at a given bodyweight the greater we will accelerate. Strength is the ability to produce force, so there is a direct link between increasing strength to improve acceleration and speed, according to Newton’s Second Law. This same scientific law is often expressed through the term “Relative Strength “ in the industry. This is just another way of saying our strength to bodyweight ratio. The better this ratio the more successful we will be not only in sprinting faster but in anything that involves handling our body mass. Quite honestly, most athletes should not even really worry about running extremely fast until they can lift heavy for their size in both the upper and lower body. Furthermore, most trainees tend to automatically just associate “absolute” or maximum strength ability when assessing their strength. This is wrong. For example, a guy who weighs 130 lbs. but back squats 275 lbs. is supremely stronger


relative to a guy who weighs 325 lbs. and squats 550 lbs. The important thing here is to compare the weight you are lifting to your bodyweight, make the most of this, and not worry what others are doing. The smaller guy would have no chance of matching his bigger opponent. The bigger guy simply has a huge advantage with the amount of mass he has on his body, but I assure you that he will not be that fast if his “relative” strength is poor. In this case gym goers should be far more impressed with the smaller guy’s stats, but this is rarely the case, as most are concerned about total loads, regardless of everything that structurally influences performance. I could have introduced this popular statement made by coaches, trainers, etc. in the “specificity” section, but I decided to do it here. Often coaches will say that heavy lifting performed slowly will make you slow, and the goal is to get faster so you need to lift faster. Along these same lines, researchers constantly make mention of RFD (Rate of Force Development) for faster running speeds. This is undoubtedly true. If we can’t produce force fast we cannot run fast. But what about if we produce force fast, but produce small amounts of force? So you can see that too much of a good thing can be bad or limiting, and that is the case here. Paraphrasing the “Principle of Specificity,” performing a specific movement will help performance in that movement. In other words, sprinting helps sprinting. Pretty simple, and most understand and appreciate this perhaps too much. The problem comes when all you do is sprint and practice running drills in the hopes of maximizing your speed. Recall all of the data and research I just provided and you’ll see that “Non‐specific” exercise can help specific movements. You cannot argue that when we operate under a heavy bar, we are moving slower because there is much more resistance, slowing our ability to move faster. This reflects the force‐velocity curve that I introduced in the “Building Your Horsepower” section. The more force or resistance on the body, the lower the velocity and vice versa. They are at separate ends of spectrum, but the proportional combination of both strength and speed will increase power and thus speed. Once the athlete removes the heavy load from the body, factor in the increased level of strength and muscle recruitment, and you get greater speed when you return back to bodyweight‐based activities such as sprinting, jumping, and agility. Ultimately, you should have a solid mix of specific and non‐specific exercises in your speed training program to build all muscle groups and essential skills needed for faster running, otherwise your performance will definitely be less than optimal. One of the remaining pieces of proof of strength for speed is a famous study that is commonly referred to as the “Weyand Study.” Peter Weyand and his colleagues took 33 subjects and had them run on a treadmill that measured force production. What they found was that the force production of individuals who ran at 11.1 m/sec. was 1.26 times greater than those who ran at 6.2 m/sec. Concluding that higher running speeds are associated with greater forces into the ground. 37 The take home message would be, “Get stronger!”


OK, now let’s switch course and focus some well‐deserved attention on the upper body for increased speed performance. Again, this is an instance in which we need to consider that secondary areas, such as the upper body can still have a major influence on the function of our sprints, even though sprinting is primarily a lower body‐based activity. Below are 5 reasons why upper body strength levels are critical for speed. #1‐Majority of fast athletes possess big and strong upper bodies. #2‐Power is key to speed, and strength is half of the power equation. #3‐Increases arm drive #4‐Resists torque created from your lower body #5‐Increases our upper bodyweight to strength ratio #6‐Enables a more aggressive start out of the blocks #7‐Maintains or creates shoulder health I don’t think it is any surprise that sprinters have big and strong upper bodies, yet so many question the need for upper body strength training for acceleration and speed development. This is a no‐brainer, and athletes need to learn to crave bench pressing, chins, pulls, military pressing, and everything else that will create a big, strong, and explosive upper half. Recall that in order to have more power, the skill is heavily reliant upon strength, and the upper body is no exception. Proof can be found in a study from The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research back in 1994. This study examined 24 Australian National League Baseball players for 8 weeks. The study divided the participants into 3 groups: a control group, a medicine ball group, and a weight training group. The weight training group trumped the others by increasing throwing velocity by 4 percent, whereas the med ball group improved velocity by 1.5%, and the control just under 1%. 38 If you question whether or not explosive arm drive is essential to faster running, then just perform a few sprints with your arms behind your back. Arm drive will invariably produce more force in the target direction, which will elevate acceleration and speed levels. Research indicates that the arms might contribute up to 10% of the total vertical propulsive forces an athlete is capable of applying to the ground. 39 However, a strong claim was made years later by Arnaud Froidmont in his Physics and Astronomy Thesis Defense Paper. Arnaud stated that the original researcher did not possess the computer power that we do now, and that arm drive contributes significantly more than originally was thought. This seems very logical to me. The next factor is a pretty underrated, yet critical function of sprinting. When we drive at our lower body, it automatically creates a state of rotation that will want to cause use to do just that, rotate. In order to offset this, our core and


upper body will have to match the effort of our lower body to help stabilize our body and make sure that no energy leaks occur that could cause us to rotate and move in a non‐linear direction, creating slower times. 39 41 In order to ensure that our upper body can match the effort of our lower body and unlock greater speed potential, we have no choice but to build more upper body strength in the weight room, so this quiet yet devastating flaw in technique does not prevent us from maximizing our speed potential. Another luxury of possessing great upper body strength and size is that it allows us to really lean our body forward more out over our shoulder when we set up in sprint blocks or a 3 or 4 point stance. This automatically puts us closer to the finish line and improves efficiency if we come out of the start correctly. I will discuss sprint start specifics later on. Lastly, when we improve strength and size up top we build a more resilient and durable upper half which promotes injury prevention. This concept can also have indirect ramifications on how we function elsewhere through the body. If there happens to be any glaring weaknesses or imbalances in our upper body, not only are we impaired in everything I just mentioned, but it can create a chain reaction in our lower body that causes imbalances and weaknesses to counteract what is occurring in our upper half, which further contributes to the problem. The famous saying that we are only as strong and capable as our weakest link could not be more correct. On a final note, just let your athletes lift heavy and watch how they react and embrace this type of training. They start to feel and love it once they become more comfortable, and it allows them to compete with themselves and others, which is what athletics is all about! Next, we will examine the key strength principles that we need to perform to develop speed and strength incredibly fast and stay healthy.

STRENGTH PRINCIPLES: To be able to develop strength at an extremely fast rate with minimal plateaus while still being able to stay healthy over the long term is no easy task. With that being said, it becomes imperative that you follow a foundation of scientific principles that reinforce this. Below is the list of principles that I am going to discuss next. Principle #1‐ POP‐The Progressive Overload Principle Principle #2‐ Intensity Cycling Principle #3‐ 5‐3‐1 Principle #4‐ “The Big 6” Principle #5‐ Structural Balance


Principle #6‐ The Joint by Joint Approach Principle #7‐ Prilepin’s Table Now I’m sure that some other intelligent coaches, trainers, etc. could probably conjure up a few more that I neglected to mention, but these are confirmed principles in the scientific community that serve as a major reason why my clients and I have been and will continue to be successful in the weight room. Let’s examine each. The first principle is really the root principle out of all of the ones listed. If we really want to get stronger and faster, then we have no option but to consistently add more weight to the bar or lift heavier loads over the course of time to create a need for our body to adapt and get stronger. “ Progressive resistance exercise provides a practical application of the overload principle and forms the basis of most resistance‐training programs.” 42 If you are squatting 150 lbs. today then a reasonable goal would be to aim to squat 225 lbs. a year out from now, or something along that line. This is purely hypothetical, as there are a number of training‐related variables that will regulate the rate and amount of strength development that can happen, but the take‐home message is the weight you lift needs to steadily increase to induce desirable positive change. The obvious reason is because our body views this heavy chunk of iron, or whatever else, as an immediate threat to our survival, and it decides to grow itself and get stronger, so that it is less likely to get hurt. Pretty simple. This change also satisfies conservation. If we are bigger and stronger then we do not have to use as much energy to lift that same weight and we are more efficient. Often times many will first hear these words and decide to go nuts and lift as much as possible. Trust me, I did exactly this at one point. I would be lying if I said that this approach does not work in the short‐term. It definitely will, but the results will be short lived, especially after you accumulate massive levels of structural fatigue and arrive in a state of recovery debt that you simply cannot pay back unless you actually recover just as much as you train heavy, learn some patience, hold back a bit, and stay positive and relentless. If I’ve learned anything in this field it’s that slow and steady wins the race! Sure you will have rare times that you could count on a single hand, where you make an unexpected huge gain, but the reality is that it does not come that easy, or that fast. This program will also test your commitment. If you want real results then you have no choice but to work hard and train hard week in and week out for a long time. If this is not what you are looking for from this book then I strongly encourage you to stop reading right now, and keep searching for a quick fix program that simply does not exist. If you do decide to continue reading, then you’ll get what you earned. Anyways, once we reach overtraining a few things inevitably will occur. Some of the common symptoms of overtraining include but are not limited to: burnout,


sickness, decreased performance, insomnia, muscle loss, lack of motivation, injury, or any combination of these. If you’ve ever pushed beyond your limits in the weight room then you will know it’s not a very fun experience. You are killing yourself each and every time you come in, but progress stalls and all of the aforementioned symptoms start to emerge, which really tests your ability to push forward and either satisfy the definition of insanity, or take a hard look at yourself, realize what you are doing may not be ideal, and then work and search for ways to revise your approach and learn what you could have done different to resume progress. Or instead of making this painful mistake, you could really listen and consider what I’m about to share with you next, or learn the hard way. These principles are not mine, but rather gleaned from generations of thousands and thousands of people who have lived weightlifting and figured out what works. Trust me, I appreciate the determination to want to be your absolute best and train to failure as much as the next person, but the fact of the matter is that our body’s physiology has definitive limitations on how much volume at high intensities it can tolerate and adapt to. It’s not that much relative to many traditional strength programs. This fact explains the need to train both harder and smarter, which conveniently brings us to the next principle. I wrote an article pertaining to this awhile back. Powerlifter Jim Wendler once said that you do not always need to train at your absolute maximum to improve your maximum. “A muscle strengthens when trained close to its current force generating capacity.” 42 If you have been in the iron game before then you’ll appreciate that truer words have never been spoken. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true. Sometimes the body acts logical while other times it does not and we just have to deal with it and adjust accordingly. The principle that practically applies this notion is referred to as “Intensity Cycling.” Just as the term states, during our training we will naturally cycle the amount of weight we lift and volume we perform week to week to prevent severe overtraining from occurring, and keep the gains coming. You can’t go full bore all of the time unfortunately, but thankfully you can still get stronger lifting slightly lighter at certain times. The next principle is 5‐3‐1. These numbers represent exactly how we overload our movement system and stimulate change. More specifically, these numbers define exactly how much weight we need to lift to get stronger and bigger consistently over time. We do a 5 rep max, 3 rep max, and 1 rep max in 3 subsequent weeks. Or a variation of the three. Of course you could use less weight initially and get stronger for a while, but eventually you are going to have to follow this range to develop more. More importantly, this range will get you as strong as possible as fast as possible, and who would not want that? With this in mind, we have to lift weights that are between 85‐100% of our one‐rep maximum to use all of our available muscle mass and push more weight. Research has shown that workouts out with 85% of the weight we can do one time will recruit ALL motor


units. 43 In case you are curious, a motor unit is the component of the nervous system that feeds a signal for contraction to all the muscles fibers to which it’s linked. This bracket works out to be between 1‐6 reps. The higher the training percentage the lower the rep number, and the first number in the series represents week one, second, week two, and so on. The real beauty of this scheme is that it’s easy to remember and it contains a natural aspect of deload and overload which is very important for effective long‐term training. We need remember that there is always an inverse relationship between training volume and intensity. When one goes up, the other must go down. On this program, we will start at a higher rep value (accumulation) at the beginning of the training cycle or month, and then progressively reduce reps (intensification) over the weeks to follow, which will allow us to build a lot of strength, momentum, and confidence without encountering all of the prior problems that I discussed. Too often, lifters trying to get faster and stronger start too heavy to soon and our body simply cannot adapt and stay fresh, and a plateau then ensues. Another benefit of this approach is what each number brings to the table. 5 reps naturally helps build more endurance, muscle, and technique than 1 rep, but still builds a lot of max strength. Another underrated value of 3‐5 reps is that it builds the “weak links” in the movement. If you have a weakness underlying in a movement and you train 3‐5 reps then it’s easier to maintain form and still build strength so that you can support 1 rep attempts later on. The downfall to just doing 3‐5 reps is the body does not maintain other neurological functions that are important to building max strength and you start to weaken. And in comes the 1 rep max! The 1 rep is obviously the most specific to maximum strength development and lets you showcase all of the hard work and improvements made in the two prior weeks at higher reps. When you perform your 1 rep max with this sequence of numbers you should be peaking. If you’re training week in and week out like you should be in your quest to become faster and more athletic, then you may start to grow bored of this same sequence repeating over and over again. Thankfully, you can switch things up and re‐arrange the sequence. Below are all of the options for re‐sequencing. Alternative Maximum Strength Cycles: 1‐3‐5 1‐5‐3 5‐1‐3 3‐1‐5 3‐5‐1


For as long as anyone can probably remember, “The Big 6” have been the go‐to bunch of exercises for those seriously looking to maximize their strength and size. The big 6 will always be a mainstay in the weight room for as long as we are all alive. “No matter what level you are at the basics of strength training exercises will remain the same; squat, bench, deadlift, military, rows and chins. The exercises will remain the same but the application and how they are done is what will change. 44 We have been performing these exercises for almost a decade now where I train along with their variations, and the results and movements never seem to get old. I also know for certain that 10 to 20 years from now we will be doing these still, not because we are neglecting something bigger and better, but because they are superior and work so well. They will never die, nor be beaten by something else. They’ve been alive for over a century at least. One of the best things about “The Big 6” is that they are easy to implement and they naturally build in structural balance to your body, which is essential to unlocking maximum strength, speed, and physical health. With this group, you have 2 upper body pressing motions, 2 upper body pulling motions, and a pull and push for your lower body. Becoming or staying structurally balanced when training is arguably the most important factor in being able to stay healthy and continue to improve over the long term. Here are 3 scientific reasons for staying structurally balanced if we desire to get big and strong. #1‐Adaptive Shortening “Adaptive shortening is tightness that results from the muscle remaining in a shortened position.” 45 Basically, if we stay in a position for too long then our body tends to stay in that position. This process can occur quickly and unless we are in a perfect posture when this occurs, we become imbalanced. One muscle group generally becomes tight and hyperactive, while the opposing muscle group becomes loose and underactive. This is referred to as reciprocal inhibition. “Reciprocal inhibition is the neuromuscular phenomenon that occurs when increased neural drive in a specific muscle causes decreased neural drive to that muscle’s functional antagonist. “46 This is why balanced training of our body becomes so critical to offset this natural effect and help prevent injuries and decreased speed and athletic performance. #2‐Length‐Tension Relationship LTR is our muscles’ stretch to strength ratio. There is an ideal length where our muscles can produce the most force. If our muscles stretch too much or too little, we lose strength potential. Ideally, we are looking for a moderate degree of stretch for explosive movement action. Analyze a person jumping vertically and you’ll see this scientific phenomenon at work. The jumper won’t squat too high or too low before they jump, otherwise they will definitely not be as powerful.


Remember that I am just referring to our muscles being too long or short when we move in sport or elsewhere, not when we actually stretch. Maximizing flexibility everywhere we need it is a great thing. We want to have the potential of moving a muscle as far as we need to, but no more than we have to regarding movement. Without adequate flexibility, this is not possible. This is yet another reason why we should be balanced with our training so we stay balanced with our movements and maximize our stretch–to‐strength ratio. #3‐The Tension Effect This concept was first introduced to me by Joe DeFranco. The tension effect occurs when our body recognizes that a weaker and smaller muscle cannot support heavier weight that the bigger and stronger muscles want to move. A prime example of this effect would be seen with the pectoral or chest muscles (prime mover) and the rotator cuff muscles (stabilizer) on the back of the shoulder when we bench press. If the pectorals are too strong for the rotator cuff, and the rotator cuff cannot support the weight when we press, then the pectorals will shut down and relax, so that we do not injure the stabilizing rotator cuff. Unfortunately, this is one hidden reason why we cannot maximize strength and size, thus our speed if we are not in balance, and it applies to every other strength exercise as well. The only way to prevent this effect from happening is by strengthening the underdeveloped rotator cuff of the upper back so that it can support heavy weight, stay healthy, and allow other muscles to reach their potential. The Joint by Joint Approach is the next remaining principle on the list. This approach was pioneered by physical therapist Gray Cook several years ago. It quite simply promotes training according to our anatomical design. More specifically, certain joints are primarily designed for stability or lack of motion, while others are geared towards mobility or more motion. Below is the Joint by Joint Model.


(Photo courtesy of robertsontrainingsystems.com) If you view the model you will see that some joints want stability and the others seek mobility, and this occurs in a predictable, alternating pattern. Ankles mostly need mobility, knees stability, hip mobility, low back stability, mid back mobility, scapula stability, shoulder mobility, and neck stability. If we violate this principle then bad things will happen. It’s not a matter of if, but when it happens. A classic violation of this model can be seen between the knee, hip, and lower back. Normally, when people reference pain at their knee or lower back, then they automatically presume that it’s a direct reflection of something that is wrong with these areas, when in fact it could be deficits at other adjacent segments that could be contributing to pain at these areas. Simply put, if the hips lose mobility in any plane or direction, then the body is put in an unfavorable position to have to create mobility elsewhere to continue movement and daily function. The body will naturally turn to the next available joint, which would be the knee and lower back. Unfortunately these areas are not innately constructed for high ranges of motion, and when we demand this from these places they will eventually give. Keep in mind this is not to say that knee issues cannot be derived from direct issues at the knee, it’s just that the joint by joint model is also another significant approach that can contribute to injuries if violated in training and everyday life. Lastly, please be aware that just because a joint is highlighted red, which indicates its strong need for mobility, this does not mean that it does not require some stability. Joints need both functions for healthy productive movement. Its role is determined by which it requires more.


Dr. Charlie Weingroff introduced Prilepin’s table to me years ago. I will provide this table for you below, but first I will briefly discuss its purpose in any strength and speed development program. Basically, a Russian researcher by the name of A.S. Prilepin was able to determine how much work we need to do at specific weights or intensities to get stronger. Here it is: Prilepin’s Table: 47 Percent Reps per set Optimal Range 55–65 3–6 24 18–30 70–75 3–6 18 12–24 80–85 2–4 15 10–20 above 90 1–2 7 4–10 Upon observation, many will recognize that this is pretty intuitive or coincidental in training, but many times trainees are either doing too much or too little to create gains in the weight room which will ultimately hurt your speed. To make sure neither one of these happen while you are putting in the hard work, we will remove all guesswork and rely on this principle. If you are understandably confused by the list of numbers on this table and what they mean, then no need to worry. This table is already installed to this program, so all you need to do is follow it in the workouts I give you at the end of the manual.

Supplemental Strength Training to Build your Speed Musculature:

Supplemental strength training is exactly what the term states. It’s a type of strength training that “supplements” what the other types of strength training are really incapable of optimally providing and complements any total strength program. It focuses on weaknesses to help support our heavy work and speed. You may be more familiar with the terms assistance exercises, accessory training, auxiliary lifts, or repeated effort (RE) training which all carry the same meaning as the supplemental category that I am going to use in this portion of the manual. Some programs prefer one term over another, and new expressions of this type of training seem to keep emerging. Supplemental training is primarily responsible for improving hypertrophy (size) and strength endurance in muscle groups. Strength endurance is the ability to generate a high level of strength for a longer duration. Most view traditional cardiovascular training methods as superior and are specific to building endurance. Although some of these methods are valid, proper strength training can be brutally fatiguing and build up conditioning levels just like


traditional methods and potentially more so in certain cases. We will utilize it all on this program. This style of training involves moderate to higher reps with moderately heavy weights relative to your maximum strength. Supplemental lifts will also continue to build strength all over the body, but not to the same degree as the max strength work. Examples of supplemental lifts would be single leg work, glute‐ham raises, hip thrusts, and sled work for the lower body. Examples for the upper body would consist of pushups, pullups, chinups, military pressing, dips, or shrugs. Basically, a majority of every strength exercise other than the max strength exercises discussed earlier will be classified as supplemental movements. Next, I’m going to give some preferential attention to certain types of supplemental movements in the context of building more speed. I want to briefly discuss the extreme value of two types of supplemental lifts that will assist in maximizing our acceleration and speed potential. Those two are single leg training and hip dominant training. It should be obvious that single leg training would have a huge impact on sprinting ability since sprinting is a single leg‐based movement in nature. More specifically, single leg strength work will improve our ability to transfer force from one limb to the ground and then the other. Any deficiency here will undoubtedly sap our speed. This will probably be a review for many who are reading this book, but it’s important to explain the actual difference between training in a single leg stance versus double leg, because many still do not fully know the difference. The primary difference lies in our anatomy, and the lateral oblique subsystem!

(Photo courtesy of brentbrookbush.com)


As soon as one foot leaves the ground, muscle activity across different muscle groups all around the ankle, knee, and hip drastically change. The muscle groups you rely upon with both feet on the training surface are different than when one foot is removed and we decrease our base of support. This image shows three muscle groups that increase their supportive action when we decide to function on one leg. They all reside on the inside and outside of the body and counteract each other with equal effort so the muscles on the front and back can continue to keep us moving in a linear direction. So why is this significant? The simple reason is because single leg strength levels will be strongly regulated by the strength of these specific muscles when running, cutting, or jumping off one limb. 48 So if we really want to express and use the horsepower we acquired through the heavy double leg exercises like squats and deadlifts, then we need to attempt to perfect our ability to operate in a single leg environment, otherwise strength transfer will be limited through the ground. Single leg‐pistol squats, high box step‐ups, split squats, single leg RDLs, and lunge varieties are staples that will make us much more proficient in this movement situation, so we get the most production out of the lateral system and improve our speed. Next we will discuss why hip dominant training is so integral to the speed development process. Hip dominant training refers to exercises that emphasize mainly the glutes and hamstrings. Other areas are involved, but these are the two groups I’m going to invest my time on here since they have a tremendous role in speed capacity. I realize that just a few paragraphs back I mentioned glute‐ham raises and hip thrusts. I’m quite certain that many people reading this associated these terms with a foreign language. This is fine for now, but hopefully these terms along with many other drills that fall into this exercise category become synonymous with speed training one day, because they are that essential and powerful to the process. Just how valuable are these muscles to sprint performance? Famed speed and strength coach Charles Poliquin has conducted research at his training laboratory that suggests the hamstrings should be extremely stronger than the quadriceps, but that does not seem to be the common case with the promotion of higher ratios of quadriceps to hamstring exercises and volumes. I know that may not be the intent, but this is what I see. Here is a quote from Poliquin: “In fact, using the proper measuring devices that allow greater velocities of testing, speed athletes such as sprinters, bobsledders, and running backs should have a hamstrings to quads ratio of 125%.” 49 Poliquin also mentioned that other authorities suggested a value of 66%. 50 Regardless of who is right or wrong, the consensus is that you need to overdevelop your hamstrings in terms of strength comparative to your quadricep muscles. As testament to these figures, our athletes who ran the fastest electronically verified times would possess a very strong hamstring complex relative to slower runners. Without the proper technology, which hopefully I can get someday, these values are very impractical to general equipment owners trying


to implement a sound speed program like myself. In this case, just make sure your exercise selection of hamstring: quad exercises is 2:1 or 1:1 with balanced training volumes and intensities. Over time, the higher ratio for hamstring work should imbalance the strength in favor of the hamstrings. The programs at the end of this manual reflect this concept, so all you need to do is follow them and you will be fine. Earlier in the manual I presented you with the various activity levels of all lower body muscle groups via EMG reports during sprinting, squatting, etc. After the very initial period of acceleration out of the blocks and a few yards thereafter, the hamstrings become the hands‐down king. So now that we know that the hamstring muscles are often neglected in strength programs and their tremendous impact on potential running speed, how exactly should we develop them to elicit the best result possible? To help understand this, I feel it is very important to first introduce or review their arrangement at the lower extremities, and explain their role in sprinting.

The hamstring complex is made up of 3 muscles shown above. They lie along your backside inserting underneath your lower glutes, and then run and cross over your knee joint, attaching at certain points at your lower leg. They are classified as “biarticular muscles” since they cross and function at two joints. They possess a number of movement roles at the lower body, but specific to speed and for the sake of simplicity we will focus our attention on two of these roles, since they are most important to sprinting performance. At the knee we will focus on knee flexion, and at the hip we will focus on hip extension and hip hyperextension. For the knee, flexing or bending is going to be


critical at certain phases of sprinting. When we are sprinting and swing our leg forward in an effort to take our next step, our knee will remain bent at about 90 degrees as we do so, and this is primarily due to this essential ability of the hamstrings. The hamstrings prevent our knee from extending too much, which would cause us to land with our foot too far in front of our body, which would eventually lead to overstriding and hamstring injury, in addition to much slower speed. This action is referred to as decelerating knee extension, or an “eccentric” contraction of the hamstring muscles. For those who do not know a lot about all of the functions of muscles, here is a basic breakdown of the different types of skeletal muscle contractions that occur during movement, along with key common features of each: Type of Contraction: Muscle Action: Purpose: Example‐Hamstrings Concentric Shortening Acceleration Lifting weight up in a leg curl Isometric No change in length Stabilization Holding the weight at the top of a leg curl Eccentric Stretching Deceleration Lowering the weight down in a leg curl Leg curl exercises with a major focus on straightening your legs slowly as you lower the weight to the rack would help develop this eccentric action. There are definitely other variations of this, but I am confident that this is one that everyone would be familiar with. A majority of people generally do not lack this ability as much as the hip movement, since leg curls are more commonly assigned and practiced in modern strength and conditioning programs. Now let’s detail the importance of what goes on at the hip as we sprint. As soon as our foot lands on the running surface, our hamstrings will switch a majority of their role and begin to function at the back of the hip. Knee flexion will still occur to a small degree at the lower end of the hamstrings, just after we hit the ground and begin to drive our body forward, but this will only last for a moment. From here it will be up to the higher portion of the hamstring muscles at the hip to continue motion. As we continue to transfer our body weight forward over our foot, it is mostly the high hamstrings that will create this through hip extension. As we continue hip extension and bring our body forward further, we then eventually enter a state of hip hyperextension as our foot moves behind our body mass. It’s at this juncture where we reach maximal drive of our legs and power! Afterwards, our foot will exit the ground and this cycle will repeat itself until the sprint is finished. You may have never heard of this scenario before, but it’s the other half of the hamstring development equation that you have to consider and implement to stay healthy and be successful in sprinting, especially over the long term. The present absence of this type of joint and muscle action is also one of the main reasons why there is a high incidence of hamstring injuries during sprinting in athletics today, and it needs to change. It’s just sheer hamstring weakness at specific points, and negligence that is very preventable.


Moving forward, we will break down our hip training into 2 general categories, and then follow that with a breakdown into 3 specific categories. Hip training will build horizontal force first, and vertical force second. First, we will break down hip training into bent‐knee hip work and straight‐knee hip work. The reason for this is because each position allows either the glutes or the hamstrings to receive more of the load and we need both to be as strong as possible. Bent‐knee hip work targets the glutes more due to the kinesiological (movement) principle of “active insufficiency.” When the muscle becomes shortened to the point it cannot generate or maintain active tension, active insufficiency is reached. 51 In this position the hamstrings are shortened at the knee so they are not as strong at the hip. By default, the glutes work harder to move the load. The next category is straight‐ knee hip extension. This will obviously remove most of the slack at the knee joint and induce more strain on the hamstrings, and still work the glutes. Both are necessary to maximize the development throughout the hip region. Further breakdown and analysis of hip training requires 3 training categories. In their research study; Contreras, Schoenfeld, and Cronin discovered and identified training according to what are called “torque‐angle curves.” This is fancy talk for being range of motion‐specific with your hip dominant training and all lower body exercise. 52 Their research supported the need to train the hip throughout the entire range of motion, since sprinting and other movements involve moving through a large range of motion. The 3 categories they use to classify hip training are short, medium, and long length exercises. Length here means how long the muscle is when you train it. I alluded to this previously with the squat and deadlift and I will continue that discussion here. Short involves training the hip from near extension to a hyper‐extended position (mid‐stance in an upright stride till takeoff), medium involves training the hip from a half flexed‐extended position to an extended position (landing in an upright stride till mid‐stance), and a long position is where the hip is almost fully flexed to an extended position (the start). Examples of strength exercises for short length would be reverse hypers, sled training for medium length, and squat and deadlifts for long length exercises. There are strength exercises that will be performed in all of these positions on this program so there are zero weak links, and I just wanted to disclose the research and show you the various categories for the sake of completeness. Hip training will do the best job of addressing these 3 critical categories of training. You can forget about this now if you want, because it’s in the program and your bases are covered! World famous strength coach Mike Boyle was the first one I heard discuss the need to focus on strength drills that mimic the mechanics of sprinting. This is another fundamental characteristic that makes up a great sprinter. These individuals are able to drive more force into the ground faster than their opponent


through this precise joint and muscle action. He referred to this type of training as Specific Strength Training. The purpose of Specific Strength drills is to accomplish 2 things. First, develop the technique of the specific movement you are looking to perform, and secondly build strength in that specific movement that you want to improve at the same time, which in the case of this manual is sprinting. So when prescribing drills that coincide with this variation, they need to exhibit the same body positioning, joint angles, and collective muscle action that the target movement would.

Tino running a regular sprint (left) and a sled sprint (right). See the similarities in body position and joint angles? Sleds are a great way to transfer strength in a specific manner to sprinting. As you would expect, the movements are identical in form, but a little different in function. Unloaded sprints utilizing only our body weight only will train the velocity side of the force‐velocity curve, whereas the sled in this case will start to emphasize the other end of the curve and build more strength and power in our sprint. To simplify, if we aspire to build specific strength we just need to sprint against resistance, or implement what are called “resisted sprint variations.” Partner or independent band sprints, parachute sprinting, the tredsled, and sled sprinting are training options that would get the job done here. Is one method better than the other? My preference would be sleds mostly because you can monitor and customize the workload to the specific athlete to generate the desired training effect. Loading parameters are an essential training variable to assure that the target skill is being addressed and training volume and intensity are controlled. Heavier loads will create more strength and vice versa. There has been a long‐held debate mainly among trainers and coaches that the sled needs to be light enough so that it does not detract from the sprinter’s technique. There is this arbitrary “10


Percent Rule” that was created. This means athletes should only load the sled with 10% of their body weight, otherwise motor learning becomes more difficult. Unfortunately, this statement is not true. Lighter sleds can and should be used to develop the speed part of the power development equation, however the research supports heavier sled training for building maximal acceleration. In the most recent study in 2013, Kawamori published a study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that supported heavier sleds being superior to lighter sled training for acceleration. The study assessed 5‐ and 10‐meter performances with a light sled training group (13% of body weight), and a heavier sled training group (43% of body weight). The lighter group improved performance on each by 2‐3%, while the heavier sled group improved both times by 5‐6%. The percentages may seem minimal, however at short distances a single percent improvement can make a huge difference. 53 There is one more reason why I absolutely love sled drills for speed development. First and foremost, the sled has unprecedented value when it comes to teaching the athlete to master sprint technique. You will not be able to budge a heavy sled if you are not in the proper position to accelerate it, or it will be extremely difficult to the point where you continue to reposition yourself until you locate that sweet spot where you can move it efficiently and effectively. Often times, if I’m struggling to convey a sprint cue to one of my athletes, or they just are not getting it, I will just have him or her load up the sled and get after it. Sometimes things that were hard to realize before now become apparent since the movement feels different to them on the sled, and the problem is forever solved since they now have a proprioceptive or sensory recognition of it that they can retrieve if that mistake resurfaces at some point in the future. It’s amazing to see the immediate impact on various techniques this training tool can have. Regardless of the tool you are using to perform this training technique, you are ensuring that all of the hard‐earned strength you have acquired in the weight room is being converted onto the track, field, or court, and you continue building more where you need it. Evidence suggests that strength from the weight room seems to carry over quite well to sprinting speed, so I’m confident there is no “gap” that exists and needs to be filled between the two, like many coaches hypothesize, but it’s some extra insurance just to be safe. Resisted sprint variations will be performed in the Linear Conditioning, Hip Supplemental Lift, and Complex Training categories.


OLYMPIC LIFTING FOR AN EXPLOSIVE START Olympic lifting is a very popular sport that involves a host of different movement patterns that are performed in the most explosive and strongest fashion, and may the best man or woman win. In this day and age coaches and trainers tend to really overreact and either love this style of training, or despise it for a variety of different reasons. So who is right? Neither, if the focus is in getting faster. In this case you should be somewhere in the middle and appreciate what if offers, but also know that its effect on speed is limiting. Olympic lifting is part of the essential triad that I discussed back in the beginning of the manual that is key to more speed. Below are 3 specific reasons why Olympic lifting is essential to the speed development process. #1‐OLifts build EXTREME amounts of “Vertical” power and explosiveness. #2‐OLifts help convert the strength we build in the weight room to usable power and speed on the field, track, or court. #3‐OLifts build high levels of starting strength which is essential to a faster start off the blocks or any other stance variation.

(Photo courtesy of Rob Macklem) I do not think it is any secret that Olympic lifting just looks “powerful.” It is because any of the Olympic lifting exercises demand the entire body from head to toe to summon as much strength as you are capable of, as fast as possible in the vertical direction, which we now undoubtedly know is imperative to improving speed. Moreover, you build power “concentrically,” or through extending your


entire lower body. This is the same exact manner in which your body has to express power in all athletic movements, whether it be sprinting, jumping, etc. DO NOT yield and dip under the bar as you are performing these movements like literally everyone does. This inhibits much of the power transfer into other movements, and defeats the purpose of this style of lifting. The movements that you perform in Olympic lifting exercises are very unique relative to other movements, simply because they cannot be performed slow or you just will not move the weight, so the sequences you will perform lend themselves well naturally to building power. Put differently, they “force” you to be powerful or you won’t be successful on your attempts. This type of training ensures that much of the strength we gain in our squat, deadlift, and bench press is being properly transferred into usable power and speed. This is why these type of lifts could also be referred to as “Conversion Weights.” Strength is essential, but only if we can use it when we sprint or run, and Olympic lifting is one of the few methods that will bridge this very common gap that plagues many athletes who are trying to get faster and possess great speed. This actual “gap” or limitation of power and speed that many seem to recognize is what we are going to talk about next. This unfortunate limitation is real and it’s known as ESD or The Explosive Strength Deficit. This function was introduced by Russian sports scientist Vladimir Zatsiorsky years ago, but still struggles to surface to popular discussion in the training industry. The ESD is the amount or percentage of your maximum strength that you can use in bodyweight based activities like running, sprinting, jumping, etc. Unfortunately, all of the strength that we will build in the weight room will not all be used in speed based activities. What this means is that only about 50% of our strength created in the weight room will be applied during sprinting. 54 It sucks but makes sense. Think about it. There is no massive weight on the body and therefore no need to use all its strength, and there is far less time to generate all of our strength at high speeds. So does this mean that we do not need to lift heavy or train as hard? Absolutely not! You will see why shortly. What we need to do, since there exists a real physiological barrier that prevents our body from reaching cheetah like velocity, is to teach and condition our neuromuscular system to make the most of this fact and minimize this natural deficit to the highest amount possible. Fortunately for us, Olympic lifting is one of the main ways we can reduce this deficit and use more of our strength during speed based work. One of the most common claims that I hear from popular researchers, coaches, etc. is that heavy weightlifting does not really matter because of the ESD, or the fact that you produce sub‐maximal or less than your best strength during sprinting. They are absolutely true with this logic, but it does not matter and we should always strive to get as strong as possible. Here is why. Zatsiorsky identified that ESD tops out at about 50% of our maximum effort. So after we spend some appreciable time and effort improving our Olympic lifts and other speed and power based techniques to


use as much of our acquired strength as possible, the best we can expect our ESD to be is 50% of our maximum strength. The next question then should be is there anything else we can do to maximize ESD, rather than settling? Thankfully there is one more thing we can do, and it is what all the others were missing when assessing the situation: improve our maximum strength. See the hypothetical scenario below to illustrate my point. Name: Scott Name: Erik Weight: 200 lbs. Weight: 200 lbs. Maximum Squat: 500 lbs. Maximum Squat: 425 lbs. ESD: 50% ESD: 50% Sprinting Force: 250 lbs. Sprinting Force: 213 lbs. So who is the faster athlete? It’s a no brainer that Scott would be, given identical force potential during sprinting. With the same exact ESD Scott would be generating almost 40 lbs. more force with each stride when he runs and will begin to break away from Erik if they were running side by side in no time. So the 2 things we need to do if we want to convert more of our strength into actual speed and improve the ESD is regularly practice power and speed based activities, along with maximizing our strength in our powerlifts. The last thing I want to mention is that I do think there is an approximate limit for building strength to maximize speed, based on present day performances. The broad range is 2‐3x bodyweight based on all of the studies I provided you earlier, in addition to the personal case study I did. Shorter guys will obviously need to be more at the higher end of the range to overcome their natural structural disadvantages (i.e. shorter Achilles tendon, stride length, and limb length) versus their taller counterparts. Taller individuals need to be in the mid to lower range. Many of the strongest and fastest athletes across the country and perhaps internationally are in this range right now, but who knows. Maybe these ranges will move up even higher in the future, as athletes remarkably and undoubtedly always seem to re‐adjust the performance bar higher and higher as generations pass. Also, once you reach this level of performance your work: reward ratio is extremely low. Meaning that you are training your ass off for a full calendar year, week in and week out just to gain 10 lbs. on your squat. It’s not really worth it, and it would not really affect a scenario like the one I just gave you. So unless something unpredictable and crazy happens to our physiology in the years to come, it’s probably safe to say that this is an acceptable standard limit of strength for any type of athlete looking to become as fast as they possibly can. The last remaining component that really helps speed that is primarily originated from Olympic Lifting performance is Starting Strength. I need to credit


world famous strength and conditioning coach Jim Smith for introducing this unique type of strength to me. Paraphrasing Smith, we can classify strength production into 2 general categories when it comes to human movement. These categories are either Starting Strength or Reactive Strength. #1‐Starting Strength: The ability to “self‐generate” as much force as you can without any motion or assistance before you begin motion. #2‐Reactive Strength: Is the ability of our muscles to store more potential energy in themselves as we stretch those same muscles and create some motion and assistance before a motion begins. So we can classify every movement known to us into each of these categories. Examples of exercises that are dominant in the need for more starting strength would be Olympic lifting, starting off of the blocks in a sprint, a vertical jump test, box jumps, and deadlifts. Examples of reactive strength movements would be a running vertical jump, the flying 20 (sprinting from the 20‐40 yard mark), bounding exercises, bench press, and the squat to name a few. Also keep in mind there are some drills that possess a combination of both, but are more dominant in one versus the other. An example would be the vertical jump. There is some stretching and motion that occurs before the jump, but far less than what is witnessed in a running vertical jump, which makes it more of a starting strength exercise. Movements in sport are mostly reactive based, but this does not matter, as starting strength helps build more power and is still present from time to time. Olympic lifting is a great form of starting strength exercise. It’s also a phenomenal way to maximize your start off the blocks or any stance and increase acceleration much faster. With Olympic lifts, you are teaching the body to generate high levels of immediate tension from the muscles as fast as possible. Our best starters that trained on this program also possessed good and respectable performances in their Olympic lift variations. Of course Olympic lifting is a direct form of power training in nature and improves acceleration and speed as a result, but I think where it shines the most is off the blocks, or in improving that “First Step” which so many want and absolutely need in sport! Another issue surrounding Olympic lifting for athletes, or performing this type of training in a speed oriented program, is one of what kind of Olympic lifting works best. Actually this is probably “The” issue if I had to pick one based on all the debate between philosophies and coaches throughout the country. For simplicity sake, we are just going to debate whether or not athletes looking to build greater speed need to perform Cleans and Snatches from the floor, or from the hang. Many might be saying, hang what? This is unfortunate and alarming since it’s such a valuable exercise in our training arsenal. The “hang” is a term that represents


performing the Olympic lift variations as the bar “hangs” at your hands at approximately mid‐thigh level depending on a person’s arm length. And just so everyone is one the same page, a clean and snatch are the 2 primary Olympic lifting exercises, and we can perform each of these either from the floor or from the hang. I will be covering the technique of each in full detail at the end of the book in the Exercise Index section, but for now, all you need to know to distinguish the two of them is that they are exactly the same movements, except for the final movement or finish. Olympic lifts are really just a series of common strength exercises collaborated together in an explosive fashion. Every one of these movements involves 2 pulls, and a catch. More precisely, a hip pull, a jump or high pull, and then a catch overhead (snatch), or on the front of the shoulders (clean). So a common debate in the speed realm is whether or not a hang clean or snatch is better than a power clean or snatch? A hang clean can be referred to as a power clean as well, but for this discussion I’m going to label the power clean as an Olympic lift performed off the floor. Also, I have not located near as much research that supports the snatch in comparison to the clean in either position in the context of developing acceleration and speed, so I will be comparing the hang clean versus the power clean as a result. I’m confident that if you were a coach or person that is familiar with performance enhancement, you would probably guess that the power clean would be superior to the hang clean in developing speed. This along with the power snatch is the type of Olympic lifting exercise you will always see being performed in the Olympics, Crossfit, and in a majority of conventional athletic development systems. Surprisingly though, the hang clean shows a very strong correlation with sprinting speed in many reports, rather than the power clean, and I believe there is some specific scientific explanations to support this. In fact, I could not find a single study that indicated a stronger correlation between power cleans and sprinting speed relative to the hang clean! I first think that it is important to note that a speed development system is very different from Crossfit and the traditional Olympic lifting sport. Rather, in a speed program we adopt what will work to improve speed best, and make that training style fit this type of training system. There are at least 2 reports that show a very strong correlation between hang clean performance and sprinting speed. In the first report in 2008 in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Hori and members found that hang clean power performance showed a significant correlation with jumping and sprinting ability. 55 And in the second study, Baker and Nance tested the relationship or lack of relationship between maximal strength training, Olympic lifting, and sprinting speed. 56 It is yet another example on top of the several I supplied you with previously that supports heavy weightlifting for the lower body to decrease sprint times. What was really interesting about the Baker and Nance study was that the hang clean carried a slightly higher correlation with sprinting performance versus heavy back squats, but it’s not by much. It’s not really


surprising though, since the nature of sprinting is more similar or specific to the hang clean. Both require a lot of speed and power. Here is the first chart from that study that reported the levels of correlation:

Table 4 Relationship between Estimates of Maximum Strength & Sprint Times

(Baker and Nance 1999)

Strength Measure 10m 40m

3RM squat -0.06 -0.19

3RM squat/BdM -0.39 -0.66

3RM HC -0.36 -0.24

3RM HC/BdM -0.56 -0.72

BdM = BODY MASS

HC = HANG CLEAN

.7 was labeled as a “very strong” correlation. So as you can see, sprinting speed is well regulated by hang clean skill through greater power production!

Let’s now examine some of the strong potential reasons why research would support hang cleans over power cleans for the purpose of increasing speed. There are several reasons why I vouch for the former, but mainly 3 reasons why it’s more effective. First, the hang clean is hip dominant! I already thoroughly discussed the need for powerful hips in the “supplemental strength” section earlier. At this point, hopefully you have no doubt that hips are key to blazing speed. Below is a photo during the “loading” phase or bottom position of both the hang clean and power clean.


Minor league baseball player Scott Underwood shows us that the hang clean (left) creates the same angle of the trunk with less bend at the knee, making it hip dominant and better suited for sprinting!

As you can see there is about equal bend or flexion present at the front of the hip based on the angle of the trunk in both movements. However, there is naturally much less knee bend in the hang clean, thus removing quadriceps activity and increasing relative hip activity. Secondly, the hang clean focuses on applying your strength in less time than the power clean. Much less time to be exact. The hang clean requires about half as much range of motion as the power clean, which in turn gives you far less time to complete it. This strength per unit of time factor (aka power) is also the case in bodyweight sprinting, so there would be more natural carryover and relation between the two. In 2010 Peter Weyand and his team of researchers stated that the main biological limiting factor to sprinting speed is how fast we can recruit our muscles and produce force. 57 The hang clean and everything that was just mentioned supports this finding. This is obviously not the case in the power clean. Moreover, In their 2007 study, Irwin, Kerwin, Rosenblatt, and Wiltshire deemed the power clean as a poor sprint specific exercise. 58 There is one more study that does not support the power clean. 59 This study was a university study that indicated weak relationships between the power clean and the 20 and 40 meter sprint tests. Check out this chart which represents my point that the hang clean forces you to be powerful and get off the ground faster just like sprinting.

Sample Ground Contact Times based on Activity

Activity Time (sec)

Walking 0.62

Jogging 0.26


Running 0.20

Sprinting 0.14 Source: AM J Sports Med. 1986 Nov‐Dec; 14(6): 501‐10.

According to some reports of Peter Weyand’s famous 2000 sprint study 37, elite sprinters are only on the ground for .08 hundredths of a second! This issue of rapid strength expression then becomes even more relevant.

The reality is that much heavier loads are able to be moved in the power clean since you are using your quads more, so it tends to naturally develop more strength and power, versus speed and power in the hang clean and sprinting. We already perform a tremendous amount of strength oriented work on this program, so this is another reason why I do not like the power clean in a speed program. I will discuss this concept in detail in the program design section, but Central Nervous System Fatigue, or Central Fatigue is a huge deterrent to running faster. If you have ever worked with high level athletes or trained hard yourself then this should come to no surprise. Strength training is the most taxing form of training once an athlete becomes respectably strong, and a heavy and relatively slower power clean potentially exacerbates this problem far more than a lighter hang clean. This situation along with the next 2 are mainly based on my preference and experience as a coach. The hang clean is far less technical and better with larger groups, and it decreases back stress. We do plenty of bending over under loads in this program, and if there is ever a chance to remove something that is not essential to optimal performance and is riskier, then there is no question that I will discontinue or prevent its entrance into our system. Again this is another modification or case where you have to consider this is not an Olympic lifting program, but instead a speed program that incorporates modified variations of Olympic lifting. The next essential and direct from of power training is “Explosive Strength Training.” This is literally every other activity outside of Olympic lifting that is performed in a fast, strong, and powerful nature. Examples include dumbell or kettlebell swings, jump squats, jump hex bar deadlifts, speed squats and deadlifts, speed bench presses, sled work, etc. This category of training is almost identical to Olympic lifting in terms of the acquired benefits. The only real difference between the two is that a majority of explosive strength exercises will focus on developing reactive strength rather than starting strength, since they are performed in a continuous fashion and at a higher frequency. This is good because these types of exercises will help complement Olympic lifting and your overall power development because you need both types of strength to be successful. I should also mention that this type of training is synonymous with “Dynamic Effort” methods that are practiced in the powerlifting culture. They both mean the same thing though. You


will see Explosive Strength categorized as DE Lower or Upper in the workouts at the end of the book. A study from Kale in 2009 in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research supported jump squats, an explosive strength exercise, as a good influence on sprinting speed. 60 The final remaining topic to be discussed in this section of the manual deals with “Jump Tests. As mentioned before, all of these activities involve a very dominant speed and power component, so they will impact speed positively in one way or another. They also focus on recruiting the entire lower body when we move, as they all are complex multi‐joint movements, and many are hip dominant in nature. Most importantly, performance between each shows a pattern. Just quickly glance at the top performers in the NFL combine from past several years to see that if someone ran a fast 20 and 40 yard dash, then they usually also scored well in the vertical and or broad jump too, and vice versa. What we are going to examine here is which jump variations are shown to work the best according to research. Let’s first analyze the vertical jump and its effect on sprinting speed. There was a study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning research in 2012, by Shalfawi that took 33 professional basketball players and measured how vertical jump test height was linked to the 10, 20, and 40 meter dash. 61 After being assessed on the 10, 20, and 40 meter dash, as well as a countermovement jump and a squat jump, researchers concluded that there existed a significant relationship between performances in the 10, 20, and 40 meter dash as well as the vertical jump. Although performances in all of these are not solely responsible for one another, as we now know other skills exist, they did relate rather well. These all work by way of improving the SSC (Stretch‐Shortening Cycle) that will be discussed later in the plyometrics section of the book. Meaning that with these types of jumps we enhance the function of the muscles and tendons to be able to store more energy and fire our muscles with more speed. The nature of these drills is very characteristic of sprinting, especially as speed increases. We can already appreciate the extreme value “vertical force” production will have on sprinting performance from everything that was discussed earlier in the book, and the “vertical” jump helps improve just that. The vertical jump provides one type of force we will need to be more successful in sprinting while also building more speed and power. The broad jump on the other hand demands us to recruit our muscles and angle our joints in a very similar fashion to sprinting, provides the other critical type of force, while also assisting to develop more power and speed. You could also easily classify this exercise as a specific strength exercise like sled training if you wanted to, but I decided to place it here. In 2013 Hudgins, Triplett, and others published a study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that took a horizontal based 3 jump test and compared that performance across different distances. The study involved 10 sprinters, 11 mid‐distance runners, and 12 long


distance subjects. They concluded that the horizontal jump test was a strong indicator of running ability. 24 62 Now that we know that jump tests can improve our speed, what is the best way to make the most out of these tests in our training? Literally everything that was discussed in regards to what helps build sprinting speed will apply here. That means Olympic lifting, powerlifting, and speed work is absolutely key for improvement in jump testing. For example, a 1992 study in The Journal of Applied Sports Sciences was performed that examined the effect heavy squats, plyometric‐jump training, and a combination of each had on vertical jump performance. 48 male subjects with at least a years’ worth of lifting experience enrolled in the study. On Tuesday’s and Friday’s subjects would perform a series of various plyometrics, along with sets of squats ranging from 50‐100% of maximum effort throughout the six week training cycle. In the end, the group who only squatted increased their vertical jump by 3.30 centimeters or 1.3 inches. The plyometric only group improved their vertical jump by about 1.5 inches, while the squat‐plyometric group improved their vertical jump by 10.67 centimeters, or 4.2 inches! 25 The reason why the squat works so well with the vertical jump is because it offers a unique blend of both maximal strength and specific strength development to that movement. Remember, maximal strength training improves the total amount of force targeting areas can express in a general fashion, while specific strength builds strength in muscles in the exact same form they will have to in the movement we are looking to improve, which in this case is the vertical jump. There was another study conducted at Central Missouri University involving 3 groups of high school athletes that were randomly assigned to each group. 63 Pre and post‐testing of vertical jump was assessed at the beginning and end of the six week training cycle utilizing a vertec. The vertec is one of the most common means of vertical jump testing. The squat group performed six sets of squats per week ranging from 50‐95% of an estimated 1rm, the hang clean group performed six sets of hang cleans per week from 50‐95% of an estimated 1rm, while the other group performed 3 sets of each with the same intensity guidelines. Progressive intensities were used across all lifts over the course of the six week cycle. The squat‐hang clean group improved their vertical jump by an average of 1.48 inches. The hang‐clean group improved their vertical jump by an average of 1.05 inches, and the squat only group improved only by .26 inches. I’m certain that if these participants worked in the 80‐100% of 1RM range for the entirety of the study, results across the board would have been much better. Not until week #3 did they enter into these training intensity zones. I located one more study from Carlock in 2004 that showed a solid relationship between weightlifting performance and vertical jump ability. The study


analyzed 64 USA national‐level weightlifters and recorded their current strength levels verified by their coaches. 64 And what about the power clean and its impact on jumping performance? There were studies that showed improvements in vertical jump ability due primarily to improved performance in this movement, however, no study I found reported that the power clean was in fact superior to the hang clean in improving vertical jump performance, as was the case with sprinting. The same factors as to why this happened in sprinting would absolutely apply here to the vertical jump, since the qualities needed for success in each are identical. The vertical jump is hip dominant if you reference back to EMG reports at the beginning of the manual, and so is the hang clean. Also, the vertical jump and hang clean both tend to reside on the velocity side of the force‐velocity curve, meaning they are more speed based. Next we will get into the bread and butter and cover everything that deals with speed training, which is really why you are reading this book! Just remember that power and strength training are equally important, and if we don’t have these we will never be as fast as we could.


PLYOMETRICS A plyometric consists of a movement where there is a quick stretching action of the muscle, followed immediately by an explosive shortening action of that same muscle. The stretch movement is referred to as the “eccentric” phase, while the shortening motion is the “concentric” phase. Preceding a motion with a stretch rather than without will often times result in much greater acceleration, and this is why plyometrics are so valuable. We perform a plyometric in an attempt to move our limbs or an object attached to a limb in an intended direction. Classic examples of plyometrics are sprinting, cutting, jumping, hitting, throwing, swinging, etc. or anything that involves a “rebounding” action between the body and/or object and the training surface. There are 2 physiological mechanisms or functions through which plyometrics increase sprinting and general performance. #1‐Plyometrics increase the amount of potential energy stored in our tendons. #2‐Plyometrics increase our bodies’ Myotatic Stretch Reflex. As an example, when we perform a vertical jump, we start the movement by rapidly descending into a squat position. As this occurs, our muscles will load more energy through the stretching motion along with increased storage of energy in the tendons attaching to those same muscles. After the period of stretching ceases and we begin to transition our muscles into acceleration and they begin to shorten, all of this energy stored at the musculo‐tendinous junction will be released and the result is much more speed and power! The second function that results during plyometrics is eliciting of our muscles’ natural built‐in stretch reflex through the SSC (Stretch‐Shortening Cycle) and greater elasticity. The faster our muscles stretch before they contract the greater the reflex. This reflex is a protective mechanism that prevents the muscles from overstretching and tearing. When the reflex is signaled, certain aspects of our neuromuscular system will react and we receive a stronger subsequent contraction from these areas, resulting in greater acceleration and speed. According to Ross, Leveritt, and Riek, 2001, the reflex is a key process to increasing force production and sprint performance. 65 And there is one more from Cavagna in 2006. 66 This study explained the specific scenario of running and concluded that the increased momentum of our mass, as during take‐off and flight, places a faster and greater stretch on our muscles, igniting the reflex. This reflex then is responsible for a lot of the force and speed generated at especially higher speeds. There are at least 7 reasons why plyometric training is essential to the speed development process.


#1‐They directly improve speed. #2‐Like with power training, they help convert all of the strength and power we built with other exercises into usable speed. #3‐They are sport‐specific. #4‐They build very strong feet and ankles. #5‐They develop proper landing skill and deceleration. #6‐They develop high levels of intramuscular and inter‐muscular coordination and motor control. #7‐They activate our neuromuscular system. Plyometrics are a direct and complete form of speed training, so they are obviously going to greatly impact the development of this specific skill. All of these movements will be performed in a condition where the weight or resistance being moved is comparatively less than what you will encounter in the weight room, thus the body will have to learn to generate the force you have and express it quickly. Next, the drills that fit in this method of training will help convert the actual strength and power you do build into greater speed. It’s one thing to have a high level of strength, but if you are not able to effectively elicit that strength when you run, then it is pretty much pointless. It’s probably no surprise that sport‐specific movements are plyometrics at work. Plyometric training will then supply us with some extra or perhaps supplemental training, so that we are able to perform better when the time comes to practice or compete. Another underrated value of plyometrics is the effect they have on the foot and ankle region. Although we’ve already seen that the areas of the hip and knee are more active in sprinting and other activities, the foot and ankle still play a critical role by guaranteeing we maintain a proper alignment to properly absorb forces from the ground and put our other joints and muscles in a more advantageous position, so that these areas can do their jobs. These areas will also add some speed and power as well, and reduce impact and help prevent injury. On a final note, many of the plyometrics are foot and ankle dominant, and are great tests as to whether or not the athlete has good feet or needs to improve in this region. Deceleration training is a very important facet of any athlete’s program, and it’s really misunderstood and absent from most performance‐enhancement systems. We need to develop those brakes and teach the body to slow or stop speed immediately. I will dive into deceleration skill in more depth in the agility and quickness section, but right now I will tell you that plyometrics can help sharpen this skill by focusing on the proper body positioning needed to lower impacts, reduce injury, lower structural stress, and build the type of strength (eccentric) needed to slow speed or momentum. By demonstrating solid landing skill and the


ability to decelerate better, you will automatically be more effective at maximizing the re‐acceleration in the movement to follow. Plyometrics do a phenomenal job in improving an individual’s coordination levels. For those who are interested and unsure, there are 2 general types of coordination in the human body. #1‐Intramuscular coordination: This type of coordination involves a single muscle learning to operate effectively by itself. An example would be a bicep curl where the muscle at the crossing the elbow joint needs to apply the right effort at the right time to perform the movement. #2‐Inter‐muscular coordination: This type of coordination involves multiple muscle groups working together and communicating properly between each other. An example would be a squat where the hip joint, knee joint, and ankle joint, and all of the muscles surrounding these areas, apply the right effort at the right time to perform the movement. I think a series of drills that fit into the plyometric category could arguably do the best job at improving this skill. When a parent, coach, or trainer approaches me and says they want me to improve their athlete’s, son’s, or daughter’s footwork, these drills automatically pop into my mind to address that proposed need, as they do a fantastic job of teaching the athlete’s foot to interact with the ground properly. I suppose it is the nature of this style of training that does it. The movements are fast and elaborate and make the athlete really think and process what they are doing. This will also assist and enhance an athlete’s ability to learn other sport‐specific skills (i.e. dribbling, hitting, etc.) as well since they are learning and activating the same centers of the brain when attempting to engrain these movements into their nervous system. Many movements in other training types are often new and technical, but my athletes definitely seem to spend the most time learning how to move their feet through the speed ladder correctly, or jump rope, etc., regardless of skill or experience level. Performance is limited by the body’s ability to communicate within itself (coordination), and plyometrics do a great job at removing this natural threshold. It’s not an exaggeration when I say that many times, we could dedicate a half a week to a week just learning how to properly execute all of the ladder drills on our comprehensive exercise menu. The next reason is probably one of my favorite reasons for performing plyometrics. I discussed this feature in my warm‐up manual which you purchased. Plyometrics, as you already know, turn on our bodies’ natural reflex, but they also heighten and increase responsiveness of the entire body at the same time. By integrating a series of plyometrics, most preferably at the conclusion of your dynamic warmup, you can increase production for all of the skill training to be


performed afterwards (i.e. speed, agility, strength, and power). I use this with my athletes and constantly report greater results than if we omitted this segment. Next we will broadly examine all of the different plyometric drills you can use to increase speed and power, and then format all of them by listing them into one of two categories. These categories are High Frequency and Low Frequency Plyometrics. HIGH FREQUENCY PLYOMETRICS: LOW FREQUENCY PLYOMETRICS: Ankling or stutter step drills Box jump variations Ladder drills Vertical and horizontal jump tests Lower hurdle/box drills Bounding variations Jumproping Sprinting Skipping Cone drills‐agility Hopping Tuck jumps Plyomat drills Drop jumps‐shock plyo Low height pogo jumps High height pogo jumps Lateral barrier jumps Depth jumps‐shock plyo Two things I want to mention before proceeding. First, this is a list of all available plyometrics that we use, but not every single one of these will be supplied in the exercise index. Consider all of the other types of training, and I could publish a hundred‐plus‐page manual on just the exercise menu alone. I will give you enough to keep you busy for a while and make great gains, and then update the index by inserting more of these drills into my website either via articles or in the video section of the site. In The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in 2013, Hudgins and his team of researchers performed a study on sprinters, middle distance runners, and long distance runners, and tried to find relationships with their performance and difference jump variations. Their results showed that the vertical jump correlated very well with sprint performance, and the drop jump even more so. Depth jumps and rebounding‐type jumps that are listed in each category I provided you also affected different aspects of sprint performance such as stride length and ground contact time. 62 There is another study from Mero and Komi in 1994. They found that bounding exercises shared a strong relationship to sprinting due to its high power output, short ground contact time and other relevant speed outcome factors. 67 Secondly, all of the plyometrics listed here are very explosive and frequent, but the High Frequency ones get you into absolute “hyper” mode. High Frequency Plyos involve multiple smaller efforts performed as fast as humanly possible, while Low Frequency Plyos consist of a single or multiple higher efforts peformed as fast as possible. They are without a doubt frequent, but their responses are not as


frequent as the HF Plyos. What I’ve found is that HF Plyos focus on the velocity side of the Force‐Velocity Curve as these are “pure” speed based techniques. LF Plyos focus more on the other side of the Force‐Velocity Curve, and incorporate more of a strength component which helps convert the strength you build in the weight room into power. However, both are primary methods for developing high levels of speed relative to all of the strength and power exercises that were covered earlier in the manual. Another reason why I break the plyos down into categories is because it provides a way for me to really manage the collective program better, since there are so many training categories and exercises. The final reason why I feel it is imperative to categorize plyometrics is because each style of plyometric enhances the stretch reflex which I discussed. According to The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), there are 3 regulators of how well our reflex will respond when we perform a plyometric. Below are the 3 regulators. #1‐Time: The less time we take to stretch, the greater the reflex and our speed! #2‐Magnitude of Stretch: The greater the “amount” of stretch the greater the reflex and our speed! #3‐Velocity of Stretch: The greater the “speed” of our stretch the greater the reflex and our speed!

If we consider the 2 categories of plyometrics and the 3 regulators, then we have all our bases covered, and we will then get the absolute most out of the stretch reflex that contributes to acceleration and speed. High frequency drills naturally require us to increase the rate or velocity of our stretch. Let’s take jumping rope as an example. As soon as the feet leave the ground into the air they are almost immediately right back down on the ground again. This enables the potential for a ridiculously high number of foot contacts, and nothing can stretch the target muscle groups with a faster effort or more frequently than HF Plyos. So this category satisfies one of the 3 essential elements that manage our stretch reflex and speed.

Low frequency Plyos satisfy the other end of the spectrum and increase the magnitude of the stretch. Let’s take sprinting as an example here. After we complete the propulsion phase (aka takeoff ), our body mass picks up momentum and we eventually arrive back down on the track or field again. When impact occurs there is going to be far more magnitude or effort, as we bend our joints and stretch our muscles again in preparation for the next takeoff. This increased magnitude places more effort into the stretch resulting in a faster stretch, and satisfies the second element of the reflex. The third element of time is implied in both of these, as the only way to reduce time is to stretch our muscles faster and harder. So the take home message here is that if you truly want to maximize the potential of your stretch reflex then you had better perform an equal blend of exercises within these


two categories on a regular basis over the long term. The results will be greater acceleration and speed across all movements!

With a majority of the attention being placed on the lower body thus far, I figured we could switch gears for a moment and concentrate some more attention on the upper body. The upper body is of course secondary in priority when it comes to speed training, but still very important nonetheless, as was discussed earlier. A popular contemporary method of upper body plyometrics is “Medicine Ball Training.” Below are 5 key functions of med ball work.

#1‐Medicine ball training will help promote greater arm drive through increased speed and upper body power. #2‐Medicine ball training will help convert our upper body strength into usable speed and power in sprinting and other plyometric activities. #3‐Medicine ball training is safe and very easy to teach to athletes. #4‐Medicine ball training helps develop a lot of unique speed and power in all areas of our core. #5‐Medicine ball training will help prevent energy leaks and deceleration from occurring during sprinting. I will address all of the specifics of proper arm drive in the “sprinting technique” section of this book, but for now all I will say is that by performing heavy medicine ball throws you will skyrocket your upper body speed and power levels. Moreover, all of the strength you built in exercises like the bench press, chinup, row variations, military press and hang clean will now be showcased in medicine ball drills. These drills will also do a great job in making sure that as much of your strength as possible is being imparted when the time comes to sprint. In a study conducted by Ignjatovic in 2012 in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, he found that upper body power levels and strength both improved in young female handball players who participated in medicine ball training. 68. And the last study comes from Szymanski in 2007 from The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 69 He and several other researchers selected 49 high school baseball players and put them into two separate groups. Group 1 was resistance training only, while group 2 performed resistance training and medicine ball training. Dominant and non‐dominant torso rotational strength and sequential hip‐torso‐arm strength were measured pre‐ and post‐testing. The second group scored better on all tests, indicating the need for medicine ball training to enhance function


in these areas. There areas are also key for sprinting performance, so medicine ball training should be a part of anyone’s collective speed program. One of the things I like most about this form of training is that it’s relatively very easy to teach to clients. You really just need a turf, concrete wall or hard surface to throw against, durable med balls, perhaps some pent‐up aggression and then unleash it on the ball! Clients normally love it for this reason. It’s a lot like hitting a punching bag and it has merit on speed development. And we all know how empowering and good that feels sometimes. Building speed and power in the entire core is actually quite difficult, and medicine ball training does a great job in accomplishing this unique training objective. There are a few areas where we can go wrong in terms of sprinting technique if aspects of our core are weak, so med ball work is a primary way in preventing this problem from happening. This is what I am referring to with the prior statement of energy leaks and resultant deceleration, two things that definitely work against us and makes attaining high speed a much more difficult task. If we have a strong core, it will shine, and we will be much more effective at transferring energy to and from the ground, back and forth through our body as we run. Ironically, this is the primary role of the core in gross human movement based on its design. More on this later.


SPRINTING

Now I’m quite confident and certain that this is the primary reason that a majority of folks would be reading this book. Soon we will explore all of the techniques and principles that make you an effective sprinter, provide you an edge against competitors in your respective sport, or just get you faster from a recreational or fitness standpoint.

SPEED PRINCIPLES:

#1‐Principle of Specificity #2‐Overspeed Principle

PRINCIPLE OF SPECIFICITY This first one, like many other principles, can be given a host of different names, sometimes because someone wants to slightly modify the principle and make the name their own, but it all means the same thing. There is not a large need to spend a lot of time discussing this particular principle since everyone understands that in order to develop a skill or movement, you need to practice and master that movement. Most programs not only implement this principle successfully, but only utilize this single principle, and after everything you learned to this point you should know now that this method is highly limiting to performance. With that being said, if you want to be fast then your training needs to reflect this idea. The body usually only knows what you ask of it, or how you choose to use it. If you train slow, you will be slow. If you train fast, you will be fast. If you lift heavy weights you get stronger. Training for long periods of time at a high frequency you will get more conditioned. However, I have identified two common errors that occur with a principle that is supposed to be the easiest to implement. First, coaches and athletes do not test the skill they want to improve on a regular basis. The typical story is that a coach will test their athlete or team’s speed once at the onset of a training program, and then re‐test months later if they remember or feel like it. The flaw with this approach is that there are several factors that affect performance during the course of that time (nutritional status, recovery, stress, general adaptation, competing demands, program design, etc.) and the odds of the coach recording a performance increase, or the best increase of each and every athlete, is like finding a needle in a haystack. This really does your athlete an injustice and limits him or her. Weekly and reliable speed testing and data tracking


not only holds you and your athletes accountable, but it provides much‐needed incentive. We operate better with goals, but the athlete has no idea or direction of where they are going and how their bodies are responding to the program without being tested on a regular basis. The main reason why testing is so significant is the competitive factor it brings to the table. Athletes and coaches both love to compete. That is why they do what they do, and testing allows the athlete to compete with themselves and others, and the coach now becomes accountable and learns whether or not their approach is working for the athlete, and they are competing with themselves and others in making their approach the best it can be. The whole training environment also elevates, and you simulate sport and competition to an extent. There is pressure involved, it’s fun, and you will be certain to get the most out of the athletes who are serious. Lastly, the remaining issue on this front is the type of testing. Handheld testing is garbage and highly unpredictable due to human reaction error. The most famous study which confirms this statement was conducted at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Researchers utilized “expert” timers with quick reflexes and a complete understanding of how to initiate and stop the timer according to runner’s specific actions, and compared their results to FAT (Fully Automated Timing) Systems. The average difference between the two approaches was .24 seconds, meaning that handheld times would yield a result that was more than 2 tenths faster than the actual time. So if someone ran a 4.5 handheld it would be at least 4.7 seconds with a fully electronic timing system. There are validity and standard requirements across every skill in the performance world this day and age, except for speed. To say that we have cheapened the term and removed integrity would be a massive understatement. Everyone understands that in order for a squat to count it has to be performed to parallel, or you have to fully lockout a deadlift, or keep your butt down on a bench press, or we use a vertec to properly assess vertical jump along with a specific protocol to properly measure the athlete’s specific displacement. For whatever reason, though, a handheld timer prone to guaranteed error suffices in the speed world, except for in track and field. I really have to credit and tip my cap to this population for doing things the right way. Continuing on with my rant, it is really frustrating when you have a system that works and has generated great results on a fully‐electronic system, but the times are disapproved and misunderstood because no one else uses this measure. On a positive note, some of the notable universities (University of Oregon) and various national combines have elected to do things the right way, face the facts, and adopt the fully electronic method of testing for athletes. That is awesome, and hopefully more will continue the trend in the future. We have not used handheld timing in the last year except for research purposes and comparisons to the FAT Models we used. The results we attained from this system would confirm the studies that were performed back in Munich 4 decades ago.


The last issue surrounding this Principle of Specificity that I need to discuss is ensuring that your athletes are training as specifically as they need to when attempting to improve speed. Seems simple, but it’s really not. To help monitor this function, there is a simple relationship I created that helps us assess to see if we are being specific with our training like we should be. This relationship is referred to as “Training Speed vs. Top Speed.” These two are completely relative to the athlete, and if there is any difference between the two that is greater than very minimal, then speed will not be increased. World class speed coach Charlie Francis states in his book “Key Concepts Elite”13 that in order for a change in acceleration or speed to take place we have to train at 95‐100% of our max speed, and this percentage is based on the highest recorded time of the athlete to date. If the athlete is not running at 95% of their maximum speed or greater then they will not get faster. For example, if Nate runs a 4.41 second 40‐ yard dash, we know that he has to at the very least run at 95% of that performance, or 4.64 seconds, to generate an increase in acceleration and speed performance. More is obviously better, but 95% is the minimum. This is usually not the case because athletes and coaches mistakenly turn speed training into conditioning, either intentionally or due to their ignorance of certain variables and permanent physiological limitations of the human body that heavily impact speed production. Also, if you are not testing you have no way of knowing whether or not you are improving or really moving as fast as you should at any given time. The second problem is simple, but the first is more technical. I will go into detail on this matter in the “Program Design” section and “Speed vs. Conditioning” section, so stay tuned. Here is a helpful diagram to show the relationship between these two factors and possible outcomes for speed. If there is even a slight margin between training speed vs. your top speed then you are not training hard and fast enough to increase speed. Next we will examine the second key principle if you want to ensure your body gets faster if everything else you are doing is correct. Training Speed < Top Speed= Decreased Speed Training Speed = or > Top Speed= Increased Speed

OVERSPEED PRINCIPLE

As far as speed training is concerned, this rule is going to make or break you in your attempt to truly get faster! If you read my sales page for this book, then you may have seen that I mentioned there are 2 things you can do to get faster immediately. This is the first and most important. I decided to derive and slightly modify the “Overload Principle” for strength development, so that it resonates


better when focusing on speed. It just makes more sense. Now this principle may sound very simple and straightforward to implement into a speed training program, however most fail to get it right for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons has to with a relationship that I term “perceived effort vs. actual effort.” An athlete or coach may think that they are creating “overspeed” based off their sole perception, but this is rarely the case in my experience. Specific recovery factors and maximum effort are not innate in many people. To resolve this issue and remove all guesswork, all you would need to do is invest in a FAT System such as the Brower TC Timing System, and compare times of each runner. The first speed principle was very broad, because I told you that you needed to run faster, and showed you the minimum level of effort or speed that qualifies to generate adaptations or changes in the body that result in greater speed. The Overspeed Principle will tell you exactly how hard you should be trying each and every time your perform a rep, so that you improve your speed to the highest degree possible as fast as possible. I’m sure many have heard the popular phrase “How can you expect to get better results if you always do the same thing you’ve always done?” Most people nod their heads in agreement with this statement, although their training philosophy and results do not correspond. You have to request relatively MORE from your body in order for it to adapt and do more over the long‐term. Pretty simple fact that is so effective. There exists a proposed Law of Conservation, so our body naturally does not want to do more than it has to for whatever reason in most cases. 70 Logically, this is probably due to survival purposes. Energy is a valuable commodity for our body and we need it to continue life. Training threatens our energy reserves and our survival to a degree, and more energy is required to create increased speed, so naturally our body will battle against this effort, but will still allow it in mostly small increments over time to accommodate us. The bottom line is that we have to force our body to do what it doesn’t really want to. And please do not confuse more with different. These are two totally different terms. There is absolutely zero physiological evidence to support “muscle confusion” or doing something different than what we are doing to promote progress in any training‐related endeavor (speed, strength, power, fat loss, muscle building, etc.). Our body adapts to workload and not movements, contrary to overwhelming popular belief. 71 Of course there is a short period of time where our body is not readily familiar with an introduced movement (i.e. sprinting), and it has to learn to improve coordination and efficiency, but NEVER do we stop continuing to make gains in that pattern. Sprinters start sprinting at an early age and continue to make progress in that movement well into their twenties and thirties. Powerlifters perform the same 3 movements, and like the sprinters, progress indefinitely. Fat loss enthusiasts eat less calories than what they burn either through a degree of caloric deprivation or MORE work in the gym. The list goes on and on. Training variation was derived


primarily out of boredom for the lazy and unmotivated, or the ignorant. People either simply are not aware of this scientific fact, they dislike training, they’re bored, or they’re frustrated they are not getting the results they want and think they need a source of variation to keep coming to the gym, and cross their fingers and figure that something different might happen. Well the harsh reality is that life can get boring, it’s a routine, and these individuals need to deal with it. Acceptable variations of foundational, safe, and superior movements are perfectly fine, but the common attempt at being too creative will absolutely yield poor results. I guarantee it. This is just as much of a problem with experts and coaches with their prescriptions. One year back squatting is bad, next year its good, wait, no it’s bad again? The other scenario I like is those who say that we are discovering so much more about exercise science that it’s altering our whole approach to how we use to do things. No it’s not. I’ll piss off a lot of people who use this angle, but the proper way in which we do things for many areas of development are not going to change that much. We will discover much more impractical minutiae on various topics, but the things that work are here and will always last. These individuals either have not found the training solutions for their objective or they are in denial. Fortunately for you, though, the same things that have been proven to work you will find in this book! Your inevitable option as an athlete or coach is to embrace results, potential and periodic boredom, along with sound science, or stay where you are, get more creative, and keep searching for the next miraculous trend that promises the world, but delivers mostly nothing. The call is yours. Back to my original point: If you want to get as fast as you were meant to be, then there is no other option but to follow the Overspeed Principle on a regular basis. Each and every time you test and attempt to develop your speed, you have to act as though if that rep was your last, and pour every ounce of effort into that particular run. Do this and I’m sure you’ll eventually be pleasantly surprised at what this rule can do for you.

You might be asking yourself: Why do we have to attempt to create overspeed each time we run? It’s a great question. The answer lies in that our body has a built‐in speed governor. “The nervous system only recruits muscles at speeds at which it has been trained. If it is not trained to recruit muscles quickly, when met with a demand for fast reaction, the nervous system will not be able to respond appropriately.” 72 Just like in the case of a car or truck. When we reach a certain level of speed while driving, the car will maintain that speed and prevent further increases in it. Unlike a car, though, the only way to remove this governor from that current speed in the human body is to attempt to drive past that governor and increase speed even more. When this occurs, our body will incrementally “reset” our level of speed a little bit higher, and we are left with a newfound level of speed that we did not have before. This mechanism is actually how our body improves its speed.


SPRINTING TECHNIQUE: I’m excited to share my findings on this highly controversial and heavily discussed area of acceleration and speed training, to say the least. Some of what I will discuss will probably be review for you and some of it probably new. Proper sprint technique is obviously necessary to be able to maximize your performance. 73 Keep in mind, though, that technique is just one piece to the puzzle and there are other things that are even more important in order to sprint correctly. Yes, you read that right. Power (Strength x Speed) is fundamental to being able to effectively learn and express all of the techniques I’m about to discuss. Whether it’s forefoot dominance, proper frontside‐backside mechanics, or proper arm drive, we have to have more power to perform these correctly and to perform them fast. Basically, my message to athletes or others is to not even attempt to learn these techniques unless you are following the rest of the program first. Nothing could be a bigger waste of your time. To hammer this message home, consider a 12–year‐old boy who looks pretty and fluid when he runs, but goes nowhere because he lacks a sufficient amount of power. Conversely, a professional athlete who has phenomenal power output but is unaware of a certain technique can still run nationally competitive in the 40‐yard dash. I’ve seen this several times, and you would be surprised how many ultra‐fast people actually demonstrate technically poor form, but overcompensate for that deficiency with greater power. Power is primary, and sprinting technique is secondary for increased speed. Let’s now examine the techniques our athletes need to improve their speed in potentially slight to moderate amounts. #1‐Stride Rate vs. Stride Length Speed is commonly said to be the product of stride rate x stride length. “Stride rate is the number of strides taken in a given amount of time or distance, while stride length is the distance covered in one stride, during running. Research has found that optimum stride length at maximum velocity has a high correlation to leg length. It is approximately 2.1 to 2.5 times leg length. 46 48 So stride rate is how often we take a stride or step, and stride length is the amount of ground we cover with each stride or step. Experts like to break each element down into smaller phases, but I really do not think there is a need to, and a general definition is adequate. First, the 2.1‐2.5 times our leg length statement is impractical, unfortunately. What is really cool is that there is a strong relationship between speed, stride length, and stride rate in sub‐elite runners. In 2000 in The Journal of Applied Physiology, Peter Weyand and his team found that strides were 1.69 times longer at 11.1 m/sec versus 6.2 m/sec, and stride rate or frequency was 1.16 times faster! Keep in mind that this study compared fast runners to slower ones. 37


However, there does not seem to be a clear consensus, and studies seem to be split on which one is more important at an ELITE level. For anything less, you want a solid combination of both elements. For example, research on elite sprinters indicates that the best ones spend less time on the ground. 24 74 75 On the other hand, Debaere and his team found that the difference between stride rates between sprinters at the beginning of a sprint was 95% of the stride rate at maximum speed. They compared men and women. Moreover, the difference between stride length was 10.3% initially and then 11.5% at maximum speed, indicating stride length as the dominant feature for faster running. 76 Another study shows a split between the two. 77 In Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2011, Salo, Bezodis, Batterham, and Kerwin analyzed 11 elite male 100‐meter runners from Olympic, World, and European Championships. 17 of each runner’s races were assessed and the mean race time was 10.12 seconds! Of the 11 athletes total, 9 of them ran under 10.00s in at least one of their races. Researchers came to the conclusion that some of the runners relied upon greater stride length compensation while other relied on stride rate. Another study on this topic comes from: Majumdar and Robergs in 2011 called "The Science of Speed: Determinants of Performance in the 100 m Sprint. 78 They reported that male sprinters rely more on stride length, while females rely on greater stride rate. Whether it be that some possess greater stride length through phenomenal hip and overall strength and power, or others have incredible muscle recruitment speed which enables a superior stride rate, the permanent suggestion at this level is inconclusive at this point. Logically, it would make sense that each runner work on their relative weakness to further decrease running times and increase speed. The researchers supported this notion as well. Practically consider whether the athlete in question has greater strength or speed in movement and address accordingly. For example, if they run fast and perform jump plyometrics fast and explosively, but are not as skilled at weightlifting then they would need to focus more of their training efforts on the latter, and vice versa. So now that we know both of these functions of stride length and rate are significant, you can further see that POWER is what you need. #2‐Front and Backside Mechanics Front and Backside Mechanics refers to the position of the hip, knee, and ankle of the stance leg (front) and swing leg (back) during a sprint. Ideally, after we take a step, our back leg, which is swinging forward should form a 90 degree angle at the ankle, knee and hip collectively. The front leg, which is driving backwards, should be fully extending or straight at the ankle, knee, and hip, meaning that you could not straighten any of these any more than we already have. Below is a good illustration of this technique.


(Photo courtesy of Steve Mcsweeny) This is what you should look like in your lower body just before the back foot leaves the ground in sprinting.

Great frontside and backside mechanics here! Easy and simple cues to teach this proper sprint pattern can be “Drive the back knee up, and push your front leg fully back and down into the ground. “ This specific technique will enable maximal amount of force into the ground, which will maximize our stride length and distance between each step. Also, you’ll notice that as one of these occurs, so will the other. For example, when the front leg fully extends, the back knee automatically lifts up because there is an equal inverse relationship between the two. You can try this standing up. Lift one knee up as high as you can with the knee and ankle on that same side at 90 degrees, and you will feel your balance foot drive into the ground and your glutes on that side light up. Another question or issue that commonly arises is whether or not to focus on the swing leg or stance leg more when sprinting. Research has also shown that the function of the stance leg is far more important in creating more force and increasing speed versus the swing leg. “Tests showed that the world’s fastest runner in the late 1990s reached a top speed of 11.1 meters per second, yet the amount of time he took to reposition his legs in the air was less than 3 hundredths of a second faster than sprinters who poked along at 6.2 meters per second, almost half the speed.” 30 37 However, in 2012, Morin identified that the swing does in fact correlate with 100 meter performance. 24 79 The reason that the previous study failed to show the relationship is because it did not assess the acceleration phase and the entire race like this most recent one did, researchers said. In 1983, Mann also supported that the success of sprinting was due in large part to the relative activity levels of both the hip extending (backside) and hip flexing (frontside). 24 80 As far as technique is concerned, make sure the proper 90‐degree angle of all joints of the swing leg is present to shorten the length of the leg, and make it easier to swing, which makes repositioning it back on the ground faster and everything else faster in the process. Speed and technique of the swing leg are both vitally


important. This technique also distributes the work more evenly across all hip flexors, reducing injury potential. Lastly, just make sure that you do not over‐stride or under‐stride, as this will cause impactful errors in frontside and backside mechanics. To prevent this, just make sure that the foot of the swing leg plants directly underneath the hip, so that you do not over‐stride and excessively increase stride length and reduce stride rate. Many hear “increase stride length” and they do this unnaturally. Just remember that your stride length should improve naturally as a byproduct of increased strength and power you build in the weight room. If your swing leg straightens at the knee too much, and you plant too far in front of your hip then you will over‐stride, and a braking action will occur. On the other hand, if your swing leg does not rotate forward enough, and you plant too far behind your hip, then you will under‐stride and move slower. To summarize, if our stride length is too long, we over‐stride, and our stride rate and acceleration are slower. If the stride rate is too fast, we under‐stride, and our stride length and acceleration are reduced. Our goal should always be to display the proper stride length at the fastest rate possible without over‐ or under‐striding to maximize our acceleration and speed output! #3‐Forefoot Dominance This key technique calls for a majority of our bodyweight to be concentrated over the front of our foot. The more forward our weight is over our feet, the more forefoot dominant we are and vice versa. This technique encourages “leaning” while sprinting, but make sure you are not breaking at the hip. This concept becomes important in sprinting for a few reasons. First, in sprinting we are trying to move in a forward direction. If we simply shift our weight forward on our feet, we are already that much closer to where we want to go and it is easier to move in this direction. So our efficiency automatically improves with our body weight forward. Just stand up straight, lean, and fall forward (Rolling start) and you’ll see what I mean. Secondly, running on our forefoot or toes is a much healthier and more effective way to run faster. Kelly Baggett was I believe the very first to classify Forefoot Dominance in sprinting as moving from the hip, while Rearfoot Dominance in sprinting as knee running. Running from the toes activates the hips, still activates the knees, and brings these two body parts together more equally, while heel running overloads the knees and inhibits activity of the hip. You saw the dominant muscle groups in the EMG reports from the sprinting pattern earlier, and how the hips are key to greater speed, and Forefoot Dominance in sprinting reinforces this exactly! Also, running on the heel creates greater impacts, increases braking forces, weakens the calves since the heel is supported on the ground, stresses and potentially hyperextends the knees much more, applies some force in the wrong direction, creates overstriding, creates longer GCT (Ground Contact Time), creates more energy loss, and will slow us down. This slight


adjustment of Forefoot Dominance will cure all of these issues and increase your speed potential. In 1983, a researcher by the name of Kerr found and reported that runners who were faster in short, medium, and long distance events were FF dominant. 81 What else was interesting is that only 2 percent of participants exhibited this technique. Also please note that these studies are infrequent and utilized with long distance runners who are much slower. Like in the case of this famous study from Hasegawa in 2007. 82 This was a Japanese study that examined much slower marathon runners who were rearfoot dominant. What was interesting, though, is that a higher percentage of faster runners ran on their midfoot. I’m sure that if they were examined at high speeds like in the case of sprinters, the results would indicate that forefoot dominance was even more prevalent. The study also mentioned that a continuum in technique was present. As runners decreased speed, rearfoot running was more prevalent and vice versa. I’m certain after watching hundreds of athletes run over the years that if more studies were conducted on the matter, a constant finding from researchers would be that fast sprinters are forefoot dominant. Premature grounding of the swing leg typically means that the foot will still be moving forward with respect to the body when ground contact is made. This is referred to as excessive positive foot speed and it is potentially disruptive to efficient sprinting because it can increase braking forces at ground contact. Positive foot speed is associated with overstriding or having our foot too far out in front of our mass. Ideally, the foot should be moving backward with respect to the body when touchdown occurs. This is often referred to as negative foot speed at ground contact, and this movement pattern is highly correlated with increased sprinting speed. 75 Negative foot speed is also associated with forefoot running. #4‐Arm Drive

OK, before I get started, keep in mind that sprinting and other speed‐based work such as agility and jumping is “lower body” dominant. This means that most of the focus should be concentrated on this region of the body. I say this because many coaches and athletes give far too much credit to the arms. They are important, but not as much as your lower half, which is primarily responsible for speed. You would not even move if it were not for your legs creating Ground Reaction Force (GRF). Many tend to think that arm drive is magic. It’s not, although it does provide a strong secondary support role. To illustrate the need for Arm Drive, just simply run with your arms behind your back. Based on my research, both Latiff Thomas and Charlie Francis have nailed down where our shoulders, elbows, and hands need to be in order for us to have an advantage in speed. Note that our arms and legs work together, so any motion, or lack of motion, in the arms can directly influence how our legs operate. For example, if our arms rotate too high forward or too far back


then there will be wasted motion, time, and a delay in our leg drive resulting in slower acceleration.

When we think arms we need to think 90/90, meaning that our upper and lower arm needs to form a 90‐degree angle at the elbow to allow for rapid and efficient arm action rotating forward and back through a sprint. “Arm angle” which we just discussed, the “amount “of arm drive, and direction of arm drive are the three primary areas of interest relative to sprinting mechanics. Historically, coaches and trainers encouraged athletes to sprint and drive the arms and hands to eye level going forward, and making sure the elbow arrives behind the torso when rotating back. Think “eye socket to hip pocket” as each arm drives. Next is the direction of the arm drive. Look at Erik’s left arm below. See how his elbow is bent at his side? He is “Partial Crossing.” The elbows move out then in, ensuring that you produce a stronger arm drive. If the elbows stay too much into the body as you transition from your backswing into your forward swing, you will not be as strong and it requires too much focus. Many coaches preach keeping the elbows in throughout and it’s wrong. This effect is natural and there is no need to mess with it. To help explain why you want the arms to cross just envision or actually practice a closed grip bench press and a wide grip bench press. Obviously the wide grip is stronger and a more explosive pattern that is similar to the arm cross. Erik (black and red) demonstrates the partial cross during his arm drive. His elbow drives up and out and then up in. You could envision that trajectory in the photo above. #5‐Good Posture I’m going to keep this one short and sum it up by saying that optimal posture allows us to create proper muscle balance and activity in every motion or non‐motion of the body. By having the neck, upper back, shoulder blades, and lower back in the right vertical position from a lateral vantage point we can maximize the use of all the muscles attaching to the arms and legs when we sprint. From the


front, the hips should be square, kneecaps pointing forward, along with the toes of the foot forward as well. If you recall from the strength section, staying structurally balanced in any movement is essential, and sprinting is no exception. If you are interested, you can refer back to the “Structural Balance Principle” in the strength section to see the negative outcomes that result from operating with poor posture. #6‐Strong Core “A powerful arm drive can cause excessive rotation of the pelvis if the oblique muscles are not strong enough to counteract the force created by the shoulder rotation. Strength that would be available for MSF is lost in an attempt to control the pelvis. Another problem that arises from a weak mid‐torso is excessive anterior pelvis tilt (the pelvis is tilted forward, causing an excessive lower back arch). An anterior pelvis tilt limits the hip range of motion, shortening stride length, and increasing ground contact time. The exact opposite of what we are trying to accomplish with MSF.” 30 To simplify all that was said here, when we run and move our arms and legs, the effort or force generated from each half can cause the torso and hips to rotate, especially if the rotational muscles of the core and torso are not strong enough to resist this tendency and “stabilize” these areas. Lucky for us, the vast majority of these muscles will run in an oblique (diagonal) or parallel line with the ground. What this means is that they all have the ability to rotate or in the case of sprinting and other speed‐based training, “prevent” rotation as we move.


The Core or Renegade Row is a great exercise to teach the body “anti-rotation” so that we can sprint and move faster. When rotation occurs, an “energy leak” will occur and we will move in the wrong direction. These muscles need to match the strength of our upper and lower body to make sure the torso stays forward and all of our effort goes forward as well. Anterior pelvic tilt is a technical term for weak abdominals, glutes, and hamstrings, and strong hip flexors and lower back muscles. When “excessive” anterior tilt occurs, we cannot create the amount of stride length, which the glutes and hamstrings are responsible for, and we do not run as fast. The extra pelvic tilt also “overloads” the hamstrings and is a common cause of hamstring injury. This process of overload is known as “Synergistic Dominance.” The hamstrings are synergists or support muscles at the hip, which assist the glutes, which are the prime movers, or they are supposed to be. Unfortunately, when our pelvis tilts the hamstrings then assume the role as the main workers, which they are not designed to do, and a problem ensues. The abdominals are vital here since they help hold the pelvis in a position for the glutes and hamstrings to work more effectively, and prevent excessive anterior tilt. Note that I stated excessive tilt. As a speed athlete you want to exhibit some anterior tilt so you run on your forefoot. See photos.


(Photo courtesy of ericcressey.com) Anterior tilt is associated with forefoot dominance, And vice versa.

This is an example of “Rearing Up.” This shift of our mass to the rearfoot reduces leg power and speed potential. #7‐LIFT This particular technique is still practically unheard of, but is valuable and potentially more valuable than any other. This technique takes into account that ground force on the body upon impact during sprinting can be in excess of 3x our bodyweight according to some of the reports I’ve seen! This means that the ability to withstand such an impact and maintain a higher center of mass and hold this established body position when landing (isometric strength) is going to be vital to


re‐accelerating higher, farther, and quicker into our next stride. The great athletes and sprinters do this the best because they are so strong, either naturally or via the weight room. Often times I’ll see many temporarily weak clients collapse as they hit the surface, especially at the knee, and you’ll see the delay in their next transition. This collapse and extra bend or increased joint angles increases GCT (Ground Contact Time) and energy loss as well. Aside from high levels of strength required in being able to counter the high landing force that occurs naturally during sprinting, clients need to consciously focus on keeping the hips high and knees tight and stiff. Any drop will result in a longer time on the ground and greater energy loss, since we have to move more to get back up off the ground and into flight again. Another term used to represent this technique is “leg stiffness.” There are actually 3 different types of stiffness in the research: joint, vertical, and leg stiffness. They are all essentially the same or present with one another so I’m just going to reference leg stiffness. Leg stiffness is very important for sprinting speed and the maintenance of momentum, among other things. 83 84

(Photo courtesy of Eckhard Pecher) Notice how stiff Bolt’s (left) and Gay’s (right) knees are when they land and how upright and vertical each are during their stride. The next study I would like to share is called: The Effect of Speed on Leg Stiffness and Joint Kinetics in Human Running, by Arampatzis, Brueggemann and Metzler, in The Journal of Biomechanics back in 1999. In this study, researchers found that a majority of leg stiffness occurs in the knee, and there is a correlation between increased running speed and increased leg stiffness. 85 Please keep in mind that this research refers to stiffness during late acceleration and the max speed phase. Only when speed is high and GCT is short does leg stiffness become a factor to at least maintain and hopefully increase speed if our power levels are high.


#8‐Multi‐Directional Control and Stability Dr. Charlie Weingroff, who has been a huge inspiration and mentor in my professional development, was the first to note this need for speed. If we have any weakness on the inside or outside of our body then the ability for the prime movers such as the quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes will be limited. These surrounding stabilizer muscles (adductors, glute medius, etc.) place our body in a position to utilize the bigger, stronger, and more powerful muscle groups to do their job at a higher level. I elaborated on this pretty well in the “Supplemental Strength” training section of the book. Moreover, here is a European study from Arin that supports this theory. 86 Arin found a strong correlation between unilateral or single leg strength, COD (Change of Direction), and linear speed across 10 and 20 meters. Being able to perform well in a single leg environment requires balance, which is regulated not only by balance itself, but rather by strength and power of each lower limb. Plus most people tend to associate stability and balance with awesome “unstable surface training.” I’m kidding. In his brilliant book “The Truth About Unstable Surface Training,” Eric Cressey shares information on a study that he and several others performed on 19 members of an NCAA D1 men’s soccer team. 87 88 The study examined the effects unstable and stable surface training had on different jump plyometrics, agility, and linear sprint times. Every single subject improved more with STABLE surface training. Yes, you read that right: stable surface training. Our society has been absolutely consumed by balancing on objects such as Bosu balls and stability balls, but if you do elect this approach, it’s at the expense of your speed, your son or daughter’s speed if you are a parent, or your athlete’s speed if you are a coach. Here is the table that presented the speed results from the study: Table 3.2: Mean 40 and 10yard Sprint Times for Pre and PostTest and % Change. Assessment PreTest Post Test % Change 40yard sprint (s) Unstable 5.02 4.93 1.8%* Stable 5.06 4.87 3.9%*† 10yard split (s) Unstable 1.73 1.67 4.0%* Stable 1.75 1.63 7.6%* *Significant difference within groups over pretesting at p<0.05. †Significant difference between groups at p<0.05.


Finally, Eric went on to mention that Unstable Surface Training simply violates The Law of Specificity. Sports occur on stable surfaces, at high speeds, with lots of motion, whereas balance exercises occur on unstable surfaces, at slow speeds, with less motion. It simply does not convert for athletes. Please stay away from these hyped methods unless you are injured and in the care of a licensed physical therapist. #9‐Heel Recovery

I first heard this vital technique in a video from world‐class sprint coach Latiff Thomas. Heel recovery is the path of the foot as it exits the surface behind and swings back out in front of us. Ideally, we need to “swing low” to prevent wasted muscle and joint action and move more efficiently during initial acceleration and then swing higher after the initial phase as we build maximum speed. As we reach greater running speeds, we need to shorten the leg or lever to swing and move it through quicker and more efficiently and this removes a lot of stress off the hip flexor muscles. The common cue is “Stepping over the knee.” Unfortunately, I’ve never seen anyone actually step over the knee at max speed. It’s unnatural, harder, and requires much more motion than is necessary. “Stepping through the knee” is a suitable cue for proper recovery height after acceleration is over. In case you are wondering, you can break sprinting down into 3 simple phases for each leg during a stride cycle.

Swing Leg : Stance Leg: Early Swing Landing Phase Mid Swing Mid-Stance Late Swing Toe Off #10‐Relaxation Specifics I discussed this topic in a general sense in my book “The Reno Speed School Warm‐Up Manual for Athletes,” which you now own. Far too much focus has been placed on having athletes relax too much during sprinting and any other athletic endeavor. The fact is that the best performers are intense, tight, and relentless in competition. Just look at them. I’m referring to a moderate to high degree of tightness, just to clarify. This will help to conserve energy in sprinting, rather than being overly intense. The face, mouth, neck, tops of the shoulders, upper arms, and hips need to exhibit some relaxation at certain innate times during a sprint. This should occur in our hindbrain subconsciously. If there is a technique we are consciously trying to attempt in an intense environment, it won’t happen. If any of these areas are not as relaxed as they need to be then we lose energy and restrict


motion. For example, “Internal resistance” of antagonistic (opposing) muscle groups such as the glutes on the back of the legs can occur if we are tight, resulting in inhibition or the inability of the hip flexors on the front of the legs to swing the leg forward explosively in sprinting. Moreover, reports indicate that unlocked hips during a sprint can enable approximately another meter of motion, known as “The Free Meter.” And you will know excessive tightness when you see it. Eyes are closed, teeth are gritting, hissing or blowing air out of the mouth occurs, and shoulder elevation are general signs that reduce net force into the ground and decrease speed. Net force is a product of one muscle’s effort minus the opposing muscle’s effort. If our hamstrings and glutes are trying to drive us forward in a sprint and produce 150 lbs. of force, but the opposing hip flexors still are producing 60 lbs. of force, then there is only a net of 90 lbs. of force and we are that much slower than what we could be minus the hip flexor tightness. Moderate flexibility is critical here. There is definitely still confusion of tightness from being slow or inflexible. Very rarely are athletes tight from being inflexible, contrary to popular belief. They are tight because they are slow. “In all‐out strength and power activities, for example, ability to disinhibit and maximally activate all motor neurons required for a movement becomes crucial to top‐flight performance.” 42 Put differently, our body inhibits and limits muscles from being powerful and this effect can stem from opposing antagonistic muscles staying tight and preventing muscle contraction from target areas. To simplify, this means our muscles have to learn to contract and relax faster to generate more power during sprinting and other activities. The only way to override this is to train specifically for power and strength over the long term and eventually remove this inhibition problem. Please do not confuse being inflexible for being slow and unexplosive. And stay tuned for a simple routine to build flexibility in tight areas in the FAQ section at the end of the book. #11‐Intensity

Ultimately, trying harder, getting stronger, and getting more powerful than you are now is going to be the main difference in whether or not you get faster. It’s the truth. You can run with perfect form, but if you have no horsepower you will go nowhere. Becoming stronger and more powerful will make all of these techniques easier to learn and perform as well. For example, say someone has difficulty being able to support and balance their center of gravity or weight on their toes (Forefoot Dominance). If that person gets stronger and more powerful in the weight room, they will have an easier time maintaining this position and improving balance, but only through building strength and power. Arm drive, lift, frontside/backside mechanics, posture, core strength, multi‐directional control, and whatever else you can think of that I did not mention already will all improve with more strength and power. And it’s our intensity that drives us to greater strength and power. Also,


intensity can often improve technique due to increased stability of joints and greater muscle recruitment. And the higher degree of voluntary tension can remove joint stress and lower impacts, which could lead to potential injury.

#12‐ Let ‘em run Another major problem impacting technique is the actual exposure or amount of repetition of the activity being performed. I’ve realized over the years that the body will usually find and figure how to position itself to run faster, and contract and relax the necessary muscles at the right time with the right amount of effort, by improving its own coordination and timing. In the words of Kelly Baggett: “The body seeks for efficiency.” Sometimes a coach does not even need to say anything, and technique will improve. I don’t recommend this, but I’ve tried it before with success. Sometimes clients need to be made aware of what they are doing wrong to get better, especially if the problem persists, while others do it well naturally. It just depends. The one thing that is certain is that if we allow our clients and athletes more opportunity to revise, learn, and understand how they need to move by actually sprinting often, the better they will be, and the more of a potential edge they could have against those who are not used to sprinting regularly. So go run!

SPRINT START TECHNIQUE: Sprint start training is a key addition to make ANY type of athlete faster in their sport. Common questions from parents, coaches, and athletes concern why we are doing this? My kid, athlete, and I are not track sprinters. My answer is that they really are if you look at it. The only thing they do not do is run out of blocks, but they should because it works and it works very well. Real quick, if you do not have blocks then just a 3‐ or 4‐point stance off any stable surface (i.e. turf) will work just as well. Every sport involves a “linear speed component.” So we train that component specifically, and sprint start training enables a faster expression of movement in that skill. There are 5 reasons why I love sprint start training for all of my athletes. #1‐The fastest people in the world do it. Football players and Olympic sprinters. That’s good enough for me. #2‐It teaches power and explosiveness to maintain balance off the start. #3‐It’s a hip‐dominant movement and so is sprinting. #4‐It creates greater joint and acceleration angles, allowing faster speeds to be attained versus a “sport‐specific” upright stance start.


#5‐Many athletes will be tested and measured in a 3‐ or 4‐point stance at some point in their athletic career.

SPRINT START SETUP

Pro baseball player Scott Underwood demonstrating a perfect 3-point start setup!

After studying the science and art of the start setup for years, I’ve identified that you can simplify the setup process and tune in to 7 functions to optimize positioning for a better start. These functions are arm support, hip height, neutral spine, stance width, stance length, knee angles, and distance from the starting line. With these techniques you can mentally create a checklist in your head each time you set up to start before a run. After you have addressed each technique, you will know you are in the best position to accelerate off the start. Arm support is the first technique we will review. I like to work from the head back to the feet, addressing each technique in between along the way. Also these specific rules will apply to both a 4‐point (track start) and 3‐point (football start) stance if you are curious. Which one you choose is up to you, and based off preference or what your sport requires. There are 3 potential positions or progressions for arm support, and it’s ultimately based off the power level of the athlete. Weak athletes will have a “negative” arm ratio where the shoulder is positioned slightly behind the hand or hands. Average athletes will have the shoulder directly above the hand, and very strong athletes can really lean out and have the shoulder slightly in front of the support hand creating a “positive” arm ratio. Ideally, we are trying to get every single athlete who sprints in the third advanced arm support setting. This position places our COG (Center of Gravity) way


out in front of us, making balance much harder as we transition into our first step out of the start. It’s definitely a Catch‐22, though. The same thing that can cause us to lose balance also prompts greater reaction and power from the body. You will never come out of the start as fast as you can without this technique. It’s just very hard to master. Stumbling, standing up too soon, and lateral compensation steps are very common errors here that serve as signs as to whether the current progression of arm support is too advanced or not. Lateral compensation step is a fancy term for side stepping. This cheat technique enables the foot to touch down quicker, so we can maintain our balance and keep from face‐planting on the running surface. Let’s discuss the 4‐point stance briefly. If you are operating out of a 3‐point stance, then do not concern yourself with what I’m about to say. But for a 4‐point, the distance between your hands is important. There is progression for these as well. At level 1 the hands are directly below the shoulders, and level 2 the hands are slightly outside the shoulders. Level 2 lowers your mass and enables a lot more potential momentum and velocity to be created from the knees, hips, and spine. Hip height is the next essential characteristic to create a more effective sprint start setup. To keep things simple, you want your hips just above the level of your shoulders. 9 out of 10 athletes will place their hips parallel and even below the knees when they first set up to sprint. I’m guessing that this is due to weaker hips, quad dominance, and a more comfortable position. We often seek the path of least resistance and low hips provide just that. The last thing that we should be in our starting setup is comfortable. This does not promote as much of a power response or launch off the start, which we want. Research suggests that placing your hips 6‐12 cm above your shoulders is ideal. 89 Neutral spine is imperative in your setup to be able to recruit all of the power muscles of your lower body and torso. These are the glutes, hamstrings, and spinal erectors mostly. If the back is round, not only does this strain our back more and predispose us to various injuries, but it removes all of the stored energy and tension in the glutes and hamstrings, decreasing our drive out of the start. You saw the effects of proper posture in the sprinting technique section, and the same thing applies here. A simple and effective cue for setting the spine is “butt and chest out.” This should straighten the spine at all segments and remove all risk. Stance width is pretty simple, and regulates the “Direction of Force Application” out of the start. If our feet are positioned at the width of our shoulders creating vertical lines through our shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles then we will produce all of our effort back and down, which is the ideal combination of force (vertical and horizontal) type to accelerate us forward the fastest. If your feet are wider or narrower than shoulder width, then part of the force will be expressed in a direction that does not support forward motion. This should be an easy technique to achieve.


Stance length or feet spacing is a specific technique we need to become proficient at in order to be more successful. Many reports indicate that a “medium start” is the best. Basically, there are 3 variations of stance length on the start: bullet, medium, and elongated start. The difference between each start type is the longitudinal distance between the toes. This is referred to as the “toe‐to‐toe distance.” 90

The bullet start crams the feet together and creates a quicker but less forceful response from our muscles. With this start, the front heel is directly even with the toes of the back foot. The toe‐to‐toe distance is 25‐30cm. 90 Although the athlete exits the start quicker, he will not experience as much drive potential from the legs in comparison to the other 2 stance types, resulting in poorer acceleration response.

The elongated start removes a lot of the production of the rear foot since it’s so far behind the front foot, with the toe‐to‐toe distance 60‐75cm. 90 There is not as much collective effort from both feet on the pushoff. Furthermore, the back foot is not only inhibited some, but it’s farther back than the other two types and it will take longer for that first step to occur. Both of these factors result in poorer acceleration. For a proper elongated start, the knee of the rear leg needs to even with the heel of the front foot.

The medium start then becomes the victor by default. It provides the proper amount of leg drive and stance length which allows for faster acceleration, and removes the disadvantages associated with the first two stance types. The proper cue for this start is to bring the knee of the rear leg even with the middle of the front foot. Toe‐to‐toe distance is 40‐55cm. 90 Below is a chart that was created from a study in 1963 that showed the greatest number of fast starts originated from a medium start style. 91 You may question the fact that the study was conducted exactly 50 years ago, but there were other studies since then that confirm the original findings. 92 93

Table 2: Number of Fastest Sprints Made from Three Starts

Yards Sprinted Bunch Start Medium Start Elongated Start

10 5 17 6

20 7 16 5

30 11.5 10 6.5

40 9 13.5 5.5


50 12.5 13.5 2

Totals 45 70 25

Adapted from Sigerseth and Grinaker (1963)

Proper knee angle is the next technique. According to the research, ideal

front knee angle is approximately 100 degrees, and ideal rear knee angle is 135 degrees. 93 94 The last remaining technique is the Distance from Start Line. This is a method referred to as WSM Method (Winkler, Seagrave, and Mann) Method. With this approach you place the toes of the front foot 2 feet from the starting line, and the toes of the rear foot 3 feet from the starting line. This approach may place you in a medium start and lock in proper foot positioning for maximal acceleration out of the start, but not in every case. Try it, but if the knee of the rear leg is not even with the middle of the lead foot, readjust yourself until you get there. On a final note, I would like to share one more study from Mero in 1983 that was conducted on a series of male sprinters with times ranging from 10.8 sec + or – 3 tenths of a second in the 100‐meter dash. 95 In the table below you will see the spectrum of various joint angles recorded in the study that showcase how each should be positioned for maximal acceleration out of the start. Please note that I randomly selected 3 of my trainees and had them set up in the start according to the general guidelines listed earlier and measured each joint with a goniometer. All 3 of the trainees satisfied the ranges below except for the front ankle angle. This table is pretty impractical and thankfully runs parallel with the previously mentioned start position recommendations. Table 3: Values of the Best Sprinters in "Set" Position

Measures Values *(Mero et al, 1983)

Front Ankle Angle (q1) 115 ± 9°

Rear Ankle Angle (q4) 106 ± 8°

Front Knee Angle (q2) 111 ± 9°

Rear Knee Angle (q5) 134 ± 14°

Front Hip Angle (q3) 41 ± 14°


Rear Hip Angle (q6) 80 ± 13°

Angle of the Trunk (q7) 29 ± 9°

Angle of the Arms(q8) 106 ± 7°

Height of the Centre of Gravity (h) 0.605 ± 0.037m

Horizontal distance of Centre of Gravity (f) 0.189 ± 0.089m

SPRINT START So now that we understand everything we have to do prior to our actual takeoff, let’s look at what should happen next. Every part of your body is “pre‐set” in the ideal angles and position, and you are ready to unleash all of that stored energy in the most explosive fashion possible. So what do we do next? There is a small series of features we need to display to emulate a world‐class sprinter. See below. #1‐Snap your spine up! #2‐Lean‐45 degree body angle #3‐Double Pushoff #4‐Arm and Leg Drive #5‐Stride Length After we have preset our body, we should now capitalize off this position. The entire spine, including the head down to our lower back, should stay in a straight and neutral alignment and “snap up.” Meaning you need to raise your spine up as fast as possible. Most people are poor at this at first. They hesitate or don’t snap at all. The snap will create more momentum in the target direction off the start, provide greater acceleration, and make it easier for us to re‐establish our base of support and balance for subsequent steps. After number 1 has been satisfied, it’s critical that our entire body, minus the swing leg, be positioned at 45 degrees to the ground. The diagonal position creates positive shin, knee, and hip angles which creates greater and longer leg drive which increases power output and acceleration out of the gate. Coaches and trainers over‐rate the lean over the other shared techniques, but at least they are aware that the lean is part of an acceleration‐based stride that creates greater speed initially. 9 times out of 10, when an athlete is learning this technique, they will lean far too much for their power output with their torso lying parallel with the ground. As you


will see shortly, this may be ideal for a high‐level sprinter, but not for a majority who are just starting to sprint. View it as a progression. For the majority, this approach shifts our COG too far forward, minimizing our ability to increase stride length since we have to touch down quickly to maintain balance, and it prevents full extension in our hips. The athlete will inevitably stumble and look far less fluid as well in this posture. Research suggests that an angle of 45 degrees is optimal for transitioning out of the blocks or a 3‐ or 4‐point stance. 93 This 45‐degree angle should unfold into an upright position naturally within approximately 10 yards. After this occurs, the body will still maintain a relatively small lean if Forefoot Dominance is present like it should be. We need to accept the fact that the extreme body angle that occurs during acute acceleration will subside sooner rather than later. Do not attempt to interrupt the natural progression of postures during sprinting, which transitions quickly from the lean to the upright stride. However, some research has shown that those who were able to maintain their balance with a more horizontal body line did record faster starts than the 45‐degree body angle through greater impulse (Force x time) even though they felt off balance. 96 The double push‐off is another one of those still “secret” or “hidden” factors. Intuitively, I was able to identify it, and research confirmed it. 96 Athletes who recorded the best starts drove off with both feet simultaneously for an instant just before the rear leg swung through and landed on the ground. 2 push‐offs in this unique circumstance are greater than one. Often times, athletes will lift the front foot and drive off the weaker back foot out of natural movement behavior, or they will only apply effort with the front foot. Both are wrong and need to be corrected immediately to maximize your transition out of the start, or another stance type. It was also noted that the front leg does drive more than the rear, but we do need both to drive out quickly. Arm and leg drive is probably the coolest feature of the start to watch, especially in the elite athletes. The goal is not to save and produce force later like so many think, but instead to accelerate as fast as possible. Explosive, synchronized, and opposing arm‐leg drive does this the best. The arms and legs should naturally move opposite one another since this pattern is natural to walking and running, so you won’t need to teach it usually. In case you do need to, just inform athletes to drive the arm on side of the front leg forward, and the arm on the side of the back leg backwards. Feet will act naturally. Frontside and backside mechanics will be revisited and applied here. The front leg should fully extend or straighten at the hip, knee, and ankle, leaving no crease or visible angle once complete. The back leg will swing forward with the hip, knee, and ankle all positioned at 90 degrees. The arms have no choice but to fire off fast through a full range of motion out of the gate. “Maybe the brain fires at the same time to synchronize the body... doesn't matter


since the nerve impulses have to travel 40% longer to reach the lower extremity” (Zeinrich 1995). 13

(Photo courtesy of Darren Wilkinson)

Bolt and the crew exhibiting powerful and coordinated arm and leg drive right out of the blocks!

The final thing you need to do to maximize your speed out of the start is emphasize stride length. This is generally unnatural and counterintuitive for most, especially weaker athletes. In 1995, Martin Harland of the University of Wollongong, Australia, conducted a study that took 26 athletes, and utilized starting blocks that measured exerted force output for 2.5 metres. 97 Harland found that the runners who produced more horizontal force ran faster. Furthermore, these same individuals were more capable of keeping their center of mass farther out in front of their feet. What this means is that these individuals were capable of creating more stride length. Not only do you improve single leg strength and run faster, but you make arm and leg drive much easier to come by as well. How do you assess stride length? Practically speaking, counting foot contacts at the first ten yards works well, and we now know that stride length is key to speed, and exactly how many steps (6‐7) we should take to be very competitive at this distance. Personally, I think counting foot contacts or steps for ten yards is also another useful measure to see if all 5 of the start techniques are being employed by the athlete. Another useful tool is focusing on the swing leg. For so long, we were taught not to focus on the swing leg, but now research supports this idea and it’s important here. In 2007 in Sports


Biomechanics; Hunter and his team identified that more flexion at the hip or swinging of the leg forward resulted in quicker recovery and touchdown of the foot, and it also positioned that foot in a more advantageous position to be able to redirect force back into the ground. 98 You want to make sure you fully extend your stance leg at all 3 joints, but that back leg has to recover by swinging through rapidly and landing out in front of you to keep you from falling. Check out the previous picture that addressed arm and leg drive and you will see exactly what it should all look like. The last thing that I want to mention in regards to the start of a sprint is that just like overall speed, it can be taught, learned, and developed just like any other skill. The common excuse by many is that only short individuals with short bones or levers and a lower center of gravity can master this part of a sprint. This is a lie. There is no denying that they have a distinct and major advantage over their taller counterparts and may always be a bit better, but if a taller individual bulks their legs like crazy, improves their squat and deadlift to ridiculous levels, masters these techniques, and mentally wants to win, then it’s more than possible they can defy the odds, or at the very least, make major improvements from where they started. The objective is to always cure your weaknesses and continue to develop your strengths. In the words of Kelly Baggett: “Unfavorable leverages can sometimes be overcome by favorable strength levels.” Put differently, there always exists a training solution to help any body type or structure overcome their weaknesses so that they can become competitive.


SPRINTING EXERCISES:

Before we dive into this topic, I want to credit elite speed coach and former sprinter Latiff Thomas for introducing the concept I’m about to discuss with you. It’s called “Short to Long.” What this means is that we start small and simple with our sprint training and then work out to more complicated distances and patterns. In other words, athletes will and should start and become proficient at 10‐yard sprints, then 20, 40, 60, etc. There are at least two reasons why this strategy is important. First, it prevents injury, and doing too much too soon. I’ve witnessed 3 older men at the facility in which I train completely tear their hamstrings by violating this arguable principle. The odds of you tearing your hamstring with 5‐10 10‐yard sprints are far less than when you perform 5 60‐yard sprints. It’s a third of the volume. Furthermore, the shorter distances create greater knee angle and activity, which automatically disperses the running stress more evenly across all muscle groups. When we exit the initial acceleration phase then our knees and ankles straighten and the majority of the work is placed on the hamstrings. Multiply this by several sprints, add a weak and deconditioned body to boot, and you can see the large risk. Secondly, shorter distance sprints are different than longer distance ones. Each distance requires a different ratio of skills or needs, and the posture and sprint patterns also become different. With that being said, it’s easier for the athlete and their body to learn to ingrain a single distance and sprint pattern perfectly, rather than throwing in multiple distances and different patterns. The first sprinting exercise that should be introduced to athletes or clients is the 10‐yard dash. This drill combines the skills of acceleration, starting strength, maximal strength, power and explosiveness, and it’s sport specific. You may have heard the phrase that many sports are played within a 5‐ to 10‐yard box in all directions. It’s true. An athlete needs to master a 3‐ or 4‐point stance or any other stance variation, and accelerate well at this distance before progressing to the next level of 20 yards. What separates the great performers at this distance versus the longer ones is primarily their maximum strength levels. The best 10‐yard runners I’ve had could squat or deadlift at least 2x their body weight. When you analyze all of the biomechanical factors it makes sense. Momentum is non‐existent since the body is completely static in the chosen stance type once your setup is complete. It then becomes an ability of expressing as much strength as you can to overcome your resting inertia. Foot contacts will naturally be longer since there is no momentum, or reduced resistance of your body mass. The runner who can summon the most “force” relative to their bodyweight will generally be the winner here and get their body accelerating faster than the weaker one. The next progression is the 20‐yard dash. This is another undermined distance in acceleration and speed development for many. I bet if I told you a time that was elite for this distance you would look at me with a blank stare on your face.


The 20‐yard dash is basically a continuation of the 10‐yard dash, with two distinctions. At this point the athlete moves from a “lean stride” into more of an “upright stride.” This switches the muscle activity to more of the hamstrings and builds and expresses more strength in this muscle group. Power, acceleration, and sport specificity are still very present at this point, and this test can help improve and is a precursor to top speed that comes later on. A majority of plays in sport are played at this distance, so direct exposure to this distance in sprinting will naturally carry over to the court or field. I guarantee it. Here are some handheld standards for female and male high school athletes in the 20‐yard dash, compliments of Bigger, Faster, Stronger. It also includes standards for the 40‐yard dash as well. Unfortunately, there are no standards to date for male and female collegiate and professional athletes. I’ll keep searching, and hopefully at some point our culture can establish these for us. http://www.higher‐faster‐sports.com/support‐files/women's‐speed.pdf http://www.higher‐faster‐sports.com/support‐files/men's‐speed.pdf I’ve done some research on my own and according to their times, I would say their data collection was good. I think as time goes on and more and more athletes use acceleration and speed tests in their athletic training, we will be able to narrow down the standards more precisely. Nonetheless, the ranking standards provided are a great general reference for any coach, athlete, etc.

The final stage of sprinting exercise is either the 40‐ or 60‐yard dash. I will be referencing the 40‐yard dash because it is more familiar to many than the 60. They are essentially the same thing, though, and could be treated as such. This 40‐yard dash has been probably the most highly popularized athletic training event promoted in the industry, along with the vertical jump. Some coaches and trainers absolutely despise it, while others bank on the test. The question is then should we use it if we are looking to get faster? Without a shadow of a doubt, YES!!! Here are some reasons why. First, the distance is sport‐specific, whether you want to admit it or not. The ratio of short‐distance speed work to longer distance is definitely in favor of the former, but there are still situations where longer distance work occurs. Examples include a running back breaking loose for a touchdown, a soccer player eluding an opponent and heading towards the goal, and a baseball player hitting a triple. If we elect to omit this type of training exercise from our athletes, then we reduce their acceleration and top speed, increase injury risk, and leave them ill‐equipped when the time comes to compete. You may have just noticed that I said “Top Speed.” This is correct. If you recall in the beginning of the book, I referenced a quote from arguably the best Olympic speed coach in our history, Charlie Francis, who noted that reports show that a vast majority of athletes who are not Olympic‐level sprinters will reach their top speed around 40 to 60 yards. So by using this

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/support-files/men's-speed.pdf

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/support-files/women's-speed.pdf


distance in training, athletes will naturally not only learn to increase their speed and accelerate faster, but they will condition their neuromuscular system to accelerate longer as well, resulting in greater top speed. Along with sport specificity, top speed development, acceleration, and power, 40‐yard dashes do a good job in developing anaerobic conditioning. Repetitive maximum effort 40‐yard dashes are very taxing on the body, especially the faster you become. This is one of many routes in this program where we develop the Specific Energy Systems or conditioning types for athletes, so that they are able to last longer in competition and support higher speed output repeatedly.

Moreover, we encounter the other end of the power spectrum with the 40‐yard dash. Recall the 10‐yard dash, where biomechanical factors such as our momentum and GCT are different. As we accelerate and reach top speed around the 40‐yard mark, momentum is much higher, the resistance of our body mass is much less, and our GCTs are heavily reduced. This specific set of conditions requires us to recruit our muscles and produce force at an extremely high “velocity” if we want to continue to run faster.

Next, the hamstrings are very dominant at this point during the run. The difference between great speed and poor speed at this point will be determined primarily by hamstring strength and power, along with RFD (Rate of Force Development), or speed of our muscles as was just discussed. The 40‐yard dash then automatically develops this part of our essential anatomy. Lastly, the 40‐yard dash regulates the function of performance at both shorter and longer distances. This is one of the most unaccepted and overlooked aspects of the 40‐yard dash. Do people who run fast 40‐yard dashes generally always run a fast 20‐yard dash? Yes. Do you know who had the fastest Fully Electronic 20‐yard dash? CJ Spiller of the Buffalo Bills. At his NFL Combine, he recorded a 2.41 second run! That’s amazing. CJ’s 40‐yard dash was a very arguable 4.38, and his fastest unofficial was a 4.27! And there are plenty of examples like this one. What many do not realize about the 40‐yard dash is that it provides an extra 20 yards and around a dozen more strides to teach our body to increase its speed. More opportunity can mean more success in this case. There exists an obvious correlation between 40‐yard performance and 20‐yard performance, and it’s because the 40 helps build more speed and power that translate into shorter distances. The hamstrings are still very active in shorter distances, and the 40 builds this muscle group, thus we get transfer there as well. Also, there is a strong correlation between the 40‐yard dash and the 100‐yard dash. Aside from the fact that the most successful NFL Combine performers in the 40‐yard dash were decorated collegiate sprinters, this holds true for even Olympians, who are the fastest humans in the world!


Note: RT stands for Reaction Time from starting gun. Nothing really needs to be said after looking at this. The range of 40‐yard dash times among the fastest 100‐meter runners in history ranged from 4.19‐4.35 seconds! Although this chart and information have no bearing for a team sport athlete, I still thought it was important nonetheless. The final sprinting exercise that I would like to discuss is “Flying Sprints.” Flying sprints are designed to improve the athlete when he or she is sprinting and already “flying” so that he/she can improve the transition from acceleration to top speed. We usually run 20‐ and 30‐yard flying sprints, meaning the athlete will start how they normally do and then we emphasize timing and focus from the 20‐ or 30‐yard mark up until the 40‐ and 60‐yard mark. The flying sprint variations do a fantastic job at building speed since ground contact will be minimal, and they build horizontal force production and glute‐ham strength and power. These can be performed in addition to regular sprints, or serve as a substitute if athletes struggle with the transition, or as a complement for a complete sprinting program.


AGILITY AND QUICKNESS

Since I can remember, the majority of focus in most speed and athletic development programs have been placed on improving strength, size, fat loss, speed, power, and conditioning. Very little attention has been specifically paid to agility and quickness, even though it’s these two skills that are just as essential as the rest in sport. As a testament to this statement, if you analyze the top 10 performers in the 40‐yard dash from 2012 and 2013, only two of them ranked in the top 10 in the 20‐yard shuttle run, which is an agility‐ and quickness‐based drill. The other similar based drill, called the “3 Cone Drill” showed almost precisely the same outcome, except that only one of the top 10 40‐yard dash performers from 2013 ranked in the top 10 of the 3 Cone Drill. 99 This would at the very least indicate that Agility and Quickness is unique and needs to be practiced. General strength, speed and power training will not make an athlete optimally effective at changing direction, according to many studies. 100 101 102 103 I can attest to this in my own training and training of others. Conversely, the top 10 runners of each group in agility at the combine were also fast though, and there is one report that does show a solid correlation between sprinting speed and agility. 86 More specifically, according to the Historical NFL Scouting Combine Data site, the top 10 fastest performers in the Pro Agility Shuttle Run, averaged a 4.52 and 4.43 40‐yard dash in 2012 and 2013. 104 Of course this is only a report from 2 years, but it is interesting and pretty confirming that linear speed and sprint performance matters when it comes to being able to change direction better. Moreover, many of the direction change exercises require a strong linear speed element. Just analyze them for a moment. The athlete plants, turns, and then sprints “forward” in the new direction in most cases. Lastly, there is a top‐down relationship between all speed exercises regardless of distances or direction traveled. As you have seen, the 100‐meter runners have fast 60s and 40s. Runners who have a fast 40 have fast 20s and 10s. And most agility exercises span ten yards. So being powerful and fast overall is going to benefit you in agility and quickness drills. There is not an optimal relationship between agility and speed, but there is a strong one. Before I continue, I would like to quickly define what each of these terms mean. Agility and quickness, by definition, is the ability to start (or accelerate), stop (or decelerate and stabilize), and change direction quickly, while maintaining proper posture. 48 Change of direction training is another similar term used that means the same exact thing. I would like to modify what Clark said about the agility and quickness definition. This type of training is where an athlete initiates acceleration in one direction, decelerates in that same direction, and then cuts and re‐accelerates into a new direction. Obviously, the majority of athletes are required to be agile and quick at any given moment during competition, otherwise they will get defeated. Period. Also, a majority of injuries have been found to occur in movements that can be


improved by agility and quickness training. “Research demonstrates that most injuries occur in the transverse plane during eccentric muscle contractions.” 48 This is just a bunch of fancy jargon for an activity such as rotating the body (transverse plane) as you step and bend your joints (eccentric contraction) in an effort to complete a cut in a new direction. This is exactly what you will encounter in agility and quickness training. Next, we will examine the agility and quickness techniques you need to know and perform in order to be successful and stay injury‐free.

AGILITY AND QUICKNESS TECHNIQUE: I want to start this section of the chapter off by saying that many of the previous techniques discussed in the “sprinting technique” section will still apply here, along with some new ones. Agility and quickness training still involves a very strong element of linear or straightforward sprinting at certain phases of the drills, so we still need to keep all of those in mind and perhaps revisit them if need be. Now let’s look at the new techniques specific to agility and quickness. #1‐Proper Deceleration. It was not until a couple of years ago that I really started to pick up on this quiet and costly error in movement. Deceleration is simply the ability to slow our moving mass. In the context of agility and quickness training, deceleration becomes a natural and essential function of multi‐directional movement since most athletes are not strong and powerful enough to demonstrate a “Step and Cut,” or stopping on a dime. This is where an athlete barely decelerates at all, decelerates very quickly, and maintains an extremely high level of acceleration created in the current direction as they go to switch course and change direction. The “Step and Cut” is the ultimate goal for any athlete, and is primarily regulated by, not surprisingly, POWER! The objective with deceleration training is to decelerate only as much as you need to in order to re‐accelerate in a new direction. This way, you will be moving as fast as possible as you change direction. The way to gauge this is by checking to see if the athlete is under‐decelerating or over‐decelerating during a drill. Under‐deceleration: Not slowing down enough on your turns which leads to a delay and slower movement. Over‐deceleration: Slowing down too much or completely stopping on your turns, which leads to a delay and slower movement.


The next question that generally emerges is how do you know if you are committing either of these errors or not? Fortunately, I have been able to identify a quick and easy way to assess if you are committing one or the other, and how to fix it. For under‐deceleration, the runner will either take too few stutter or gather steps, and move too fast when they go to change direction. This creates an inevitable delay and slower movement. If this is the case, the runner should take a couple of extra‐explosive stutter steps and move a bit slower. If this removes the delay, they were under‐decelerating and you removed the error. For over‐deceleration, the runner will take too many stutter steps or move too slow before attempting to turn the other direction. If this is the case, the runner should take a couple less stutter steps and move faster before they turn. If this removes the delay then obviously the athlete was over‐decelerating and you removed the error. Ultimately, you have no exact way of knowing whether one or the other is occurring, so you experiment with both to come to a conclusion as a coach. The goal for every athlete, though, is to minimize deceleration as much as possible by taking the fewest amount of stutter or gather steps, but with no delay on the turn. You should be practicing and looking for “constant movement” in and out of turns as much as you can. The athlete should look like they are literally maintaining speed, as they move in one direction and then the other. The best movers do this very well. On a final note, power and strength are very important in being able to prevent under‐deceleration from occurring, and if you were to pick an error to occur it would be this one. This mistake creates a source of overload for the athlete which will stimulate strength and power gains in much the same way a barbell or dumbbell would in the weight room. The difference here is that the resistance takes the form of increased momentum. As long as the athlete knows how to plant and position their body, and they have spent some time practicing the drills, then faster motion can be tolerated and recommended. After they become more powerful they will be able to “switch” their momentum quicker and re‐accelerate faster in the next direction. Over‐deceleration is usually more of an awareness issue than anything. Tell the athlete they are slowing down too much and they become aware and fix it immediately. Trying to minimize deceleration when attempting to turn in a new direction requires a tremendous amount of strength and power to be able to move against all of the resistance and momentum you created as you head in a new direction. Again, this all represents the synergy and influence each training skill has on the other.


#2‐45 degree body angle. The 45‐degree body angle is going to be key in maximizing your acceleration in an agility and quickness exercise. With this angle you build “gravitational support” versus an upright position. The 45‐degree angle forces your body to move in the intended direction no matter what. Check out Adrian Peterson exemplifying the 45‐degree body angle.

(Photo courtesy of James Foehl )

Adrian Peterson showcasing the 45‐degree body angle here! This body position improves his leverage by lowering his Center of Gravity and maximizing acceleration out of the cut. #3‐Plant Foot Positioning. It does not matter the movement scenario, if you examine the plant foot, you will notice that it is the “outside foot” at “90 degrees” from where the body is going to go. Upon observation and analysis, this occurs almost all of the time if the client possesses proper hip mobility. If we want to move to the right, we will plant our left foot and it will be facing forward at 90 degrees from our destination. Try it. The discrete value of this action would be a specific reference for foot repositioning as you move. With this guideline you know exactly where your plant foot needs to be when you change direction each time. Lastly, the plant foot at 90 prevents unwanted “pivoting” in movement. Too many times athletes do not position their feet properly, rotate too much, or even too little, and risk injury. Aside from basketball, the pivot is VERY dangerous for the involved ankle and knee. Just remember that you will plant or step with the outside foot, or the foot farthest away from where you will be headed a majority of the time. For example, if you are traveling forward and the drill requires, or you or your opponent decide, to move to your right, then you will plant with your left foot and explode to the right. Biomechanically, planting off the outside foot allows gravity to support you, and you recruit and use muscles (glutes and hamstrings) that are much stronger and powerful versus planting and driving off the inside foot (groin/adductors), and it creates a better acceleration angle of the body. There are circumstances where you


will drive off the inside foot, but this is pretty rare. Another benefit of this technique is that your body mass will be that much closer to where you are headed. #4‐Move your feet Paraphrasing Lee Taft; it’s easier to move the feet under your mass instead of your mass over your feet when moving in a new direction. This is so true if you try it, and it’s due to the fact that it’s easier to move just the feet and lower body rather than the whole body initially when changing direction. #5‐Hip Turn If your foot is in the right position (outside foot at 90 degrees) then the next step is to really open up and use your hips as you go to take your first step in the new direction. The hip turn really sets the stage and feeds energy and effort where we want to go. If you look back at the “Joint by Joint Approach” from the strength section, the hip is mobile and was meant to rotate. The hip contains some of the biggest and strongest musculature in the body, and if we use all of this to our advantage and turn the hips then we will naturally be much stronger and powerful. #6‐Athletic Stance. Stance is another big factor for agility and quickness. A proper athletic stance is really just proper posture. You don’t want to be imbalanced in any way and have an unstable foundation when attempting to move in a new direction. Your weight should be balanced through your feet; you should be on the balls of your feet, and you want a slight bend in the knees with the hips back, back straight and shoulders forward from a lateral perspective. From the front, feet are shoulder width, the athlete should look symmetrical and you should be able to draw vertical lines from the front of their feet, up through their kneecaps and front of their pelvis, up to the shoulder.


Minor League Baseball player Erik Underwood is ready to accelerate in any direction with this proper athletic

stance posture!

REHEARSED EXERCISES

Rehearsed agility and quickness exercises are where the drill that is being performed is already pre‐meditated and choreographed for the athlete. The athlete knows exactly what movement they need to perform and where they need to go. It’s a great learning environment to build confidence and master specific agility and quickness techniques that were previously discussed so that the techniques become automatic and ingrained in the athlete’s brain or central nervous system. This type of exercise is a great way to test and measure if the athlete is actually getting quicker since the test is repeatable. Of course it’s not specific to sport, but it definitely helps get the athlete comfortable and acquainted with agility and quickness training. Cone drills are a great example of this category of exercise. This type of training is also referred to as “Closed Loop Drills” in certain populations. It means the same thing and refers to the ability to change the drill in action or make a decision is closed. It’s done for you since it’s rehearsed.

REACTIVE EXERCISES

The goal here is to simulate the nature of sport in training environments. Athletes need to be able to quickly respond to some visual stimulus or cue (partner, verbal command, etc.) and act accordingly. They need unpredictable scenarios and reactive‐based exercises to accomplish exactly this. Reactive drills are simply a progression from rehearsed drills. Practice is great, but if you do not perform well


in a game‐like situation it does not matter. You could view rehearsed drills as a “non‐specific” form of agility training while reactive training is more “Specific.” Tag and chase drills and mirror drill variations are examples of this type of exercise. These are also referred to as “Open Loop Drills.” The ability to change the drill in action and make decisions is open. Here is a study conducted in a scientific journal that examined the “reactive agility” skill of elite rugby players. 105 The results of the study showed that reactive agility capacity was different between lesser‐ and higher‐skilled individuals. The results are not shocking since this skill is highly logical when assessing and determining the needs of most athletes. In this program you will encounter a combination of both rehearsed and reactive‐based agility and quickness training. Sport demands that athletes be able to perform both, so it only makes sense to prepare the athlete for each so they are put in a better position to excel when the opportunity arises.


JUMPING

Jump training is an integral form of plyometric that builds lots of speed and power, and needs to be consistently practiced by athletes in order to be successful. Villarreal, Requena and Cronin, in 2012, reported that plyometrics, and jumping specifically, appears to improve sprint performance. 106 It’s sport specific in nature and it’s a skill that athletes can most certainly learn and develop with the right techniques, just like lifting weights and sprinting, etc. Let’s now take a look at the 3 elements of jumping technique that you must master to maximize your jumping height or distance in any variation. Please keep in mind, though, while learning these that “Power” is the primary factor that affects jump performance. It does not matter how well you perform this succession of movement phases, you will not acquire hops unless you build massive levels of power relative to your bodyweight. I see young kids all the time in my own practice who demonstrate this series of techniques beautifully, but don’t get anywhere because they are weak and slow. On the other hand, it does not really matter how someone approaches a jump if they are powerful. The power they possess will offset pretty much everything and they will get a great result. With that being said, these techniques may add an inch or two, and provide a slight effect in jumping performance. Please do not overanalyze and spend a half hour teaching it like so many coaches, trainers, and athletes do with this stuff. Once you quickly become familiar with these techniques and build a rhythm with the sequence, focus all of your effort and energy into getting stronger and faster to maximize your power output and jump performance.

JUMPING TECHNIQUE‐MASTERING THE 3 PHASES OF A JUMP

Phase#1‐Loading Phase Phase #2‐Amortization Phase Phase #3‐Unloading Phase The first phase is also known as the eccentric phase. During this phase you “load” or lower your body mass, stretch your muscles, store potential energy in your muscles and tendons to be used during the actual jump coming shortly, and ignite your body’s natural reflex, which improves power output far more than without this phase or period of stretch. What’s most important about this phase is the speed of the stretch. The answer lies in Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which states: “For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.” 51 Makes sense, but this principle of motion as it pertains to jumping is not normally implemented as part of an essential technique. The key is to sit fast. The common counterargument would be that sitting faster adds momentum and creates more work, but this is offset by


the fact that your body increases its power and strength more than the increase in extra work you create. Plus Newton is a smart guy and I don’t think he is wrong when it comes to physics. This is step #1. Moreover, be sure to integrate your arms when you are performing each of these phases. There was a study from 2005 in The Journal of Biomechanics that showed increased arm drive places a greater load on the legs and increases their work production in jump patterns. 107 Arms drive back when you descend and then forward and up when you jump into the air. And here is another one from the same journal in 2004. 108 In this study, arm drive improved vertical jump height by up to 28%, along with increasing the activity of the predominant muscles of the hip as well. Next comes the Amortization Phase. The amortization phase is also referred to as the electromechanical delay between the eccentric and concentric contraction where the muscle switches from reducing force to producing the necessary force to move in the intended direction. We can just view the Amortization Phase as the brief and almost nonexistent moment when we stop squatting or loading and then switch gears to jumping. The more of a “delay” between these two actions the more energy will be dissipated from our muscles and the less power we will apply into the ground, and the poorer the jump attempt. An effective cue to maximize this is to inform the athlete or client to: “Constantly move or accelerate through the squat and jump.” This simple instruction will generally prevent the delay and energy loss that can occur. The final phase of any jump variation that you need to master is the “unloading” or actual jump. This is definitely the most intuitive and easiest phase to master. Athletes or clients know they need and want to jump as far as possible in the intended direction, so this phase becomes pretty easy to come by. The only thing that I can think of outside of specific techniques for each jump variation is preaching “effort” and intensity. For some these are innate, while others need to hear it.

JUMPING EXERCISES

I already detailed the various types of jumping exercises that should be performed to build higher levels of speed and power the fastest, back in the “Plyometrics” section of the manual. I outlined “Low Frequency” and “High Frequency” categories in a table and discussed the characteristics of each. I would really just be repeating all of this here, so if you have forgotten or you want to know more about what types of jumps you should perform then simply refer back to the “Plyometrics” chapter.


SPEED VS. CONDITIONING Is there a difference? Absolutely! You will see why shortly. There will always be some slight degree of overlap between these qualities since they function along a continuum, but for the most part each is vastly different and needs to be treated as such through training. Moreover, all of this encompasses the second thing you need to do to get faster immediately, if you happened to read my sales page. Let’s quickly define each. Speed= The ability to perform a movement or activity faster. Conditioning= The ability to perform a movement or activity longer. There are at least 2 reasons why traditional philosophy fails in this department and it is always at the expense of the athlete. First, coaches, athletes, parents, etc. are unwilling to cut out any conditioning whatsoever. There is an actual reason why we have what is called an “OFF‐Season” although it’s never followed these days. Athletes continue to train 6‐7 days per week at high intensities in their sport, and wonder why they do not get faster or more athletic. The idea of prolonged recovery periods during sprint workouts and between workouts in an attempt to let athletes refresh so that they can become faster is unspeakable. I can hear it now, the old school coaches shouting obscenities, calling me an idiot, and refusing to give rest because it’s wasted time that could be spent conditioning and building mental toughness. They would ask, “How can an athlete become fast if they are not in great condition?” It’s this overreaction and ignorance that prevents the athlete from getting faster. Often times, conditioning too much is unintentional and people do not even realize that they or their athletes are doing too much. Regardless, it does not matter and it’s easy to commit this very common mistake. Specifics on how to prevent over‐conditioning will be provided in the “Program Design” section, or you could just follow the program as it’s written. Second, most people feel that athleticism, and thus speed, is a God‐given skill that cannot be improved. So, if all else fails then just condition more! The reason is simple. Conditioning does not require elaborate education and knowledge and it’s mainly an issue of who can work the hardest, so it’s an easy go‐to outlet in programming. As you’ve clearly already seen, though, speed can be taught, learned, and improved by anyone to a considerable degree who is not already of elite status. Below is a diagram that explains the relationship between training for speed or conditioning. It’s based off a single factor, which is “Fatigue Level.”


Fatigue high=Speed low and conditioning high Fatigue low=Speed high and conditioning Low This relationship should make great sense, especially if you have trained before. Think back to when you were tired and fatigued. Could you run relatively fast? No. Then what about the first few plays of a game? You were flying around and you were at your peak for a brief period right? Your speed was high, and it’s because your high intensity energy pools and neuromuscular system was fresh, untapped still, and very active and ready to deliver. Unfortunately, this is how the body does and always will operate no matter what. There is a limited amount of energy to support this type of effort in our central nervous system and we have to make the most of it if we want to get better. This just reiterates the 2 speed principles (overspeed and specificity) that I discussed in the sprinting section. The rebuttal to this is always, “But I don’t have time to recover energy during a game and run faster.” True, but this is why you condition. This brings up the next point and principle which is the “Speed Reserve.” I adopted this term from Charlie Francis. Basically, the faster or stronger you are, the more work you can do at lower intensities. When you are fatigued and tired during a game, you naturally operate at a lower operational output, but the person who is faster overall will still be able to do more work and act faster if they are in great condition. Can the NFL’s fastest athlete probably still run faster when he is just as tired as a high school football player? Absolutely. It’s not because he is in better condition. Remember they are both in an equal fatigued state. It’s because he is faster and his 60‐70% is going to be higher than the high school kid. You have to raise your peak. And you can only do this by getting faster, and this requires you to be FRESH. There is a famous saying in the industry that speed improves endurance, but endurance has no bearing on speed. I think it’s a bit of an overstatement and both are important, but speed will definitely help endurance levels. There was a study in 1995 from Johnston to support increased speed for better endurance. 109 This study showed a lowered metabolic energy expenditure at faster speeds than slower speeds resulting in greater running efficiency or economy. Here is a numerical example of how the speed reserve works. Athlete A 40 yard dash: Athlete B 40 yard dash: 100% effort=4.8 seconds 100 % effort= 4.2 seconds 75%=6 seconds 75%=5.3 seconds 50%=7.2 seconds 50%=6.3 seconds Look at the discrepancy between the faster and slower runner at various levels of effort of their maximum. You could choose any distance and any intensity


and you would see the same type of outcome. The “faster” athlete is way faster when tired at lower intensities because they have a great speed reserve they can utilize when tired. The take‐home message here is definitely raise your peak and get as fast as you can! We could apply the “90 percent rule” here. Basically, according to my years of data tracking, athletes can maintain 90 percent of their peak or best performance. 90% of a higher speed is going to be better than a poorer speed. You must do everything you can to improve and reset your peak so that you operate at a higher level or output in games, practice, and training. I feel I’ve spent an ample amount of time and effort conveying to you what speed is, and now I want to change direction and dedicated some time to conditioning. Conditioning, as I mentioned earlier is the ability to operate an activity longer. It could also be viewed as our individual work capacity, or how much work we can do. The more work you can do, the longer you will last and the better conditioned you are. More specifically, it’s the ability of body structures to be able to deliver more energy and fuel to target areas so that we can train harder and longer. The key for any type of athlete is to identify what type or types of conditioning they need perform to best prepare their body and support activity in competition. There are 3 different types of conditioning or Energy Systems. Energy Systems is the big new trend to explain conditioning. It’s more confusing, so I’m just going to stick with conditioning, because everyone is familiar with the term. Here is a table that represents the 3 types below: Conditioning Type/ Energy System/ Duration/ Recovery/ Muscle Fiber Type/sport examples High Intensity : Alactic-CP / 10-30 sec./ 2-5 min./ fast twitch-white(Type IIx)/ Sprinting, Powerlifting, Olympic Lifting, Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Baseball, Softball, Martial Arts, Golf, Hockey, etc. Moderate Intensity: Lactic / 30-180 sec/ 1-3 min./ Intermediate-pink (Type IIa)/ 400 and 800 meter dash, Triathlons, Swimming Low Intensity: Aerobic-Oxidative / 180 sec + / 0-90 sec./ slow twitch-red (Type 1)/ 1 mile run, Ironman, and Marathons This book is a team sport‐, or field‐ and court sport‐based speed system. This is not to say that the moderate and low intensity sport types could not benefit, since you increase speed reserve, however a majority of methods are designed to optimize performance in the high intensity category of sports. These sports involve a blend of high intensity and low intensity conditioning and energy support upon observation. There are periods of all‐out effort followed by intermittent bouts of


light activity and recovery for the next surge of effort. Pretty simple. The conclusion? High‐intensity interval training! This is well understood in contemporary training for the most part, and conditioning is not in need of special attention near as much as speed and other essential training skills. The two common mistakes that I do see committed as far as developing conditioning is the development and focus on the wrong energy system or conditioning type when also trying to improve speed, and just too much total conditioning. Both have similar effects on speed performance. Unfortunately, if we do not follow the guidelines in this book for conditioning, then our body will adapt unfavorably causing us to become slower. More specifically, far too many athletes, coaches, and trainers focus their efforts on the “Lactic Acid System,” whether they realize it or not when trying to get faster. More than a little concentration on the “burn” for the purpose of teaching the body to tolerate this type of energy product when training, known as Lactic Acid Tolerance Training, will inevitably inhibit our neuromuscular system from becoming faster. First of all, the accumulation of acid can inhibit specific enzymes responsible for transferring energy to contract our muscles, and our muscles cannot contract as well. What happens when your muscles burn in a bench press? Speed slows and eventually you cannot even lift the weight. World‐class track and field coaches have supported this statement for years and there is quite a bit of evidence to support it as well. A study from Majumdar, A. and R. Robergs in 2011 called "The Science of Speed: Determinants of Performance in the 100m Sprint” showed that any training utilizing the lactic acid system was shown to decrease speed. 78 The researchers also noted that aerobic pathways only supply 5% of energy needs during a sprint and that performance is highly reliant upon the Alactic‐Cp System I introduced just prior. Moreover, we can lose fast twitch (Type IIx) fibers if we train at moderate intensities utilizing the lactic acid system, among other things unfortunately. It sucks because you literally get punished for working harder in this case, and hit a point of diminishing returns. It’s due to our natural physiology and because you are not moving at your absolute fastest. I will discuss the different types of muscle fiber in more depth in the program design section, but for now you know that this type of middle of the road intensity training will make us slower, and it should make up a very small percentage of a speed training program. As you can clearly see, the “burn” is not a desired effect that we want in our training if we are serious about becoming faster. It’s just a natural by‐product of energy production in the body. The kicker is that a large majority of sports are conducted in this conditioning zone, so why are coaches, trainers, and athletes still so adamant about it? I have no clue. Finally, there is no reason for this type of conditioning to be the primary type in many team sport athletes’ programs, especially those who are looking to get faster. Would you or an athlete want to train and teach your body to move at a moderate speed in competition? Absolutely not, but that is what most conditioning


approaches advocate. An athlete wants to teach and program his body to operate as fast as possible for as long as it can repeatedly. The benefit of this is that it improves our “Alactic” or high speed and power conditioning capacity. Not only is it sport‐specific but it reinforces getting faster. According to Ross and Leveritt 110, it appears that the ability of elite sprinters to better utilize myokinase and creatine phosphokinase enzymes gives them an edge in competition. These are two enzymes that help with the breakdown and production of energy from the Alactic‐CP system. The second issue surrounding conditioning is just the sheer volumes of conditioning. I am going to remove this myth completely in the program design section when I discuss sprint frequencies and volumes, as it applies here, but for now too much conditioning, whether it be through increased volumes or frequency, can limit speed performance dramatically. Just follow the sample workout guidelines at the end and you will be fine. Many reports have shown that high levels of neuromuscular fatigue can impair sprint performance. One study from Bundle and Weyand, 2012, reported that neuromuscular fatigue and the amount of force production (aka power) are the primary regulators of running speed, NOT conditioning. 24 111 They also stated that unlike long distance endurance training, speed is not limited in the body by the supply of energy, but the demand of it, and the ability of the body to use more muscles and use them faster. Anecdotally, I have seen super‐fast athletes perform at their fastest speed in poor shape. This is definitely counterintuitive but absolutely true. Keep in mind that I’m referring to one or two maximum effort runs specific to testing maximum speed before endurance starts to become an issue. Here is one more from Wilson in 2012 from The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that showed interference effects from conditioning on power, strength, and hypertrophy. 112 Conditioning was shown to hamper these skills and the study acknowledged the fact that it does occur, so we just need to manage volumes, efforts, and be careful and not do too much. Conditioning is still definitely important, it is just that we can run fast without it contrary to popular belief. Conditioning comes in when we try to “repeat” our highest level of speed or improve our ability to perform at a high level longer or more often.


SPECIALIZED SPEED TRAINING METHODS

COMPLEX TRAINING

Complex training is a specialized type of training that is intended to elicit higher levels of speed and power in a particular movement. Contrast training and other variations of the term are used, but they all mean the same thing. Complex training integrates the principles of PAP (Post Activation Potentiation). PAP occurs when you perform a set of a strength‐based exercise (e.g. back squat) and then immediately follow that up with a speed‐based movement (e.g. sprinting). The theory here is that the heavier load utilized in the strength movement stimulates or excites the central nervous system, resulting in a greater overall output from the working muscles. Next, we capitalize off of this effect by performing a speed‐based exercise, and the result is greater speed since our body and target muscles are more productive. The rationale of this is awesome, but even though complex training is logical, does it really work? The research says yes! In The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in 2012, MacDonald assessed the strength improvements between three groups. One group used resistance training, the other used plyometric training, and third used complex training (resistance + plyometrics). The results showed that all groups made equal improvements in strength, deeming complex training as an effective alternative modality. 113 In another examination of complex training, in 2011, Andrews published a study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research to further investigate the theory of PAP. He selected 19 female collegiate athletes and split them into three different training groups. One group performed a plyometric jump only; the other performed a back squat paired with the plyometric; and the other performed a hang clean with the plyometric. The plyometric group showed the worst result, while the HC and plyo group showed the most promise, and the BS and plyo was in the middle of the pack. 114 I would also like to mention out of the eight studies 115 116 117 118 119 120 I examined assessing the efficacy of complex training for the lower and upper body, six showed strong support of this type of training, while the other one did show some improvement, and the last one showed a lack of results with the approach. This evidence helps support its place in any speed program. Lastly, be sure to take full recoveries after your strength exercise and before your speed exercise, and do not use too much weight. As a general rule of thumb, we have had great success working in direct power ranges. For example, take 25‐50% of your 1RM in a deadlift, squat, or sled variation, and then follow that up with a jump or sprint with just your bodyweight. Rest periods definitely seem to vary and there is science to support it. Nibali produced a study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in 2011 that showed variance from person to person on power output via complex training protocols. Resting 3‐4 minutes between strength


and power exercises seems to be the standard rest interval according to research on the topic. 121 And a study by Jensen in 2013 in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that doing the speed exercise immediately after the strength exercise hindered performance. 122 Anecdotally, my clients and I have had great success with this type of training. We regularly utilize this approach when we vertical jump and sprint test each week. It’s not at all uncommon for athletes to gain 1‐2 inches on their vert or a tenth of second during sprinting when utilizing this method of training. The other reason why I thoroughly enjoy implementing this training strategy into the program, aside from the fact that it’s been researched and clearly works, is because it helps break up the monotony for athletes and clients alike. If you recall from earlier in the book, I showed you that variation is not necessary for performance or anything from a physiological standpoint. The need for change is primarily derived from our own psychology and boredom with routine. Thus, complex training supplies athletes and clients with a source of fun and new training. Below is a list of standard combinations of complex training that we have used successfully in the past. It’s only fair to credit Joe Defranco for proper classification of complex training. He uses “contrast” training in his practice, but remember that they mean the same thing. The 2 categories that will be listed are “general” complex training and “specific” complex training. “General” refers to the two exercises being non‐specific. Examples would be a squat and a sprint. The joint angles and muscle recruitment patterns will be somewhat unalike. “Specific” obviously means both of the exercises will be the same. A common argument is that specific complex or contrast training is superior to general since you are building and expressing the strength you attain from the exercise in the exact same fashion that it needs to be applied in the speed movement. However, you have seen several times throughout this manual that is not the case, and a general or non‐specific approach works just as well. Strength is strength. Also, recall that muscles have key unique features. They move in three directions, various joint angles, and move through large ranges of motion. Due to this fact, regardless of the category we are using in training, it’s the same muscle groups working and both styles of complex training will be highly effective. What’s most important with complex training is PAP, or the neural effects of it. There may exist a slightly better benefit from specific complex combos, but the effects of both general and specific are going to be high. GENERAL COMPLEX EXERCISES SPECIFIC COMPLEX EXERCISES Squat or Deadlift and Sprints Squat or Deadlift and Vertical Jumps Squat or Deadlift and Jumps Sled or Band Sprint and Sprinting Squat or Deadlift and Agility Sled Work and Horizontal Jumps Bench Press and Throwing Medicine Ball Throws and Throwing Bench Press and Hitting Medicine Ball Throws and Hitting


ASSISTED SPRINTING

Assisted sprinting is a specialized training technique that involves creating a state of “Overspeed” that results in the neuromuscular system having to react and move our limbs with greater force output more than they normally would have to. Examples of this tactic include downhill sprinting on a very slight grade, partner assistance with bands, and a bullet belt with a release mechanism. All of these allow the athlete to move faster than they normally would at varying durations. Quite frankly, this is literally the only thing I’m promoting on this program that we have not implemented regularly into our program, the reason being that a majority of these applications are extremely impractical and potentially dangerous. The downhill sprinting and partner assistance are great examples. The first is just flat‐out dangerous although frequently advocated by many, while the second is just awkward and hard to implement. The best option by far is the resistance belt with a release action. You will naturally create greater power running with resistance, and then if you add an immediate removal of the resistance, the higher power output will remain for a period of time causing overspeed and a faster athlete. Please note that this is an advanced method that I would not recommend for anyone starting a speed program. There was a study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning in 2011 that analyzed 27 female Division 1A Soccer players. The test administrators utilized both AST (Assisted Sprint Training), RST (Resisted Sprint Training), and TST (Traditional Sprint Training) methods. Researchers found that AST was a very useful tool for increasing acceleration levels across short distances. 123 This is an ideal scenario for a majority of athletes. Here is another one from Ebben, 2008. 24 124 It involved 13 male NCAA Division 3 collegiate athletes who competed in various sports. The researcher then had the athletes perform sprints at high efforts across multiple slope degrees. The results showed that any overspeed training on a slope at a degree of greater than 5.8 degrees did not yield faster sprinting. Past research has shown a speed improvement of about 5% once the subjects who performed in the test returned to flat ground running.

HIP FLEXOR TRAINING

Most will be very familiar with this muscle group, and now I would like to share with you their value in the act of sprinting. There are more than a dozen various muscles that compose the hip flexor group. Some are stronger than others in different individuals, but we want all of them to be strong if we want to run faster.


Research has shown that a special type of hip flexor known as the Psoas tend to be much bigger in sprinters. 125 And this is the group that I want to give particular attention to in this section because they tend to be far weaker and far less utilized then the other hip flexors.

(Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia) The psoas muscle group consists of the Psoas Major and Minor, and the Iliacus muscle. The reasons these muscles become important is because of their arrangement on the femur (upper leg) and our lumbar spine. They insert higher than the rest of the hip flexors, and as a result we have to move our leg higher than 90 degrees to activate them. Unfortunately, we do not. Think about sitting for a moment. Our hip angle will be right at 90 degrees. When we walk it will be far less than 90 degrees, and for many we still won’t get there when we sprint. Thus, an emphasis on this action becomes critical, primarily for the sake of properly performing “Frontside and Backside Mechanics” (Refer to technique section), and preventing overload on the other hip flexors that function under 90 degrees of motion at the hip. The fact is that we need to strengthen all of these muscles at 90 degrees and above to improve our speed. 126


TECHNICAL DRILLS

OK, now you should be well aware at this point that power is the primary need for a faster athlete. However, there are specific techniques that athletes need to be able to effectively exhibit in order to properly position their body structure for greater acceleration and speed potential, and expression of their personal power ability. I like to categorize all of our technical work into 5 parts. You can directly improve these 5 areas when attempting to maximize sprinting technique. The others, and even these, I believe are strongly regulated by your power. The 5 parts are arm drive, front and backside mechanics, forefoot dominance, intensity, and posture. The rest will come as you develop in the weight room and other aspects. You will see drills listed in the exercise index that focus on each of these elements.


PROGRAM DESIGN In this particular section of the book I’m going to discuss how to design a program strictly for sprinting, or what is traditionally thought of when you hear the term speed. The jumping and agility and quickness training design will be addressed when I disclose the sample workouts at the end of the manual. All you will need to do is follow those and you will be set. We will break speed design up into 3 components. See below: #1‐Sprinting Frequency #2‐Sprinting Distance #2‐Sprinting Volume Sprinting frequency, or how often you sprint, is absolutely vital if you are looking to get faster. I cannot stress this enough. The common approach is to go out and run every day all the time since you are motivated. This is the absolute worst path to speed you can take. Outside of the initial gains you will make from just doing something, if you elect to continue this approach indefinitely you will arrive right back where you started (involution) and perhaps even slower. How can this be? Hard work should be rewarded, but unfortunately our body’s physiology says otherwise. So how often should we sprint? The answer; 2x per week. This may shock many and you may start to think that it sounds too good to be true, but trust me when I say that if you follow this program as its written you will be very satisfied with your results. What it comes down to is that you will have a “short” linear speed day and a “long” linear speed day. These terms are relative too. Remember this is a team sport based speed program, not track and field. In team sports 40‐60 yards is labeled long distance. So why can’t we sprint more frequently? The answer lies in our Central Nervous System (CNS). When we sprint at maximum intensities, this type of activity drains our nervous system. The nervous system is our body’s battery and when it gets drained there is less output from our working muscles. It consists of the brain, spinal cord, and all peripheral nerves; see below.


(Photo Courtesy of Istockphoto and Eraxion) Keep the CNS fresh and you will have success! Next, I think it is important to differentiate between sprint “rep” frequency and sprint “workout” frequency. These are the two types of frequency that we have to identify and properly prescribe for our athletes in order to get faster. The first type of frequency will be dictated by the next component; sprint distance. Below are the different distances that will be performed on this program, along with corresponding recovery guidelines between reps across the way followed up with specific explanations as to why they are this way. I discuss all of these distances and their role in the program in detail in the “Sprinting Exercises” section. Distance Recovery Interval 10 yds 30 seconds‐1 Minute 20 yds 1‐2 Minutes


40‐60 yds 3‐5 Minutes Note: Do not rest longer than 5 minutes as this will reduce neuromuscular activity The specific mechanisms or reasons for why we need to rest longer than what is natural at these distances is mainly metabolic and muscular based. Metabolically, our body’s phosphagen system, which contains high intensity energy reservoirs known as “phosphagen pools,” is unable to recover and restore itself very fast immediately following a sprint, unfortunately. We just have to wait it out while our body takes care of this by itself internally. Here is a study to support our natural underlying physiology. 127 In this particular study, subjects ran ten 40 yard sprints with 30 second rest intervals. Unsurprisingly to many, the times dropped off drastically over the course of runs, by up to 17%. The researchers also measured the activity of all of the plantar flexors and identified significant reductions in activity levels. The take home message is that if you want to get faster then you need to take full recoveries. There is a time to rest more in training and a time to reduce rest, in order to induce different adaptations or changes in the body. Here is another study from The Journal of Biomechanics, by Morin, Samozino, Edouard, and Tomazin in 2011. 128 In this study, researchers took 12 subjects and had them run 40 meter sprints. The study began by having participants warm‐up and then perform some sprint specific exercises prior to testing. Next, subjects ran 4 sets of five 6 second sprints, followed by 24 seconds of rest, with 3 minutes between sets. The researchers found that force production decreased significantly as fatigued increased. Furthermore, horizontal force ability and technical execution both decreased when subjects were in a fatigued state. Force production decreased from 10‐21%. What does this mean exactly? Well, if you take an individual who runs a 4.3 40 yard dash, they would be running a 4.73 second 40 yard dash at best by the end of the runs (4.3*.10=.43.). Take half of that amount at .22 tenths and he is still at a mid 4.5, and much slower than what he can be or needs to be to get faster. Recall the first principle, which is “The Overspeed Principle”, and you will realize this approach puts the athlete in a guaranteed position of failure. Here is one more study to support the argument from Ross and Leveritt. 110 I will discuss this specific study shortly, but it also reported that lower rest periods created less fast twitch muscle fiber conversion (Type IIx) and slower speed. I will be discussing all of the fiber types shortly. Here is a chart courtesy of the NASM that indicates standard recovery guidelines at each intensity. The guidelines I provided you reflect this information.


Muscularly, our fast twitch muscle fibers are much more prone to fatigue than intermediate or slow twitch muscle fibers. Fast twitch fibers are the white fibers we call upon and recruit when performing activities that are ultra‐high in intensity, such as sprinting. If we do not allow them some time to refresh they will not fully activate and we will be left slower. Below is a chart that introduces or reviews each type of muscle fiber along with common characteristics of each. White fiber is Type IIx, pink would be Type IIa, and Red is Type 1.

Now let’s take some time to discuss sprint workout frequency. The reason for the upcoming guidelines is mostly neurologically based. The metabolic and muscular systems recover quicker than the nervous system, unfortunately. I already mentioned that we can only spend a maximum of 2x per week sprinting if


we want our success to be optimal in gaining speed on this program. There are several reasons why. First, through his own personal research, Joe DeFranco has found that his athletes require 7‐10 days to fully recover their Central Nervous System before they are ready for the next long linear speed (40‐60 yards) based workout. Joe has worked with thousands of athletes across all sports, and my personal data findings with my athletes would indicate the same suggestion. I heard it from him around the same time I came to the same realization so he deserves some credit. But we should never just take real world evidence as fact. It should just reinforce the discovered research. Real quick, if we take half that distance at 20 yards we would require half the time to recover (3‐4 days) and this is reflected in the program. You will go a full week between 40 and 60 yard testing and workouts, and run 10 and or 20 yard sprints 3 to 4 days later, or vice versa. According to the Westisde Book of Methods, we are capable of training a muscle group or movement pattern at maximum effort up to twice per week, before Defensive Inhibition of the Nervous System occurs. Basically our body will shut down or “down‐regulate” this muscle group out of protection from it getting injured or damaged further. I suppose it could also be a form of energy conservation which the body is so famous for. You will already be squatting heavy once per week on this program, so a single long, hard speed day is about all that the body will be able to tolerate. Here’s some more evidence. In Sports Medicine, 2001, Ross and Leveritt found that low frequency and volume sprinting was ideal for muscle fiber changes and adaptations that increased speed, along with corresponding increases in rest and longer recovery periods. 110 There were a number of things this study discussed specific to sprinting frequency and its role on performance. First, sprint volumes and frequencies that are high or in excess can create changes that reduce muscle mass, fast twitch muscle fiber conversion, and sarcoplasmic reticulum volume. All of which are vital to greater speed. When we sprint less frequently and with lower volumes we not only build more muscle, but we convert other muscle fiber types to fast twitch muscle fiber that is more explosive and bigger in nature (Type IIx), resulting in greater speed. Ross and Leveritt also note that there is a strong correlation between fast twitch fiber count and sprint performance. Furthermore, the sarcoplasmic reticulum which is responsible for shuttling and releasing calcium into the muscle cell allowing muscle contraction, also increases in volume allowing greater production at this aspect of the muscle. Sprinting volume, or how much we sprint, is the next critical variable that needs to be discussed. We have identified a strong correlation between speed “dropoff” and 200‐300 quality yards completed per workout, regardless of distance. The exception here is short periods of planned overreaching or overtraining to induce greater speeds. This is showcased in the sample workouts. Refer back to the previous paragraph to appreciate lower volumes as well. This means after 10 20


yard sprints, 5‐8 40 yard sprints, and 3‐5 60 yard sprints you should shut it down for the day. Within these small ranges you will notice athlete’s times will begin to dwindle down below the minimum amount of relative speed required to produce speed gains. Recall that this number is 95% of that individual’s top speed. Also, only do what you need for solid progress. We generally stay in the middle of these ranges and closer to 200 yards per workout. I also located 3 studies that show speed work performed at low volumes produces the specific neuromuscular changes in the body that will make us faster! 129 130 131 I like to use heavy squatting or deadlifting as an example here. You have “Prilepin’s Table” in the strength principle section that tells you precisely how much work you need to do with these lifts to make gains. Intuitively though, if you lift heavy regularly, the ranges detailed in this table are naturally attained. I believe the same thing occurs with speed work. If you are monitoring athlete’s times, you will see the drop‐off, and when it gets too severe, that is the time you just cease the sprinting, and move onto the next segment of the workout since you are sprinting too slow to get faster. The effort may be there, but it turns into conditioning, negative side effects will occur, and the athlete will become slower. Finish the rest of the workout, then recover and adapt, and repeat the cycle the following week. I’ll continue doing my own personal research into the matter, and hopefully so will you, but I’m confident the “Drop‐Off” Principle is the best approach to acceleration and speed development. Track and field coaches who are good implement the drop off method; the only difference is that the distances are obviously longer.


TEMPO TRAINING

Up till this point, you can now appreciate the fact that high intensity training methods are absolutely fundamental and critical to the speed development process. However, there are certain periods of time throughout the training week where “slow and low” effort training is mandatory and very beneficial to the athlete or training client who desires to get faster. You are probably confused and thinking to yourself that this is crazy, illogical, and violates every principle and ounce of research to this point. The fact is that 90% of what you will do in this program will comply with everything discussed before, and about 10% of the training will have to occur at a much lower intensity. In the speed culture this type of training is referred to as “Tempo Training.” Basically, Tempo Training is a slower based training style designed to facilitate the recovery of the athlete or client from the more intense workouts, and to promote relaxation. Below is a chart from a brilliant PDF called “Kinetics Manual” that provides specific classifications for Tempo Training. 132 Please note that our Tempo training program is very simplistic and designed for the needs of a team sport athlete and not a sprinter. With that being said we will only perform the “Extensive Tempo” work category on this program.

(Courtesy of the Kinetics Manual)

This type of exercise really just serves as a “filler” to keep you busy on your off days, and also provides numerous indirect benefits than can and will improve speed if implemented correctly. Below is the list of benefits.


#1‐Accelerates Overall Neuromuscular Recovery from High Intensity Training Sessions #2‐Removes harmful metabolic waste products that result from High Intensity Training and helps deliver energy to our muscles #3‐Increases Capillarization to increase blood flow to local musculature #4‐Increases Body Heat to improve performance #5‐Helps maintain an optimal body composition #6‐Improves Aerobic Conditioning levels #7‐Helps Prevent Injuries #8‐Helps promote focus, relaxation, and less inhibition of the neuromuscular system When we practice Tempo Work on the days that follow hard training there is a series of things that occur internally that facilitate faster recovery throughout our entire system. For example, there is increased circulation throughout our entire body. This results in anabolic hormones that help repair muscle tissue and re‐synthesize various proteins to arrive at the damaged area much faster than without it. Moreover, the tempo work will help maintain some level of neuromuscular activity that helps our body maintain its performance in between high intensity workouts. The author of the “Kinetics Manual” also makes mention that there is contradictory evidence supporting the active recovery role of Tempo Work, however, he does make mention that emerging evidence supports it due to hormonal adaptations and activation of the Parasympathetic Nervous System. This is the second part of our nervous system that is responsible for rest, repair and digestion, among other things. Tempo training also helps keep us loose and more mobile which can have good ramifications on speed and other skills. Next, as everything I mentioned is occurring, our body is also removing unwanted waste products from local muscle cells that can wreak havoc on our ability to recover and build muscle and perform better, among other things. Alongside waste removal, important energy types are being delivered so that we can restore important energy stores such as liver and muscle glycogen which will help performance in the next hard workout. Another added benefit of tempo training is the unique effect they have on the tiny vessels that are responsible for delivering blood throughout our muscle sites. During tempo training our body adapts itself and increases the number of red capillaries at the muscle. This increases the amount of blood flow being flushed into the muscle, much like opening a water dam. This blood flow could also work to directly improve recovery from high intensity intervals. According to Tudor Bompa in his book Periodization Training For Sports, this effect is known as “Alactaid Oxygen Debt.” In other words, we have to operate aerobically while we recover from intense efforts. Here is a study from The Journal of Gerontology in 2012 from


Murias. 133 This study examined the various physical changes and adaptations that occurred in the cardiovascular system with a standard endurance training protocol. Subjects performed 3 workouts per week for 45 minutes at 70% of their maximum heart rate. Capillarization or proliferation of the capillaries in the body increased by 20‐30%, along with a host of other changes to the system. Continuing on, another underrated feature of low intensity exercise on our off days is the increase in body heat, skin heat, and core temperature that arises. A study in 2004 from The European Journal of Applied Physiology reported that subjects were not capable of producing as much force if their skin temperature decreased. 134 So our body’s “battery,” which is the Central Nervous System, starts to turn on more with this type of training, along with the attached muscles. Arguably the greatest Speed Coach ever, Charlie Francis, was onto this notion several years ago: “Along with increased macro‐capillarization from tempo, concentrates more heat within muscle fibers. Greater heat and proximity of fluid around MM neurons lowers electrical resistance allowing the intermediate fibers to take on FT characteristics.” 13 Put differently, our body’s muscle fibers that generally behave slower start to respond faster. This type of muscle is normally conditioned to involve itself in activities like tempo work, or longer distance, steady‐state work, but science has discovered that they will also increase their production during high intensity efforts as well. The more muscles working harder the merrier! Moving on, most trainees will generally always have a weight or body composition goal at the same time they are trying to improve areas of performance. You will see later on that this helps improve performance further, and tempo work assists in either creating a better looking physique, or at the least maintaining it. For fat loss, the extra volume of low intensity training will increase your weekly calorie burn and promote fat and weight loss, along with everything else you are doing in the program from a nutritional and training perspective. On the other hand, the extra calories can prevent any undue fat gain that commonly occurs when building more muscle mass. The last two things that tempo training accomplishes are injury prevention and improved aerobic conditioning levels. The first results from the other factors that were just discussed, (i.e. circulation, hormonal delivery, energy delivery, waste removal, etc.) and the second is a by‐product of the general approach to tempo work. All of the changes associated with improving aerobic conditioning will occur during these sessions. This is important in the context of developing speed, because the majority of your recovery before, during, and after high intensity training will take place in the aerobic zones. This means that between every sprint, your body has to function aerobically while the rest of the body responsible for high intensity function recovers back to pre‐sprint form. An inability to operate better aerobically will definitely have an impact in recovery from high intensity training, and you will be at a disadvantage when the time comes to sprint or lift. So how do we properly


incorporate tempo work into a comprehensive speed training program? I will remove all guesswork and show you how next. I’ve found and utilized a very effective conditioning principle with my athletes to appropriately integrate tempo work into the program. This principle is known as F.I.T.T. It stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type. By assigning specific guidelines for each letter we can safely and effectively incorporate tempo work with no concern or worry. Here is the specific outline of the principle on this program. For specific tempo runs, 10 100 meter or yard runs performed 3x per week is recommended. Frequency=2‐3x per week Intensity=.65‐.75 THR (Target Heart Rate) Time=30‐45 minutes Type=TBA All of these I would imagine are straightforward and easy to understand for anyone except for perhaps the intensity factor and type. For intensity, you need to be in the “Aerobic Training Zone,” which is based according to heart rate. A heart rate monitor is recommended and extremely useful here. I suggest you get one if you do not have one already. To calculate your THR just take 220, subtract your age, and multiply that figure by the .65 or .75. That will yield a customized number for you and ensure you are tempo training. If you choose not to use a heart rate monitor, then a RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) Scale is the next best option. With this just make sure that your physical and mental exertion levels do not exceed a 5‐7, where the higher number equals the higher the exertion, and vice versa. I will now provide you with our “Active Recovery‐Aerobic Conditioning” exercise menu. ACTIVE RECOVERY WORK/AEROBIC CONDITIONING EXERCISES: Conventional Cardio: Treadmill Eliptical Stairclimber Swimming Bicycling Hiking Snowshoeing Tempo Runs Racquetball Basketball games


Recreational sports Complexes Light sled work Light Sport and Position Specific Skill Training (Lineman drills for football lineman, etc.) To conclude this portion of the manual I just wanted to explain to unaware readers what Complexes are. This particular conditioning technique was first introduced years ago as a unique way to mix universal compound movements in an efficient circuit fashion. According to my research, Istvan “Steve” Javorek was the innovator of this training method. 155 Essentially, you select a series of movements in succession, and perform every movement for the desired reps and do not stop the complex or set the bar down until the complex is completely finished. These can be pretty brutal. The rules are that you complete all of the reps of one exercise before proceeding onto the next exercise. Also, be sure to select and base the load or weight being lifted off of the weakest movement in the series. For example, you would not base the weight off of the RDL since you are able to lift at least double what you could in this exercise compared to an overhead press movement. If you do not base the weight you train with off of the weakest movement then you will not be able to perform all of the reps of each exercise which defeats the purpose and dulls the training effect. Also, make sure that the movements really flow well together. Another rule, complements of Dan John, is to make sure that the bar does not pass back and forth over your head more than once or twice. This kills efficiency.


GET SHREDDED

If you have for some reason failed to notice, most fast individuals are very lean and “shredded.” This is an arguable fundamental to speed for two reasons. First, removing unnecessary layers of fat tissue automatically decreases the amount of work you have to do to move your body faster since you are lighter. Secondly, the fat is no longer occupying space that could be replaced with functional and potentially powerful skeletal muscle, which would enable greater strength and speed potential. Both of these factors could be overcome with really high strength and power output, but this is definitely much harder than getting and staying lean. Obvious exceptions would be linemen and other beasts who rely on the added mass to dissipate heavy impacts and large forces from contact in sport. For everyone else, there is literally zero reason why you cannot get leaner to help speed performance. Now we will look at the actual collective system that I utilize with all athletes and clients in need of getting shredded and maximizing their physique.

Amateur bodybuilder and boxer Jesse Carstairs @ sub 10% bodyfat here. Jesse has used our system for years now.

ENERGY BALANCE:

Since I can remember, there has always been unnecessary debate over whether calories count or not. Hopefully by the end of this chapter, I will be able to show you just how important calories really are in weight management, and specific to this section, fat loss! Before I can go into any detail about any of this, we have to


first address and discuss the “foundation” to it all, and that is energy balance. I am more than aware of all the current and unfortunate confusion and heavy skepticism surrounding this issue in contemporary fat loss, and I am going to clarify everything for you as best I can so you will have the tools to be very successful, based on science. Energy balance is commonly referred to as the First Law of Thermodynamics in science. “Work and heat are mutually convertible (may be converted from one form to another). The change in a system’s internal energy is equal to the heat absorbed (calories in) from the environment minus work done (calories out) on the environment.“70 In other words, for weight loss to occur we have to expend more calories than we consume, and vice versa. These two scenarios of weight loss and weight gain affected by energy balance are and always will be irrefutable scientific law. What is not set in stone, however, is the type of weight we gain or lose when we follow this law. How our body recomposes itself depends on not only this, but also our specific nutrition and how we train. Right now I want to take this opportunity to show to you and examine a couple more things pertinent to energy balance, and those are its two corollaries, and how our general metabolism operates.

The First Corollary: “The first corollary says that too much of any food, even so‐called “healthy” foods, will get stored as body fat. If you consume more calories than you burn (you’re in a calorie surplus), it doesn’t matter what you eat; you will gain weight, usually in the form of body fat. If the calorie surplus is beyond what you need for muscle growth, then all extra calories will be converted into body fat.” 135 I’m going to refrain from going into detail right now about this, and save it for the fat loss fundamentals section of this chapter. You see this scientific fact at work all the time and it cannot be denied.

The Second Corollary: “The second corollary of the law of energy balance says, if you are eating fewer calories than you are burning each day (you’re in a calorie deficit), then even if you eat ’junk food,’ you won’t store it as body fat.” 135 Yes, you read that right and it is absolutely true. Just about everyone wants to blame fast food and the food source for fat and weight gain. This is absolutely wrong. Fast food and certain selected foods are associated with the fat and weight gain, but it’s the excessive calories that are the cause and always will be. This does not mean that you should go crazy on fast food and other junk food, because proper food selection does matter and makes the process much easier, and


efficient in the end. However, food source will always be secondary to energy balance. It’s a scientific fact. In order to really appreciate how energy balance works, we need to also address and discuss a model that reflects this principle in an actual structural or physiological sense. So often you hear things in society and through the media on how you should not eat this or that at this time because you’ll store fat, or won’t gain muscle, or whatever else you’ve heard that I failed to mention. I have heard many of these claims over the years, and honestly I have forgotten most of them, especially once I discovered through science how energy actually “flows” in and out of the body as we go about our normal daily lives. In order to really understand this, I need to share with you a model of how our metabolism actually works, and rule out any confusion you may have on what’s really going on underneath the surface in any circumstance. “All the chemical reactions that occur in the body are collectively called metabolism.” 136 Put differently, just view metabolism as all of the energy flowing in and out of our body. Metabolism is broken down into 2 general phases. Below are the phases and some of the characteristics of each.

Phases of Metabolism:

CATABOLISM ANABOLISM *Releasing energy from the body (e.g. burning fat) *Storing of energy on the body (e.g. storing fat) *Involves increased calorie burn or expenditure *Involves decreased calorie or energy expenditure *Creates weight loss *Creates weight gain *Shut downs immunity, digestion, and reproduction *Turns on immunity, digestion, and reproduction *Includes weight lifting, cardio, or other hard activity *Includes sleeping, resting, or other light activity What’s far more important here is that you understand that our body is either in a dominant catabolic (fat loss) state, or anabolic (muscle building) state throughout the day. For example, if we eat a big meal then we are going to become more anabolic and we will store more energy on the body than we release for the time being. Once the food has been absorbed and digested by the body, we will eventually start releasing the stored energy and become more catabolic as we move around. Ultimately, the ratio of catabolism (calories out) to anabolism (calories in) will dictate whether or not we lose weight, and it’s these phases that physically and practically demonstrate the law of energy balance. Also keep in mind that we are normally always performing each of these phases to varying degrees from moment


to moment, rather than performing one of them all at once, like many tend to believe. We may be storing fat as we eat a meal or snack, but we are releasing fat as well, to support the activity at hand. Just remember that both pathways of anabolism and catabolism can and do occur simultaneously, and whichever one we do more of over the course of days and weeks to come will ultimately define our final weight.

FAT LOSS FUNDAMENTALS:

FUNDAMENTAL #1‐ENERGY DEFICIT

An energy deficit is where the amount of calories in is less than calories out. If you are an individual who is looking to shed pounds of body fat very fast, then you have no choice but to cut calories with your diet. A diet is all that you eat, or the composition of your total food intake. Many will bring into question the idea that they did not count calories and lost fat, or whatever. The fact is that they had to be in an energy deficit to lose fat because it is a scientific law, just like Einstein’s theory of relativity. What’s more is that humans have been shown in scientific studies to be terrible calorie estimators. I mean terrible. “People typically underreport intake by 20‐40%.” 70 I have also witnessed this in not only myself when I tracked calories, but also my clients who tracked their calories. It was also reported that people often neglect or forget what they ate and how much of it as well. Logically, you would also have to consider the fact that there can be many calories between an ounce of food per food item. For example, 4 ounces of chicken breast typically yields 120 calories if you look at the label. If you underestimate by just one ounce, that is 30 calories worth. 3 ounces of chicken looks just like 4 if you’re utilizing the portion control approach, but there is a big difference in the two between total calories. Let’s be realistic. The probability of you estimating a portion of food down to the ounce and calorie amount without measuring is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. And when you add in every food item you consume throughout the day, you can clearly see how this could multiply exponentially in either direction. Who knows? I should also quickly define what a calorie is in case anyone is still curious. A calorie is simply a unit of heat or energy. In other words, a calorie is just the word we use to represent energy. The next step is determining how to set your energy deficit. Fortunately, a couple of experts have identified this for us. Below are two rules to cutting calories and the scientific rationale for each.


FAT LOSS RULE #1‐NEVER CUT CALORIES BELOW BMR FAT LOSS RULE #2‐THE “40% RULE” To abide by rule #1, just make sure that you never eat less than your bodyweight x 10 if you’re a male and bodyweight x 8 if you’re a female. Eating below this number will create a starvation response in the body. This number is the absolute minimum amount of energy our body needs to sustain the most basic functions, one of these functions being the preservation of lean muscle mass. If we eat less than this amount we lose muscle and retain fat. “The consequences of low calorie dieting are automatic and unavoidable. The responses are metabolic, hormonal, and psychological in nature, and include: Decreased metabolism, loss of muscle, increased activity of fat‐storing enzymes and hormones, decreased activity of fat‐burning enzymes and hormones, decreased thyroid output, increased appetite, increased chance of regaining weight, and decreased energy and work capacity.”135 Weight rebound was implied here, and is another symptom of the response. “A more precise way to determine your correct calorie deficit would be to use a percentage deficit relative to your maintenance level. Reducing calories by 15‐20% below maintenance level is a good place to start. A larger deficit (25‐30%) might be necessary in some cases, but the best approach would be to keep your calorie deficit from diet small, while increasing your activity level to create a bigger deficit, if needed.”135 This 20‐30% comes out to be right around BMR when you calculate it. Don’t worry, we will revisit exactly how to do this on the nutritional schedules coming soon. Rule #2 is obviously a little trickier, but still pretty simple. There is a simple 2‐step equation to figure out if the amount of calories you are burning per day exceeds your intake too much. See below. Step #1: Calorie Intake/Calorie Burn=x Step #2: 100‐x=% These rules really just try to prevent the “starvation approach” that so many are so fond of, and perhaps unintentionally use when trying to lose fat and weight. Eating just a salad with no dressing and more veggies is just as bad as overeating because you deprive the body from other valuable nutrition and calories that is essential to it. The fact that there are pretty much no calories in a salad can help set the stage for vicious overeating at some point during the diet and the potential for


regaining all weight and fat that was lost. I’ve seen it too many times. There are many real‐life examples of this result, as well as a now famous scientific study known as the “Minnesota Starvation Experiment.” In this study a series of military men participants leaned out to single‐digit body fat and starved themselves, only to fall into a hunger frenzy and regain large amounts of weight and body fat back eventually. “Study after study has shown that very low calorie diets without exercise will always cause 40 ‐ 50% of the weight loss to come from lean tissue. Many diets, especially those that are low in carbohydrates, cause large losses in water weight. Between the loss of water, glycogen and muscle, 75% of the weight you lose on such plans is not fat! The initial weight loss on most diets is very deceiving, giving you only the illusion of success. Even with exercise, if a diet is too restrictive, much of the weight loss will still be lean tissue.” 135 Quite frankly, the traditional approach to fat and weight loss has been an extreme one where the food selection has to be immaculate, calories very low, carbs low, and weight loss rapid, in order to be effective. This is a recipe for disaster, as anyone who has tried it will tell you. Aside from healthy and proper food selection this is the absolute worst road you can take on your journey to fat and weight loss. Another issue of fat‐weight loss is when athletes or clients would still like to improve max strength levels and/or athleticism, or continue to lose fat and weight at a leaner and lighter weight. In this case, a 20‐30% energy deficit is strongly recommended to provide more energy to perform, and prevent the unfavorable metabolic effects that occur. Just remember that if your energy deficit is less you are not going to lose fat quite as fast, but the rate of fat loss will still be pretty good if you do the math, and there is less chance of losing muscle and everything else involved with lower calories. Moreover, you will not feel like you are depriving yourself of food. I am sure many reading this can relate and attest that attempting to get stronger, reach single digit body fat, or improve athleticism while losing fat and weight is much harder and less rewarding until the fat is gone and you are eating more again. This is inevitable, but the smaller deficits make the process much more manageable. It’s only when you start to eat more that your body is usually willing to give you more and you can do more. As a general rule of thumb, large energy deficits (40‐50% or more) create faster and more substantial fat/weight loss, but it’s at the expense of lowered performance and all of the metabolic symptoms I listed earlier in the section. On a final note, keep in mind that the energy values of different body masses are not created equal, meaning that a pound of muscle does not contain as many calories as a pound of fat. More specifically, a pound of muscle contains just about 600 calories, while a pound of fat houses just about 3500 calories! This means that we can lose muscle at a rate that is nearly six times faster than that of fat. That’s pretty scary stuff when you consider how fast people typically lose weight in contemporary society. This is also one of the primary reasons I am sure why such massive weight drops can occur. To


help put this into perspective, I will give you a weekly breakdown of weight loss for an obese individual at 250 lbs. who exercises 2x per day, while eating at his BMR, or the lowest theoretical allowable calorie intake where muscle losses and everything else is prevented. Trainee Name: John Calories In Calories Out Energy Deficit Monday thru Sunday: 2500 4100 (BW x 16‐17) 1600 calories/39% 1600 calories x 7 days per week=11200 calories per week 11200 calories per week x 4 weeks=44800 calories per month Total fat and weight loss per month=12.8 lbs. (44800/3500 calories or 1 lb. fat) I know this number is going to frighten and piss off many, but you need to know the truth. These claims that so‐called weight and fat loss experts make stating that you can lose 20‐30 lbs. of fat in one month are completely bogus. You can lose this much weight, but it sure as hell is not going to be a majority fat, and you’ll look and function worse. The obvious exception here would be seen in individuals, such as those competing in a show like “The Biggest Loser,” who are able to dedicate each and every day to extreme amounts of exercise and create massive energy deficits, all while receiving complete supervision from doctors and trainers in a controlled setting who have their food intake dialed in to a ”T.” Please do not use these examples as models to emulate because this is not a real‐life scenario, and prevented by our physiology in a standard setting. If you attempt to do so then you have to cut calories to extreme levels, which will only lead to a lot of frustration and weight rebound. People generally do not train hard enough or frequently enough, and if they do it is usually limited with all of the other competing demands, such as school, work, relationships, leisure activities, and other things. I realize it’s tough, but you have to find a way to make it work if you want legitimate results. I’ve given you the tools you need to be able to do the math and quickly calculate a rate of weight and fat loss that is unique to your situation. Just make sure that you follow the fat loss rules to prevent muscle loss and everything else. Like everything else in this program, you just cannot fake real fat loss without violating the fat loss rules. You have to eat less and exercise more to lose body fat. There is no way around this without drugs. Fat contains many calories and is going to take a long time to remove off your body. On a more positive note, it will be much easier to maintain and harder to regain weight over the long term with true fat loss, because it will take much more energy storage to reacquire pounds once they have been lost, versus stored sugar, water, and muscle which take far less longer to restore on the body. Moreover, your physique will be really what you want and desire, and the fact


that you completed a difficult process will be much more rewarding and long‐lasting mentally. Last but not least, there will be no more stupid frustration on what you should and should not do in training and nutrition. On a final note, I would strongly advise you to reassess your estimated daily calorie burn after you lose 10‐20 lbs. because you will be burning less calories. Yes, you read that right. Heavier people burn more calories than smaller people. Automatically, the extreme pops up and many will reference the rare genetically elite individuals who burn unnaturally high amounts of calories, but they comprise a very small percentage of the population. A majority of the time, a 250 lbs. person will burn more calories than someone who weighs 180 lbs. The lighter person has less mass and resistance to move, thus he or she expends less energy. Second, the amount of calories burned processing food or TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) will be less. Third, the smaller person’s metabolic rate is generally slower since metabolism tends to scale with weight and food consumption. And last but not least, there is less energy needed to repair a smaller and lighter body structure. On a positive note, this is one thing heavy people looking to lose fat and weight have working for them, and this is also why they can shed more weight faster than their smaller counterparts.

FUNDAMENTAL #2‐CALORIE COUNTING

Hopefully by now, you’ve come to appreciate the value of calorie tracking based on the fact that studies have shown constant underreporting and poor judgment across the general public. EVERY CALORIE COUNTS! Here is a classic example of what I mean. Jill comes up to me and tells me that she had a banana, and shredded wheat with a glass of skim milk for breakfast. Then for lunch, she had a Subway sandwich, a small diet coke, and bag of low calorie chips. For dinner, she had some salmon, white rice, asparagus, and a glass of red wine. The food sources sounds great right? But Jill is not losing weight, and is extremely frustrated about this since she is and has been eating healthy and exercising hard for quite some time now. When I ask her how many calories she has eaten thus far, her response is “I have no clue” or she makes up a number that is false. The bad thing about this is that Jill is aspiring to lose fat and weight, but she and I have absolutely no idea how much she is really eating and if she is in an energy deficit or not. As you know now, this value is essential for whether or not the scale will change in her favor, whether she loses fat, and whether she truly improves her physique and appearance. This is scientifically undeniable. I used a hypothetical example here but I have experienced this on several occasions in the past with numerous clients. Counting calories is more efficient, it becomes easier after the initial counting, and most importantly, it tells you exactly what you are doing so that you can make the necessary


adjustments if you are out of compliance with the program. Without counting calories there is no way of knowing what is the main problem. It could be lack of exercise, or it could be excessive calories. Jill may have unknowingly been eating perfectly, but not exercising enough, or vice versa. Or she is overcompensating far too much by eating too little and exercising too much, which can pose the starvation problems discussed earlier. Who knows? Every scenario is unwanted and they all create the same bad outcome. This is also very frustrating for me since I want to help, but cannot since I have no idea what is truly going on since I only see her 2‐3 hours out of 168 in a week. Unfortunately, there is still a strong lack of awareness, unwillingness, or misunderstanding surrounding energy balance. Think about it for a minute: If Jill and I were to take the time aside to measure out and weigh precisely every food item that she ate that day, then we both know there is almost zero chance that we would have been able to guess the actual amount exactly. Instead, the only solution is to pick, weigh, and log every item through a food journal, so that we would know the actual amount of food consumption. I know this probably sounds stupid, but it’s not, because there are studies and thousands of real‐life examples like Jill’s. The bottom line is that if you are really serious about maximizing your body composition then it is essential that you count calories for a week or two, at the very least. Recall that our metabolism is not really affected too much until we diet for a while and adapt and lose some weight. As a result, once you weigh all of your food initially and establish some reoccurring meals for a week or two then you should be good. If you do decide to eat something else then be sure to re‐measure your food. However, there is an even more important reason why we should weigh our food and count calories, and that is because of a hormone called leptin. If you want to read more than you ever need or want to on this hormone than be sure to check out Lyle Mcdonald’s articles and books. I’m going to spare you several details relative to this hormone’s power and just focus on one. And that is its delayed signal. Briefly, leptin is a hormone (body messenger) that is made and released primarily through fat cells in our body. When we eat a meal, eventually this hormone will be produced and transported up to our brain. When it reaches the brain it will bind to it, and when it does we feel a sensation of fullness. Unfortunately, this process typically takes about 20 minutes to occur. As you can imagine, if we are hungry, this is a pretty long time to spend eating. Subsequently, the probability that we will overeat is increased and so is the potential for fat and weight gain. By counting calories, and eating according to our individual body needs and activity levels, we know exactly when we should stop eating. We also remove potential for this very quiet and destructive physiological feature to ruin our weight and fat loss efforts. Now I know many have attempted to time meals to make sure they take twenty minutes to eat, but you still have no way of knowing and getting around counting calories. Conversely, please note that leptin is not bad at


all. Actually it is absolutely essential to a healthy body composition. It just gets ridiculed here due to its relationship with counting calories and the potential to eat more.

FUNDAMENTAL #3‐DAILY WEIGH‐INS

This idea may frighten you, but I have noticed that it works extremely well for many. If you’re doing what you should be then you should not have to worry about this. There is an accountability factor with this that I love. Frequent weigh‐ins hold you accountable and reinforce adherence to the program. It’s not conclusive at this point, but there is some good science out there to support the matter. A study from pubmed showed an increased success rate in fat loss for obese people who weighed in frequently. 137 Obviously, many people who are attempting to lose weight are absolutely terrified of the scale, but they should not be, especially if they are complying, and there is scientific reason for why. The body’s weight regulation system has been found to be highly complex over the years, and there are several things that I can think of through personal research that affect weight from moment to moment. Calorie intake, nutrient intake, water intake, exercise, diuretics, fat swooshes, menstrual cycles, electrolyte balance, and more. To simplify, however, a large majority of these factors are temporary and none more powerful than energy balance. These common recommendations of losing 1‐2 lbs. per week every week are often times incorrect because of these factors. Weight regulation is not always black and white. All of these factors interact moment to moment, so it is only fair to weigh in as often as possible. The chances of you hitting your lowest weight (fat loss) with one single weigh‐in per day is very small because of the variance. Moreover, trying to predict fat and weight loss day to day or week to week is not possible as a standard, since there are so many variables to consider. The reality is that you are going to have good weeks and bad weeks on the scale. Eventually it may all average out to 1‐2 lbs. per week, but in my decade’s worth of experience as a trainer and tracking trends, progress is usually very non‐linear. What I like best about this approach is that it really helps narrow down whether or not the client is doing what they need to be doing to excel. If you are not losing weight over the course of the week, or maximum two weeks then you are definitely doing something wrong in the program and need to troubleshoot.

FUNDAMENTAL #4‐CALORIE CYCLING (AKA STRUCTURED REFEED)

Another effective technique for fast weight and fat loss is cycling your calories throughout the week. I have a specific schedule for this on the nutritional


schedule at the end of this section. With this strategy, you will alternate between low and high calorie days. I’ve had lots of experience with this approach, and like a ratio of 3 low : 1 high the best. From what I’ve seen, this is the most commonly used sequence by some of the most successful experts on the matter, so that is good enough for me. “When you restrict carbohydrates and overall calories for any significant length of time your thyroid levels will down regulate causing an overall slowdown in your metabolism. This means you will stop burning fat and may even begin to store it because your body senses that you are in some kind of starvation mode and wants to be prepared for the worst. Not only that, but you will go into a catabolic state which means you will be losing muscle. How long does it take for this dreaded scenario to kick in? Just three to four days.” 149 You will not be dieting and reducing calories to extreme levels, but this research supports that your metabolism will begin to drop within days, and that effect will be compounded over the course of weeks and months. Hence, calorie cycling. By doing so, we partially “reset” our metabolism and we will burn more calories and fat and help reduce the symptoms of lower calories that we previously discussed. Ultimately, individuals will achieve greater fat and weight loss with this strategy. On a final note, keep in mind that the higher calorie days are not really high, just higher than the low calorie days. You will still be in an energy deficit and losing weight and fat, but at a slightly lower rate. In the end though, by implementing this technique you will have lost fat and weight faster than if you just ate at a fixed lower calorie amount the entire time. By raising calories slightly every few days, we manipulate and trick the body’s metabolism into thinking we are eating more. The body then rewards us with easier fat and weight loss.

FUNDAMENTAL #5‐DIET BREAKS

I am going to keep this subject really short. If you’re really interested then you should check out some of Lyle McDonald’s articles and books. He goes into much more detail then I will on all of the specifics of this technique. Practically speaking, I like to keep this simple and suggest that if you have been eating less calories for an extended period of time then it may not be a bad idea at all to take a week‐long diet break and regroup. This means that you return calories to normal‐maintenance levels (bodyweight x 12), so that you can reset the metabolism even more than just cycling calories alone. The metabolism can really start to drag after a while, and this may be just the boost you need to kick start progress again. This technique generally seems to work itself out naturally, with occasional vacations, work trips, and such. Sometimes, though, it needs to be built in and scheduled in a fat loss nutritional program. The general rule of thumb is that if you are heavier you will not require a diet break, compared to someone lighter who may need it to enable their body to let them remove those final few pounds of fat. The reason here is that


all of the adverse metabolic effects and changes that occur with fewer calories tend to be greater in lighter individuals. Most importantly, please do not view this strategy as an outlet to go crazy and regain everything you’ve just lost. This is not the intention of this technique at all. If your calorie intake is where it needs to be, then you will regain very little weight, and may potentially even lose a little over the diet break.

FUNDAMENTAL #6‐FOOD VOLUME: CALORIE RATIO

This is yet another underrated aspect of fat and weight loss nutrition. Basically, if you’re trying to lose weight and fat, it would be in your best interest to strive to select and eat foods that are lower in calories, and higher in volume. Examples include, vegetables, fibrous fruits, lean protein, and healthy whole grains. By eating higher volume/lower calorie foods, we will feel fuller sooner and longer, and our odds of overeating are reduced. Just make sure that you’re not adopting this technique to an extreme, and starving and neglecting other important nutrition (e.g. healthy fats). Many of the foods that were selected in the food menu will reflect this fundamental, and if you just stick to them then you’ll stay out of trouble.

FUNDAMENTAL #7‐MACRONUTRIENT RATIOS This is just a scientific and technical name for the specific quantities and combinations of carbohydrates, protein, and fat that we eat throughout the day. The various quantities of each of these are going to be integral to managing all of the negative symptoms of cutting calories. In case you forgot, these are increased hunger/appetite, muscle loss, decreased fat loss and weight loss, decreased energy burn, decreased energy levels, lowered immunity, and increased risk for weight and fat rebound. On this particular system, your ratio or percentages of carbs, protein, and fat from total calories will be approximately 50‐30‐20. Aside from the decades of several scientific and successful bodybuilding experts in the field who promote this range, other authorities’ recommendations closely resemble these ratios.

FUNDAMENTAL #8‐FAT LOSS TRAINING METHODS If you’re really serious about optimizing your fat loss and physique for the sake of running faster, then there is literally no question that you need to utilize the methods that have been proven to work best. These methods include strength training, frequent low to moderate conditioning sessions, plyometrics, and Olympic lifting! These vigorous methods of exercise melt fat off the body, create the highest


calorie burn and fat loss hands down, maximize fat loss efficiency, preserve muscle mass, contain tons of training variation, and are lots of fun to perform. I know that most of these are presently culturally unaccepted, but they should not be once you consider the science. The infamous study by Dr. Schuenke tells us exactly why strength and speed training should be first and foremost for optimal fat loss training. 138 Schuenke and his team took seven healthy men, and had them perform a 3‐exercise circuit utilizing the squat, bench press, and power clean. The circuit was performed four times amounting to 12 total work sets, and lasted 31 minutes. The results were remarkable! Aside from the few hundred calories the subjects burned during the session, they burned about 600‐700 calories in addition to that number over the next 38 hours post‐exercise. This phenomenon is known as “Excessive Post‐Exercise Oxygen Consumption,” or EPOC for short. EPOC is the amount of energy required to return our metabolism back to pre‐exercise levels. Through heavy resistance training and sprinting, the damage and amount of energy needed by the body to recover the damage is much higher than with “traditional” cardiovascular training. The damage itself requires energy and time to repair, which increases our calorie burn, along with the increased activity of our body’s battery which is the nervous system. Also, fat burning enzymes and hormones skyrocket, and more. To help really put all of this into perspective, using strength training as an unparalleled and superior form of cardio creates a “2 workouts in 1” training effect. On a final note, the increase or maintenance of your muscle will also burn a few extra calories per day as well, which could add up over time. There are several studies that investigated the effects aerobic and anaerobic training have on weight loss, fat loss, and the maintenance or increase of muscle mass. I will share some here. The consensus among the scientific community should be that both methods contribute to fat loss, but anaerobic (weights, sprinting, etc.) is hands down better. Per unit of time, anaerobic training is better. However, it cannot be practiced as much because of fatigue factors, so you need a blend of both. Just remember that anaerobic is primary and aerobic is a far secondary. And the science supports this. For example, in 1994 Tremblay and Simoneau had subjects participate in either 20 weeks of steady‐state aerobic training, or 15 weeks of sprint intervals (15 sprints @ 30 seconds each). The interval group lost nine times more body fat and 12 times more visceral belly fat than the aerobic group! 139 Now there were some studies that supported aerobic training regimes over weight and sprint training, but the downfall to the studies were that they did not disclose and elaborate on the specific protocols of the anaerobic groups, or the workouts were not severe enough to warrant the real benefits of true anaerobic training. 140 141 They were too easy, so it was an unfair and misleading comparison. Aerobic conditioning or “Active Recovery” work that will be performed on the off days in this program raises general work capacity, meaning that you will be able


to do even more work, burn more calories and fat, and reach your goals sooner. Traditional conditioning also has a very minor effect on EPOC, but not nearly to the same extent as strength training. Some of this supplemental conditioning just adds more fuel to the fire, as you maximize your calorie expenditures throughout the training week. Stay tuned into my website: www.renospeedschool.com. I’ll be blogging and writing articles like a madman in the future, and I’ll be sure to include several more studies that explore the benefits sprinting and speed work have on fast fat loss. There are many more studies to share, but I wanted to keep it short and provide just enough evidence to convince, and minimize time spent on a single particular topic since there is a lot to cover in this book. The strength work, acceleration and speed, along with the agility and quickness training methods accomplish all of the above, and add one more unique benefit as it relates to fat and weight loss that most rarely ever consider: muscle tension! The reason why these anaerobic examples are better is that many studies show at least full maintenance of lean mass or muscle as we burn calories and more fat. 142 143 You cannot say this for exclusive aerobic training, unfortunately. Sprinting, jumping, running, etc. all place a lot of force and tension (pull) on your muscles just like weightlifting does, except that the type of resistance is different in that it’s the momentum of your own mass rather than some external object (barbell, dumbbell, etc.) adding weight to the body. This becomes important since tension is absolutely critical in maintaining muscle if we want to lose fat. So if you’re someone aspiring to lose fat and weight, then all of these traditionally uncommon training types will help your body hold onto its precious muscle mass, along with proper nutrition, while you burn through your fat stores.

FAT LOSS CARDIO

PLEASE REFER TO THE “TEMPO TRAINING” SECTION FOR SPECIFICS ON THIS TOPIC.

FAT LOSS SUPPLEMENTS

All of what I used to believe on supplements was challenged and dismissed recently. Sol Orwell and his team at Examine.com just released a Supplements‐Goals Reference Guide you should definitely check out. 144 In this comprehensive guide that literally covers every supplement‐related topic, they examine everything including fat burning, muscle building, fatigue, health, and so much more. It’s 900 pages long and they put tremendous effort into it to make our lives easier. You can check this product out for further details on the supplements that I will recommend

http://www.renospeedschool.com/


that have been scientifically shown through various studies to work. Unfortunately, when it comes to fat burning there really are not too many supplements that are worth your while. Sol derived a 3‐star ranking system for each supplement. The catechins found in green tea have been shown to shift the burning of glucose to fatty acids in the body. They received a moderate score of 2. There were also 8 studies for this supplement. Caffeine received the same exact rating, and works by increasing serum fatty acid levels via increased adrenaline production. There were 3 studies for caffeine. Adrenaline is a primary fat burning hormone. The other 15 referenced supplements for fat burning had a score of 1, representing a very weak effect. There were other supplements that showed promise such as clenbuterol, yohimbine, and ephedrine. However, in my own personal research, It’s been stated frequently by authors that the administration of these items is critical to prevent dangerous events, and not everyone should be taking these. Please consult your doctor and check out any of Lyle McDonald’s products or website for proper dosing and administration of these products.

CARBOHYDRATES Before we begin, we first need to define a carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are simply a source of sugar that our body utilizes as energy; and every type of carb whether it be soda or fruit, or any other, will be ultimately converted into glucose through complicated chemical conversion processes in the body. Carbohydrates can then be classified into 3 general types. The difference between each type is mainly their rate of digestion and their structure. Practically speaking, the rate of digestion is the only real thing that is important. Type #1‐Monosaccharides Type #2‐Disaccharides Type #3‐Polysaccharides Monosaccharides or “simple sugars” are things like fruit and honey. These are the smallest of all types and are the most readily available to the body when you eat them. Disaccharides or “double sugars” are things like soda (sucrose or table sugar + glucose), beer (maltose + glucose), and dairy products (galactose + glucose). This type of carbohydrate is slightly bigger than a simple sugar and takes slightly longer to digest and break down into glucose before a part of the body can use them. These double sugars contain other sugars combined with glucose, as you can see, and our body can only use the glucose from this type of carbohydrate as a source of energy to fuel bodily activity. Polysaccharides, or “multiple sugars,” are big chains of glucose linked together.


This type of sugar takes the longest of the three to break down into individual glucose for energy. Examples would be glycogen, and starchy foods (breads, rice, etc.). This is really all you need to be concerned with about the composition and structure of carbohydrates, although there is a bunch more you could learn if you wanted to. The structure and chemical makeup of all these can get quite detailed, but the only practical thing we need to be concerned with here is that carbs are different categorically speaking, but they will all ultimately end up converting into glucose through a specific and elaborate digestion process, since that is the only type of sugar that can be used by our body tissues. And remember the fact that they have different digestion rates. Even then, I don’t think this is that important, as long we are eating complete and balanced meals of carbs, proteins, and fats. Below is a short list of benefits associated with adequate daily carbohydrate intake. CARBOHYDRATE BENEFITS: *Primary source of energy used at high training intensities *Create and maintain a healthy thyroid. *Increase metabolism *Spares muscle mass and assist in muscle growth *Supplies essential vitamins and minerals needed for nervous system function *Increase fat loss productivity and efficiency *Lower stress levels *Increase overall performance *Improve mental state *Increases hydration *Decrease hunger and appetite *Brain and nervous system’s preferred source of energy *Prevents injury

PROTEIN

“Next to water, protein is the most abundant plentiful substance in the body and is needed for many body functions.” 70 A protein is a substance that is made up from various series of amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. The body uses approximately 20 different amino acids to build its many different types of proteins. Some of these amino acids are essential, meaning that we have to consume certain protein‐based foods in order to acquire them. Other proteins are non‐essential, which means our body already naturally produces these from other nutrients. Lastly, some are semi‐essential, meaning that we can naturally produce some of them on our own, but not in sufficient quantity to maintain proper bodily function. I will be giving you a large list of lean proteins in the food menu coming


soon, and all I am going to say is that as long as you are acquiring all of the 20 amino acids by eating a balanced diet of various lean proteins, healthy fats, and carbohydrates then you are good and getting all that you need to function right. Below is a brief list of benefits associated with adequate daily protein intake. PROTEIN BENEFITS: *Builds muscle, connective, and other tissues *Builds various hormones (chemical messengers) and other structures *Accelerates recovery *Improves immunity *Increases performance *Decreases hunger and appetite (short‐term fullness) *Increases metabolism *Prevents injury *Normally assists slightly in energy production The next thing related to protein that needs to be discussed is nitrogen balance. Nitrogen is a key element found in the various proteins our body makes, including muscle. Much like energy balance (calories in vs. calories out), in order for protein levels to be labeled proper and adequate, the ratio of nitrogen in vs. nitrogen out has to be balanced. In other words, if we are not consuming enough protein to meet our body’s needs to handle muscle activity, growth, and repair, etc. then our performance will suffer and we will be in a negative nitrogen balance, and vice versa. So how do we know if we are in proper nitrogen balance? “The Recommended Dietary Allowance for protein is 0.8g/kg per day, or 15 to 30% of total caloric intake. However, this may vary among athletes from 1.0 to 2.0 g/kg per day.”48 I like the percentage method because it’s obviously way easier. 30% generally correlates very well with 1 gram per lb. of LEAN or muscle bodyweight, which is probably the most common recommendation you will hear floating around. Many will be shocked at how low this percentage or amount suggested is, and I can understand that with all the promotion of high protein diets. Logically, it makes sense to assume that the more protein we ingest, the more we grow. Or the less actual fat we eat, the less fat we become. Unfortunately, this thought process is far too simplified and incorrect, even though it makes perfect sense. In his book “The Paleo Diet,” Dr. Loren Cordain states that the liver has a built‐in protective mechanism which only enables it to handle around 30% of our daily caloric intake from protein, otherwise we will start to experience nausea and other protein toxicity related symptoms. 146 This would explain the RDA’s recommendation, and all of the successful bodybuilders, athletes, and incredible body transformations that took place in years past. Exceptions here would be pregnant women, pubescent adolescents


(teenagers), and perhaps a few others whose bodies naturally require more protein to support abnormal levels of growth that occurs in these individuals.

HEALTHY FATS

Fats come in different types, shapes, and forms. The five types of fats are saturated fats, unsaturated fats which are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, cholesterol, and trans fats. The main difference between each of these is their chemical structure and functions in the body. I’m going to briefly discuss the function of each, but omit structure because it’s not practical at all and I do not know much about it. Cholesterol has many functions, like making hormones, but does not provide energy to the body, so this is all I am going to say about cholesterol. Saturated fats are fats that are solid at room temperature, and can be found in steak and certain oils. Saturated fats are generally labeled bad, but there are some types of saturated fats that do provide benefit, so there is a small list of food sources containing saturated fats that can help matters. Outside of this, we should strive to limit saturated fats and ditch the fatty steaks like ribeyes and prime rib. Too much saturated fat has been shown to increase bad LDL cholesterol, and increase our risk for heart attacks and strokes, among other things. We should always strive to consume a majority of our fats from polyunsaturated fats, and maintain a high to low polyunsatured to saturated fat ratio. Polyunsaturated fats come in three types and are generally liquid at room temperature. Omega 3, 6, and 9. Unfortunately, we as humans derive a majority of this fat in the omega 6 and 9 forms, and are low on the omega 3. Omega 3 fats will be seen on food menus, and have vast benefits for the human body. Examples include all types of fish like salmon, halibut, tilapia, omega 3 eggs, fish oils, and cod liver oil, to name a few. Monounsaturated fats are also generally liquid at room temperature. Based on my studies, many sources have stated that this type of fat may potentially raise testosterone along with other functions. I have seen nothing though that suggests they harm the body in any way. And they taste good. Examples include olive oil, avocados, and various types of nuts. Trans fatty acids, as we probably all know by now, are bad guys. They have zero place in any diet and only contribute to bad health. These are synthetically made fats. These fats are created through a process called partial hydrogenation, where a standard oil which is liquid at room temperature is converted to a partial solid at room temperature. Examples of this type of fat include margarine and shortening. Trans fats are also commonly found in all types of junk foods like chips, cookies, and cakes. The rationale for trans fatty acids in society is to preserve the


shelf life of the food and increase its longevity. Fats are very important in order for us to survive and maximize our health and performance. Below is a list of benefits associated with adequate daily fat intake. HEALTHY FAT BENEFITS: *The chief source of energy at lower intensities *Improves performance *Provides a cover or membrane for tissues such as nerves for better function *Helps make and maintain hormone levels *Helps transport and carry essential nutrients (Fat soluble vitamins‐A,D,E, and K) *Helps protect and cushion essential organs and tissues *Helps regulate body temperature *Decreases hunger and appetite (long‐term fullness) *Helps muscle building *Helps fat loss by decreasing hunger and appetite *Increase metabolism

FIVE STEP NUTRITIONAL PLAN

Step #1‐Daily Calorie Intake: Low calorie day intake=BW x 10‐11 (i.e. 185 x 10=1850 calories) High calorie day intake=BW x 12‐14

Step #2‐Daily Nutrient Intake:

Just like in the case of calories, we will need and want to know how much of each nutrient we need to eat specific to our weight to get the best possible result.

Carbs:

50 % of calorie intake

Calorie intake * .50=x/4 meals per day=x/4 grams per meal=?


Protein:

30% of calorie intake

Calorie intake *.30=x/4 meals per day=x/4 grams per meal=x=?

Fat:


Calorie intake *.20=x/4 meals per day=x/9 grams per meal=?

Step#3‐Fat Loss Meal Plan Design Template:

This temp will allow you to combine all of the essential nutrients properly.

Pick one starch carb Pick one lean protein Pick one healthy fat (1‐2 meals per day) Pick one simple carb (fruit) and/or vegetable at each meal Step#4‐Food Selection Menu: Utilizing the template from step #3, you will now have several foods to choose from. CARBOHDRATE FOOD LIST SIMPLE CARBS: Apples Oranges Melons Berries


Peaches Pears Plums Kiwi Milk Yogurt STARCH CARBS: Quinoa Oatmeal Sweet potatoes White potatoes White rice Brown rice Wild rice Breads Grains Tortillas Pitas LEAN PROTEIN FOOD LIST: Skinless chicken breast Turkey breast Tuna Salmon Tilapia Halibut Lobster Crab Shrimp Bottom round steak Flank steak


Top sirloin Venison Ostrich Bison Lamb Veal Lean ground beef Whey protein powder Casein protein powder Eggs Egg whites Skim milk Low‐fat cheese Low‐fat or nonfat cottage cheese Greek yogurt HEALTHY FAT FOOD LIST: Flaxseed oil Cod liver oil Fish oil Olive oil All nuts Avocadoes Olives FREE FOODS: Asparagus Cauliflower Mushrooms Green beans Celery Green peppers


Broccoli Cucumbers Red peppers Brussels sprouts Eggplant Spinach Cabbage Lettuce Zucchini Low cal Jell‐o Low cal popsicles FREE BEVERAGES: Water Diet soda or juice Coffee (Traces of cream and sugar) Crystal Light Broth or bouillon Diet Snapple Green tea Powerade zero FREE CONDIMENTS: Pico de gallo or salsa Fat‐free sour cream Calorie‐free syrup or jelly Mustard All spices and herbs Light soy sauce Vinegar Lemon juice


HEALTHY FAST FOOD RESOURCE:

http://www.shapefit.com/fastfood.html

This site lists practically every place you can eat out, and includes their entire menu

with a complete breakdown of calories, carbs, protein, and fat so you can stay

compliant. STEP #5‐Weekly Nutritional Schedule: Taking into account the previous four steps, it’s now time to put it all together into a structured routine. Structure is key to success if you are really serious about getting results. In this step we will integrate the key fundamental of “Calorie Cycling” to keep the metabolism healthy and maximize the rate of fat and weight loss. Ultimately, you should have 2 higher calorie or maintenance days per week. Keep in mind that it’s still low calories, but just a little bit higher than your low days. Feel free to rearrange the days however you want to make it fit your social schedule. What it really comes down to is that you get a free ”structured cheat meal” for two days.

Monday=Low/ BW x 10‐11

Tuesday=High/BW x 12‐14

Wednesday=Low/BW x 10‐11


Thursday=Low/BW x 10‐11

Friday=Low/BW x 10‐11

Saturday=High/BW x 12‐14

Sunday=Low/BW x 10‐11


GROW YOUR WAY TO BECOMING FASTER

At this point, you can appreciate the fact that greater force (max strength) is going to increase your power potential, along with everything else that has been discussed so far in the manual. I think the next question that often arises is how else can we increase our power potential? Ironically, it would be to get bigger as well! “Clearly individuals with the largest muscle cross sections generate the greatest absolute force.” 42 Cross Sectional Area or hypertophy are other terms that are used interchangeably with muscle size. Increases in the size of a muscle generate guaranteed strength gains. Conversely, increases in mass create greater gravity or downward pull of the body. “The major component of gravity is mass: greater mass equals greater gravitational pull.” 30 Meaning our body becomes harder to move in an intended direction upon effort. This is a big problem if we are trying to become more powerful and move faster in all movement variations. Or is it? Fortunately for us, the increases in size along with the performances of top‐level athletes over time would indicate that proper and specific muscle mass development and not fat gain in the body is more than enough to offset difficulties in attempting to move a larger mass and overcome increased gravity. “Until you’ve been training for a number of years you will tend to gain 30% strength for every 10% increase in muscle mass.” 147 So every single pound increase in muscle mass typically raises the strength of the affected muscle by up to 3 lbs! This would definitely help explain why Olympic sprinters and the highest jumpers and speedsters in sport and other magnificent performers are capable of doing so at questionably high bodyweights. Also, obviously make sure that you are not gaining too much non‐specific mass. What I mean by non‐specific mass is adding weight to an area that is not primarily responsible for performing an activity. For example, growing a humongous upper body and neglecting your lower body when trying to sprint faster. Grow both areas, but focus a little more on the dominant region And this not to say that you could not still fly or leap like a pro with more bodyfat, or less specific muscle mass, as long as your strength to bodyweight ratio and power expression are higher and can counter these. It just makes it unnecessary and much harder. I’ve seen many do this before. Having more muscle increases our “relative strength” potential. You have already seen the effect of relative strength previously, so anything that can increase this is huge. I’ve heard figures anywhere from 2‐5 lbs. of potential strength gain per 1 lb. of muscle according to old Soviet training literature, and other authorities on training. I don’t think it matters too much what the number is exactly. What’s important is that the real world evidence of gaining size would at least support the fact that the strength and power gains become greater than the actual muscle gained, contrary to popular belief. With all of the previous information considered, below is a comparison of an athlete with bigger legs versus one with smaller legs. Clearly the person with bigger legs is at an advantage to run faster than the other


person with smaller legs. I used 3 lbs. of strength per 1 lb. of muscle in this scenario. Bigger Athlete: Smaller Athlete: 135 lbs. of leg mass 75 lbs. of leg mass 405 lbs. of strength potential 225 lbs. of strength potential Secondly, those who are heavier are capable of generating a stronger explosive reflex from the working muscles of the body. Technically speaking, this is the “Myotatic Stretch Reflex” that I discussed in the plyometric section of the manual. As you might recall, there are 3 regulators of this natural reflex. First is the magnitude or amount of stretch placed on the muscle. So the harder and more intensely we stretch our muscles when we move, the better they will react. A bigger muscle is capable of driving much more effort than a smaller one. Advantage being bigger! The second regulator is the velocity of the stretch. The faster we can stretch our muscles when running, jumping, etc. the better the reflex. Since we know a bigger muscle can drive more effort into a stretch, obviously it’s going to be able to do it faster, too. Advantage being bigger! The final regulator is the time it takes to stretch a muscle and then contract it. The faster this gets done the less energy we lose and the more explosive we will be. Advantage being bigger! Clearly, if we want to maximize this phenomenon then we need to grow bigger muscles and hit the iron hard, contrary to popular belief. Third, the research supports being bigger to run faster. In 2005 in The Journal of Experimental Biology, researchers assessed 45 of the fastest male and female sprinters across a 14‐year span (1999‐2013). 148 What they found was that the bigger runners were also the fastest runners. Moreover, the amount of force that these athletes applied into the ground was up to 2.5 times their bodyweight according to this study.


(Photo courtesy of Chell Hill)

Asafa Powell is one of the fastest men in the world and his spectacular size is part of the reason why.

Minor League baseball player Scott Underwood showcases his extreme muscle size. It’s one of the reasons why Scott has Elite MLB speed right now.


ENERGY BALANCE:

Please refer to the fat loss section for a complete explanation of Energy Balance.

MUSCLE BUILDING FUNDAMENTALS:

FUNDAMENTAL #1‐COMPOUND MOVEMENTS

I already introduced this fundamental with the “Big 6” principle in the strength chapter, but there’s more. Compound movements that train multiple joints and muscle groups simultaneously and consist of primarily free weight exercises are unmatched for improving size and strength. Here is a list of reasons why free weight compound movements are superior to training on machines and isolation (single joint) exercises for building size and strength. #1‐Increased range of motion #2‐Greater resistance #3‐Increased base of support #4‐Greater overall muscle recruitment First, compound movements promote a greater range of motion than many machines like leg extensions, hamstring curl, and bicep curl machines do. This means that you will lift weight longer, work harder, and grow better. Second, compound movements typically provide greater overall resistance to the target muscles. The exception would be the leg press. Resistance or the weight you are lifting is absolutely key to overloading the body so that it can get bigger and stronger. Most machines, such as the pec fly machine, other pressing machines, the lat pulldown, and others, will offer limited resistance and you’ll eventually run out of weight. Then what? Compound movements provide infinite overload potential, so you never stop improving. Third, compound free weight exercises provide a solid platform for you to summon more force and energy to get bigger and stronger. “You cannot develop maximal strength pushing against unstable structures since maximal force cannot be developed against an unstable surface.” 12 You saw the case of how unstable


surface training did not improve speed as much as stable surface training, and it’s the same story here. You need to ditch that Bosu Ball when trying to lift heavy weights and get bigger.

Hey, bro, that Bosu is not going to get you nearly as fast or strong as heavy weight lifting and sprinting will! Stop it. An example of this concept can be seen with chinups and pullups vs. lat pulldowns. With chins and pulls you can pull and build a lot more pressure and force than you can with a pulldown. The reason is the rack on which you are exerting is much more stable and will not move. A pulldown machine on the other hand, does not create this same type of environment and anchor the body as well. The thigh attempts to anchor your body against the foam pad to help stabilize you, but once the weight stack gets heavy enough, you cannot help but lift your butt and body off the bench, which reduces strength potential. Finally, compound free weight exercises stimulate a greater total amount of your muscles. “By moving your own body weight or your own body weight plus added resistance (such as when you do a traditional barbell squat) through space, you increase neuromuscular activation. A higher level of neuromuscular activation means that the nerves are sending a stronger signal to the muscles to recruit more


fibers.” 149 In case you are curious, your nervous system is your body’s battery or powerplant that feeds and contracts your muscles when you move. Compound free weight exercises contract everything from head to toe, with some areas working more than others. This effect stimulates a greater release of testosterone and other hormones, which carries a direct effect on your nervous system and other things, which creates an even greater use of your muscles, and the cycle just keeps repeating itself. Compound movements “anabolize” our whole system and make other areas more susceptible to growth than they normally would be, even though we are not training those areas specifically at the time. This response is known as the “Knock On Effect.” 150 Furthermore, compound movements are multidirectional in nature, meaning that they train various muscle groups from each direction. Machines and single‐joint type exercises only really target one muscle group and direction. This results in less total muscle involvement, size, and strength. Here is an example of what actually occurs during a compound free weight exercise. When you bench press, you not only use your pectoral chest muscles, but the lats and other back muscles as well. All of the surrounding shoulder muscles, the neck, and all of the muscles of the arm are assisting in the movement, either as movers or stabilizers. The core and your legs are also stabilizing and increasing their activity to help balance the bar over you. Please be aware that you can never “isolate” a muscle, but you can place a greater emphasis on a muscle group, and that is what is generally meant by the term isolate. Every single‐machine and single‐joint exercise will be missing one or more of these reasons for why compound free weight exercises are ideal for building size and strength. On the other hand, there are going to be times when training on a machine is warranted. First, if someone has sustained an injury, or is incapable of correctly performing a free weight exercise that has been modified to the easiest degree or level possible, then the next best option would be a machine. This case is very rare, but can happen. An example would be a leg press instead of a bodyweight squat. Second would be after you’ve just crushed your body with the free weight variations, afterwards you could perform some additional movements consisting of single‐joint or machine‐based exercises of your choice to supplement some extra volume and increase growth. An example would be some isolation work for the triceps. Note that the triceps are receiving a lot of attention in your compound pressing movements (e.g. bench press, military press, etc.), but their effort is secondary to the bigger muscle groups. After we exhaust these bigger muscle groups or prime movers, we continue our training by performing some supplemental exercises to really put the finishing touches on the triceps and maximize their size and strength potential. This same concept applies to every other muscle group which will be trained on this program. Finally, very advanced individuals such as elite bodybuilders will require


“touch up” or finishing routines. This is exclusively reserved for advanced bigs who have a sound structure and huge foundation, and no one else. This is another common mistake in conventional bodybuilding and bulking. Skinny or smaller guys adopt this approach when it’s the last thing they should do. It’s like putting on tires without a frame, and it ignores all of the benefits of compound movements that were previously discussed.

FUNDAMENTAL #2‐TENSION AND TUT

One of the most important fundamentals for maximizing your size and growth is how much you weight you lift and how many times you lift it. This is one of 3 classic muscle building mistakes. Many believe that eating stimulates muscle growth rather than weightlifting, and this is flat out wrong. You could eat more if you would like and not lift heavy, and you will definitely gain weight, but it won’t be muscle. The mechanism of muscle growth has been under heavy scrutiny for years and a lot of theories and ideas have come and gone in terms of both the mechanism of growth as well as what stimulates it. Semi‐amusingly, about 98% of the actual answer was known back in the ‘70s. In an exceptional paper (which I recommend the reading of to any nerds in the field) titled “Mechanism of work induced hypertrophy of skeletal muscle” a researcher named Goldspink pretty much laid it out concluding that: It is suggested that increased tension development (either passive or active) is the critical event in initiating compensatory growth. 151 152 Basically, we overload our muscles, they get damaged and then our body “Supercompensates” and grows bigger than it was. There is some small discrepancy between many circles in the scientific community, but everyone would agree that training in the 5‐12 rep range is best for ideal bulking. I mentioned this concept before of “perceived” training intensity vs. “actual” training intensity in the plyometrics section, and it also applies here. If the program says you need to train at 5 reps, then you need to “let the reps dictate the weight” used and find a weight you can only lift five times. Not seven, or three, or nine, but five. Pretty simple. If you were to attempt a sixth repetition you would fail. This is “true” effort or intensity. I only bring this up because too many trying to get big will train with a weight they could actually lift 15 times for 8 reps, either because they are uncomfortable or fearful, but it does not matter and won’t work well. I know the “fear factor” is high, but if you are using good technique, you’re focused, you gain some experience and familiarity with heavy lifting, and you follow the workouts exactly as they are presented, then this is a non‐issue. This will not create overload and your body will not adapt and improve. There are so many authorities and routines that advocate 50 reps or more to grow. I won’t name names. The truth is that I’ve tried these with myself and my clients. They are bogus and complete


overkill, and won’t work. Enough said. The exception would be leg training. The legs are very adapted to higher volumes since they support us all day, so they require more volume to adapt and grow more. The higher leg volume is reflected in the workouts at the end of the book. Moderate reps (5‐12) is where you will grow the best. On the other hand, many guys who are lifting heavy and hard complain that they are getting stronger and they are lifting heavy, but they are not getting bigger, and it’s because of the lack of training volume or TUT. You need a balance of both. “Time Under Tension” is a scientific term that just represents training volume. More specifically, it’s the amount of time spent lifting a weight per rep or set. Many reference how long you should lift a weight per rep, but this is not very practical or as essential since you are limited in how long you can support a heavy load, and the process occurs naturally. Don’t worry about this. You need to perform a certain total amount of work and create enough fatigue to address the other half of the muscle building training equation. So now that we have training volume per set and the proper intensity covered, training volume per workout is another essential. The program already reflects this, but according to world‐famous muscle building physiologist Lyle McDonald, 40‐60 reps seems to be a great rep range to optimize muscle growth. 153 You will train within this range on this program a majority of the time, and below or above it sometimes. It just depends on the training week and exercise listed in the program. Here is a “Transformation Table” I created backed by science that shows how the body actually adapts to different types of rep ranges and training. Reps: Primary Skill: Intensity: Training Adaptations: 1‐5 Maximal Strength 85‐100% Neurological, Myofibrillar growth 5‐8 Hypertrophy 80‐85% Myofibrillar and Sarcoplasmic growth 8‐12 Hypertrophy 70‐80% Sarcoplasmic growth and Endurance 12‐15+ Endurance 65‐70% Endurance and Recovery I’ll quickly specify what the training adaptations mean since the rest is pretty straightforward. Neurological just refers to all of the changes that occur in our nervous system when we lift very heavy weights that result in greater strength. Muscle “hypertrophy” or growth can be broken down into 2 forms: myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic. Myofibrillar refers to the increase in density and growth that occur to the myofilaments actin and myosin, which are the actual contractile proteins of muscle tissue. Sarcoplasmic refers to the increase in the fluid of muscles that houses glycogen, enzymes, and ATP for greater energy production. Endurance changes that occur are increased capillarization to increase circulation and energy delivery.


Aerobic enzymes increase in number and more mitochondria where energy is produced aerobically within the cell also multiply in number, which results in better endurance capacity. Another common issue or proposed requirement from muscle building authorities that I would quickly like to discuss is hypoxia. This is just another term for Anaerobic or without oxygen, that many field experts state needs to be present to facilitate muscle growth. This effect has been shown to increase satellite cell donation and growth factors in the body. Both of these are critical in promoting muscle growth. Fortunately, the 5‐12 rep range and intensity forces hypoxia. During high intensity training activities, oxygen availability is limited due to the intense muscular contractions that close off blood vessels and limit delivery of oxygen. Moreover, the only way for the body to provide energy at high intensities with heavy weights is when it is hypoxic. So it’s the heavy weights creating hypoxia, not the other way around. All of this definitely applies to everyone, but especially “hardgainers,” or skinny guys trying to get huge. Too often, I hear skinny guys complain that they cannot get big or eat enough. To simplify, if you’re abiding by these numbers then your appetite will elevate and your body will grow! I can personally tell you that many of the clients I’ve trained who did not feel hungry at the start of the program eventually reported ferocious appetites once they did start training the right way. Just remember that the training stimulates and signals the need for increased growth and size, and not the eating, contrary to popular belief. “Muscle growth occurs through a process of stimulation, signaling, and supply. Training ’stimulates’ muscles to grow. Your natural levels of various anabolic hormones ’signal’ muscles to grow, and food ‘supplies’ raw material for growth.” 154 If ANY one of these 3 S’s is missing, then results are reduced. I’ve heard everything from a pear stimulates an enzyme that causes you to grow, to meditation builds muscle, to yoga makes your muscles long so you can grow, and so much more. The permanent scientific fact is that heavy weights performed for a repeated number of times on a regular basis grow your muscles and get you stronger. Period. Everything else has only a slight effect at best. If you are eating a lot of food and not following these guidelines then it’s more than likely that you’re gaining a lot more fat than muscle, unless you are genetically superior. Another big issue that mainly applies to skinny guys is that they follow the advice of big guys with good genetics, or big guys on steroids, or both. This is almost an epidemic in this day and age. On a near daily basis, I observe the big guys in the gym informing the little guys that lifting with relatively lighter weights at higher reps is where it’s at for bulking. This is flat out wrong. This effect may very well generate an increase in your muscle’s diameter, but it will be short‐lived and


gone by the time you arrive home. It’s highly logical for a hardgainer to seek the advice of bigger guys. I get that. But the science surrounding muscle building is still very dormant in society, and the guidelines I’ve provided are generally absent. There are highly credible and extremely knowledgeable coaches, trainers, and enthusiasts, who are bigger and spread the word right, but this is very rare. Gaining size and strength when you’re a hardgainer is very hard, just like trying to lose fat and weight if you’re naturally inclined to being overweight. But it can absolutely be achieved! Thousands have done it before, and will continue to do it in the future. You just need the right scientific principles, a solid program, and a relentless mindset. If a bigger guy or gal’s strength levels do not justify their weight, or it does not make any sense to you why they are so big doing so little, then they are either on the juice and or they possess great genetics. Either way, it does not matter and the training had nothing to do with it. Lifting a weight for 20+ reps in a single set is a total waste of time and complete overkill if you would like to build legitimate size and strength. Bigger guys will cuss and holler that this is total crap, but it’s true and training science has confirmed it. I gained 50 lbs. of raw and natural muscle on this program (155‐205 lbs.), so I can tell you first hand after trying high‐rep schemes several times in the past, that anything past 20 reps is absolutely worthless, except as a rehab/active recovery approach done once per month. Even though it’s ideal to use 5‐12 reps for muscle building, you still need to use the entire spectrum of reps from 1‐15 if you want to maximize your size, strength, and everything else. You just witnessed “The Transformation Table” in the strength chapter, and it has strong application here. Higher reps build a little muscle through sarcoplasmic growth in the cells. Higher reps (8‐15) do a great job at improving strength endurance, potentially allowing you to produce more energy to lift even heavier at lower reps, and improve recovery and repair of tissues. Lower reps (1‐5) get you stronger, so you can lift heavier in the “growth or hypertrophy zones” of 5‐12 reps. Just another example of how a non‐specific approach can improve specific function in training. Just follow this program exactly as it’s presented and you’ll be incorporating and satisfying all of the criteria for building muscle that I just disclosed and so much more.

FUNDAMENTAL #3‐TRAINING FREQUENCY

Training frequency is how often we train during a given training week, and how often we train all muscle groups and movement patterns per week. After years of personal training experience and research, I believe there is an answer to how often you can and should train per week to grow muscle. Training 3x per week will work for a little while, but eventually the athlete or client will burn out and become


overtrained. This reflects “the point of diminishing returns” theory, meaning that there is only so much quality weightlifting we can perform per week before our muscle growth reaches its maximum and starts to decrease. This applies to low frequencies (1x per week) too. 10 sets of an exercise performed once per week are not as effective as 10 sets of an exercise distributed across 2‐3 workouts per week. Body‐part split training is and always will be obsolete. There are three possible scenarios seen with body‐part split training and each is flawed. Below are classic examples of weekly training schedules for all body parts, followed by an explanation for why they do not work nearly as well as training the whole body 2‐3 times per week. Also, keep in mind that this is an “Athletic” or “Speed” based program, and training movements rather than body parts becomes more important for an athlete. Body Part Split Routine #1 Body Part Split Routine #2 Body Part Split Routine #3 HIGH FREQUENCY MODERATE FREQUENCY LOW FREQUENCY M‐Chest M‐Chest ,Tri’s, Abs M‐Chest, Tri’s, Shoulders, Abs T‐Back T‐Off T‐Off W‐Legs/Calves W‐Back and Bi’s W‐Off Th‐Shoulders Th‐Off Th‐Back, Bi’s, Legs, Calves F‐Bi’s and Tri’s F‐Legs, Shoulders, Calves F‐Off S‐Abs S‐Off S‐Off S‐Off S‐Off S‐Off First, routine #1 violates the scientific findings from above since we are only able to train each body part once per week, versus two to three times per week with a total body approach. Moreover, even though you would not be training the same muscle group each day you do not allow for enough recovery between workouts and your central nervous system will start to really deplete as the week goes by. This will limit your energy levels, weight you can lift, and gains you can make each time you train, even though you are not working the same muscle group. So in routine #1, even though you are not training your upper body on Tuesday, you’re still going to have some residual or overlapping fatigue throughout your body carrying over to Tuesday when you train legs, which will limit size and strength gains. You will not encounter this problem on my system, since you get that extra day in between to rest. Also, the amount of volume performed in an effort to overcompensate and perform a week’s worth of training in one day is ridiculous and counterproductive and represents “the point of diminishing returns” which was just discussed. Only a small amount of it will actually promote growth, it will take a very long time to


recover from, and we could be training a lot more frequently to maximize growth. Prescriptions like 10 sets x 10 reps for a given body part with single or multiple exercises on a high frequency split is not uncommon this day and age, but not as effective as a more moderate routine. On a final note, it is possible to schedule this routine so that you could possibly train the muscle group on back–to‐back days. If you’re training chest on Monday, and using the bench press, you would also be training your back, shoulders, and biceps either as movers or stabilizers if you were to analyze the muscle activity of each of these areas during the movement. This would create fatigue in the back muscle scheduled to work directly on the next day, and its performance would suffer. And don’t forget the chest is still working and its recovery and development would suffer. This is unavoidable, and is referred to as “local” neural fatigue. The perception of body part training is far too simplified, and our anatomy is more complex and involved than this. Training compound movements will force ALL of the muscles of the region (upper or lower body) that you are targeting to fire and work far more in most cases than training body parts with attempted single joint exercises or machines, as you’ve seen already. Second, routine #2 may look good on the outside, but it is missing some essential components as well. Just like with routine #1, #2 does not train each muscle group at an optimal frequency of 2‐3x per week, but rather once. So not only do all of your muscles receive far less attention and work, but by the time you complete the week and repeat it the following, you will have been lucky to maintain the progress you made from each day the previous week, and you will more than likely have atrophied or lost size and strength by then. I’m a numbers guy, so here is just how much more work you could be doing over the course of a training year if you performed 2‐3 total body workouts per week. Bodypart Split routines #1‐3 vs. Speed Encyclopedia muscle building program ‐One body part ‐One body part ‐Once per week ‐Two to three times per week ‐48 weeks per year ‐48 weeks per year =48 workouts per body part per year =96‐144 workouts per body part

per year This is obviously a no‐brainer that demonstrates just how superior total body and upper‐lower formats are to the conventional body part split programs. If this is not reason enough to ditch body part split routines, then I do not know what else to say. Routine #3 commits the same error as the other two with the lack of time spent training all of the muscle groups throughout the training week, and you will also be lucky to maintain the size and strength gained from the workouts since the


recovery periods are excessive. The more recovery between sessions that you have the less you will grow. If your recovery periods are excessively long between training muscle groups then you will shrink or maintain size at best. Another thing I love about training at 3x per week is the “activation” or stimulating effect it has on your muscles and nervous system. By training each muscle group more frequently throughout the week, we are able to create constant activity of all of the muscles making sure that they are responding when called upon in training. The last reason why 3 days just works best is because this is the number of days needed to train all of the movements. What I mean by this is that if we were to combine all of the essential movement patterns and exercises needed to stay healthy, get bigger, and get stronger, then we need to spend 2 hours or more in the gym. By training 3x per week, we are able to make our way through the program comfortably without getting bored, or having to spend an excessive amount of time at the gym with low or high frequencies. People are already strapped for time, so this removes stress, and makes life easier on everyone.

FUNDAMENTAL #4‐ENERGY SURPLUS

An energy surplus is where the amount of calories in is greater than calories out. To ideally support muscle growth, we need to take the opposite approach of fat loss and try to increase calories. “The anabolic muscle growth state is also known as the fed state.” 154 The bottom line is that if we want to grow, we need to consume the proper amount of nutrition and calories. A lack of food is the next major reason why guys and gals don’t usually grow. The exact amount of our energy or calorie surplus is not clearly defined. As a general rule, a 10‐20% surplus has been historically adequate to fuel regular growth. Also remember that you only need 600 calories to build a single pound of muscle. Here are 2 simple rules to live by to ensure muscle growth: MUSCLE BUILDING RULE #1‐NEVER EAT MORE THAN 20% OF YOUR CALORIES BURNED PER DAY. MUSCLE BUILDING RULE #2‐ONLY EAT HIGH THE EVENING OF A TRAINING DAY AND THE FOLLOWING RECOVERY DAY. The nutrition schedule at the end will account for both of these, so not to worry. You hear these recommendations from authorities that individuals who are only 150 lbs. need to consume 5000 calories per day. This is absolutely crazy, impersonal, and highly impractical for someone of this stature or size. A customized approach is required for each individual here. Here is the downfall to this approach:


Hypothetically, say you started gaining weight at 170 lbs. and you now weighed 200 lbs. You overfed like crazy, did not bother to count calories, or nutrition, but you gained 30 lbs. Of those 30 lbs., 15 lbs. was muscle gain, while 15 lbs. went to fat stores. Aside from a hormonal dysfunction that you just created that I will discuss shortly, you now have 15 extra lbs. of fat you need to lose before you can bulk well again. You cut calories, manage your muscle loss and decrease your bodyweight back down to 180 lbs. You then utilize this same approach, gain 30 lbs. again, and bring your bodyweight back up to 210 lbs. Unfortunately, you packed on the same ratio of fat to muscle, and you need to cut down again. As you can see, it will take 2 or 3 cycles of this before you actually gain 30 lbs. of pure muscle. On the other hand, if you follow these numbers, your first cycle of 30 lbs. should be almost all muscle, and you may potentially need one short cycle of cutting calories to lose the small amount of fat that you gained from bulking. It’s a no‐brainer that this approach requires way less physical effort, and is far more efficient and far more effective than just overcompensating your food intake and winging it to grow. You will always base your food intake needs for growth off your bodyweight and activity level (bodyweight multipliers) that I will disclose at the end of this section. It’s that simple. This helps not only maximize your muscle gain, but prevents or reduces fat storage. We cannot estimate the precise amount of muscle growth that occurs per workout, unfortunately, or how much we grow per week. Although many successful coaches, trainers, and enthusiasts have identified the 10‐20% surplus range as “the safe zone” for bulking, and I definitely agree. Anecdotally, it’s not uncommon for many of my guys to pack on 15‐30 lbs. of mostly muscle in just 12‐16 weeks at the onset of the program. A simple way to assess whether or not you are acquiring quality muscle mass as you gain weight is by using a simple waist circumference measurement every 10 lbs. or so. I only say waist, because 90% of aspiring bulkers are male, and males have a specific fat storage pattern, where they store most of their fat in their stomach. If you’re a female then you will generally tend to store fat in your thighs. So a thigh circumference is more appropriate for females. This is primarily due to increased sensitivity to fat storing hormones at these areas. So if you are gaining weight and your stomach or thighs look fatter, or your circumferences are increasing, then you either need to train a lot harder, or eat less. I will have the nutrition schedule for bulking laid out in detail for you, so all you have to do is follow that and you should be good. The final thing I want to discuss on this matter is abdominal obsession. Just about every guy or gal looking to bulk up does not want a single ounce of fat to be stored on his or her stomach and thighs, so they end up not eating as much as they should nine out of ten times then complain about not gaining weight. This approach can be very restrictive to growth and is unrealistic in a majority of cases. The old cliché that you cannot always have your cake and eat it, too, definitely applies here. I’m not saying that you need to get fat to gain muscle. This is the next approach


most take since we are very extreme in nature, and especially when it comes to health and fitness. If you follow my guidelines, then fat gain will be minimal to non‐existent. The fact that field experts do not know how much we are growing at any given time makes this process difficult to predict. It’s what I call “The Limiting Factor” to human muscle growth. If you pack on a lot of weight, the odds of you gaining a little fat at gender specific areas is very likely, but do not worry. There are some things you can to do prevent getting fat when gaining weight.

FUNDAMENTAL #5: LEAN OUT! First, many authorities have stated and science has shown that our muscle cells start to become insulin‐resistant at around 15% bodyfat. What’s important to know is that this number is actually low if you use proper body fat analysis (Dexa Scan, or Hydrostatic Weighing). I am sure many of you know this, but insulin is a hormone released from specific cells in our pancreas that transports carbs, proteins, and fats into the muscles and other tissues. It’s a storage hormone. If our muscles do not accept this hormone then we cannot shuttle carbs and proteins into our muscles, thus we cannot grow muscle, but we stay hungry, and then we get fatter. Bad stuff. So if you want to pack on size you need to lean out first and possess a bodyfat percentage of 15% or less. Practically speaking, if you cannot see your abs then you are too fat to grow. “One person in a hundred will have the courage to listen to my best piece of advice to prep for a mass‐building program: Lean out first.” 155 Second, there is an enzyme or part of the body that lives in our fat cells that will convert our testosterone to estrogen. This enzyme is called Aromatase. So the more fat we have on our body, the more conversion of testosterone to estrogen that occurs in our fat cells, and the less we can grow and the fatter we get. So after we lean out and start bulking for a while, some other things occur in our metabolism. It starts to really ramp up! The more energy we have, the more energy we burn. Moreover, many of the fat loss hormones (adrenaline and noradrenaline) and our muscles’ sensitivity to these hormones begins to increase as well. So we are burning more calories, our fat loss hormone levels elevate, and our body is yearning for these hormones when we bulk up for a while. This makes it extremely difficult to continue gaining positive muscle weight since our metabolism is so high, and burning everything we feed it. So the nice thing about this response is even if we put on a few pounds of fat and weight during a muscle building phase, all of this fat and probably more is going to be burned off as soon as we adjust our diet, cut calories, and start losing fat and weight again. This same function works in reverse, also. After we lose the weight, our body will then prime itself for all types of growth, and our muscle building hormones will elevate and function better, and


we will be in an optimal state for muscle building! The take‐home message right now is that nothing beats alternating between periods or cycles of bulking and cutting. The approach is regulated by the body’s physiological or physical reaction to training and nutrition. I suggest that after you gain an initial 20 lbs. of muscle, you gain 15 lbs. and then reverse course and lose 10 lbs. This “15‐10” approach gives a lot of leeway and will help ensure that you most likely gain muscle rather than fat when you bulk and gain weight, and lose fat rather than muscle when you cut and lose weight since you are not doing either for too long. This approach will ultimately help prevent fat gain, still allow for pretty fast muscle and weight gain over time, maximize your physique, and help prevent frustrating plateaus that often occur when trying to get bigger.

FUNDAMENTAL #6‐TOP AND BOTTOM TRAINING

I must share with you that there have been several times where some guy came up to me at the gym and said, “Bro, I can’t get big and I’m lifting like crazy. I’m bench pressing 3 days per week, slamming my back, crushing my bi’s and tri’s, and annihilating my shoulders and traps every day of the week.” My response is generally then, “What about your legs?” The gym member then goes on to tell me that he hates training legs and plus they never grow. Aside from the psychological fact that if you hate something, and do not want to do it, you are probably not going to get much out of it, the lack of lower body stimulation is a big factor here. Recall the “Knock on Effect” and how training your legs can anabolize your body and make you grow more; it’s a missing link for him. Another thing you MUST do if you want to maximize your size and strength is train both your upper and lower body equally as hard at every workout. Your legs will grow. This may seem very logical, but most of us know it’s not the case. I was guilty of this myself on more than one occasion in the past, and it’s just ingrained and natural for our gender to focus our training efforts on the “mirror muscles,” the chest, abs, and biceps. Unfortunately, this approach more than limits how much we can grow and lift. If we only train one half of our body, then it is the only part that can potentially grow and the scale can rise only half as much! Another big issue with only performing upper body training is that usually overtraining and a lack of recovery occurs, since it’s doing a majority of the work each time you come into the gym, and it is only a matter of time before some injury starts to re‐emerge or emerge. I’ve seen this several times over the years, and it’s highly likely. Also, since our body is a single unit where each part relies on the other, if one half is weak then it will automatically limit the other half. Revisit the “Tension Effect” in the strength section from earlier. For example, if you’re trying to build a big squat, but you have a weak back, then you will not be able to support the bar as well as you could. Therefore, the weight you can lift with


your lower body is limited by the lack of strength from your upper body and back and thus your legs will not grow as much. It also can make you look very disproportional.

FUNDAMENTAL #7‐MACRONUTRIENT RATIOS

Briefly, I want to shine some light on the “synergy” between carbs, fats, and proteins for muscle growth. So much emphasis is placed on the importance of protein. I agree it’s needed to build proteins which form muscle, but carbs and fats are needed as well. “Non‐essential or dispensable amino acids can be manufactured within the human body from essential amino acids and various other endogenous constituents including carbohydrates, fats, nitrogen sources and other substances.” 70 Moreover, fats have been shown to raise testosterone levels, and the increased insulin response from eating carbs helps shuttle amino acids to build more protein and muscle than if protein were eaten alone. I discussed the specific percentages of each you will be eating in the fat loss section so you can check it out there under Fundamental #7 if you’re interested in knowing more about this topic.

FUNDAMENTAL #8‐MANAGE YOUR CARDIO

This is the final reason why so many fail to grow, whether it’s intended or not. This fundamental is a silent killer when trying to get big and strong. I’m going to target the skinny “hardgainers” on this one since they are the biggest violators of this issue, even though it applies to everyone. After reading the fourth fundamental, you can now appreciate just how important it is to be in the “fed state.” You have to eat more calories than you burn to create an anabolic muscle‐building environment within your body. Unfortunately, excessive levels of cardio and conditioning, or just general activity (chores, walking, etc.) will eliminate the extra calories you consume and you won’t grow as well, or perhaps even at all. There are loads of studies that show “interference effects” for growth with too much cardio training. It does not matter what type of activity it is, you will not grow and get strong if you’re burning too many calories. It’s that simple. I want to really express this because many times hardworking, ass busting, skinny guys, or hardgainers looking to get bigger do exactly this. This body type is often conditioned to being hyperactive, which is good in the sense that they stay lean and skinny, and potentially healthier, but it’s the worst thing you can do if you’re trying to gain weight. Sleeping more, removing some activity, or eating more are the obvious solutions. Reduced appetite and hunger is another natural characteristic of a hardgainer, so sleep and less activity generally tend to work better. This is not to say that conditioning is bad, because it’s


definitely not. General muscle builders and athletes should condition after weight training, so that they can perform and recover better, but it should be in very limited quantities. This is all built into the schedule I’m about to discuss with you shortly, so just follow it. Research has also reported that high amounts of moderate to high intensity conditioning have been found to suppress hunger and appetite. Since skinny guys already struggle with hunger and appetite in a majority of cases, make sure to refrain from too much conditioning. It can only hurt you. This is great for fat loss but debilitating for muscle building. Also, consider that although weight training is not labeled a “specific” conditioning source, you will still be exhausted and receive a solid conditioning effect from pushing heavy weight around frequently. Furthermore, some low intensity “active recovery” training will do great things for you. In addition to preventing unwanted fat gain, it also helps the body heal faster by increasing your circulation so that you are more ready for the next workout. This is on the schedule and should be done on the non‐training days. Do not let this very controllable variable sabotage all of the hard work you put in the weight room because it definitely will.

FUNDAMENTAL #9‐FOOD VOLUME TO CALORIE RATIO:

Nutrition is another underrated aspect of muscle building. Basically, if you’re trying to gain muscle, it would be in your best interest to strive to select and eat foods that are higher in calories, and low to moderate in volume. By eating lower volume/higher calorie foods we will feel fuller later, and our odds of overeating are increased. Just make sure that you’re not adopting this technique to an extreme, and eating more than the allotted amount of calories for you. Below is a list of foods that reflect this important fundamental. THE SPEED ENCYCLOPEDIA’S “TOP 10” MUSCLE BUILDING FOODS: Food #1‐Fattier steaks (ribeye, prime rib, roasts, etc.) Food #2‐Oils (olive, cod liver, fish and coconut are examples) Food #3‐All types of nuts Food #4‐Avocadoes Food #5‐White starches over wheat starches (bread, rice, pasta, etc.) Food #6‐Weightgainers and shakes Food #7‐High calorie fruits (melons, mangoes, oranges, bananas, pineapples, etc.) Food #8‐Burgers Food#9‐Eggs Food#10‐Dairy products (1% milk, cheeses, yogurts, and cottage cheese)


MUSCLE BUILDING CARDIO

PLEASE REFER TO THE “TEMPO TRAINING” SECTION FOR SPECIFICS ON THIS TOPIC.

MUSCLE BUILDING SUPPLEMENTS If you have not gotten the chance to, it would be in your best interest to check out Sol Orwell’s “Supplement‐Goals Reference Guide.” 144 This is a comprehensive guide that covers every supplement‐related topic. It’s hundreds of pages long, and is the holy grail for supplementation advice. For further details on the suggestions I’m about to provide you on muscle building, check out the manual. Unfortunately, there are not too many supplements on the market today that show promise when it comes to building muscle. The first would be whey protein. Sol created a 3‐star ranking system for each item. Whey protein was one of 3 to receive a score of 2 in this category. There were 3 studies that discussed whey, and this type of protein has been shown to acutely increase muscle protein synthesis (building) more so than other protein sources. The second muscle building supplement that I would recommend would be creatine. There were several studies listed in his book that examined the various effects of creatine. The supplement received a score of 3 for weight gain, due to water retention. Increased water intake has been shown to increase “cellular swelling mechanisms” that can increase muscle mass. Creatine has also been shown to increase power output. It received another 3 in this category and there were 43 studies on this particular topic. Finally, creatine received a score of 2 for glycogen replenishment, and glycogen has been shown to help influence muscle growth. And creatine showed a decrease in the gene myostatin in one study. Myostatin is a muscle building limiter in the body. The theory is the less of it we have circulating around in our bloodstream the more we can grow. The third supplement was D‐Aspartic Acid. D‐AA is an amino acid that serves a role regulating the metabolism of testosterone, and supplementing this hormone could raise testosterone levels in males. It’s also been shown to increase GH (Growth Hormone) and the testosterone precursor hormone LH from the hypothalamus. On a final note, all of the popular and overhyped amino acids such as arginine and the branched chain amino acids had a weak effect on muscle growth at best. Also, there were no other natural supplements that were worthwhile that improved any anabolic hormones or growth factors. You have no choice but to lift heavy weights frequently, eat like a madman, and recover well if you want to grow high quality muscle. Period. Here is the proper dosage for each supplement.


ITEM #1: CREATINE PHOSPHATE‐.3g/kg of bodyweight for 5‐7 days followed by 5 grams afterwards daily. This was the protocol that was examined in the studies for this supplement. For example, if you weigh 180 lbs., multiply this number by .3 and then divide by 2.2 for your daily intake of creatine during the initial 5‐7 day loading phase. (180*.3=54/2.2=25 grams per day). ITEM #2‐WHEY PROTEIN‐1 SERVING ITEM #3: D‐Aspartic Acid‐ 2,000 mg daily

CARBOHYDRATES

Refer to the Fat Loss section for a specific discussion of Carbohydrates.

PROTEIN

Refer to the Fat Loss section for a specific discussion of Protein.

HEALTHY FATS

Refer to the Fat loss section for a specific discussion of Healthy Fats.

FIVE STEP NUTRITIONAL PLAN

Step#1‐Daily Calorie Intake: Low calorie day intake=BW x 12‐13 (i.e. 185 x 12=2220 calories) High calorie day intake=BW x 16‐18

Step #2‐Daily Nutrient Intake:

Just like in the case of calories, we will need and want to know how much of each nutrient we need to eat specific to our weight to get the best possible result.


Carbs:

50 %of calorie intake

Calorie intake * .50=x/4 meals per day=x/4 grams per meal=?

Protein:


Calorie intake *.30=x/4 meals per day=x/4 grams per meal=x=?

Fat:


Calorie intake *.20=x/4 meals per day=x/9 grams per meal=?

Step#3‐Muscle Building Meal Plan Design Template:

This temp will allow you to combine all of the essential nutrients properly.

Pick one starch carb Pick one lean protein Pick one healthy fat (1‐2 meals per day) Pick one simple carb (fruit) and/or vegetable at each meal Step#4‐Food Selection Menu: Utilizing the template from step #3, you will now have foods to choose from.


CARBOHDRATE FOOD LIST SIMPLE CARBS: Apples Oranges Melons Berries Peaches Pears Plums Kiwi Milk Yogurt STARCH CARBS: Quinoa Oatmeal Sweet potatoes White potatoes White rice Brown rice Wild rice Breads Grains Tortillas Pitas LEAN PROTEIN FOOD LIST: Skinless chicken breast Turkey breast Tuna


Salmon Tilapia Halibut Lobster Crab Shrimp Bottom round steak Flank steak Top sirloin Venison Ostrich Bison Lamb Veal Lean ground beef Whey protein powder Casein protein powder Eggs Egg whites Skim milk Low‐fat cheese Low‐fat or nonfat cottage cheese Greek yogurt HEALTHY FAT FOOD LIST: Flaxseed oil Liver cod oil Fish oil Olive oil All nuts Avocadoes Olives


FREE FOODS: Asparagus Cauliflower Mushrooms Green beans Celery Green peppers Broccoli Cucumbers Red peppers Brussels sprouts Eggplant Spinach Cabbage Lettuce Zucchini Low‐cal Jell‐o Low‐cal popsicles Low‐cal ice creams (light sorbet, etc.) FREE BEVERAGES: Water Diet soda or juice Coffee (Traces of cream and sugar) Crystal Light Broth or bouillon Diet Snapple Green Tea Powerade zero FREE CONDIMENTS: Pico de gallo or salsa Fat‐free sour cream


Calorie‐free syrup or jelly Mustard All spices and herbs Light soy sauce Vinegar Lemon juice HEALTHY FAST FOOD RESOURCE:

http://www.shapefit.com/fastfood.html

This site lists practically every place where you can eat out, and includes their entire

menu with a complete breakdown of calories, carbs, protein, and fat so you can stay

compliant. STEP #5‐Weekly Nutritional Schedule:

Taking into account the previous four steps, it’s now time to put it all together into a structured routine. Structure is key to success if you are really serious about getting results. In this next step we will integrate the two rules from the very beginning of the muscle building section, which are not eating over 20% of our daily calorie burn, and only eating higher calories in the evening and non‐training days. The schedule below is purely hypothetical and you will need to adjust it to fit your decided schedule.


Monday/Training Day=Low/ BW x 12‐13

Tuesday/Recovery Day=High/BW x 16‐18

Wednesday/Training Day=Low/BW x 12‐13

Thursday/Recovery Day=High/BW x 16‐18

Friday/Training Day=Low/BW x 12‐13

Saturday/Recovery Day=High/BW x 16‐18

Sunday/Recovery Day=Low/BW x 12‐13


BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED SPEED PRORGRAM

Now I will cover the actual training programs that you are going to need to follow if you want to get faster. The more appropriate term for training program that scientific training experts like to use is “periodization.” Periodization is simply just the annual training plan or program. It enables the training professional to pre‐design his/her training program for a full calendar year by appropriately determining, organizing, and prescribing all essential training variables (sets, reps, exercises, etc.) in a specific manner to help maximize progress, prevent and or overcome plateaus, prevent injuries, overtraining, and eventual burnout that so often occur with most traditional programs. In my opinion, this is one of the hardest parts of the job and requires not only theoretical insight into many matters of training, but just as much or potentially more practical, hands on, in the trenches experience working with clients to test that theory. Keeping all clients and athletes healthy and improving across all areas of performance is no easy task, and this becomes highly reliant upon the science and experience underlying the training program. To simplify, a majority of periodization schemes lack diversity, are very impractical, and ineffective in accomplishing superior or competitive results which athletes need. For example, linear periodization, which is the most common type of periodization only focuses on developing one skill or ability for a specified period of time, and neglects other equally valuable training types that would not only further improve the target skill in different ways, but leaves the individual less capable in the long run. Here is an example of this type of training scheme for a 12 week period that I copy and pasted from an actual NFL Program of one of my athletes. Training Client Name: Matt Phase #1-Week #1-4=General Preparation Phase/Conditioning Phase #2-Week #5-8=Hypertrophy (Muscle Building) Phase Phase #3-Week #9-12=Maximal Strength Phase All you should be concerned with is that each 4 week phase exclusively addresses and emphasizes just one skill. There is no denying that if the exercise prescription for each ability is what it should be, then the individual will make guaranteed and adequate progress in the short‐term in this skill. After the conclusion of the current phase (i.e. GPP) and the transition into the next phase (Hypertrophy), there will be some residual development of the previous skill focus (GPP) as we begin to concentrate our sole effort on the next phase. Eventually the increased skill we acquired from the past phase will decrease to some degree during the next phase and might have completely diminished by the end of it if we do not


continue working on it. Which you won’t. Unfortunately, this vicious cycle of progression and regression will be sure to continue every phase thereafter regardless of our effort to prevent it because the design was wrong from the beginning. In the end, the trainee loses most of what was gained through this type of training system and is practically right back where he or she started. Sucks, huh? This kind of result is more than frustrating and raises a simple and fair question; how do we fix it? Simple. We combine all of the skills listed above and much more in a very specific training format to simultaneously trigger extreme development in everything at the same time! If you’ve read up until this point you have seen there is a profound synergy between all of the training skills in a program, and the sum of all of these parts is undoubtedly much greater than just one. The old analogy of being only as strong as your weakest link is fitting in this story. This format of mixing all training styles into one to create an optimal result is referred to as either “Concurrent Periodization” or “Conjugate‐Sequenced Periodization.” The first refers to the beginner/intermediate approach, and the latter is for the advanced athlete. I like to view each as two separate stages an athlete will venture through depending on their experience or level of skill. Each carries slight but impactful distinctions. Concurrent periodization is a fancy term for a beginner‐intermediate athlete’s do it all at once program. Conjugate‐Sequenced Periodization is an advanced athlete’s do it all at once program. This is a derivative of Charlie Francis’ “Vertical Integration” program, and was first introduced to me by Kelly Baggett. Eventually, one will adopt the Conjugate system out of necessity as they become more advanced. These two systems together enable us to maximize our overall physical and mental development over the long‐term at different times. So now you might be wondering what exactly are each of these programs and why are we required to utilize one or the other at some point in time? Below I will separate each program into two columns and list corresponding characteristics of each that help define them better for you. Concurrent Periodization: Conjugate Sequenced Periodization: -Designed for novice-intermediate level -Designed for advanced trainees trainees -Trains all skills simultaneously -Trains all skills simultaneously -Emphasizes and treats each skill -Emphasizes and treats one dominant with high training volumes and intensity skill with high training volumes and intensities, and and the rest with low to moderate training volumes and high intensities to maintenance -Eventually leads to a slow rate of progress, -Offsets the downfalls associated lack of motivation, potential injury, burnout, with the concurrent model and and decreased performance development continues. -Simpler program design -Complex program design


Now I’m sure I very well may be omitting some other features of each, but the quick and simple analysis above I feel is more than sufficient enough in providing a clear understanding of each approach, and broadly recommends when each is supposed to be utilized during a trainee’s career. The fact is that when you first begin a training program, there is a definitive “honeymoon period.” You come in and everything is great, you make progress almost every time you sprint or pick up a weight, and you are in love with training. You can’t wait for your next workout and crave and ponder how much of a gain you will make the next time you arrive. Unfortunately, this period does not last forever. Eventually everything that I presented in the concurrent table will emerge and you will be left without answers. Thankfully for you, I’ve provided you with a slightly modified system that you can adopt and apply for the rest of your training career to continue making progress over the long‐term!! Conjugate‐Sequenced Periodization essentially breaks up your training into specific stages. Once you reach a certain level or proficiency in the Concurrent format, your body’s Nervous System will get into a high state of “recovery debt” that it simply cannot pay back or overcome. Below is a table by famous programming researcher Tudor Bompa from his book “Periodization Training for Sports.”

If you look at the table above, the AA is a preparation period, MxS is a maximal strength phase, then there is a conversion phase and strength maintenance, and


lastly there is a peaking or competition phase. This model reflects our system and many others that have been successful with peaking athletes in history. Moreover, according to scientist Charles Poliquin, the body cannot fully maximize two conflicting skills such as strength and speed. It confuses the body, since there are some differences between them. The next logical thing to do is to sequence your skill training where you focus on one or two skills and maintenance the rest to remove these common issues. This spares a lot of energy, which in turn allows you to apply more energy during your workouts which gets you out of your slump. It requires patience since you are not able to have everything at once anymore, but the benefit is that you continue making more gains. Another benefit of this approach is the “Delayed Transformation Effect” pioneered by Kelly Baggett. Basically, once you complete one stage, maximal improvements from that stage will not occur until the next stage. What this means is that your gains will stay around for a long time as you conjugate or “link” each stage together. In the end, once each stage has been completed, your entire athletic skill set will be increased (speed, strength power, etc.) and you will peak! It’s the only way to go at a certain point. So how do you know when to identify that crossover point when you’ve exited the beginner‐intermediate level stage and now entered the advanced stage? Unfortunately there is no clear cut answer to this question, or research to confirm it. However, I have identified a certain level of performance in my athletes that would indicate it may be the right time. Once they are able to perform 3 of the 7 suggested scores below, I think it would be wise to progress to the next program. At this juncture athletes are on the brink of overtraining, if not overtrained already. Here are the specific criteria below. 40 yard dash is < or = to 4.5 seconds Shuttle Run is < or = 4.0 seconds Vertical Jump is > or = 35” Broad Jump is > or = 10’ Squat is > or = 2 x bodyweight Bench Press is > or = 1.5 x bodyweight Deadlift is > or = 2.5 x bodyweight In closing, I hope that the information and programs I just shared with you provide some relief and eliminate much of the confusion associated with the general outline and progression of a proper athletic training program, like it has for me and others. The fact is that I’ve prescribed and tried ALL of the various periodization formats available on the market over the course of the past decade, and I can honestly say that NOTHING works as well as the 2 proven programs that I am about


to share with you in their entirety for athletes. Next, I will implement these programs into actual workouts for you to follow, and give you all of the fine detail if you are still interested.


SPEED WORKOUTS

Make to sure precede these workouts with our warm‐up system. This is available as a bonus in the package you purchased.

BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE WORKOUTS‐STAGE #1:

MON. OR TUES.: WORKOUT A SETS/REPS A1. 10‐ OR 20‐YARD DASH 5 AND/OR SPECIALIZED SPEED TRAINING METHODS TBD B1. ME LOWER=SQUAT OR DEADLIFT 2‐3 8‐7‐6‐5 OR 8‐5‐3‐1 C1. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT/UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. VERTICAL PULL 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C3. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐STRAIGHT KNEE 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. CORE MOBILITY OR STABILITY EXERCISE 2‐4 TBD D2. STRAIGHT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 WED. OR THURS.: WORKOUT B A1. AGILITY 1‐4 B1. ME UPPER=BENCH PRESS 2‐3 8‐7‐6‐5 OR 8‐5‐3‐1 C1. HORIZONTAL PRESS 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. HORIZONTAL ROW VARIATION 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C3. HIP SUPPLMENTAL LIFT‐BENT KNEE 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 D. SCAP 3‐5 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. TRAP 3‐5 12‐10‐8‐6 FRI. OR SAT.: WORKOUT C A1. 40 OR 60 YARD DASH 3‐5 B1. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐STRAIGHT KNEE 3‐6 24‐20‐16‐12 B2. VERTICAL PRESS 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C1. VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL ROW 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6


C2. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT/UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 3‐6 24‐20‐16‐12 D1. BICEP OR FOREARMS 3‐5 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. BENT KNEE CALF RAISE 3‐5 24‐20‐16‐12

BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE WORKOUTS‐STAGE #2:

MON. OR TUES.: WORKOUT A SETS/REPS A1. 10‐ OR 20‐YARD DASH 5 AND/OR SPECIALIZED SPEED TRAINING METHODS TBD B1. ME LOWER=SQUAT OR DEADLIFT 2‐3 8‐5‐3‐1 B2. JUMP TEST 2‐3 C1. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT/UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐BENT KNEE 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. CORE MOBILITY OR STABILITY EXERCISE 2‐4 TBD D2. STRAIGHT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 E1. LINEAR SPEED CONDITIONING TBD WED. OR THURS.: WORKOUT B A1. AGILITY 1‐4 B1. ME UPPER=BENCH PRESS 2‐3 8‐5‐3‐1 C1. VERTICAL PULL 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. MED BALL 2‐4 8 or 5‐8 each side C2. VERTICAL PRESS 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. BICEP OR FOREARMS 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. SCAP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D3. TRAP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 F1. TEMPO TRAINING TBD


FRI. OR SAT.: WORKOUT C A1. 40‐ OR 60‐YARD DASH 5 B1. DE LOWER=OLYMPIC LIFT OR OTHER 3‐5 1‐4 OR 5‐8 B2. DE UPPER=SPEED PRESS 3‐5 5‐8 C1. HORIZONTAL ROW 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 D1. HORIZONTAL PRESS OR TRICEP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐STRAGIHT KNEE 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 D3. BENT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 E1. AGILITY CONDITIONING TBD Here are the actual workouts to be performed in this program. I will run down a list of common questions and address any others in the FAQ section at the end of the book. First, you will recognize that the reps to the far right are sequenced into a series of 4. The first number in the series represents week #1, the second week #2, and so on. This is also implements the principle of “Intensity Cycling” that I discussed in detail in the strength section of the book. Basically, in the first week the intensity will be at its lowest and the volume will be at its highest during each set for a given month, and vice versa. Recall that cycling effort like this will prevent physical and mental fatigue, and burnout that so often occur with traditional approaches. Athletes cannot go full bore all the time, and after a little while they will not want to either. I guarantee it. It’s also in their best interest not to do this. You’ll notice a much better performance pattern with this type of approach. I should also note that the first week is our official “deloading” week or microcyle. Westside Barbell has identified that the central nervous system can only tolerate three weeks straight of heavy lifting. This fourth week is an essential and mandatory period of lighter weightlifting. Please do not violate this rule. Another benefit of the three weeks heavy and one week light approach is the integration of a concept referred to as “Strategic Deconditioning.” When you lift heavy weights, one of the effects is that you obviously build more muscle and strength to support and handle the weights easier and keep from injury. However, your connective tissue grows too, which keeps your muscle from breaking down, which is what causes growth. Fortunately, by dealoading and resting periodically you will lose connective tissue at a faster rate than muscle and improve your muscle’s sensitivity to growth since there is not as much protection for it. Next, you will notice a letter followed by a number next to each exercise. This represents the exercise order variable, which is very important. We generally


utilize a superset approach made famous by Alwyn Cosgrove. For example, in Workout A you will perform one set of exercise C1 and follow that with one set of exercise C2. What this does is maximize recovery of muscle groups and movements during a workout. After you complete C1, you will have more total rest before you repeat the exercise as you are performing C2, than if you performed back to back sets of the same exercise. Refer to the FAQ section towards the very back where I discuss reps and sets options for the Specialized Speed Training Methods. Also for core mobility or drills that involve motion, the 24‐20‐16‐12 rep progression works well, and if it’s a drill that involves no motion (stability) then the 60‐45‐30‐15 second hold progression each week works well. The next thing I would like to discuss is the two stages presented. The first is for first‐time users of this program. I do not care if you have lifted before, start with stage #1. Once you quit making progress there, move to stage #2. The intensities in the first stage, especially with ME lifts, will be lower and there is reason for this. When you first initiate a strength program, your level of muscle recruitment will be very low. Say 40%. After you have been training for a number of years and reach a high level of strength, your muscle recruitment levels could be 90%. Because of this fact, there is no need to do more than you have to in order to create the same result at the beginning of your training. I’ve found that this modified version of “Ferrugia’s Approach” is just as good if not better for beginners and for a few reasons. I’m referring to Jason Ferrugia. #1‐Increased muscle mass #2‐Less CNS fatigue #3‐Improved motor control and stability #4‐Less intimidating #5‐Real world support #6‐You build healthy strength habits If you recall the muscle building portion of this book, you now know that lifting between 5‐8 reps is the best way to grow more muscle. A majority of people who are on this program, or starting this program, will be deficient in muscle mass. Muscle mass is critical for performance, and Ferrugia’s Approach is the best way for a beginner to acquire it while also simultaneously enabling a beginner to build higher levels of maximum strength in the process. 5‐8 rep sets are less fatiguing on the central nervous system regardless of experience. If a beginner can gain strength on a higher rep protocol versus a lower one and reduce this fatigue, then there is no question we will use higher reps. Next, research and experience has shown that this range of movements is ideal for building better control when lifting, I suppose the reason being that there is a


greater frequency of movements along with a big enough challenge to require greater coordination. If you are new to training and pay any attention to the mainstream media or public, you have probably built some preconceived notions about weightlifting that are more than likely not that positive. With this heightened sensitivity to the training, the window for error is very small. Stay lighter in the beginning and let the program build trust in me and the sport. I’ve had too many of my athletes in the past experience superior results on this type of format to think otherwise. Many people who are beginner level lifters do not appreciate the fact that you do not have to challenge your body’s limits whenever you are motivated, and every time you come into the gym to acquire the best results. There is a time to go hard, and a time to build some momentum and cut back a little. A majority of people want to 1 rep max any chance they get to brag to someone else, or feel like they are getting stronger since this is the most famous demonstration of true strength. Unfortunately, what many do not realize is that even the strongest in the world do not approach training this way, and it’s a recipe for disaster. If these individuals who are “one and done” proponents follow this program, then they will start to realize and appreciate what the higher end of the strength range has to offer. This will help assist in building healthy habits for how to approach training, and prevent a lot of misery and injury as well. The last thing in this program that I would like to introduce is the “Warm‐Up Progression” system I created for the max effort lifts. See below: Max Effort Warm‐Up Progressions: 5 REP MAX WEEK: WARM‐UP SET#1: _1RM ( ) x .30=( ) X 5 Reps (500‐600 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#2: 1RM ( ) x .40=( ) X 5 Reps (400‐500 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#3: _1RM ( ) x .50=( ) X 5 Reps (300‐400 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#4: _1RM ( ) x .60=( ) X 5 Reps (200‐300 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#5: _1RM ( ) x .75=( ) X 5 Reps (100‐200 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#6: _1RM ( ) x .875=( ) X 5 Reps


3 REP MAX WEEK: WARM‐UP SET#1: _1RM ( ) x .30=( ) X 5 Reps (500‐600 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#: _ 1RM ( ) x .40=( ) X 5 Reps (400‐500 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#3: _1RM ( ) x .50=( ) X 5 Reps (300‐400 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#4: _1RM ( ) x .60=( ) X 5 Reps (200‐300 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#5: _1RM ( ) x .75=( ) X 5 Reps (100‐200 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#6: _1RM ( ) x .92=( ) X 3 Reps 1 REP MAX WEEK: WARM‐UP SET#1: _1RM ( ) x .30=( ) X 5 Reps (500‐600 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#: _ 1RM ( ) x .40=( ) X 5 Reps (400‐500 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#3: _1RM ( ) x .50=( ) X 5 Reps (300‐400 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#4: _1RM ( ) x .60=( ) X 5 Reps (200‐300 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#5: _1RM ( ) x .75=( ) X 5 Reps (100‐200 lbs.) WARM‐UP SET#6: 1RM ( ) x .875=( ) X 1Rep WARMP‐UP SET#7: _1RM+ 5‐10 LBS. X 1Rep OK, this may look a little confusing because you’ve never seen it before, but it’s actually pretty easy to implement with a little practice, and it customizes the weights for the athletes and spares any confusion on whether they are ready to lift their target load or not. This system is based off the popular idea in strength training that we require one warm‐up set per 100 lbs. lifted. Once you know your One Rep Maximum for an exercise (1RM) all you have to do is find your bracket, and then multiply it by the percentage and complete the accompanying reps. If you are familiar with the program then this is no problem. However, if you are new to it then I prefer coaches or athletes, etc. utilize the “Max Rep Test” popularized by Mike Boyle. This approach takes longer, but it’s safer for the athletes, especially because they are just starting and their body is not adapted to training and very weak. I like to shoot for 15 reps. With this approach you start with a light weight that the athlete can move fast with proper technique. Perform 5 reps. Once the set is complete, increase the weight 10‐20 lbs. and repeat for 5 reps. Keep doing this until the athlete’s bar speed really starts to slow and they are struggling a bit. Then have them perform maximum reps with that weight. Next, have them perform one more set and adjust the weight accordingly. If they were able to perform 20 reps then add 10‐15 lbs. This should put them near 15 reps. Finally take the weight they are using on the last set and divide it by .65 or 65%. This will give you a pretty accurate estimation of their current 1 RM. Also, I must also share with you a rep conversion table. Essentially, this will allow you to customize an athlete’s programs and project their workloads for every


exercise every workout. Here is the table below adopted from Baechle: http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/OneRepMax.html: REP CONVERSION TABLE: %: Reps 100 1 95 2 92 3 90 4 87 5 85 6 82 7 80 8 77 9 75 10 72 11 70 12 Now, here’s how to use it. For example, you will notice that in this program a lot of training will take place in the 6‐12 rep spectrum. The first week, you will perform the listed drill until you find how much weight you can handle for the target rep number for that day. Week #1 it will be 12. Next week you will have to perform 10 reps or 75% of your 1RM. If the weight lifted is below 100 lbs., I’ve found this table to be very inaccurate and you’re just going to have to experiment and find the number that works. Just remember, “Let the reps dictate the weight.” Don’t perceive what you think you can lift, do it. If the working load is over 100 lbs. then this table will definitely apply and it works great. If Tom lifts 350 lbs. for 12, or 70%, you simply divide that number by 70 to get your 1 rep max. From there you just multiply the weight of your one rep, which in this case is 500 lbs. (350/.70), by the target rep percentage which is 75%. 500*.75=375 lbs. So in week number 2, Tom will lift 375 lbs. for 10 reps for the suggested number of sets. Please do not overlook this equation. It’s professional, and tailors the training variables to the athlete so that they can make gains. It takes a little practice, but after a little while it will be automatic. The final thing I want to reiterate is if the program says 12 reps then let the “reps dictate the weight.” Too many people choose what is comfortable and call that their 12‐rep max when they could have done 20 with that weight. Don’t shortchange yourself unless you are truly injured, otherwise you will not improve, you will be frustrated and it will be your fault. The body adapts specifically to the number of reps we perform if you recall back to the “transformation table” I


introduced in the muscle building section. Be honest with yourself and the results will be great! For more information on why our program is the way it is, check out my article @ my website: www.renospeedschool.com titled: “11 Essential Rules of Athletic Program Design.”

ADVANCED WORKOUTS:

(General Preparation/Hypertrophy Phase)

MON. OR TUES.: WORKOUT A SETS/REPS A1. 10‐ OR 20‐YARD DASH 5 AND/OR SPECIALIZED SPEED TRAINING METHODS B1. ME LOWER=SQUAT OR DEADLIFT 2‐3 8‐7‐6‐5 OR 8‐5‐3‐1 C1. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT/UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. VERTICAL PULL 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C3. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐STRAIGHT KNEE 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. CORE MOBILITY OR STABILITY EXERCISE 2‐4 TBD D2. STRAIGHT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 WED. OR THURS.: WORKOUT B A1. AGILITY 1‐4 B1. ME UPPER=BENCH PRESS 2‐3 8‐7‐6‐5 OR 8‐5‐3‐1 C1. HORIZONTAL PRESS 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. HORIZONTAL ROW VARIATION 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C3. HIP SUPPLMENTAL LIFT‐BENT KNEE 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 D. SCAP 3‐5 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. TRAP 3‐5 12‐10‐8‐6

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FRI. OR SAT.: WORKOUT C A1. 40‐ OR 60‐YARD DASH 3‐5 B1. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐STRAIGHT KNEE 3‐6 24‐20‐16‐12 B2. VERTICAL PRESS 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C1. VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL ROW 3‐6 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT/UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 3‐6 24‐20‐16‐12 D1. BICEP OR FOREARMS 3‐5 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. BENT KNEE CALF RAISE 3‐5 24‐20‐16‐12 This phase is geared towards beginners or veterans coming off a break after a completed season or competition phase. The intent of this phase is to help prepare the body for the high intensity periods that will occur in the future. This phase builds general endurance, muscle, and tissue strength. The athletes will be deconditioned, and going right into a maximum strength phase does pose the risk of injury, since the body will be at its weakest relative to any point throughout the year. There is also a mental aspect to this phase. Athletes who train year‐round really benefit from and enjoy the fact that they get a short period of time not having to go full‐bore and kill their bodies. If you have ever been an athlete who trains hard, then you will appreciate this notion completely. Charlie Francis refers to this period as an accumulation phase. This phase will involve the lightest intensities and the highest volumes, which is a good set of conditions for enhancing muscle growth. Athletes will naturally be weaker so they will not need an extreme stimulus to induce strength gains. Eventually, athletes will have to lift heavier to get stronger, but not right now. And that’s another benefit to the approach. They are performing the least amount of work or effort to get a maximal result.

(Maximum Strength Phase‐Option #1) MON. OR TUES.: WORKOUT A SETS/REPS A1. 10‐ OR 20‐YARD DASH 5 AND/OR SPECIALIZED SPEED TRAINING METHODS B1. ME LOWER=SQUAT OR DEADLIFT 2‐3 8‐5‐3‐1 B2. JUMP TEST 2‐3 C1. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT/UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐BENT KNEE 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6


D1. CORE MOBILITY OR STABILITY EXERCISE 2‐4 TBD D2. STRAIGHT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 E1. LINEAR SPEED CONDITIONING TBD WED. OR THURS.: WORKOUT B A1. AGILITY 1‐4 B1. ME UPPER=BENCH PRESS 2‐3 8‐5‐3‐1 C1. VERTICAL PULL 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. MED BALL 2‐4 8 or 5‐8 each side C2. VERTICAL PRESS 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. BICEP OR FOREARMS 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. SCAP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D3. TRAP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 F1. TEMPO TRAINING TBD FRI. OR SAT.: WORKOUT C A1. 40‐ OR 60‐YARD DASH 3‐5 B1. DE LOWER=OLYMPIC LIFT OR OTHER 3‐5 1‐4 OR 5‐8 B2. DE UPPER=SPEED PRESS 3‐5 5‐8 C1. HORIZONTAL ROW 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 D1. HORIZONTAL PRESS OR TRICEP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐STRAIGHT KNEE 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 D3. BENT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 E1. AGILITY CONDITIONING TBD


(Maximum Strength Phase‐Option #2)

MON. OR TUES.: WORKOUT A SETS/REPS A1. 10‐ OR 20‐YARD DASH 5 AND/OR SPECIALIZED SPEED TRAINING METHODS B1. ME LOWER=SQUAT OR DEADLIFT 2‐3 8‐5‐3‐1 B2. JUMP TEST 2‐3 C1. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT/UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐BENT KNEE 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. CORE MOBILITY OR STABILITY EXERCISE 2‐4 TBD D2. STRAIGHT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12 WED. OR THURS.: WORKOUT B A1. AGILITY 1‐4 B1. ME UPPER=BENCH PRESS 2‐3 8‐5‐3‐1 C1. VERTICAL PULL 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. MED BALL 2‐4 8 or 5‐8 each side C2. VERTICAL PRESS 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. BICEP OR TRICEP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. SCAP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D3. TRAP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 FRI. OR SAT.: WORKOUT C A1. 40‐ OR 60‐YARD DASH 3‐5 B1. DE LOWER=OLYMPIC LIFT OR OTHER 3‐5 1‐4 OR 5‐8 B2. JUMP TEST 2‐3 C1. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT/UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐STRAIGHT KNEE 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. CORE MOBILITY OR STABILITY EXERCISE 2‐4 TBD D2. STRAIGHT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐4 24‐20‐16‐12


FRI. OR SAT.: WORKOUT D A1. 10‐ OR 20‐YARD DASH 5 AND/OR SPECIALIZED SPEED TRAINING METHODS B2. DE UPPER=SPEED PRESS 3‐5 5‐8 C1. HORIZONTAL ROW 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. MED BALL 2‐4 5‐8 each side D1. HORIZONTAL PRESS OR TRICEP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. FOREARMS 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. SCAP 2‐4 12‐10‐8‐6 OK, now this format may be a little confusing at first. You will perform these workouts in order, A‐B‐C‐D, and then repeat the order. Below is a 4‐week breakdown for just the strength training. The speed, agility, and conditioning stay the same each week. 10‐20‐yard Dash or Specialized Methods and Linear Conditioning on Day #1, Agility and Tempo Work on Day #2, and 40‐ or 60‐yard dashes and Agility Conditioning on Day #3 Week #1 Week #2 Week #3 Week #4 A, B, C D, A, B C, D, A B, C, D Once you or an athlete has met the “criteria” listed in the BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED SPEED PROGRAM section of the book, then they can begin this second program and they are now deemed as advanced. The first phase of the conjugate system is pretty much the same as the concurrent. The goal of this stage is to build as much muscle as possible and get as strong as possible, so that you will be faster in the stages to come. One change that can be made to both the General Prep‐Hypertrophy and both maximum strength options is “buffering,” or reducing the intensity of sprints and agility and quickness training from 100 to 90% effort. This frees up some more energy for the hypertrophy and strength exercises which are the primary focus right now in the program. Moreover, you can perform the max effort lifts before your speed and agility work if you are not making progress with this format. This will keep you a bit fresher to perform at a higher level in the weight room. Also, training volume is very important for size and even strength and you are not going to be able to do as much in future stages, so try and get the most out of it right now when it counts. Also, all DE Upper and Lower variations are to be performed in the 50‐60 % of 1RM range. I like 50, 55, 55, 60% for a 4‐week cycle. The exception is the jump squat. 20‐30% works well here.


The next thing I want to discuss is each of the strength options. I just decided to give you two options that have historically worked for us and many others in the industry. The second option is mainly reserved for extremely strong and advanced athletes with great speed and power levels who simply struggle to recover and make gains from option #1. This is a very rare situation. Everyone else should abide by option #1 until then, since it provides more stimulation for both the upper and lower body and offers more chance for the athlete to develop during the week.

(Speed and Plyo Phase)

MON. OR TUES.: WORKOUT A SETS/REPS A1. 10‐ OR 20‐YARD DASH 10‐20 AND/OR SPECIALIZED SPEED TRAINING METHODS B1. ME LOWER=SQUAT OR DEADLIFT 2‐3 8‐5‐3‐1 B2. JUMP TEST 2‐3 C1. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT/UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐BENT KNEE 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. CORE MOBILITY OR STABILITY EXERCISE 2‐3 TBD D2. STRAIGHT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐3 24‐20‐16‐12 E1. LINEAR SPEED CONDITIONING TBD WED. OR THURS.: WORKOUT B A1. AGILITY 1‐4 B1. ME UPPER=BENCH PRESS 2‐3 8‐5‐3‐1 C1. VERTICAL PULL 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. MED BALL 2‐3 8 or 5‐8 each side C2. VERTICAL PRESS 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. BICEP OR FOREARMS 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. SCAP 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 D3. TRAP 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 F1. TEMPO TRAINING TBD


FRI. OR SAT.: WORKOUT C A1. 40‐ OR 60‐YARD DASH 5‐10 B1. DE LOWER=OLYMPIC LIFT OR OTHER 3‐5 1‐4 OR 5‐8 B2. DE UPPER=SPEED PRESS 3‐5 5‐8 C1. HORIZONTAL ROW 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 2‐3 24‐20‐16‐12 D1. HORIZONTAL PRESS OR TRICEP 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐STRAIGHT KNEE 2‐3 24‐20‐16‐12 D3. BENT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐3 24‐20‐16‐12 E1. AGILITY CONDITIONING TBD Now is what you’ve probably been waiting for if you are reading this book and following this program. If you busted ass and did what you were supposed to in the previous phase then you will be rewarded now! Here we apply and express all the strength we accumulated in the previous phase and turn that into raw power and speed. In this phase, you want to be sure to increase your plyometric jump volumes from a standard 3 sets to 5‐10 sets to promote more speed. This quantity supports the research. Cronin, Villarreal, and Requena found that there were performance decreases in sprint performance with more than 80 jumps per session. 156 You will also notice that the strength exercise volumes have been reduced slightly to spare more energy for specific speed and power work. Also, there are some additional modifications that you will need to make to keep from going too intense in your strength training which could negatively impact speed. In the 5 rep max week you only want to train at 60% of your 1RM, 75% for your 3 rep, and 87.5% for your 1 rep. This is enough to slightly increase strength or maintenance during this stage at the least. 43 Charlie Francis referred to this as “Maintenance Weights.” Also, there is a “Delayed Transformation Effect” so you will still be adapting and building some more strength from the previous stage as you perform this one. The reduction in intensity is referred to as “buffers.” You’ll also notice that this is the point where things start to get more specific with our training and our goals. We naturally move from a more general approach to a specific one, because research has shown that this is the most effective path we can take.


(Peak‐Competition Phase)

MON. OR TUES.: WORKOUT A SETS/REPS/TEMPO A1. 10‐ OR 20‐YARD DASH 5‐10 AND/OR SPECIALIZED SPEED TRAINING METHODS B1. ME LOWER=SQUAT OR DEADLIFT 2‐3 8‐5‐3‐1 B2. JUMP TEST 2‐3 C1. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT/UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐BENT KNEE 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. CORE MOBILITY OR STABILITY EXERCISE 2‐3 TBD D2. STRAIGHT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐3 24‐20‐16‐12 E1. LINEAR SPEED CONDITIONING TBD WED. OR THURS.: WORKOUT B A1. AGILITY 1‐4 B1. ME UPPER=BENCH PRESS 2‐3 8‐5‐3‐1 C1. VERTICAL PULL 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. MED BALL 2‐3 8 or 5‐8 each side C2. VERTICAL PRESS 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 D1. BICEP OR FOREARMS 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. SCAP 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 D3. TRAP 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 F1. TEMPO TRAINING TBD FRI. OR SAT.: WORKOUT C A1. 40‐ OR 60‐YARD DASH 5 B1. DE LOWER=OLYMPIC LIFT OR OTHER 3‐5 1‐4 OR 5‐8 B2. DE UPPER=SPEED PRESS 3‐5 5‐8


C1. HORIZONTAL ROW 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 C2. QUAD SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐UNILATERAL MOVEMENT 2‐3 24‐20‐16‐12 D1. HORIZONTAL PRESS OR TRICEP 2‐3 12‐10‐8‐6 D2. HIP SUPPLEMENTAL LIFT‐STRAIGHT KNEE 2‐3 24‐20‐16‐12 D3. BENT KNEE CALF RAISE 2‐3 24‐20‐16‐12 E1. AGILITY CONDITIONING TBD

In this phase, you are ready to peak your performance! You’ve gone through the entire program addressing each essential skill to becoming your fastest and now you reap the rewards of your hard work. Everything you did prior to now “conjugates” or links together for a greater result. You will follow the same exact format that you followed in the previous stage. In this phase, you will utilize the same approach as you did in the speed and plyo phase for your strength work, and you will taper and then normalize speed training volumes (sprints and jump training) so you can remove the fatigue, freshen up, and then adapt to a whole new level of speed! The beauty of this detraining of speed, or the tapering approach is that much of the specific improvements that were made in the previous stage will at least be maintained, and generally enhanced. “In contrast, detraining appears to shift the contractile characteristics towards type IIb, although muscle atrophy is also likely to occur.” 110 However, the reduction in muscle size can be offset by the weight training we still practice in this format, so we get the best of both worlds! At this point, the athlete will be entering pre‐season or their actual season and could not be more physically and mentally prepared to perform at their highest level possible. Now we will address a very common concern when it comes to integrating this type of approach with an athlete: How long do we need to perform each phase? To help answer this question I will provide you with some very basic guidelines compliments of Charlie Francis which break down the maximal duration for each phase or skill focus. Further concentration of a particular skill beyond these guidelines is counterproductive for two reasons. First, if we focus on a goal for too long it can reduce the time spent concentrating on another essential skill and we won’t perform as well in the long term. Second, adaptations or changes in our body that improve a skill can lose sensitivity, or do not occur as readily if we focus on one thing for too long. A lot of this can be due to a lack of variation and decreased psychological motivation. Stages are nice because you rotate the objective, which keeps athletes intrigued. Ultimately, the duration will depend on the time the athlete has to dedicate to training before they resume their sport season. Their schedule will dictate how you lay out the program. You could have perfect durations set for each stage, but the unfortunate reality is that athletes have limited


time in their off‐season to train, especially with sport specialization being so prominent these days. Also, base the durations off the needs of each athlete. If an athlete is small and weak, then time should be spent focusing on strength and size more than other skills. If an athlete is big and strong, but lacks the ability to express and apply their strength well, then speed and power oriented training should compose the bulk of their training to improve performance. It just depends on their needs. Here are the general recommendations that inform coaches and athletes on standard timelines for each phase based off a full calendar year. You need to sit down, get organized, and map it out before you start training. That way, you have established a plan that you can rely on in the future. GPP‐Hypertrophy Phase: 4‐12 weeks Maximum Strength Phase: 8‐12 weeks Speed‐Plyo Phase: 12 weeks Peak/Competition Phase: 12‐16 weeks Vacations: 4 weeks


EXERCISE INDEX

Before I get started sharing with you all of the exercises of this program, I want to mention a couple things. The videos and instructions for each and every one of these exercises can immediately be found at my website in a video library. This video library I’ve provided you will be arranged in alphabetical order since the speed workouts are different depending on whether you are beginner‐intermediate or advanced. The index below will reflect this as well. All you have to do is look at the speed workout, find the exercise category you want, find it in the alphabetical listing on the website, and then click on the exercise you want to perform beneath it and it will take you to YouTube. Please note that I’m only going to include 2‐3 exercise variations in each category and I will share more in the future. This is definitely enough to keep you busy for a while though.

You will need the PASSCODE: Speed_Video And here is a link to the website: http://renospeedschool.com/speed-encyclopedia-videos/ Agility Conditioning: Agility and Quickness: Sled Crossover Runs Shuttle Run Slideboard 3 Cone Drill 1‐2 Stick Bent Knee Calf Raise: Bicep: Calf Raise Machine DB Curls BB Curls Core Mobility or Stability Exercise: De Lower: Reverse Crunches Hang Clean‐Olympic Lift Hanging Leg Raises Jump Squats De Upper: Forearms: Speed Bench Press Hammer Curls Plyo Pushups Farmer Walks Hip Supplemental Lift‐Bent Knee: Hip Supplemental Lift‐Straight knee: Glute‐Ham Raises DB Swings Barbell Hip Thrusts RDL

http://renospeedschool.com/speed-encyclopedia-videos/

http://renospeedschool.com/speed-encyclopedia-videos/


Jump Tests: Horizontal Press or Tricep: Broad Jump TRX or JJ Pushups Vertical Jump Stability Ball Pushups Dips Close Grip Bench Press Horizontal Row: Linear Speed Conditioning: Inverted Row Start to Acceleration Series #1 3 Pt DB Row Sled Pushes Me Lower: Me Upper: Box Squat Conventional Bench Press Hex Bar Deadlift Bench Press W/Chains Quad Supplemental Lift/Unilateral: Scap: Forward Split Squat Bent Over Bat Wings High Box Step Up Scap Series #3 Pistol Squats Specialized Speed Training: Straight Knee Calf Raise Standing Single Leg Calf Raise Complex Training: Calf Raise Machine Sled Sprint + 10‐20 yard sprint Tempo Training: Sled Push+ 10‐20 yard sprint Shuttle Runs Mobility Circuit #1 Hip Flexor Training: Supine Psoas Activation Trap: Standing Psoas Activation BB Shrugs High Pulls Technical Drills: Arm Drive‐Bongos Vertical Press: Wall Posture Runs DB Press A‐skips DB Split Jerk Vertical Pull: Pullup TRX or JJ Chinup


FAQ’S

Q‐ What if I have a question and do not understand what I need to do in this book? A‐Call me or email me at any time. Also be sure to browse the entire FAQ section, and eventually I will be integrating a forum to my website; www.renospeedschool.com if enough people buy the book. Q‐Are there differences in technique between long‐distance runners and sprinters? A‐Yes!! So many times, long‐distance marathon runners will attempt to provide insight to a sprinter on how to run. There are distinct differences between how marathon runners approach running and how sprinters do. More specifically, a study by Hunter in 2007 in Sports Biomechanics showed that there are a number of differences between the two groups. 24 98 First, distance runners don’t flex their hip as much because they are not as powerful, alterations of the trail knee was common in sprinters versus long distance runners, and there are other differences in their approaches.

Q‐Do I have to read the book, or can I just follow the program? A‐You absolutely do not have to read the book. You can just follow the program and learn how to do the exercises. However, reading about some of this stuff helps prove its place and helps you understand it and appreciate it more.

Q‐Do we need to develop top speed in most sports? A‐Absolutely. In a study in 2012 in The Strength and Conditioning Journal, Triplett and his team made a key point that most sports do involve running at maximum speed and there is a link between this ability and athletic performance. 157 Keep in mind that elite sprinters do not reach top speed until about 60‐80 yards, while the remainder of people reach it within 30‐60 yards. Most sports operate in these shorter distances, so top speed is a factor. It’s just that top speed is not as common in team sport settings as acceleration. Moreover, the top speed work is going to help you react and run faster at shorter distances as well. I discussed some of the correlations in the “Sprinting Exercises” section of the book.


Q‐How important is reaction time in sprinting? A‐Many studies have investigated the need for greater reaction time in sprinting. Unfortunately, none of them have reported a strong correlation with running speed. 24 158

Q‐Do weight vests help improve speed? A. Originally, I always figured that weight vests were ideal for vertical patterns (e.g. vertical jumping), but some evidence supports weight vests for sprinting too, which is a combination of horizontal and vertical force production. Clark, Steame, Walts, and Miller, 2010 conducted a study on 25 male NCAA Division 3 Lacrosse players with no previous experience in weight training. 159 They split the subjects into 3 groups. One group performed resistance training, one ran with weighted sleds, and the other ran with weight vests. All three groups experienced significant improvements in sprint performance, and the differences between all groups were insignificant. There is a lot more evidence to support sled and traditional strength training, but vests may be a viable option for an athlete looking to get faster according to this study.

Q‐What type of speed training book is this exactly? A‐This book is mainly for people looking to get faster through the act of sprinting. However, it includes science and methods for getting faster in literally every movement. Jumping, cutting, agility, throwing, swinging, etc.

Q‐Will much of the information in this book change over the years? A‐Most of it will be exactly the same in the future. More studies will be conducted to confirm certain things, and more will be done to refute things. Some of this is simply out of my control and I will update you immediately if anything does change via articles.

Q‐How should I track all of my results from the program? A‐I have data sheets that I designed and use with my clients, but you can do it however you want. A simple training log utilizing a notebook is super cheap and highly effective.


Q‐Why do we get cramps and what do they mean? A‐Edmund Burke states in his book “Optimal Muscle Recovery” that muscle cramps are supported by dehydration. “The cause of cramps is elusive. Several theories exist, but the most common one is exercise‐induced dehydration. When you exercise heavily, you can lose large quantities of water through perspiration. This water loss lowers blood volume, so there is less blood going to muscles to deliver oxygen, resulting in a muscle spasm. Another possible cause of cramps related to dehydration is electrolyte imbalance. The electrolytes sodium and potassium, together with calcium and magnesium, help regulate muscle relaxation and contraction. Because you may lose electrolytes through extreme sweating, dehydration can contribute to an electrolyte imbalance. If there’s an imbalance of these nutrients, muscles may contract involuntarily. Muscles that are overly fatigued or overworked are prone to cramps; thus people who are not well trained are more likely to suffer them.” 60 Burke also went on to note in his book that neurological disorders, diabetes, circulatory problems, and cold weather are other known contributors. A well rounded and balanced diet, proper rehydration via adequate carbohydrate, water, and electrolyte intake (e.g. Gatorade) and prevention of overtraining are natural deterrents to cramps.

Q‐How do I improve first‐step quickness? A‐There is a brilliant 14‐page manual written by speed coach Lee Taft on this technique he created titled: “The Plyo Step.” The plyo step is how you should approach your first step in a linear sprint movement. “First‐ step acceleration” is a big topic in the human performance industry, and Lee does a masterful job while providing proven research into this innate neurological technique. Many might be familiar with the term the “false step.” This is indeed the plyo step, but it’s not false. To simplify, if moving forward you want to take a quick step back and shift your mass forward (45‐degree body angle). First, this quick repositioning of the foot creates a plyometric effect in the back foot as those muscles quickly stretch and store more energy for the next movement. Second, remember it’s easier to move the feet under your mass instead of your mass over your feet when moving in a new direction. Third, it also perfectly aligns the remainder of the body to produce more force by creating great acceleration and takeoff angles and acquires gravity’s support. If moving laterally, you will reposition the outside foot farther and create the same angle. The plyo step applies everywhere from an athletic stance and we


should not suppress this natural movement response. Critics and opponents of the approach state that a “step and reach” is how to take a first step correctly. It’s not. This requires a rolling action to get gravity’s support which takes time and is far slower in creating the three keys I just mentioned (plyo effect at foot, moving the feet rather than mass, and acceleration angles). I should also note in case you do not read the manual that the plyo step was quicker and generated greater force outputs than any other stance type or first movement response, according to one study. It’s the fastest way to escape, attack, or retreat in sport off a first step from a static or still athletic stance position. Don’t mess with it. On a final note, I want to discuss what I call the “Top‐Down Relationship” of speed training, meaning short distances improve long distances and vice versa. What this means is that you can comply with the research and position your body perfectly with a proper plyo step, but if you have no horsepower you are not going to move very fast. Power is more important for this issue and everywhere else. Also, I discussed this in the “Sprinting Exercise” section, but athletes who run fast at 10 yards, also tend to run fast at 20, 40, 60, and beyond. Not always, but as a whole. If you want a fast first step, develop through the whole speed distance continuum.

Q‐My knees and back hurt whenever I squat. Is there any way to get stronger without lifting heavy so I don’t further injure these areas? A‐No. You need to lift heavy weights, and paraphrasing Dan John: “Squats do not hurt your knees, the way you squat hurts your knees.”

Q‐Are starches and gluten OK to eat? A‐I say absolutely. There is some research from the Celiac Center of Disease that reports only approximately 6% of the human population possess a true insensitivity or intolerance to gluten. If you get diagnosed and fall into this small category of people, then you will need to find starchy alternatives. 160 Moreover, fruit lacks a specific enzyme that will prevent it from being stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. Glycogen stores help regulate muscle building, performance, and fullness. Starch can be stored as glycogen and becomes necessary by default. Also, starch items are classified as a polysaccharide, which takes longer to break down than simple sugars like fruit so this can help us feel full and assist in weight/fat loss efforts. Starches and fruits should be a part of every athlete’s diet.


Q‐What about standards for athletes? A‐ There is a site that I love regarding all of the powerlifts for athletes. 161 It comes from very reputable coaches and practitioners and tends to relate well with speed performance. Athletes need to deadlift 2.5‐3 x bodyweight, squat 2‐2.5 x bodyweight, and bench 1.5‐2 x bodyweight.

Q‐What about a weight maintenance approach? A‐To maintain your weight, utilize the bodyweight multipliers. To simplify, your bodyweight x 12 seems to act as “maintenance” calories for most. Meaning that this number is about what you burn per day, and if you ate that amount you would maintain weight. Also, make sure to get in three high‐intensity training workouts per week, and tempo work or low intensity training days in between for a total of six work days, with one day off. Snack on the free foods on the menus and you will be good.

Q‐What are some meal plan examples utilizing your template? A‐Lean Protein‐Egg whites Lean Protein‐Halibut Starch Carb‐Toast Starch Carb‐White or Brown Rice Healthy Fat‐Peanut Butter Vegetable‐Frozen Veggies Simple Carb‐Fruit Lean Protein‐Flank Steak Lean Protein‐Extra Lean Ground Beef Starch Carb‐Baked Potato Starch Carb‐Taco Shells Healthy Fat‐Low Fat Sour Cream Healthy Fat‐Low fat cheese and low fat sour cream Vegetable‐Green Salad Vegetables‐Lettuce, onions, and tomatoes (W/Low calorie dressing)

Q‐How come you do not utilize any of the popular general assessments? A‐I use assessments regularly with my athletes and clients (e.g. speed and agility testing, vertical and broad jump, strength tests, etc.). We have primary or indicator exercises that need to improve since they are related to sports performance. I used to use Gray Cook’s FMS, NASM’s overhead squat and single leg test, and others, but eventually after a couple years of using these methods I realized that they did not


change the general prescription for my trainees. In other words I could utilize my comprehensive program and staple movement patterns that would help improve the score on these assessments without actually assessing. If you have a sound and scientific training philosophy and follow it to a ”T,” then you’ll do fine on these tests. In the words of University of Texas Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Todd Wright: “The test is the exercise and the exercise is the test.” For example, if a test scores hamstring flexibility, just implement some hamstring stretches into the program. If a test rates rotational core stability, implement drills that improve this. A well rounded athletic and speed training system will help every athlete pass any assessment.

Q‐Food labels are read in grams. How do I know how many calories are in each food? A‐ You may already be familiar with the actual heat or energy values of the nutrients we eat, but in case you are not, here they are. This table is courtesy of Lyle Mcdonald, and is found in his book The Rapid Fat loss Handbook.

Atwater Factors: Nutrient Calories Protein = 4 calories per gram Carbohydrate = 4 calories per gram Fat = 9 calories per gram Alcohol = 7 calories per gram Fiber = 2 calories per gram Q‐What about using treadmills to improve speed? A‐ Below are several studies that examined the relationship of treadmill and overground running. The first study by: Wank, Frick, and Schmidtbleicher found that the multidirectional patterns and curves at the lower extremities were pretty similar, meaning that the sprint patterns in both approaches were pretty equal. However, researchers did note that there were some large differences among individuals, which suggests that the treadmill is not the best approach for these folks. Moreover, this study also found that subjects on the treadmill had greater stride frequencies and shorter stride lengths, which we now know is counterproductive for faster running, based on the information shared in the “Plyometrics” section of the book. 162


The next study examined 21 participants who ran at a selected speed for 3 minutes, and then immediately followed that with a 3‐minute treadmill run. The study found that overground runners ran faster than on the treadmill. 163 Another study examined the differences in muscle activity of the lower extremities between overground running and treadmill running. The differences were very slight and labeled insignificant. 164 Increasing the incline of the treadmill to increase power and force output seems to work well. Swanson and Caldwell in 2000 found that running on a treadmill at 30% incline increased muscle power and net work by 345% and 219%, respectively! 165 Although treadmill running is not an effective tool for developing top speed, in 1974 Elliot indicated that it has shown promise for developing short‐term acceleration. 166 In 2007 Myers found an equal result in 10‐yard sprint time performance between inclined treadmill running and ground‐based resistance training methods. 167 To summarize, the treadmill sacrifices stride length, which is an important factor for running speed. The muscle activity reports between overground running and treadmill training were the same. Treadmill running is not a great tool for developing top speed, but did show some solid contribution to improving acceleration. With that being said, it could be an optional tool you could use as a “Specialized Speed Training Method” as a source of variation. Q‐Are there any specialized or secret muscle building or strength development strategies? A‐Yes there are some strategies that may facilitate size and strength gains when done once or twice per month. #1‐Cheat Reps‐This is also referred to as assisted or forced reps. This technique has to be performed with a partner in order to be effective. With this technique, your partner just simply assists you after you fail on a particular exercise. For example, if you are bench pressing, your partner will simply spot the bar after you can no longer move it up anymore and help push the weight back up with you very slowly. #2‐Rest‐Pause‐With this technique you lift a weight with a particular exercise for the prescribed number of reps. You keep lifting until you fail. Once you fail, you rest for approximately 30 seconds and then repeat the same exercise with the same load or amount of weight until you fail again. Once you fail, you rest again, and repeat for one more round. I must warn you that this technique is absolutely brutal, but highly


effective as long as it’s done very infrequently. #3‐Hybrids‐ With this technique you fail on a particular exercise, and then you use another muscle group or movement in addition to the failed exercise, so that you can continue to train the original. For example, if you are performing a bicep curl and you eventually fail, you can then “mini squat” to derive some support and extra energy from the legs so that you can continue curling the weight up. Many times you are still lifting more weight on your curl or other exercise than if you removed weight and continued the exercise with perfect form and lighter weight. #4‐Drop sets‐ In this technique, you will eventually fail on an exercise, and then you remove a small amount of weight and then continue lifting until you fail. Once you fail, you then once again remove a small amount of weight and resume lifting. Repeat until you cannot move! This technique is much like the rest‐pause method, except that you decrease the weight. It’s also known as the Pyramid approach (12, 10, 8, 6, and 4). It’s a great muscle building technique. We can further break this technique into types. “Same set drop sets” which is what I just explained, and “separate set drop sets.” This is when you rest between sets and reduce the weight slightly after each set for multiple sets. #5‐Overloaded Eccentrics‐ These are just ultra‐heavy “negatives” that many are familiar with. Eccentrics just refers to the stretching action of the muscle that takes place as we lower a weight. Eccentrics, like cheat reps, are also another partner‐based training failure technique that can activate and amp up our central nervous system. For example, if you were bench pressing you could add 10‐20 lbs. above your current one‐rep maximum and then try to lower the weight for 3‐5 seconds or more. Once it reaches the bottom and hits your chest, you and your partner lift the weight back up until your elbows are locked out and you repeat for 2‐4 more reps. I’m going to suggest that you do not lift more than 10% of your current one rep maximum. Q‐What about flexibility training for speed? A‐ The reality is that your muscles are only going to require a “moderate” amount of flexibility for you to get faster. Anything above or below that will yield poorer speed. Recall from the strength section of the book where I discussed the LTR or the stretch to strength ratio. If we stretch a target muscle too much, we lose power and vice versa. Moreover, too much flexibility training can make us too relaxed, reducing neuromuscular activity and drive, and also promote injury, looseness, and poorer energy transfer. There is a great illustration in page 11 of the free warm‐up


manual that discusses this in detail if you are interested. And various studies do not show improved speed performance from static stretching, rather they show a decrease in performance. 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 A majority of studies disfavored static stretching and requested removal of static stretching before explosive activities, while one indicated static stretching could impair performance up to 24 hours following the stretch. Another reported that 6 weeks of stretching the hamstrings did not result in improvements in sprint or vertical jump performance. I think the reason outside of the stretch to strength ratio for why stretching is counterproductive for sprinting is because of what I like to call “limits of flexibility.” Meaning we can already stretch our muscles enough to run. I have literally never come across someone who could not sprint because they were too inflexible, and I’ve had some pretty tight athletes over the years. Ironically, some of the tightest athletes with solid muscle and tendon stiffness were the best and acted like springs. Just think about it. Their muscles and tendons are super stiff and ready to uncoil and explode force in activities. The whole notion of getting faster by getting super flexible is completely overrated and has been proven wrong. Through a well‐rounded dynamic warm‐up and lifting weights through a full range of motion, any athlete can gain sufficient flexibility to maximize speed and athletic performance. However, there are select and infrequent times, such as post‐training and on off days, where I think you could static stretch to maintain a moderate level of flexibility, maximize LTR, and perhaps prevent injury and improve recovery. The jury is still out on static stretching’s role on injury prevention and recovery, though, and I need to do more research here. Also, there was a study conducted on birds and other authorities that mentioned that extreme static stretching can accelerate muscle growth, via its effect on loosening the fascia and allowing more muscle expansion. I will write an article that outlines our “Static Stretching Series,” but for now just pick a couple stretches for the Achilles tendon/calves, quads, hip flexors, glutes and hamstrings and you will be good to go. Three sessions per week for 10 minutes on your non‐training days is more than enough to stay flexible and receive the benefits, along with everything else you are doing. 2‐3 sets of 30 second holds will do the trick. Q‐Can we convert muscle to fat? A‐Absolutely not. The chemical makeup or composition of each and how they are individually made is vastly different, as well as their functions. Muscles move, burn energy, store sugar, etc. while fats reserve specific vitamins, insulate us, manufacture hormones, etc. Huge myth!


Q‐I can run really fast, but my coach is livid because I failed our 1 mile run conditioning test according to him. Does this matter? A‐Absolutely not. Reference back to the “Speed vs. Conditioning” section and you will see why. Unless you are a mile runner or an aerobic dominant athlete of some sort, you need not worry about this criticism at all. Stay poor in this test. Most team sports rely on speed and speed endurance, not long ‐slow distance conditioning. This concept should be intuitive. Paraphrasing world‐class strength coach Mike Boyle; it takes years to make a conditioned athlete explosive, and only weeks to make an explosive athlete well‐conditioned. The physiological adaptations and changes that promote power and speed take far longer to occur than the ones that improve our conditioning. Regardless of whether or not your sport relies on type #1, 2, or 3 conditioning, EVERY single athlete should perform a speed phase and the rest of the phases of our advanced system at some point, to improve the speed reserve which I discussed thoroughly in the speed vs. conditioning section of the book. If we get faster we improve our speed reserve, and even if our sport is aerobic dominant like with boxing, you will be faster and you will be faster longer and potentially save energy if you improve your speed! Q‐If I’m in‐season in a sport, should I still use your program and how? A‐Absolutely. Here is a short list of rules to live by if you are an in‐season athlete still looking to get faster and maximize your skill set. First, cut out all specific speed and agility work in your workouts. The nature of games and practice satisfies this element, and it prevents injury and increased overtraining. Second, continue to try and build muscle and maintain strength. The speed phase in the Conjugate program I provided you is what you should follow. You will use maintenance weights for strength, because you simply will not have the energy reserves to get stronger unless you are a beginner in‐season. The intensities you will use are just enough to stimulate your central nervous system and muscles for better performances in competition, without creating fatigue. Third, do zero conditioning in‐season, for the same reason you need to eliminate speed and agility. Keep your workouts limited to 30‐45 minutes in duration to maintain optimal hormone levels and limit further fatigue. Fourth, select “Eccentric Less” exercises. I adopted this term from Joe DeFranco. Exercises such as deadlifts, sled training, board presses, concentric pullups and chin‐ups, barbell hip thrusts, box jumps, box squats, and more will remove the heavy weight at the target areas as you stretch your muscles. This will prevent tearing and soreness to the muscles. Muscle soreness can cause decreases in strength levels by up to 25%, so the last thing we want is athletes to be sore in‐


season. And rule #5 is to make sure you are getting plenty of sleep (8‐12 hours per night), eat well, and minimize stress levels. Q‐What is the difference between straight bar deadlifts and hex bar deadlifts? A‐This is one of the modifications we made from the Westside system for athletes even though Westside does do hex bar work. The straight bar variations should be reserved for intermediate‐advanced athletes with strong and adapted backs. Here is a study from The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that analyzed each variation. 176 The study took nineteen powerlifters and had them perform sets up to 80% of their 1RM. What was interesting about this study is that peak velocity and power values in the HBD were statistically higher than in the SBD. Furthermore, lower back stress was less. For an athlete looking to get stronger and maximize power output, the selection process is a no‐brainer. Remember that I admire the hell out of the powerlifting culture, but the study confirms the superiority of the hex bar, and SBDs are not a requirement for an athlete like they are in the powerlifting world.

Q‐What if I cannot find a weight that I can lift for the target # of reps? A‐Platemates! These work great for smaller muscle groups, advanced lifters, and in general. You will need some if you want to get stronger and assist in preventing your body from burning out. For example, you may not be able to curl 45 lbs. for ten reps if that is what the program calls for, but you could successfully lift 42.5 lbs. for ten. Also keep in mind that these small increments will add up. Adaptation can be slow and minimal, so do not overlook these guys. 177

Q‐Will barefoot running make you faster? A‐Outside of a slight change in body technique that can be modified naturally, no. Running barefoot or on your heel triggers pain which makes the body autocorrect and shift weight to the front of your foot, resulting in a more efficient and effective sprint pattern via forefoot dominance which was discussed thoroughly in the Plyometrics section under Sprinting Technique #3. Is this essential? Absolutely not. Why are sprinters and NFL speedsters not wearing these five finger shoes? I’ve seen 8 pairs tear in just a couple years with my athletes. It’s mainly hype that is advocated by slower long distance and marathon runners. This does not apply to speed and power athletes like sprinters, etc.


Q‐What kind of gains can I expect?? A‐This is a great question that I get asked on a near‐daily basis, but I can’t answer with complete certainty. There are far too many variables that affect our ability to supercompensate and improve from a workout (age, gender, nutrition, motivation, sleep, stress, drugs, supplements, performance level, genetics, etc.). Follow the program, train your tail off consistently week in and week out and good things will happen. Below are some common trends that I have been able to record from all of my athletes over the years without timelines. Also refer to the strength standards I provided and aim for the “Advanced” category in all major lifts (bench, squat, and dead) according to Kilgore, Pendlay, and Rippetoe’s tables. Speed: 10 yard dash: 1‐2 tenths of a second 20 yard dash: 2‐3 tenths of a second 40 yard dash: 3‐5 tenths of second Power: Vertical Jump and Broad Jump: 4‐8 inches.

Q‐What is the optimal duration per training session to build muscle and strength? A‐A big problem with poor workout efficiency deals with our physiology, or physical makeup, and how it responds to long workouts. “When you begin a training session, your body starts to release growth hormone and testosterone. The release of these anabolic hormones peaks at about the 27‐minute mark and falls back to baseline at around 45 minutes. Training for any longer than 45 minutes starts to increase the release of cortisol, which is a catabolic hormone that eats away muscle tissue and increases the storage of body fat. Going beyond 45 minutes also severely decreases the production of testosterone. This is what is known as the testosterone/cortisol ratio. When trying to remain in an anabolic state (a condition wherein your body can build muscle), you want to keep your testosterone levels higher and your cortisol levels lower. For this reason, I recommend that you always limit your workouts to 30‐40 minutes, max.” 149 On this system you will be working out for a longer duration, due to all of the other training methods, but the time in the weight room will scale very close to this range. Coincidentally, most trainees are absolutely exhausted at this point and there is not much sense in doing more, especially with the outcome above, and such poor quality of training past this point.


Q‐ You discussed “Intensity Buffers” in the speed workouts section. Could you elaborate on that more? A‐One other technique that can be very valuable and prevent burnout, severe frustration, and lack of progress is “intensity buffers.” This idea was first introduced to me by Kelly Baggett when he wrote one of my personal acceleration and speed training cycles. Intensity buffering is where you reduce the intensity and weight that you lift to allow for additional recovery and development of the body that may be warranted. Many times the body develops a state of “recovery debt” where even with all of the specialized recovery techniques, recovery days, controlled volume, etc. the body is still run down and unable to peak. The buffer is another element that can get you over that recovery hump and peak. As it pertains to maximum strength training, be weary of the 3‐rep max. In my experience, this number seems to pose a lot of problems. It either impairs the 1 or 5 rep max, or the other two sap the 3. Regardless, a majority of the time you’ll want to buffer the 3 rep max. I guess it is just in its nature and how the numbers are sequenced. Any of the numbers can burn you out when you get really strong, though, and you’re just going to have develop an instinct and experiment with this option. There are no hard and fast rules to date for scheduling a buffer at the right time. There are too many variables. My only advice would be to assess yourself if you are the lifter, or ask your client and athlete how they feel and look for signs during the warm‐up. If you or your people are not very responsive and strong during the warm‐up, it may not be a bad idea at all to lower the intensity a bit that day, and carry out the scheduled reps to prevent adding to the current state of fatigue and setback. A 5‐10% decrease in weight is a good general rule. For example, if you are scheduled to lift 400 lbs. for 5 reps, buffer the weight by 5% (400 x .05=20. 400‐20=380 lbs.) and you should be good. As long as the bar is not moving too slow, and there are no missed or failed reps, then you can knock out 2‐3 more reps than what was prescribed. Also, it’s very common for some normal “dropoff” to occur after 1‐2 heavy worksets. Continuing with the 400 lbs. example, say you hit 400 for 2 sets, and then experience a feeling of fatigue or drain. This is very common, and it is recommended that you utilize the same 5‐10% decrease in weight after these sets, so you can continue lifting and get stronger. This system is already designed to maximize recovery so that you are able to perform at the highest level possible frequently. Stick to the format so that you have the highest chance of preventing recovery debt, and if you still feel run down then take advantage of the buffer.


Q‐You mentioned in the strength section that your strength system is a "modified" version of Westside Barbell. What does this mean? A‐Basically, this is a system for athletes, and although there is a lot of value in powerlifting methods, there are some limitations and differences between their approach and the needs and demands of a team sport athlete. First, we don't do or require much straight bar deadlifting, we perform a lot more single leg work, and we do not use supportive gear. Moreover, there are many other methods that need to be performed besides just strength work to help maximize an athlete's development such as acceleration, deceleration, speed, agility and quickness, plyometrics‐landing skill, coordination, and conditioning‐energy systems development. Lastly, strength training frequencies, volumes, and cycles need to be managed differently to ensure progress is being made in other skills and areas of performance. These are all examples of some of the most common differences between the powerlifting and athletic training culture. Q‐How does your system differ from others? A‐First and foremost, the emphasis placed on research. Results. It’s fun and challenging. You are always competing and trying to better yourself in what you did before. It’s credible and it does not undergo any significant change like many others. We will be doing the same things outlined in this book twenty years from now. This makes it reliable for the athlete or coach using it.

Q‐Are back squats bad for your lower back? A‐They can be if performed incorrectly, however, there is evidence to support their place in training outside of the literal hundreds of thousands of athletes and powerlifters who have performed this movement safely and effectively for years. The National Strength and Conditioning Association has released a position paper that references the positive data that was collected from the Canadian National Alpine Ski Team, that supports decreased injury rates and quicker recuperation from injury when back squats were performed. 178 I would also like to discuss a statement made by Mike Robertson that addressed a structural characteristic of the lumbar spine. The discs are much bigger than other segments, which would indicate a greater tolerance for compressive loads. The reality is that if an athlete follows the key strength and program design principles provided, the likelihood of an injury is very minimal. Also consider the fact that the spinal erectors muscles can take up to


10 days to recover and you see why people may hurt their backs while squatting. If all necessary precautions are accounted for then it is a very safe and effective exercise.

Q‐What if I’m just starting to sprint? How should I do it? A‐If you are just starting out then it’s in your best interest to utilize the Speed Preparation Phase I’m going to share with you. It’s based off of Mike Boyle’s 20 percent rule, meaning we increase the volume of work by about 20 percent per workout to prevent overtraining early on.

SPEED PREPARATION PHASE:

WEEK #1: Uphill running, sled sprints, or Inclined treadmill running‐5‐10 sprints x 20 seconds. WEEK #2: 5‐10 yds x 5 5‐10 yds x 8 WEEK #3: 20 yds x 5 40 yds x 3, WEEK #4: 20 yds x 8 40 yds x 5. All 3 of the strategies in week #1 will reduce our velocity and impact, which takes stress off the tissues. Also, uphill running can prevent overstriding and help groove mechanics. Additionally, shorter distance sprints in the SPP place equal amounts of stress on quads, hams, glutes, and calves due to greater knee angles as we initially accelerate off the blocks, or a 3 or 4 point stance. Furthermore, this approach allows the athlete’s body to adapt its coordination and movement timing a little more slowly, which could prevent injury all while getting faster! 179 Q‐Why do you design your program the way you do? A‐Check out this article to learn more: http://renospeedschool.com/athletic‐program‐design/


Q‐What about weightlifting and injury risk for youth athletes? A‐ “First, without weight training few young people can reach their athletic potential. One of the major‐‐and unfounded‐‐concerns about weight training for young athletes is that it could cause damage to the epiphyseal (growth) plates. Although injury to the epiphyseal plates may cause bone deformity, the risk that this will occur with weight training is no greater than it is with most sports. As for the risk that weight training will stunt growth, premature closing of the epiphyseal plates is related primarily to hormonal influences, not injury. Addressing this subject is Mel Stiff, PhD, an exercise scientist whose doctoral thesis examined the biomechanics of soft tissues.” ”It has never been shown scientifically or clinically that the periodic imposition of large forces by weight training on the growing body causes damage to the epiphyseal plates,” says Stiff, in his book Facts and Fallacies of Fitness. “It is extremely misleading to focus on the alleged risks of weight training on children when biomechanical research shows that simple daily activities such as running, jumping, striking, or catching can impose far greater forces on the musculoskeletal system than very heavy weight training.” 25 Stiff also notes that bone density scans have proven that youngsters who do competitive weightlifting (that is, the snatch and the clean and jerk) have higher bone densities than children who do not use weights, and that clinical research has not shown any correlation between weight training and epiphyseal damage. Stiff’s comments are supported by an extensive Russian study on young athletes, published in a book titled “School of Height,” which concluded that heavy lifting tends to stimulate bone growth in young athletes rather than inhibit it. Also consider the fact that youth individuals are new to the iron game, so naturally they are not as strong. Research and experience indicates that this population can make gains for quite some time using moderately heavy weights in the rep range of 5‐8. This is the approach I take with all of my youngsters and we have had no problems. Q‐Does this system work for sprinters and hurdlers? A‐This particular system is an acceleration‐speed training system. More specifically, it’s a short and medium distance sprint program (0‐60 yards). However, I would bet money that this system would improve “long” distance sprinting (100‐200 meter) performances to an extent since it maximizes acceleration and top speed in any athlete. We train at 60 yards, so top speed development does occur in this system near the end of the sprint, according to the research. The downfall is that it does not include speed and special endurance work. This is really just fancy lingo for top speed maintenance training. Working these longer distances are essential to


preventing deceleration and maximizing performance past 60 yards. I work in a facility where the track area is only 60 yards on the straightaway, so this is the primary reason why I do not work with many who require specific training beyond these distances (sprinters, etc.). In this case, you could utilize my system and complement it with Charlie Francis’ “Key Concepts Elite.” 13 Finally, there are three potential components in a sprint race (0‐200 meters); acceleration, top speed, and top speed maintenance/deceleration. This system addresses the first and second phase and Charlie’s program would complement and give you the final piece to a complete and effective program if you are in track and field. Q‐Is there a difference between acceleration and speed? A‐Yes there can be, but they are the same for the most part. You can have good speed and move fast, without necessarily great acceleration. Great acceleration would consist of moving as fast as possible. Also, you could have phenomenal acceleration but lack in terms of pure speed or the ability to move fast if you don’t accelerate for very long. The majority of the time though, when you have one you have the other. Those who can accelerate and move faster very quickly also tend to have great top‐end speed, and vice versa. Q‐What are the neuromuscular changes that occur in the body that can cause us to become faster and more powerful? A‐See below. Improved motor unit synchronization Stronger nerve‐muscle connection High threshold motor unit activation Muscle tetanus or chronic muscle activation Improved rate coding Increased muscle and motor unit recruitment Increased rate of muscle and motor unit recruitment Increased quantity of fast twitch muscle fiber Improved intermuscular and intramuscular coordination Myofibrillar hypertrophy Increased motor neuron excitability Decreased defensive inhibition of motor units


Q‐The conditioning drills say TBD. What do you recommend? A‐ Below are some workout cycles for each type of conditioning that was shared in the exercise index portion of this book. LINEAR SPEED CONDITIONING : Reps/Distance/Time or Load/Rest Start to Acceleration Series #1 2‐4 each 20 yds BW 1‐2 min per circuit Sled Pushes 6‐12 20 yds BW+ 10‐60 seconds Beginning with the Start to Acceleration Series, you will perform one drill for 2‐4 reps at a time and then immediately proceed to the next drill. There will be 5 drills in the series if you check out the video on my YouTube channel. Once the circuit is over, you can rest for the designated time and repeat the circuit once or twice more if you prefer. The sled pushes and crossover runs will involve 20 yard reps from one end of the turf or surface to the other. Dependent upon conditioning level, trainees can rest from 10‐60 seconds in duration. The load can range from bodyweight to 1.5x bodyweight. We use this mode of exercise to develop more power, and that specific workload promotes the development of power skill. Reps/Distance or Duration/Time or Load/Rest E1. AGILITY CONDITIONING Slideboard 5‐8 20‐30 seconds BW + weight vest 20‐60 seconds Sled Crossover Runs 6‐12 20 yds BW+ 10‐60 seconds Q‐What about the speed in which we perform the movements? A‐The simple answer is utilize the tempos listed below Plyometrics (Speed, Agility, and Jumping): X/X/X Max Effort Lifts (ME): 2/0/1 All other lifts: 2/0/1 We utilize a variation of tempos, but this is basic and very effective. The sequence of numbers stands for eccentric (where you stretch the muscle), isometric (where you just finish stretching and before you lift the weight), and concentric (where you shorten the muscle and lift the weight in the intended direction). Slower eccentrics have been associated with muscle growth and hormone release and build deceleration, isometrics can help build stability at a specific joint angle, and


concentrics build power and strength, and they do it in a very sport‐specific manner as we extend the joint or joints we are attempting to move. Q‐Why are hamstring strains so prevalent? A‐This is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most popular topics of speed today. Before we get started I’m going to bullet list all of the primary potential causes of hamstring strains that were assessed in the research and we will create a hierarchy between all of them so you will never have to concern yourself with why you are straining your hamstring. *Poor Flexibility *Poor General and Eccentric Muscle Strength *Fatigue and poor conditioning *Coordination *A history of hamstring strain No correlation between hamstring flexibility and hamstring injury was found in one study. 180 Another study indicated that poor hamstring flexibility is a risk factor for hamstring injury, and then several others did not. 181 182 183 Thus, the consensus is that there is little to no evidence that concludes hamstring stretching alone can prevent hamstring strains, the reason being that most injuries occur during maximal effort sprinting, and this action does not require the hamstrings to move through their full range of motion. As a result, large amounts of flexibility are not required. Think about it for a moment. Have you ever met an individual who was unable to sprint because they were simply too inflexible? Staying away from extremes here, there were reports that indicated that hamstring inflexibility could potentially cause muscle strain. That’s enough for me to dose my athletes with specific stretches until the evidence is overwhelming. The next potential issue is a lack of general and eccentric muscle strength. Now this one seems to be a no‐brainer according to the research. Every report I looked at suggested that a lack of general muscular strength and strength at certain times during a sprint were linked to injury. Eccentric strength refers to deceleration, or in the case of sprinting, the ability of the hamstrings to prevent the knee from extending and the hip from flexing too much as the leg swings, and the hamstring stretches. Multiple studies have reported the need for greater leg strength to prevent hamstring strains. 184 It’s assumed that most strains occur eccentrically as the hamstring muscles stretch during sprinting, when the muscle’s activity is highest. 185 186 Exercises that build the eccentric contraction of the hamstrings include; single‐leg deadlifts, conventional and hex bar deadlifts, split


squats, the nordic move, walking lunges, reverse lunges, glute‐ham raises, slideboard or valslide leg curls, and barbell hip thrusts. What else is interesting is that according to one report the hamstring curl, which is probably the most commonly prescribed of all the listed drills, did not serve as an effective means of increasing eccentric hamstring strength, unfortunately. As you can clearly see, strength and specifically the strength of your hamstrings is vital to injury prevention at this lower body location. Fatigue and poor conditioning levels also tend to be associated with hamstring injuries. According to a 10‐year study that examined the injury outcomes in NFL training camps, hamstring injuries occurred primarily in the pre‐season before the 16‐week regular season. More specifically, more than 50% of these injuries happened during this training period, with a large majority occurring within the first month of practice. Fatigue naturally contributes to this major problem due to the fact that the body becomes ill‐equipped and weaker in being able to withstand and absorb our momentum during sprinting. 187 This next potential cause has been under‐researched, although authorities have mentioned that it’s an area they would like to learn about and pursue more in the future. To keep it simple: If you want to familiarize your body with a movement, so that it’s better able to understand and make the appropriate decision, practice that movement. Many people who do injure their hamstrings do not sprint regularly, and the body’s timing and reaction is naturally off, resulting in possible error and injury. Consider the fact that our body is afforded approximately a tenth of a second to make the right decision, with the right amount of effort across all muscle groups, and you can imagine how complex a process sprinting is and how little room for error there is. In one particular study, researchers found that when phases of a movement that was specific to sprinting were practiced, positional awareness of our limbs improved, indicating better coordination capacity. 188 The last cause is another no‐brainer. History of a hamstring injury shares a strong relationship with future hamstring injury, unfortunately. No report I saw refuted this notion. 189 190 This is the one factor that is out of our control. Whether it’s permanent structural adaptions or changes that have occurred to the area or some other reason, it does not matter. The only thing you can do here is follow the previous guidelines and make sure it does not happen. Q‐How should I perform the specialized methods in terms of sets, reps, etc? A‐For hip flexor training, pick one of the drills off of the menu and perform 3‐5 reps for 10‐20 seconds, or 8‐12 reps depending on the variation. For complex training, I listed some pairs you can perform. Perform a set of the strength or power drill with


the appropriate load. For example, with the sled sprints or pushes utilize 25% of your bodyweight, and the same for any squat or deadlift variation, but reference your 1RM rather than bodyweight for these. The sprint will be the distance that is listed in the speed workouts. And for assisted sprinting, follow the distance listed in the speed workout with the variation you select.


SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Travis Hansen has been involved in the field of Human Performance Enhancement for nearly a decade. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fitness and Wellness, and holds 3 different training certifications from the ISSA, NASM, and NCSF. He was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Reno Bighorns of the NBADL for their 2010 season, and he is currently the Director of The Reno Speed School inside the South Reno Athletic Club. He has worked with hundreds of athletes from almost all sports, ranging from the youth to professional ranks.

Documents

The Speed Encyclopedia · Ferrugia, Jim Wendler, Mark Rippetoe, Louie Simmons, Bret Contreras, Eric Cressey, Mike