Top Speed Training Myths Revealed

As a speed coach, I receive questions about training speed. So I've taken those questions that I hear the most and answered them in a slightly different format.

1. Static stretching prepares you to compete/practice

Static stretching actually reduces power output. The best type of stretching that an athlete should utilize before practice is dynamic stretching which warms up the body and prepares and mimics the movement that the athlete’s body will be engaged in doing. The progression of movement should start off from basic, low intensity movements to faster, more explosive movements as the muscles loosen up.

2. Stretch and then do a warm up

You should never stretch a cold muscle because you can cause more harm than good to the muscle belly while the muscle is cold. Instead, athletes should do some small warm up to increase the body temperature so that the muscle is warm and plausible to stretch. Think of the muscle as a rubber band. Would you stretch a cold rubber band that has been in the freezer for days?

3. Strength training makes females too bulky

This is a popular mindset with many female athletes that we have worked with. However, this as far fetched of a myth than any of the ones that I have to debunk. Strength training not only is of injury prevention because it assists with building the muscles, tendons, and ligaments to withstand the stress of the sports. In addition, we know that the female population is more susceptible to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries than their male counterparts. Fatigued lower limb muscles can inhibit the ability to control dynamic sports landing movements, increasing the risk of non-contact injury to the knee’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), particularly among females. Prevention and prehabilitation is always better the rehabilitation. Strength training will improve performance and reduce injury if done correctly. If you look at Mia Hamm, Venus and Serna Williams, these athletes train with weights and have a great physique on and off the court.

4. You can’t train speed


For some reason it is a popular belief that you are born with a certain amount of ‘speed’ and you can’t improve it. If that’s the case than the Olympians that participate every four years waste their time throughout training to get better because they have nature born speed that will just come on when the touch foot on the track. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Speed is a skill that can be learned and the problem that I see with most young athletes is they are so physically weak and mechanically out of tune that significant improvements in speed can be made often just by working on technique and form. Athletes at any age and any level can improve speed when implementing a complete speed training program designed to improve and develop the entire athlete.

5. Training slow makes you fast


I don’t think coaches directly believe this way, but their training implies otherwise. I think they understand this when it comes to practicing for their sport for they know that in order for the athletes to get a true feel and understanding of what is required when in competition, the athlete must be put in ‘game speed’ situations so that their bodies are able to react. The same is true for speed training, in order for an athlete to be able to get faster, they must train their fast twitch muscle fibers consistently and properly so that they will be able to translate their training to the competition. Athletes must train how they play or train the way their sports demands of them. For example in sports that involve a higher aerobic element such as soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, etc. I see kids out running mileage and doing long slow intervals of several minutes of continuous running. If their goal is to get faster for the season and want to improve their overall speed and first step quickness to the ball, they must train their muscles to fire and work in the same manner that the demand will be placed on them for the sport. If you want athletes to improve their acceleration and top speed so they can get to the ball faster or get back on defense, then you have to train by running at full speed in practice.

6. You can train hard every day

Most coaches and parents understand this concept when it comes to strength training with training the same body part over and over. However, when it comes to speed training this concept gets thrown out the window for some reason. The workout itself is only a piece of the training puzzle. Just as with strength training, athlete’s muscles aren’t built in the weight room but during the recovery period, so is true with speed training. It is the time between intense workouts, the recovery, where athletes make their improvements. And generally it takes 36-48 hours to recover from high intensity training. If athletes are doing too much, too often they become over trained. Coaches can expect to see an increase in injuries, athletes complaining that they are sore more often, decreased performance, higher levels of fatigue earlier in games, and the BIG ONE—burnout. It’s always better to under train an athlete than over train. Err on the side of caution to get maximal results.

7. Strength training will stunt a young athlete’s growth


This is another myth held over from a different time. With parents having their kids participate in year round sports, strength training can assist with preventing some of the injuries that these athletes may be susceptible to with year round participation. These loads on the body can have a much greater physical impact than a well designed strength training program. Though I don’t usually begin training with weights with pre pubescent athletes, they can benefit from body weight exercises such as push ups, full body squats, pull ups, crunches, sit ups, etc. This will increase muscular efficiency, speed up recovery, improve coordination and overall speed.

8. The harder the workout, the better the result

Some athletes (and coaches) have this mentality that if a workout doesn’t reduce them to complete exhaustion and/or make them vomit, that it wasn’t an effective workout. I hated coaches that thought like this and now that I am a speed/ performance coach, I still hate it. The reasoning behind the vomiting is that the body is trying to buffer the blood due to it being too acidic and the lack of oxygen left for the muscles to use during the workout. Now that young athletes are dying due to myocarditis and other abnormal heart conditions, ‘old school’ coaches that have this mentality need not apply with working with youth athletes period. Also those who have this mentality probably see a lot of injuries and frustrating performances. The purpose of a workout is to stimulate an adaptation by the body. If the body is forced to do too much work in a given time period, it will break down. The skill in coaching is to stimulate the adaptation in the body, without reaching a point of diminishing returns.

9. Interval training is the same as speed training

Running repeat 100s, 200s, etc will not improve top speeds. Even running
repeat 40s with short recovery will not improve acceleration and top speeds. I wish someone had explained this myth and concept to my college coaches when they had us doing repeated 100s and 200s in the hot summer heat to improve our speed! Speed work is defined at 2-8 seconds of maximal intensity running with full recovery. That means at least 2 minutes of light dynamic movement between each effort. This
goes against the experience of some coaches, but simply put, is the only way to improve speed. An athlete must be able to focus on proper form and maintain intensity in order to get faster. If they do not recover properly from each interval, they will not be able to replicate proper mechanics with consistency and they can not improve.

10. Flexibility won’t help you get faster

Both coaches and athletes spend so much time on the skills of their sport, speed training and conditioning that they often forget a fundamental component of success: flexibility. After practice or a game, the muscles are warm and loose. Now is the time to work on increasing flexibility. So many athletes suffer injuries or compete below their capacity because poor flexibility inhibits their range of motion and speed. I see this often in the hips and hip flexors where athletes’ stride length appears conspicuously short. Most often I see this in male athletes who will lift weights, train hard and then skip out on their cool down and flexibility work. Hey I have been guilty of this one myself throughout the years of my high school and collegiate career.


11. Lift your knees

I hear so many parents and coaches yelling to their kids when they want them to run faster or when they are beginning to fatigue, “Lift your knees, Get your knees up”.
This is one of the most backwards cues you can give to athletes. The way to run faster is to apply more force to the ground. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so the more force you apply to the ground, the more the ground will give
back. So when we cue athletes to lift their knees we’re doing two things incorrectly. One, we’re telling them to use their hip flexors to lift instead of their glutes and hamstrings to drive down. Just think about the size of your hip flexor versus the size of the glutes and hamstrings. Now which muscles do you think can create more force and therefore more speed? Second, we’re cueing them and teaching a movement that is in opposition to what generates speed. If an athlete learns at age 7, to lift their knees when they need a burst of speed, that improper cue will be hardwired into their brain. To unlearn that as a teen and try to do the opposite and drive down, that athlete will have a difficult time coordinating an entirely new way of running and will potentially have to take a step or two backwards. That’s why it is critical to learn proper form early and get an advantage over those who still aren’t getting the best instruction. So cue athletes to step over the opposite knee and drive the foot down into the ground, with the foot landing underneath the hip.

Speed/ Performance Coach and Speed Camps in Charlotte, NC

Women And Sports: The Building Blocks Of A Positive, Confident Person

I am very active in my church's youth ministry. There I have the chance to interact with the males and the females that participate in the program. It is amazing to observe the group dynamics of the kids interacting with each their same gender and opposite gender peer group. Last year, one of the females in the program graduated from high school. She was a varsity basketball player, who had picked up the sport in grade school. She was graduating with honors and attending one of the state universities here in the state. In addition, she had enrolled in their competitive engineering program this fall. She was one of our strongest, if not the strongest member, of our youth group. I watched how she interacted with her peers as well as the confidence she exhibited when she had to do projects or speeches in front of the congregation in comparison to the other females that were in the group. To me, she displayed an aura of confidence and leadership that the other girls seem to lack. She never really seem to concern herself with the way she looked or how much makeup she needed to have on if we were going to a public event.

She isn't the only female that I have noticed this correlation of sports and confidence with either. My little sister has played numerous of sports while growing up. She started with basketball in middle school, then transitioned over to soccer and tennis in high school. She went to college as a walk-on in tennis and later was awarded a tennis scholarship the following year.

There are many benefits that females receive from participating in athletics. In this blog today we will briefly go over some of them as to encourage those that are reading that may be on the fence to participate or to allow their daughters to participate in athletics.

Benefits of Females In Sport

Not long ago, being serious about sports was considered appropriate only for men and boys". Throughout the 20th century, women's increasing participation in sports has challenged our conception of womanhood. In the post-Title IX era, female participation in sport has skyrocketed. In 1970, one in every twenty-seven girls played high school varsity sports; compared to one in three today. Overall, women currently outnumber men as active sports/fitness participants. Sports have many more positive effects on women than are recognized in our everyday lives. Sports are not only positive physically, but they are also very important for the psychological and social well-being of women in today's world.

Studies have shown that sports participation for girls has significant health implications:
• Sports and other exercise helps to lay down bone mass. Therefore sports can be an influence over the prevention of osteoporosis.

• Girls that participate in as little as two hours a week of exercise can reduce her risk of breast cancer.

• High school girls who participate in sports are less likely to experience unwanted pregnancy and more likely to graduate

Psychological effects of sports are equally as strong as the physical aspects. Here are some psychological benefits for girls that participate in sports:

• They have a higher self esteem and a higher level of confidence and lower levels of depression

• They have a more positive self image and experience higher states of psychological well-being than those that don't participate in sports


Through sports girls can learn intangible people skills that will help them throughout the working world. Traditionally, girls can learn teamwork and goal-setting. Sports help women learn how to work together to achieve common goals, much like that of the business world. In an age where women are rising in the corporate world, women should be as familiar with those skills as men are. In a study, 80% of the female executives that were employed by a Fortune 500 Company, identified themselves as a former "tomboy" or a former athlete of some sort.

Girls and Women Need Encouragement and Aspirational Role Models

Many people think that girls are not as interested in sport as boys. Women's Sports Foundation research shows that boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 9 -- and their parents -- are equally interested in sports participation. However, by the age of 14, girls drop out of sport at a rate that is six times greater than boys. Girls and women simply do not receive the same positive reinforcement about their sports participation. Boys receive balls, gloves and sports equipment by the age of two. They see their images on television as sportsmen, they see their photos in the sports section and know from their parents and friends that they are expected to play sports.

So what must be done to alleviate this problem?

We must do a better job of supporting our daughters' sports participation. For Christmas and birthdays, we must find books about girls in sports, give gifts of sports equipment and sports lessons. We need to take our sons and daughters to see women playing sports so they grow up appreciating and respecting the sports skills of women and so our daughters see images of themselves excelling in sports -- because she is not going to see those images on television or in the newspapers. It's no accident that girls' sports participation in Olympic sports increases significantly following the Olympic Games, one of the few times that coverage of women's sports is equal to that of men's sports. Aspirational role models drive youth demand for sports. This top to bottom synergy has not yet become commonplace in women's sports because of limited college and professional sports opportunities and television coverage.

However, the trend is clear: the increased participation and success of female athletes equates to a healthier more productive female in society. Not only will she be a force on the playing field/ court, but once she takes the sneakers, cleats, etc. off she will also be able to contribute and be a force in our community. I think with the raise in female coverage and participation "We ain't seen nothin' yet! Bust that ceiling open.-Girl Power"

Reference:
Women's Sports Foundation. http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org
Personal Trainer in Charlotte, NC

Top 5 Sports Every Child Should Play

As a kid, my mother never allowed me to play organized football early on, even though each year I would ask her to sign me up in the local Pop Warner organization. However, what she did do was sign me up for a plethora of other sports such as soccer, t-ball, baseball, and basketball to name a few. I never really understood why she wasted her time (and mine) with making me play those boring sports when she knew my heart was in football. Maybe she knew that I needed those motor skills from the other sports to make me a better athlete in football. (Nah! I think she was scared seeing her only son out there on the football field). I guess whatever the reason I thank her for it because it made me a better athlete overall in the long run.

When I work with youth athletes the main stories that usually have me cringe and run for cover deal with the adults (coaches and parents).

The first scenario deals with the over-zealous, poorly educated coach that prides his program or team on how many wins or league championships that he has taken then to thus robbing the kid of a great experience and potentially being one of the factors that cause the kid to drop out early in that particular sport never to play again. Instead, less focus should be placed on the outcomes of the sports (though we do want our athletes to develop that drive to be the best that they possibly can be without developing a quitter's attitude), and more focus should be placed on teaching and instructing the proper way to play the sport and building a firm foundation not only physically but mentally by addressing the motor skills needed at that particular age.

Coaches are so often limited in their knowledge about the necessary building blocks needed for physical success for the age group that they are coaching. In many cases, they are just volunteers, who may have had some experience with sports because they either played or watched the game and have been asked by the head of the organization to coach the team because no one else is proficient enough to take on the task. Less time is spent on building a foundation of motor skill development and addressing the bio-mechanical needs of the group, while more time is spent on drilling the kids with age-inappropriate drills that usually predispose the child to learning the technique wrong (in which most cases an expert has to re-teach the drill correctly) or predispose the child to injury.

The second most common scene is the parents who are way too invested in the success of their kid. They either themselves are constantly training their kid, or the kid is participating year round in sport. Many children today start specializing in one sport way too early -- playing year-round, joining competitive club or travel teams and participating in specialized training programs -- believing they'll put themselves on the fast track to college scholarships or maybe even a pro sports career.

But for too many of these kids, that fast track leads straight to injuries, sometimes serious ones. More concentration should be on allowing the kid to participate in as many different sports as possible so that it exposes them to a variety of motor skills and different presentations/ situations for those motor skills.


A story was once told to me about a parent who had their kid participating in baseball. This kid played pitcher. The parents were so invested in wanting their kid to be the best in town that they had enrolled him into three different leagues simultaneously in three different towns that were in close proximity with one another. The kid would play the first game, hop in the car drive over to the next town and pitch in second game. Once the second game was over, he would participate as the starting pitcher in the final game one town over. When the story was presented to me, the storyteller posed the question should this be considered a form of 'child abuse'? Of course, this story is extreme but my point is that year round training exactly stunts the growth of the athlete in the long run because it can predispose them to detrimental outcomes (1) burn out/ early drop out which could result in being turned off to fitness altogether and (2) overuse injuries i.e. Little Leaguer's Elbow.

Youth sports have become big business in this country. If you don't believe me, then turn on your television, you can find some type of sporting event sponsored by some big corporation promoting the youth event. Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer that sports are one of the best tutors to nurture and develop kids into becoming great leaders and possessing great skills sets that can be utilized over a lifetime; however, the emphasis should not be placed on the wins and loses. The emphasis should be on developing a 'global' athlete and preparing them for the next phase in their athletic career.

My athletic career is similar to the above. I loved to play football. I couldn't get enough of it. Even though, some of my best experience during the years was learned playing football, I truly felt as if I was underdeveloped as an athlete skill wise when transitioning from one competitive level to the next. It was seen when I moved from Pop Warner to high school football. I had to learn twice as hard as my teammates because I couldn’t comprehend and demonstrate the necessary skill sets needed to play on the high school level. While playing Pop Warner, the coaches' main focus was outcome driven- going to the next bowl game or trying to have a perfect season. Less time was spent on the fundamentals of football i.e. receiving a hand off properly from the line of scrimmage or switching the ball from one hand to the other properly. I just couldn't do it. So, I had to practice and teach myself the fundamentals during the off-season or after practice so that I could compete and keep up with my teammates. Likewise, the same happened when I transitioned from high school to college (which I was constantly reminded daily by my college defensive back coach). There were areas that my college coaches were amazed (and usually frustrated with me) because I couldn't perform. As you know, on this stage the stakes are the highest and usually patience for error is at a all time low. The end result cost me playing time and even scholarship money. I always felt like the kid that had to "catch up" with learning the skills needed to excel not only in the sport but excel at the position that I was playing. This is the reason why when I train youth today, the majority of my coaching style is based upon teaching the fundamentals needed to not only excel with performance at the current level, but be a ‘global’ athlete with a strong foundation of motor skills.


So what sports should a young athlete start off participating in?

Here are the top 5 sports that a young athlete should play early on:

1. Tennis-it's fun and keeps the child in shape and develops the child hand-eye coordination and kinesthetic differentiation of ball play. Kinesthetic differentiation refers to the knowledge of how much force is necessary to produce a desired result. Kids have to judge how hard they need to hit the ball in order for it to stay in play and score. Likewise, it teaches great mental development in strategic play with placing the ball away from the opponent to score. Also it's great for developing balance and reaction skills.

2. Soccer-improves on foot dexterity and hand-eye coordination. It is a great opportunity to also stimulate their mental capacities as well base upon the tactical nature of soccer which can be applied to other field and court sports. Examples of tactical development is seen with learning the give and go, moving without the ball to invade the opponent's space, etc. Also it is great for developing change of direction (i.e. agility), explosive movement and acceleration and deceleration training- going from a near standing position to a full sprint and back to static position.

3. Swimming-every muscle is used in this sport which builds great mobility in the shoulder and hip joints. At the same rate, it adds a great deal of pliability to the frame of a young athlete. Additionally, kinesthetic differentiation is developed in this sport. Swimming is the essence of building kinesthetic differentiation – kids simply won’t last long in a pool if they put as much force as possible into every stroke.

4. Gymnastics and dance (yes, dance is cool thanks to former NFL running back, Emmitt Smith and 'Dancing With The Stars')-spatial awareness, flexibility, upper and lower body strength, coordination, being able to control and manipulate their body, dynamic and static balance, etc are all learned with participating in these sports. Just the ability to learn how to fall properly is priceless because it can prevent injury for any sport that they participate in.

5. Martial arts-not for the brutal or self defense component, but to stimulate their mind and teach self discipline (which is important in sport and life), balance, spatial awareness, coordination development, as well as overall fitness.

Here is a mock annual calendar for the youth athlete:

Summer-Dance/gymnastics
Fall-Soccer
Winter-Indoor Swimming
Spring-Martial Arts/ Tennis

Parents should seek out a programs, performance coaches/trainers, and/or coaches that expose their child to a wide variety of components in motor skill development. They should enroll their children in seasonal sports instead of year-round programs geared towards one sport. If parents keep to a schedule as the above then they will alleviate a lot of the risk discussed in this article (1) their athlete will stay stimulated and engaged because of the constant change in activity. (2) injury due to overuse injuries is minimized. (3) the child is able to develop the motor skills needed to become a 'global' athlete which spells FUTURE SUCCESS.

Until next time, keep playing and keep active.

Reference: Brian Grasso http://www.DevelopingAthletics.com

Personal Trainer in Charlotte, NC

Global Training for Youth Athletes

The majority of my information on today's topic is taken from one of the leading youth fitness experts in the world, Mr. Brian Grasso.


With that said let's get started.

Remember back in the day when you were a kid, you would go outside and play multiple games throughout the day. The day may start off with you and the fellows walking to your neighbor's house to ask and see if your best friend could come out but during that trip you wouldn't just walk on the sidewalk like normal kids, you would walk on the edge of the sidewalk to test your balance and coordination or play "Don't step on the crack cause it'll break your momma's back. Remember that was the game where you jumped the lines that separated the slobs of cement from each other on the sidewalk. Once everyone got outside you guys may warm up by playing a quick game of freeze tag. Then progress to playing some type of sport rather it was touch football, or basketball, or some type of organized play depending on the season that was in or televised on tv. Afterward, somebody would notion everyone going to get their bikes so you guys could ride up to the corner store to get some candy or something. And if you didn't have a bike, then you either rode standing on the back spokes of the guy who did have a bike, or you rode on the front handlebars as he used you as his personal Tom Tom navigation system. And at the end the day you guys may have orchestrated "the fastest kid in the neighborhood" race so to see who was the fastest kid in the neighborhood.

I had the opportunity this week to work with one of the local high schools where I currently reside. Before working with them, the coach and I met so that I had a clear vision on what goals she wanted for her team. I thought her response was going to be for me to come in and bring out all the toys and whistles that I have i.e. the agility ladder or some piece of agility/ speed equipment. But I was pleasantly surprised because that was not the case. What she said her number one goal that she wanted me to work with her girl's basketball team on was developing and improving upon their global skills and motor skills instead of concentrating on sports specific training.

Some reading this article may ask why???

And here is the answer. FOUNDATION.


Most parents, coaches, and trainers have narrow goals when designing a program for their youth athlete. However, like yesterday's post, the main goal for youth athletes should be for them to master the different motor skill components of coordination before they are introduced to more complex topics or sport specific drills and subjects. A global development of training approach not only ensures success in the future for the athlete but also prevents future injury.



The goal in early training for youth is to develop coordination through movement based stimuli so that they graduate later in their adolescence and post adolescence years to a more sports specific type of training that parents, coaches, and trainers are accustom to seeing and more familiar with their athlete participating in. First, let's define coordination. Most reading this post may think of coordination being a single ability or single skill; however, coordination is made up of several elements that work together. These elements are balance, rhythm, spatial orientation, and the ability to react to auditory and visual cues. An example of a coordination program would be a young athlete performing some type of spatial awareness exercise with no speed involved in the beginning and later progress to the same skill with the incorporation of a speed component combined with a change in the environment to make it more challenging for the athlete to master.


Research points out that coordination development is best introduced between the ages of 7-14 with the most crucial period of learning and training being in the period of 10-13. At the age of 16 usually is when the athlete has optimized the development of coordination. As a result, the drills planned should be age appropriate and structured so that it is challenging but yet fun for optimal results. Athletes who have a firm foundation with coordination development are far better athletes in the long term than athletes who are never exposed or are exposed to coordination/ global training later in their athletic career after these prescribed ages.


Why you might ask?


Because it is all about building a firm foundation to work upon. I like to use the analogy of a Jenga game, in which one piece missing could be detrimental in the end and cause the whole structure to fall. Thus young athletes should have a firm foundation so that they become a successful and healthy athlete in the long term.

Coordination development is a process of years of exposure to diverse yet versatile exercises and training. Coaches, parents, and trainers must understand that coordination training is a process and that each component builds upon the other. This statement alone should cause parents, coaches, and trainers to sit up and pay more close attention. Young athletes should have an opportunity to be exposed to different kinds of sports on a yearly basis so that they are introduced to a variety of coordination skills that they ordinarily would not be exposed to if they were to play the same sport year-round. Parents and coaches should not concentrate so much on sport-specific and specialized training for young athletes early on because it causes a faulty, weak foundation in the long term.

In addition, parents, coaches, and trainers should not wait to introduce global training in the beginning of an athlete's adolescent years because of the rapid changes that occur in their bodies during this period of time. The best time to introduce global training is during the pre-adolescence years when the athlete's nervous system is still highly plausible and their motor skill learning has not become fully developed permanently. Once the athlete masters the pre-adolescent stage, the next level to build upon is their adolescent years in which the main goal should be to refine those skills that were introduced in the pre-adolescent stage. Then and only then should the concentration be shifted to a more sports-specific or specialized type of environment for the athlete, which we will call the post-adolescence stage.

I must address the issue of genetics as it relates to global training. Less coordinated athletes will never exhibit the coordination of well-skilled athletes no matter how much global training they receive; however, improvement will be seen and achieved on a more personal level.

So to recap all that was covered today these are the base points that parents, coaches, and trainers should consider when training a young athlete in the beginning:


1. Start young – coordination improves as a result of learning and mastering new movements. Start young athletes off early with coordination-based exercises that challenge their abilities (within reason). The more coordination a young athlete has, the more ability he or she will display at any perspective sport.


2. Challenge young athletes on an individual and appropriate level – Some youngsters have good balance while others display good rhythm. The key to successful coaching is to undercover what elements of coordination each athlete requires and develop drills/exercises that most suitably target the weaknesses.


3. Change exercises frequently – young athletes learn quickly in most cases. Be sure to challenge them physically and intellectually with new exercises often.

Until then keep working hard. Tomorrow we will look at what sports every kid must play in order to be an overall stud on the field/ court/ or rink.

Personal Trainer in Charlotte, NC