YOU CAN'T BUILD SPEED..or can you?

[EndLineTraining]

A little something I wrote on why athletes don't get faster. http://endlinetraining.com/2013/11/1...ed-or-can-you/

1. Speed kills. This is true. 2. Speed cannot be trained. This is not true. Hopefully I have made some kid out there very happy by saying this. So why do some many people think that speed cannot be trained for? We can get stronger, jump higher, improve our mile time, improve flexibility but not speed? This seems a bit fishy to me. The reason why this myth is believed by so many is because no one gets faster. Stick with me here for a second because I know what I just said. It is actually pretty rare for athletes to improve their speed and the reason is because it is very difficult to get faster. Speed development is like getting your first kiss, it isn’t easy and it is going to take some work. I think this can be best described by a specific example from yours truly.
In the sports world if you can run a 4.5 second 40 yard dash you are considered fast and if you run above a 5 second 40 yard dash you are considered pretty darn slow. So anyone would agree that if an athlete went from a 5 second 40 to a 4.5 second 40 they made a huge improvement. This sort of improvement in reality is only a 10% increase in speed. (5x.10=.5). The first 40 I ever ran was 5.00 and seven years later I ran a 4.53 second 40. I was an odd case because I was injured half the time so lets just say that in the ideal situation this sort of improvement took 3 years to achieve. I think most people would say this is would be a worthwhile endeavor; dropping a half of a second off a 40.
Now let’s look at developing strength. Let’s say an athlete was trying to increase the number of push-ups they could do and can only perform 30 before training. Increasing that number by 10% with training would result in 3 extra push-ups (30+3=33 YAY). Even in the worst circumstances this sort of improvement would take 3 weeks at max to achieve. What if this took three years though? Would going from 30 push-ups to 33 push-ups be worthwhile? How many athletes would have the work ethic, the drive, the fortitude and determination to reach that goal? I would say very few and this is why athletes don’t get faster. **There is one other factor that will be addressed in a minture but this is the number one reason.
So hopefully we can appreciate how difficult speed is to achieve. It is not impossible but athletes need to realize it is going to take time. There are no special devices or gimmicks or tricks to gaining speed. Speed takes time and one other thing; a plan.
Athletes can go out and run miles everyday with no plan and continue to improve their mile time for years. Athletes can just do push-ups to failure everyday and consistently make improvements in strength but this is not the case with speed. Athletes need a plan to gain speed. They can’t just go out and sprint the same distances everyday for the same amount of time and expect to get faster. More times than not the athlete will end up with an injury and no increases in speed with this approach. A plan with proper exercises, sets, reps, distances and periodization is needed in order to reach this speed goal. So any athlete who wants to get faster needs to understand that it is very possible but they need to realize it isn’t going to happen overnight.

www.endlinetraining.com
www.********.com/endlinetraining

[BigStewTheJew]

Not really gainin speed in 40 improvment times though. Your improving acceleration for the most part

[LegitSalsa]

You sir, are one of the best things that has happened to this section of BB.com in a long, long time.

Anyways, I have a few questions for you:

Does explosiveness = agility?
How would you go about making a program that combines explosiveness/agility (and speed to a lesser extent)?

[EndLineTraining]

Not really gainin speed in 40 improvment times though. Your improving acceleration for the most part

I did not denote this as top speed, I only related towards speed in general and acceleration is a component of speed.

[EndLineTraining]

You sir, are one of the best things that has happened to this section of BB.com in a long, long time.

Anyways, I have a few questions for you:

Does explosiveness = agility?
How would you go about making a program that combines explosiveness/agility (and speed to a lesser extent)?

Agility is a component of strength, speed and body position, so yes.

As for your second question that is a rather long answer but in general I think speed and strength should be built first and foremost. Once you have a solid foundation of speed and strength then gaining explosiveness will be much easier. If you aren't strong or fast you should not be trying to build explosiveness because just getting strong and fast will get you explosive. This doesn't mean you can't do any plyo's or med ball throws but they shouldn't be the primary focus of training. The less advanced the athlete is, the lesser role they should play in the program.

[HunterTheRed]

subscribed

[Highjumper21]

Not really gainin speed in 40 improvment times though. Your improving acceleration for the most part

This.

In a 40 you are really testing acceleration because in football you need to speed up quickly and be agile. Good for you if you have a higher top speed than the guy next to you but if he can beat you on a 40 then he will get the spot over you.

Contradictory to track
In a 100 you want a "slower" more powerful start compared to a quick start (the ones you'd see in a 40). People in 100 hit top speed around 40-50 and start slowin down around 60-70 (70 is a bit high).


You can get a higher top speed but that is to be tested in a 100 (assuming you can execute the technique right)
You can improve your acceleration but that is to be tested in a 40 (really a 60m would be better because 40 dashes are a joke)

[EndLineTraining]

This.

In a 40 you are really testing acceleration because in football you need to speed up quickly and be agile. Good for you if you have a higher top speed than the guy next to you but if he can beat you on a 40 then he will get the spot over you.

Contradictory to track
In a 100 you want a "slower" more powerful start compared to a quick start (the ones you'd see in a 40). People in 100 hit top speed around 40-50 and start slowin down around 60-70 (70 is a bit high).


You can get a higher top speed but that is to be tested in a 100 (assuming you can execute the technique right)
You can improve your acceleration but that is to be tested in a 40 (really a 60m would be better because 40 dashes are a joke)

First part-I'm pretty sure techno/tactical skills determines who starts between two decently fast guys.

2nd part- Please explain how you can be slow and powerful at the same time in the start? If you are powerful in the start you will be fast. The whole theory behind getting out slow to increase the time you hit your top speed doesn't work idc how good it sounds. Try and get out slow versus someone who gets out quick, accelerates to 60 and has great speed endurance. You'll never win. The thing that needs to happen for this type of athlete is to increase top speed in the off-season so that way the individual can accelerate longer. Once you hit your top speed you can't accelerate more which is where speed endurance comes into play.

I think people may be getting the wrong idea here about this post. I just used a 40 to show that improvements take time. I could've used the 60, 100 or pure top speed numbers. The point of the message is that it takes time and a plan.

[adrikstalin]

A little something I wrote on why athletes don't get faster. http://endlinetraining.com/2013/11/1...ed-or-can-you/

1. Speed kills. This is true. 2. Speed cannot be trained. This is not true. Hopefully I have made some kid out there very happy by saying this. So why do some many people think that speed cannot be trained for? We can get stronger, jump higher, improve our mile time, improve flexibility but not speed? This seems a bit fishy to me. The reason why this myth is believed by so many is because no one gets faster. Stick with me here for a second because I know what I just said. It is actually pretty rare for athletes to improve their speed and the reason is because it is very difficult to get faster. Speed development is like getting your first kiss, it isn’t easy and it is going to take some work. I think this can be best described by a specific example from yours truly.
In the sports world if you can run a 4.5 second 40 yard dash you are considered fast and if you run above a 5 second 40 yard dash you are considered pretty darn slow. So anyone would agree that if an athlete went from a 5 second 40 to a 4.5 second 40 they made a huge improvement. This sort of improvement in reality is only a 10% increase in speed. (5x.10=.5). The first 40 I ever ran was 5.00 and seven years later I ran a 4.53 second 40. I was an odd case because I was injured half the time so lets just say that in the ideal situation this sort of improvement took 3 years to achieve. I think most people would say this is would be a worthwhile endeavor; dropping a half of a second off a 40.
Now let’s look at developing strength. Let’s say an athlete was trying to increase the number of push-ups they could do and can only perform 30 before training. Increasing that number by 10% with training would result in 3 extra push-ups (30+3=33 YAY). Even in the worst circumstances this sort of improvement would take 3 weeks at max to achieve. What if this took three years though? Would going from 30 push-ups to 33 push-ups be worthwhile? How many athletes would have the work ethic, the drive, the fortitude and determination to reach that goal? I would say very few and this is why athletes don’t get faster. **There is one other factor that will be addressed in a minture but this is the number one reason.
So hopefully we can appreciate how difficult speed is to achieve. It is not impossible but athletes need to realize it is going to take time. There are no special devices or gimmicks or tricks to gaining speed. Speed takes time and one other thing; a plan.
Athletes can go out and run miles everyday with no plan and continue to improve their mile time for years. Athletes can just do push-ups to failure everyday and consistently make improvements in strength but this is not the case with speed. Athletes need a plan to gain speed. They can’t just go out and sprint the same distances everyday for the same amount of time and expect to get faster. More times than not the athlete will end up with an injury and no increases in speed with this approach. A plan with proper exercises, sets, reps, distances and periodization is needed in order to reach this speed goal. So any athlete who wants to get faster needs to understand that it is very possible but they need to realize it isn’t going to happen overnight.

www.endlinetraining.com
www.********.com/endlinetraining

One of the great examples in sports nowadays that I can give is Cristiano Ronaldo. He's at 34 km/hr right now. I think he started at 28 or something, not sure where he started. But I wanted to ask you, which aspects do I need to consider when designing a plan? Do I need a professional trainer or can I design one that suits me based upon several aspects that I should consider?

[EndLineTraining]

One of the great examples in sports nowadays that I can give is Cristiano Ronaldo. He's at 34 km/hr right now. I think he started at 28 or something, not sure where he started. But I wanted to ask you, which aspects do I need to consider when designing a plan? Do I need a professional trainer or can I design one that suits me based upon several aspects that I should consider?

I'm in the process of writing a very long article detailing the specific aspects of post-season, off-season, pre-season and in-season. It'll detail the goals of each phases and methods of obtaining those goals. Be on the look out for it on here or my website www.endlinetraining.com

[anonlifter]

doing a lot of squats/deadlifts and sprinting definitely helped my speed for sure

[The Running Man]

This.

In a 40 you are really testing acceleration because in football you need to speed up quickly and be agile. Good for you if you have a higher top speed than the guy next to you but if he can beat you on a 40 then he will get the spot over you.

Contradictory to track
In a 100 you want a "slower" more powerful start compared to a quick start (the ones you'd see in a 40). People in 100 hit top speed around 40-50 and start slowin down around 60-70 (70 is a bit high).


You can get a higher top speed but that is to be tested in a 100 (assuming you can execute the technique right)
You can improve your acceleration but that is to be tested in a 40 (really a 60m would be better because 40 dashes are a joke)

Nobody in the 100m is trying to start slow, or "delay" their acceleration, or any of that crap. What's really taking place is proper acceleration mechanics, which entails long complete pushes, especially in the first few steps. People with poor mechanics will often "spin" and transition to upright running much too early, which tends to have the appearance of being faster, but it's slower. Guys going into combine testing will get crash courses in sprint mechanics, and will often see their 40yrd times drop in a few weeks, but there's no way they're going to perfect the skill to the level of someone like Asafa Powell.

Also, your top speed numbers are a little off unless we're talking about intermediate sprinters. Elite women will tend to hit top speed around 40-60m, but elite men will do it around 50-70m. Bolt's fastest 10m split of 0.81s was achieved from 60-70m in Berlin 2009 when he broke the world record.

[xxsupergman25xx]

I agree with you can train speed. Why would any athlete train to run if they couldnt get faster? It would seem illogical to think you cant train to gain speed.