Speed First

Most people agree that speed wins, then why if that is the case isn’t it made a priority. You must work on speed first and foremost. You must incorporate some elements of speed from the first training cycle through to the peak competition. That is true if you are training for a marathon or 100 meters, basketball or rugby. It must be part of every training cycle. I find it quite amusing when I hear a coach say that we have been working on base work, but I have not started speed work yet. What are you waiting for? The problem with that approach is that they are not training to be fast, they are training to endure, and then magically they hope that the fast will come. They are essentially training speed out that is easy. The inevitable result is undue soreness and greater risk of injury because of the abrupt change in the training program when they do start to emphasize anything fast. The key is to never get too far away from running fast. Always train speed in. It should be part of the first training cycle of the year and be a part of each subsequent training cycle. Speed development work can be as simple as sprint drills, light acceleration drills, or for a distance runner simply finishing each run with 8 –10 x 100 meter fast strides, but it must be there all the time. Speed first to be first.

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Comment by Vern Gambetta on April 12, 2012 at 9:19am: You are spot on. I encourage my athletes to be more like kids. Sometimes we do overcomplicate things.

Comment by Jason Roe on April 11, 2012 at 6:36pm: Karsten,

Can an athlete run without the stabilizer work? Small children can run without ever having done stabilser endurance work with a band. This is not an insult in any way. I have athletes perform hip strengthening work with bands as well, but sometimes I wonder if we overcomplicate things. Logical progressions are part of an effective program, but I think we may have gone too far if we say an athlete "cannot" or "is not ready" for a basic biomotor skill until they have performed a particular special exercise. When I watched my kids learn to creep, crawl, stand, walk, and run, I never had to have them do any exercises, they just kept growing, increasing their strength, and they tried the movements (practiced) until they succeeded.

Comment by Karsten Jensen on April 11, 2012 at 10:17am: I agree, given that the athlete is ready for speed work. Being ready for speed work includes optimal stabiliser endurance, optimal structural strength and optimal movement patterns at lower speeds.

Here is one way that I include speed work in the stabiliser training:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUlThSAuiEA&feature=g-upl&co...

I have no science to back it up, but body weight exercises at 1 rep per second or non impact plyometrics are two other great ways.