Building A Speed Foundation
Coach Andy Helper from www.heplerstrength.com and I were talking about how many athletes have goals of becoming faster. They are misguided in thinking that can be achieved by only incorporating speed drills or jumping drills. It is part of the equation-but will not happen if you do not have a proper strength foundation. How do you build a proper foundation and why is it important? I have never seen a fast athlete that was weak. In fact, I was told that Ben Johnson was squatting 675 lbs when he broke the 100m sprint world record at a weight of 175 lbs. I am not saying that an athlete has to squat such a large amount of weight...but you have to be strong for your bodyweight. For example, two athletes can weigh 170 lbs, but if one squats 180 lbs and the other one squat 300 lbs the stronger athlete will most likely be faster. It is just how it is. If you can apply more force into the ground, send faster signals from the brain to the muscles, or activate the fast twitch fibers you will be f...