Speed development is crucial for athletes. A slow athlete may know the game inside and out, but in the end they are still slow, and therefore unlikely to get any playing time. A fast athlete on the other hand may not know the game as well, but they are fast, and therefore in the coaches eyes more valuable as a player. The way coaches see it is they can’t teach speed, but they can teach the sport. However, what you can to is train speed. With the right kind of training even a slow athlete can become fast and a fast athlete can become even faster. Outlined below are my top 5 exercises for building speed in athletes and why I feel they are the most effective.
1) Squats
The granddaddy of all leg exercises. Different variations of squats are great for developing explosive power, which translates to speed. One of my favorite methods to use is dynamic box squats with bands or chains as added resistance. Using about 50-60% of an athlete’s 1RM plus bands or chains for 6-8 sets of 2-3 reps will help develop pure explosive power allowing them to accelerate faster when they run.
2) Bulgarian Split Squat
Bulgarian Split Squats are one of my favorite exercises period. They are excellent for developing the glutes and hamstrings as well as core strength and balance, all of which play important roles in speed development. You can do these with either a barbell on your back or holding dumbbells. Either way this will be a great exercise. For the purposes of speed development I prefer to do these with dumbbells. The position mimics that of sprinting with one leg extended behind you and the other driving into the ground. Try these for 3 sets of 8 after your squats.
3) Bounding
Bounding? Really? Yes. Stride length is a huge factor in athletic speed. Think about it. A longer stride means more ground covered in less time. Look at Usain Bolt. He is the fastest man in the world and has a huge advantage over everyone he races because his legs are so long. His stride length is ridiculous! For every step he takes other athletes are having to take 1 ½ steps. That means it a 3/2 ratio of their steps to his. He is covering a lot more ground in a lot less time. Another example is the NFL combine 40 yard dash. Some guys can complete the race in about 18 steps, while others take around 20-21 steps. Who do you think typically has the faster times? The guys who do it in 18 steps, that’s who. Bounding helps to increase stride length, which in turn adds to speed.
4) Single Leg RDL
Another exercise that emphasizes the posterior chain. The glutes, hamstrings and back muscles play such a huge role in speed it is hard to emphasize how truly important it really is to develop these areas. The single leg RDL is one of the best exercises because it makes the athlete focus on balance and movement at the same time, plus targets the glutes and hamstrings extremely well. An athlete with weak glutes and/or hamstrings will be slow. Period. These areas need to be trained and developed for an athlete to be fast.
5) Sprints
Last, but certainly not least, sprints are the key to speed. You can lift all the weights in the world and train until you pass out, but if you aren’t practicing your sprinting you will never be fast! Doing sprints is not just a matter of going to a field and sprinting though. You should be focusing on the mechanics of it. Are your heels touching the ground or are you on the balls of your feet? Are you staying low for an extended period of time or standing up too early? Are you getting a good, strong drive phase and extending your stride as you go or are you getting to full stride length too fast? How is your arm swing? Across your body or straight forward and back? These are all things that you need to focus on to become fast. One mechanical error will throw off your entire body and cause you to be slow because other areas will have to compensate. A good practice is to video tape yourself and critique your form. You can fix a lot of errors this way and cut tenths or hundredths of a second off of your time, which could be the difference in winning or losing a race or getting drafted or not getting drafted to the pro’s.
These 5 exercises are by no means the only ones that I use to help my athletes develop speed, they are just 5 of my favorites and are consistently in my speed routines because of how effective they are. I do not use a lot of Olympic lifting as it takes too long to teach and years of practice to actually get it right. I simply don’t have that kind of time to produce results! Instead I substitute kettlebell exercises as they can be just as effective and are much easier to teach how to do. Please feel free to comment or ask questions.
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