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How to become a faster athlete for any sport

When considering the physical attributes that make up athletic performance, such as strength, speed, explosiveness, and endurance, speed surpasses them all. If you had to pick one over all the others, the smart choice is speed. In wrestling, for example, no matter how strong, fit or technical they are, the faster athlete has the advantage. You will be able to beat your opponent by takedowns every time, as well as escape from the bottom position much more easily. These are the two main ways to score in wrestling and the fastest athlete will be in control of them. In soccer, the benefits of speed are obvious, from running to the goal line faster, better protecting your quarterback, and even tackling. A blow given by a lighter body weight athlete that is extremely fast hurts as much as being hit by a heavy weight. Improving your speed will help you excel in almost all physical sports, so any athlete who wants to win and be the best should train for it. The question is how do you do it?

The best way to improve athletic speed is by taking a methodical approach by incorporating various exercises and drills into numerous aspects of your training throughout the year. However, if you are looking for an easier and shorter program, you can also improve speed by simply adding a few basics to the workout you are already doing. When planning your program, keep in mind that speed has a genetic component; some athletes are naturally much faster than others and this is built into their DNA. These athletes will still want to train for speed to try to improve what they have or at least live up to their full potential. If you are an ordinary athlete like most of us, there is still hope. All athletes can greatly improve their speed by training. Even if you’re not born with Superman’s speed genes, you still have a certain amount of genetic potential at your current level of muscle mass. In most athletes, it is highly likely that the speed component of their genes remains untapped and underdeveloped simply due to lack of training, if not a lack of practical training knowledge.

Improving your speed is a complicated game that involves both your nervous system and your muscles at the same time. The goal is to get the muscles of the body to contract more explosively through certain movements, however all aspects of speed must be taken into account when developing a training program. In addition to a one-time explosive contraction, an athlete may also need speed for an extended period of time, such as a 40-yard dash. Most sports require numerous repetitions of explosive contractions, rather than just one. All of these must be trained, however it is more important to use sport-specific exercises and training methods. There are several well-known basic training methods to improve speed for all athletes in this sport. However, for a better transfer, it is essential to perform speed drills and drills that incorporate sport-specific movements and scenarios.

One way to improve your speed is to try to be faster and more explosive by moving only your own body weight. This includes fast-moving bodyweight exercises such as spreads, box jumps, knee jumps, sprints, long jumps, explosive starts, etc. Exercises that are sport-specific are also great to practice and necessary to best translate into actual performance. For example, fighters practice phantom shots for thousands of reps to develop a faster, more explosive takedown. Soccer players practice exploding off the line for thousands of reps to be first on their opponent and perfect their technique. There are several ways to incorporate bodyweight speed exercises into your program. One way is to give this type of workout a full session of yourself once a week, for 8-10 weeks. Another way is to include only a few exercises / drills with body weight at the beginning of other types of workouts. For example, your warm-up for leg day consists of numerous sets of box jumps.

For the best speed transfer, it is best to maintain rapid body weight movements at the beginning of a workout. This is when your nervous system is cooler and less fatigued. Some argue that doing bodyweight speed work at the end of a workout can possibly lead to a reduction in speed. This is because at the end of a hard training session, you will most likely have physically peaked much earlier and your cortisol levels will be higher. Explosive contractions are very demanding on an already depleted nervous system and this can easily and quickly lead to overtraining. This is why performing explosive bodyweight moves at the beginning of your workout makes the most sense. Before doing this, it is also important to stretch and warm up really well using dynamic methods. In general, speeding up your bodyweight before training is a great warm-up and improves conditioning as well. It should also be noted that in many sports, athletes must continue to be explosive for long periods of time, while exhausted. With this in mind, a percentage of your speed training should also include exercises at the end of hard workouts or just after specific body parts have previously been exhausted. When doing bodyweight speed work when you are already fatigued, choose less complex movements. For example, at the end of a hard-legged day, don’t go for box jumps as they are too taxing on the nervous system and dangerous to perform. A better option is long jumps.

In addition to bodyweight blast exercises, you can also be much faster by adding resistance to your speed work. An example of this is holding light weights while doing box jumps. For wrestlers, a good example is taking phantom shots against the resistance of a training band. For sprinters, this is running while using a parachute or while holding onto a resistance band. To improve your vertical jump, this is practicing your jump using a harness with resistance bands glued to the ground. While these exercises are very helpful, they should not completely replace bodyweight exercises, but simply add them to the program. Bodyweight exercises should be performed first and can be used as a warm-up for resistance bodyweight exercises. After a good dynamic warm-up, simply performing several sets of both types of speed work several times a week before your regular workout will yield noticeable gains in speed in just 6-8 weeks, depending on the intensity level during each session.

For a more complete development, speed training should also be incorporated into weight lifting. This is done by lifting submaximal weights as fast as you can while maintaining control of the movement. A good example is using the box squat for speed work. The best way to do this is by using 40-50% of your maximum for 6-9 sets of 2. The sets are performed as explosively as possible and come to a complete stop on the box during each rep. Contrasts, such as risers and chains, are also useful for developing speed, but are best for advanced athletes. A good method to produce known results is to perform box squat speed work during a three-week progressive resistance wave. For example, week 1, make 8/2 at 45% of your maximum, week 2, 8/2 at 50%, and week 3, 55%. Speed ​​work can also be done for other exercises such as the bench press, deadlift, hang, and / or power clean. If you use pulling moves (like dead or clean lifts), do 5-6 sets of explosive singles instead of 8/2. These exercises should be performed as the first lift during a session with the supporting accessories to follow. You can also continue to develop speed by doing repetition work during accessory lifts. To do this, perform each rep as explosively as possible for each rep / set you do.