NEED FOR SPEED
Speed is one of the most interpreted and underestimated forms of training in relation to health and sport. Many trainers and trainees assume that training for speed involves endurance activities, being lean and following misguided training protocols e.g. lifting lightweights. They tend to forget what the physiological aspect of speed is and that there are many different forms of speed. So, first of all what is speed?
Speed is distance divided by time and in terms of the human body, speed is the maximum rate at which a person is able to move his/her body. In physical terms, speed is the distance moved per second. In physical performance terms it refers to the speed of coordinated joint actions and whole body movements (Physical Education and the Study of Sport 2000.)
Other physiological factors that affect speed:
Neuromuscular efficiency – motor recruitment and motor control, excitability and efficiency of the neuroendocrine system, rate of force development, intramuscular coordination, body mass, size and strength of muscles.
You need to determine what type of speed you are trying to achieve i.e.
Starting strength: - the development of force within the body (to move fast).
Speed strength: - speed with the aid of strength with speed being the dominating factor e. g propelling the body against gravity, moving a lightweight fast.
Strength speed: - speed with the aid of strength with strength being the dominating factor e. g moving heavyweight fast .
Speed endurance: – maintaining velocity over a period of time.
It is only after you have analysis of what type(s) of speed you need to develop for your requirements you can periodise a training programme to achieve the best results.
Somebody please tell me why people assume that to train for speed there is only one way, when clearly there are many different ways? When we train for speed we should pinpoint what type of speed we lack whilst continuing to progress in the other forms of speed. Also, to set another thing straight you need to be strong in order to be fast and there is a direct correlation between strength and speed.
Are you trying to tell me 100m sprinters are small and lack muscle mass and strength? I don’t think so; these guys are some of the biggest athletes yet they are the fastest.
People tend to do lots and lots of work within a training session when training for speed, when clearly training for speed is very taxing on the CNS (Central Nervous System) and any gains will rapidly decrease in a long session depending on you level of GPP (General Physical Preparedness) fitness.
I.e. If you were an athlete you clearly have a very efficient Neuroendocrine system so if you where to do 10 sets of 100m sprints the amount of work your body would go through would kill you whereas if you were a novice athlete doing the same protocol then it would be less detrimental due to the fact that your ability to move as fast, recruit more muscle and other factors would be less efficient and technically you would not be working as hard.
PFT advice is:
To finish off, all those personal trainers out there who neglect to focus on speed as an integral part of any program are not trainers in PFT’s eyes. Do your homework and research, science gets results and not constant shouts of “you can do it” and “come on”!
Here is a sample 4-week workout for a 100m sprinter trying to develop starting strength using the Westside barbell training methods.
