Designing an Effective Speed Training Program - Part IV

As I said at the end of last week's article, there are
5 biomotor abilities that must be trained in order to
maximize the performance of any athlete.

And this is true regardless of sport, age, talent or
experience.

It is important that these 5 abilities be trained to some
degree in every workout. However, depending on time
of year, sport and individual training goals, some will
need to be trained more frequently than others.

Of course, it is no coincidence that our Complete Speed
Training program contains, yes, *5* DVDs. And within the
overall theme of the entire series, we cover these 5
biomotor abilities in detail.

It's also why any so-called speed training program that
does not directly address all 5 biomotor abilities can
not be considered a *complete* speed training resource.

So let us review and cover these 5 traits before getting
into the meat and potatoes of specific program design.

Again, the 5 biomotor abilities are:

1. Flexibility (covered in DVD# 1 - Pre Competition)
2. Coordination (covered in DVD#2 - Agility Training)
3. Endurance (covered in DVD#3 - Hardcore Conditioning)
4. Strength (covered in DVD#4 - High Powered Training)
5. Speed (covered in DVD#5 - Pure Speed Training)

FLEXIBILITY

The need for flexibility varies by sport and event as well as
from muscle group to muscle group.

However,rarely have I ever seen an athlete who appears
to be 'too flexible.'

However, lack of flexibility is an ever present issue.

Why flexibility is so important has been covered in the
7 part series you originally signed up for, so I won't
bother being redundant here.

But for our purposes there are two types of flexibility
that we must address in our program:

1. Static flexibility
2. Dynamic flexibility

These can be addressed in different ways, many of which
are covered in the Complete Speed Training program.

Simply, the need for static stretching before a workout
or competition is a subject for debate and, like many
training factors, is a matter of preference.

However, static stretching as the sole means of improving
mobility before a game or practice is a recipe fordisaster
and a sign of sheer laziness and complacencyby the coach
who uses it.

Give your athletes a short period of time to stretch
before beginning a dynamic warm up if need be, but
dynamic mobility exercises must be the foundation of
any practice or competitive situation.

Excessive static stretching is known to decrease short
term strength and power output so it can not be the
primary method of preparation for activities requiring
strength and power output.

Save static stretching for after practice. This is where
the biggest gains in flexibility will be made. Muscles
are warm and core body temperature is raised. There is
less chance of sustaining an injury this way.

For a library of flexibility options that break 'dynamic'
and 'static' stretching into much greaterdetail and options,
refer to the 'Pre Competition'DVD of your Complete Speed
Training Program.

COORDINATION

In my opinion, lack of coordination is one of the single
greatest limiting factors to the success of young athletes,
even the 'best' ones.

Development of coordinative abilities is a requirement f
or success in sports. According to Tittel, these
abilities include:

1. To spatially orient oneself
2. To kinesthetically differentiate
3. To react
4. To keep rhythm
5. To maintian balance

In addition, coordinative ability develops before
sexual maturity. Thus, it is believed that these skills
must be developed during pre-pubescence since
they are seen to regress during puberty.

Something to keep in mind for those of you working
with young athletes or wondering if Complete Speed
Training is appropriate for your 7 - 10 year old
son or daughter.

There are an inifinite number of activities that develop
the coordinative abilities including, but notlimited to:

change of direction drills
agility ladder work
dynamic exercises
hurdle mobility
plyometrics
proprioceptive work
speed drills
medicine ball throws
strength training
sport specific activities (block work, batting practice
running routes, running approaches, kicking a ball,
etc.)

All of these activities, when structured correctly
within the overall macrocycle (yearly plan) will
develop the coordination required to succeed on
the track, court or field.

Refer to your Complete Speed Training program for
a considerable number of examples of each of these
activities.

ENDURANCE

Endurance is the capacity to maintain a certain degree
of speed in the presence of fagigue.

Specific endurance requirements vary by sport.

As I've said on countless occasions, sending a football
player or 100 meter runner out to run 3 miles is an
unacceptable waste of time, but entirely appropriate
for a soccer player or miler.

Knowledge of general physiology is a requirement for
the coach to understand the type of endurance required
for their athletes and sport.

Generally, we can break down endurance into two broad
categories:

1. General Endurance
2. Specific Endurance

General endurance is ultimately the ability to maintain
a level of performance for an extended period of time.
It includes the neuro-muscular, central nervous, and
cardio-respiratory endurance systems. General
enduranceis often equated with aerobic endurance
because of its long term nature.

Specific endurance refers to the unique endurancer
equired to perform activities from playing football
to running the marathon. As I said, different sports
require different specific endurance and knowledge
of physiology allows coaches to design training
specific to the needs of their athletes.

Check out this article on specific types of generale
ndurance training for a more detailed look at how
to design your conditioning and recovery workouts:

http://tinyurl.com/r8xkw

Again, refer to your Complete Speed Training program
for more details about general and specific endurance.

STRENGTH

Strength is another requirement of optimal speed that
is often either ignored or done incorrectly in most
programs.

Common sense tells us that athletes can't expect to get
faster if they don't get stronger. This is simply dueto the
fact that they will be unable to move theirbodies forward
due to limitations in their force output.

There are, of course, different types of strength.

As an overview of the term, absolute strength is the
ability to produce great force, regardless of the speed
of movement. This quality is fundamental to all types
of strength and governs the body's ability to control
internally generated forces.

Power is the ability to produce force quickly. Overcoming
one's bodweight quickly is critical to acceleration, the
fundamental element of speed development.

Think of power as a combination of strength and speed.
Progress in developing these two areas as part of power
development training.

General strength is the ability to control one's body
and overcome internal resistance. Think of it as a
combination of strength and coordination. This is a
critical area of development for young (high school
and below) athletes who either lack this type of strength
or focus on developing other areas and neglecting this
area, at a cost.

Use general strength for postural stability, a
substitute for weight training, endocrine system
development, coordination and recovery.

For detailed breakdowns of general and specific strength
as well as power development, refer to the Hardcore
Conditioning and High Powered Training DVDs in your
Complete Speed Training Program.

SPEED

Speed, as you know, could be the focus of, say, an
entire ongoing weekly newsletter.

A traditional definition of speed is:

'The ability to move the body and/or it's parts quickly.'

But certainly, this term has many components which
have been covered in depth in this newsletter before.

So we will not spend significant time discussing its
components here.

As with all training, I look at the demands of the activity
in regards to it's energy system requirements.

This, as before, requires a knowledge of physiology
beyond the scope of this article, but covered in part
in the following article of this newsletter.

Generally, we can break speed down into categories. Keep
in mind these are general guidelines and vary by athlete:

Acceleration: 0 - 40 meters (0 - 5 seconds)
Maximum Velocity: 40 - 80 meters (5 - 8 seconds)
Speed Endurance: 80 - 150 meters
Special Endurance I: 150 - 300 meters
Special Endurance II: 300 - 600 meters

Outside of track and field, most athletes will not
focus much time and energy beyond speed endurance.

But as I said, this is an almost unfair simplification
of 'speed'.

So refer to your Complete Speed Training program for
greater details regarding how to incorporate speed
elements into your program.

Take the time to consider how these 5 biomotor abilities
should factor into your athletes' training.

In my next report, we will get more specific about
designing your speed program.

To learn more about Complete Speed Training and save
yourself a great deal of time and effort when putting
your training program together, click here:

http://www.completespeedtraining.com