Iteachspeed

Both of these girls took their pre-seasons very seriously and had phenomenal years. Warm days, cold days they showed up, and their results speak for themselves.

Pre-season track training starting soon btw.

Long runs moderate heart rate are the most exciting things but we need that kind of training to really maximize our speed training.

Down-hill stop and start sprints.

Eccentric braking → concentric acceleration: They have to absorb/decelerate their momentum and then produce force again. That’s a useful athletic quality beyond straight-line sprinting.

The first few steps can make or break a sprint. Explode off the lead foot with force to create the horizontal power that sets up everything that follows. Win the start, build momentum, and put yourself in the best position to reach top speed.

“High-lactate glycolytic runs train your body’s anaerobic glycolytic system to tolerate and buffer high lactate levels. The goal isn’t to increase top speed—it’s to maintain speed under fatigue and delay performance breakdown late in the race.”

and field

Most athletes think they’re training speed… but they’re really training endurance.

True max speed can only be maintained for about 2–6 seconds. Once you go longer, the training stimulus changes.

If you want to get faster, stop turning every sprint into conditioning.

Train the quality you want to improve.

I started to use more “active skill rest“. I give the athletes something to do during their rest period so they’re not just doing nothing but they can work on a skill that will help develop them in their sport.

The ground is your greatest source of power.

The longer an athlete stays on the ground, the more speed they give away. The fastest athletes aren’t the ones who spend more time pushing—they’re the ones who produce the most force in the least amount of time.

Train to hit the ground with intent… then get off it.

You’ve likely never ever seen someone get into a full squat position in their sport for a reason. The squat is useful but ultimately it’s still just a secondary tool. Definitely teach them to be safe when doing it but the traditional full 90 degree squat does NOT put the athlete in an athletic position. I personally prefer to teach my athletes to do a “sport”back squat. Don’t do go down to 90 degrees AND to drive through the forefoot (not heel).

Source: Triphasic Training volume II; Cal Dietz and Mike T Nelson.