The Quick and The Dead

This past summer, my best friend from high school got married down in New Orleans. He has an awesome job, as he works directly under the General Manager for the New Orleans Hornets. At the wedding ceremony, I got to talking to one of the Head Scouts for the Hornets. He told me (in a very thick Texas drawl) "Son, there are 2 different kind of Point Guards in the NBA....The quick and the dead...either you're quick...or you're dead!" He followed this with a loud bellowing laugh that startled me more than his punchline, but his point was well taken.

In many ways, gaining speed is the "holy grail" of the strength and conditioning professionals. Speed kills...and it kills your career. Odds are, an inability to play your sport at the next level is largely a result of a lack of skill development, a lack of size, and a lack of SPEED. But how does one get faster? How does one truly see results? I have seen so many trainers spend an hour on speed training with young kids where they solely perform running mechanics drills, ladders, hurdles, and "dot drills." Notice not one sprint is included in here. Not one cone drill. Gaining speed is really very simple; in fact is it so simple that many parents, coaches, and athletes want to make it into far, far more than what it really entails.

1.) Central Nervous System Efficiency. This is the ability of your CNS to "fire" and signal your motor units to get those muscles moving. This is a LARGELY genetically predetermined trait, although it can be improved to a certain degree. Overspeed chords, plyos, and safe explosive exercises such as box jumps, band squats, high pulls, etc. can help.

2.) Body composition. A famous trainer once told me "Fat don't fly!." And he is right. Carrying excess bodyfat will NOT help your speed at all. Get leaner, get faster. Notice I said GET LEANER not GET SMALLER. Don't focus on the scale, take measurements, focus on your body composition. You are going to need plenty of muscle if you want to be faster. Crash dieting and sucking weight is no way to get fast. Keep your protein, fruit, and vegetable intake high, and strategically eat your complex carbs and fats.

3.) Lower body strength. Many athletes who spent hours and hours using gadgets, gizmos, and gadgets to get faster are weak! Do you think Olympic sprinters are weak in their lower body? Hell no! These guys can squat a house, and if your lower body is weak, then odds are this is limiting your ability to exert force into the ground with each stride that you take. In particular, get those glutes and hamstrings STRONG!

If you truly want to get faster, get leaner, get stronger, and sprint HARD 1-3 times per week. The results may shock you.