According to Gray Cook, PT, founder of Functional Movement Systems, strength is your ability to produce the greatest amount of work with the least amount of effort. If you add speed to strength, you get power, which is the greatest amount of work with the least amount of time. You need both components when you various sports, such as sprinting, martial arts, football, soccer and baseball.
Benefits
According to Cook, having optimal speed and strength allows you to produce large amounts of force quickly and be able to recover with the least amount of rest. Strength training increases muscle mass, which helps you burn more calories, improves circulation and increases bone density. Speed, when combined with accuracy, develops agility, which allows you to move, strike or kick at the previous moment or location you want, such as in punching, cutting and turning and kicking.
Multi-Planar Training
According to Juan Carlos Santana, director of the Institute of Human Performance in Boca Raton, FL, do speed and strength training in multiple directions rather than just in one direction. In many field and court sports, you sprint straight, shuffle to the side and cut and turn around your opponents and obstacles. You can take almost any strength and speed exercise and make it multi-planar.
For example, a standing dumbbell shoulder press is lifting one or two dumbbells above your head with your legs hip-distance apart. To make this multi-planar, step your right foot forward as you lift the weights above your head. Step back to standing position and lower the weight at the same time. Repeat the same pattern when you step to the side, behind you and turn and step. This also trains your core stability and balance.
Expert Insight
You must a strong foundation of mobility and stability before you can develop strength and speed. According to Cook, mobility is your freedom of movement, taking your joints, muscles and tissues to their full range of motion. Stability is your ability to maintain your center of gravity and posture while you move your extremities. Having both components minimizes the risk of injury and increases your strength and speed output.
For example, compare one soccer player who has stiff hips and is not able to extend his leg and hip back to kick the ball, and another player who is able to bring his leg and hip back far enough to kick the ball.
Sample Training
A sample speed drill would involve three basic exercises that train different directions of movement. You can do these exercises in any order. Perform each exercise for 30 to 60 seconds.
The bounce step jump-roping is where you jump with your feet together. Jump high enough to clear the rope. Start with one jump per second, and increase it to two jumps once you have developed a rhythm.
The skater drill is where you hop side to side while facing forward. When you land, hold the position for one second, then hop back to the other side. You can also move forward and back as you hop.
The T-drill is where you sprint forward 10 yards, then shuffle to your right for another 10 yards. Shuffle to your left for 20 yards and back to the middle for 10 yards. Jog backwards to your starting position, and repeat the drill. Alternate the initial direction with each circuit. Use cones to mark the change of direction.
Combine these drills with strength-training exercises, such as pull-ups, push-ups, squats, medicine ball throws and kettlebell lifts.
Warning
Always warm up properly before training, or you can easily tear a ligament or tendon or strain a muscle. Move your joints and entire body in different directions, gradually increasing the range of motion as you move. This improves tissue extensibility, increase body temperature and prepares your nervous system for movement.
References
- "Athletic Body in Balance"; Gray Cook ; 2003
- "PTontheNet"; SAQ: Speed, Agility and Quickness Training; Juan Carlos Santana; August 2002
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