Speed Training Secrets

Part 2 - Muscle Contraction Speed - What it is and why it is the core of speed and quickness

This is the 2nd of 8 in a series about maximizing speed and quickness in your specific sport.

——————

Â What is muscle contraction speed?

Let’s use the biceps muscle in your arm for an example.Â

Stretched your arm out straight with your palm facing up. Now your biceps muscle is stretched. Now move your fist towards your shoulder. What has happened? Your biceps muscle ‘contracts’, or shortens, thus moving your fist toward your shoulder.

Now, obviously the faster your biceps muscle contracts then the faster your fist will move. When your biceps muscle is ‘programmed’ to instantly contract to a certain position, you have then achieved lightning like speed.

Now if this contraction speed is applied to your thigh flexor muscles, for example, the result is a significant increase in running speed. The same principle applies to any athletic skill that uses muscle quickness. Running, jumping, throwing, swinging, kicking and other athletic skills all require quick muscular contractions to perform at their peak level.

Take a kicker for example, it is commonly accepted that the kicker on a football team does not have the strongest leg muscles. That is, he is not the one who can press the heaviest weights with his legs. What he does have, however, is a very fast leg.

If you have taken a physics class then you will remember the formula Force = Mass times Acceleration. Which means that the amount of force applied to the ball is determined by the mass of the leg and the acceleration speed of the leg.

What type of performance do you think you would have in your athletic skill if the muscles involved in that skill contracted quickly and effortlessly? That’s right, a very smooth, fluid motion that resulted in a powerful and inspiring performance.

The types of fibers in your muscles that create this type of speed are called ‘fast twitch muscle fibers’. And you need to remember that they are not the same as strength and endurance (or slow twitch) fibers and therefore need to be conditioned separately.

You cannot condition your muscles for quickness the same way you condition your muscles for strength and endurance.

In order for a muscle or group of muscles to perform a specific athletic skill (like jumping, kicking a ball, or swinging a bat or golf club) at optimum speed, there are two functions that must happen:

First, the muscles need to be ‘programmed’. Or in other words, the exact motion of a skill and the exact distance the muscles will need to contract for that skill would all be built into the muscles memory such that the skill is performed automatically and effortlessly.

Second, The speed at which the muscles contract for that skill will need to be maximized by fast twitch muscle fibers that have been specifically conditioned and properly strengthened to instantly and powerfully perform the skill.

A little later we will talk about how to accomplish these two requirements for optimal speed -
(1) Programmng your muscle memory to automatically contract a specified distant and
(2) Conditioning your muscles to contract with greater speed

For now, understand that for the fastest speed possible in any sports skill, you need your muscles to contract as quickly as possible.

Next time: Slow Twitch Fibers and Slow Twitch Response and the reason why most speed training programs are disappointing.

If you want to read the article I wrote about kicker’s not having the strongest leg just click the link below:

“Wow!, That Guy Has a Strong Leg”

Always glad to help!

Dr. Larry Van Such

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 at 11:49 am and is filed under Lessons in Speed Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

27 Responses to “Part 2 - Muscle Contraction Speed - What it is and why it is the core of speed and quickness”

roaringkitten Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Hey guys, I didnt recieve the 1st email from the short lesson stuff I signed up for. If you could, email it to me. Thanks! ~RK
bobs414 Says:
March 16th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
I have just emailed you Lesson #1.

Thanks, Bob
Mallory Says:
April 17th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Hi-
I have been playing soccer for 12 years now and I am 15. I play for the Olympic Development Program and for a U19 competitive team.
I really want and need to get faster.
My goal is to go to the University of North Carolina to play there so I need to increase my speed.
Should I order the soccer program and the speed program? I don’t know which one will benefit me most. I’m pretty fast right now but since I’m playing with older girls I need to be faster. Thanks for all of your help!
-Mallory
Bob Says:
April 17th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Mallory,

You should get the Soccer Program. Here’s why. The soccer speed program has all of the exercises for running speed that are in the Run Faster program plus extra exercises for kicking farther. That’s right, the Soccer Speed Program actually includes everything in the Run Faster program plus you get the kicking exercise.
Garrett B. Says:
June 6th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I am 14 years old and I am pretty athletic I play all sorts of sports but for me to succeed in High School Football I need to pick up speed. I am reading to some sites to use resistance bands and I am reading on other sites to use other things. I have resistance bands but I dont no if this really works. Please help me because I need to get ready for the season coming up or else this will probably be the first year that I dont start because I do not have enough speed to really compete at that level.
Bob Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Garrett, For football you will need to be both strong and fast, and you will need two separate training programs - one for speed and one for strength.

Read these three articles to find out the best way to combine speed training and strength training.

Then just do it.

When It Comes To Speed, Even The Best Weight Machines At Your Gym Will Disappoint You

You Will Need Both Speed and Strength - and Why They Must Be Trained Separately

8 Tips for Including a Speed Training Program into Your Strength Training Routine
Roy Heyer Says:
July 18th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
I have reviewed your Speed Training Secrets #2 article. Your assumption concerning the Physics analogy is false. The acceleration “a” is a constant and not impacted by the leg’s rate of speed. F=ma is for evaulating objects in free fall. The actual effect the kicker has is mometum, which is relative to the velocity of the leg. (p=mv) The impulse or change in momentum over time is another way of looking at it.
Bob Says:
August 17th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Physics is physics and Force=Mass x Acceleration applies in any situation, including kicking a ball harder. Yes â€œaâ€ is a constant when it comes to gravity because the force of gravity does not change, but it applies to any moving object that is accelerating in speed.

A leg that starts from a stationary position accelerates until it reaches its maximum speed, and the more the acceleration factor the more force that will be applied to the ball.

Momentum is a similar property in the sense that it is a function of the actual velocity or speed of the leg, and not the acceleration. Again, the more momentum, or speed, applied by the leg when kicking the ball, the farther it will travel, this is called conservation of momentum and is another law of physics.
NAS Says:
November 13th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I believe I have your basketbal training manual and bands for basketball. The problem I faced was that I didn’t know if you workout program would prepare me for my basketball season (semi-pro level). I wanted more quickness, acceleration, and increased jump, but I wanted to make sure I had my endurance & strength for the constant up and down court running.

Is there way to perform your speed training in conjuction with my polymetric (like strength shoes) & weight training? Or, will your exercises be enough for what I am looking to do? Let me know what you suggest would be the best solution for this. I have about 8 weeks before I start my season.

pos: point guard
Bob Says:
November 15th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Nas, Use the link below to find some suggestions for performing speed training exercises along with your other exercise programs - which we recommend you continue doing, however you want to be sure that they do not interfere with your muscle speed training. The suggestions on this link will give you some usefull tips.

http://www.athleticquickness.com/page.asp?page_id=91
Roy Says:
February 17th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
would there be a problem if I was to train my thigh flexor muscles every day.
douglas morgan Says:
February 19th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
hey how would i train my muscle to run faster like whats the work out or will a find out as i keep on reading the e mail i really would like to now please help. thanks allot for sharing

Douglas Morgan
Bob Says:
February 20th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Douglas, If you want to see how one of the exercises is done and you can’t wait a second longer then watch the video at http://www.SpeedTrainingChallenge.com
Kanadeia Says:
February 29th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
What does this paragraph mean?

What type of performance do you think you would have in your athletic skill if the muscles involved in that skill contracted quickly and effortlessly? That’s right, a very smooth, fluid motion that resulted in a powerful and inspiring performance.

I dont quite understand when you say that runners need to run at a very smooth, fluid motion that results in a powerful and inspiring performance.
Jesse Says:
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
I want to know how can i increase my son speed?
Richard Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 9:51 am
I’d like to know two things. 1. Is a resistance band exercise that can be used in place of the dead lift with free weights? 2. How many foot/pounds of resistances (hope I’m saying this right) is there in each of your resistance bands?
Jasen Says:
October 13th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
hey I was just wondering what kind of training regime I can adopt to quicken my 40 yd dash time?
ray Says:
October 18th, 2008 at 12:35 am
if my dash time improve does it mean that my vertical jump would be better..will adopting isometrics training stunt my growth?thanks.
Kiran Says:
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:37 am
you are not telling us how to get faster or what exersices we should use, your just telling us some information about our muscles. can you please tell me how do you exactly get faster at running?
V-Man Says:
December 5th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
O.K. I love what you’re saying, but…….I’m 56 and I want to compete this April in my age group in the Senior O’s. I WAS an All American in the 400 meters back in the day and 400 meter champ and 200 meter co champ in my conference. Will this work for this old dog ? I haven’t ran in 25 years but I’m still in good shape for an old man lol. I jumped further in the SLJ than the person who won my region without training. Should I get an aerobic base before I start event specific work outs ? I intend to win the 200 meter state championship !!!!!! I can do it with your help.
Eric Babaoka Says:
January 31st, 2009 at 10:26 pm
The articiles are very interesting and the information makes a lot of sense to me. I look forward to purchasing the books and learning these wonderful training techniques. The knowledge will be very beneficial for my career.
Jamie Lee Says:
February 10th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Is it ok to continue kicking on the days you do the band exercises? I notice that you say do not lift weights or workout on the same day I was wondering if the same went for kicking practice?
Larry Van Such Says:
February 10th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Jamie, It should not hurt you to practice kicking on the days that you do the exercises, however, if you follow the tips on this page you may have more success.
http://www.athleticquickness.com/page.asp?page_id=90
Joe Says:
February 11th, 2009 at 8:59 am
DR Larry,

Thanks for your mail from today. But do you think that the same rules apply to when we have to contract the muscles at the end of their almost full extension ? example: a straight forward kick to the belly,in my martial art it is teached “that we should tense to the max the whole body muscles-and not only the kicking leg muscles- at the moment of impact, in order to trigger what we call “explosive force”…

Thanks
joe
john Says:
May 4th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
i been wondering. ure training is isometric with resistance band. can u tell me best isometric excercise with the resistance band. i can’t picture what it looks like
Bob Says:
May 5th, 2009 at 8:36 am
John, If you want to see a video demo of one of the exercises then go here:

http://www.athleticquickness.com/fastmuscles.asp
John Says:
May 13th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Greetings Larry

Some golf coaches recommend when driving to swing back slowly presumably to maintain a good swing path when hitting the golf ball. I am not sure if this is a good idea if a golfer is wanting to gain maximum distance. Should trunk, hip and arm rotation backwards be a fast action to gain distance on the drive forward - or does slow or fast backward swing make any difference to the forward contraction. Looking forward to your further lessons.