Speed Training Secrets

Finally, someone is actually talking about how the Cavs would actually be a better team when LeBron is not playing point guard.  On TNT last night, Magic Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley actually got out of their chairs to demonstrate what happens when LeBron plays the point and how the defense backs away from him, baiting him to take jump shots.  They said that is the game plan, to make LeBron a jump shooter.  That is the worst thing for the Cavs offense and all three acknowledged that.  Barkley made the comment that James needs to be a “finisher” and not a “starter” with respect to running offensive plays.  He likened James to Scottie Pippen who would start the offense, except that Pippen had someone named Jordan to pass to and LeBron doesn’t.
 
Kenny Smith did a nice job showing what would happen if Lebron actually posted his man down low, explaining how he would only have to deal with 1 1/2 men on defense based on positioning as opposed to two men in his face at the top of the key. 
 
Sure enough, when the ball is taken out of his hands at the point position, the players look more like a team and consequently they won, even though Lebron couldn’t resist jacking up a few wild “threes”.  Maybe they need to contact Cavs coach Mike Brown and remind him that Lebron is best when he gets in the paint and is not necessarily a great jump shooter.
 
Sczerbiak, Gibson, West, Smith and Ilgauskus are equally if not better jump shooters than Lebron.  When he gets them involved early, they are hard to beat.  Series is now tied 2-2.

Lebron James dunk over KG and through the rest of the Celts last night was amazing.  That must have felt good.  check it out on youtube if you missed it:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GsljONjFsF0

Yes, strength training is very important to helping athletes get faster. The stronger the athlete the more easily he will be able to carry and move his body weight. At some point, however, his strength will be sufficient and any additional improvements in speed will depend largely on the contraction velocity of his muscles, that is, how fast his muscles can contract.

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We get reports from Athletes of all ages and fitness levels telling us about the dramatic increases in their sprinting speed in a very short period time. Many start their training in midseason and still see results quickly.

Others tell us about improvements in their other athletic skills after training their muscles for speed for skills such as baseball bat speed, soccer kicking, jumping higher, tennis speed, golf swing speed and pitching and throwing.

And then there are those who are skeptical and hesitant to try these programs - which develop your fast twitch muscle fibers for blazing speed using isometrics with a resistance band.

So I have started a Speed Training Challenge. If you are one of those that are still hesitant to get faster, then I challenge you to try it for yourself and then determine if this is not the easiest, fastest and most effective way to train your muscles for speed.

All the details, including how to perform the thigh flexor exercise, (the most important muscle group for sprinting - which is often overlooked in most training programs) are on this speed training video:

www.SpeedTrainingChallenge.com

I read an article on the internet the other day stating that LeBron James had Lasik eye surgery from a doctor in Beverly Hills, California and the subtitle read something like, “Imagine what LeBron can do now with improved vision”. It may come as a surprise to some, but in my opinion, this is the worst thing he could have ever done for his sports career. Every day, thousands of unsuspecting people, yours included, look to improve themselves with this dangerous life altering surgery. The marketing for this surgery is extremely appealing, touting 20/20 vision after a simple 15 minute (45 second actual time) procedure. But the one thing the medical/opthamolgy profession don’t say, or better yet, don’t want you to know, is that reading 20/20 off a Snellen Chart is the worst method of determining whether or not you have good vision. Here’s a couple of reasons why: 1) your vision is much more complicated than this. Your vision includes your eyes ability to team with each other as you go from looking at something up close to something far away. There is no guaratee that this smooth effortless transition will be there after surgery. Many times, it takes months afterwards to get this back and it can be very unsettling as you go through this process. 2) In spite of what your medical/eye doctors says, the corneal flap that gets cut, does not heal. I believe there is a gag order on the profession not to admit to this fact, which is a shame. They are convinced that through “suction” the flap is immovable and secure but yet if you should ever need an “enhancement” to correct your vision further, all they do is go back in and simply lift the flap up again. The reason your cornea will never heal is because ther is no blood supply to it. That’s why it’s clear. It is also chemical inert, which means it is unreactive to most substances. The fact that your cornea doesn’t heal, makes it a very dangerous situation for your eye if you ever get your eye poked, just like it happens all the time in sports, especially basketball. The significance of this is that if you get your eye poked just a little, you can permanently destroy your vision. They don’t tell you these things, but they need to start. 3) Most medications have some effect on your vision. For example, antihistamines such as sudafed are known to vasoconstrict your blood vessels in your eyes. However, once you have this surgery, if you take such a product, you can expect your vision to blur. Not very fun. Again, they don’t tell you this. Imagine if you are on high blood pressure medication and diabetic medication, you stand a chance of having difficulty with your vision for the rest of your life. The problem is, this information is not published in their reports and the average consumer thinks it will be a walk in the park.

If you know someone who has had this done, ask them several questions, you will be amazed at how IMPERFECT this surgery is, almost all will tell you there are things now that are different that they don’t like. For example, how do the eyes feel in the morning or late at night. Almost all will tell you they are a little dry and that they just have to put a drop or two of artificial tears in them to make it go away. It may sound small, but if you think you are just going to walk away from this surgery without any consequences, think again. Ask them how thier vision is at dusk and while driving. Almost all will say that things are a little hazy and or just not sharp. Again, perhaps a small thing, but far from perfect. Also, many things you take for granted, such as using hairspray, deodorant, shampoos and colognes/perfumes can irritate Lasik eyes. All have fragrances and preservatives, some of the most irritating substances you can find on your eyes. Even if you don’t have problems with these now, your chances of them are greatly increased after surgery. All this and more can happen even with a “successful” surgery. Just imagine if yours isn’t.

Medical doctors/opthamoligists are motivated just like a lot of people, by money. There is big money in this surgery. Imagine yourself getting paid $3,000.00 for 15 minutes of work and you too can start seeing why they would think this is the best thing someone can do. Totally false. As an athlete and as a regular person, this is the worst thing you can do. The vision you enjoy now with your glasses or contacts will always be far superior than what any surgery can give you. Don’t ever forget that. Lasik surgery cannot make you see better than you are now.

Before I go, here is one last thing the medical profession wants you to believe that isn’t true. They want you to believe that around the age of 40 you will start to need reading glasses. However, for those in their late thirties, after having this surgery, you can immediately expect to have to buy a pair of reading glasses, something you may never have had to do before. Its hard to imagine, but we actually do need our close up vision just as much, if not more as our distance vision, but all this is lost after surgery. Do you know what your doctor will say when you start to blame the surgery, “Well, you are almost 40 so that’s how it goes”. They will never take responsibility for the surgery causing this, but it does 100% of the time. And now, you get to walk around with a pair of reading glasses, and you thought you were free of them.

DON’T DO IT MY FRIEND. You look great in glasses. Treat them as your best friend. Save your money. Don’t let another smooth talking car salesman, I mean, medical doctor, sell you on how great Lasik is. The only thing great about it is that they will make another 3K today. You however, will be scarred for life.

An athletic trainer from a well respected Big 12 school wrote to me stating that fast twitch fibers do not get trained until after about 20 minutes of hard exercise. Is this true?

 If so, what about the body’s “fight or flight” response? Does this mean that when faced with danger, before we are able to sprint/run for safety, we are going to have to first stick around for 20 minutes or so and build up enough speed before we get out of harms way? This could be disatrous to your health!

Or, are your fast twitch fibers the “default” fiber types that get exercised early on in an exercise routine and the slow twitch fibers are the ones that come in to play after 20 minutes or so? Any body care to respond???