Why Strength = Speed

Is your athlete lacking speed in their sport? Do you feel that their first few steps are rather slow compared to the rest? Regardless of the sport, an elite athlete needs to have an explosive first step in order to excel at the highest level. Whether it's driving to the hoop in basketball, dribbling past your defender in soccer, or skating around the opposing defensemen in hockey, the first few steps are vital. It's what nearly every athlete wishes came naturally to them. And for the lucky few born with great genetics, it just may for them. But for the majority of athletes, it's about trying to do everything possible to increase your horsepower. Even if an athlete is physically gifted, it will only take them so far. The athlete with great genetics laying on the couch all day will surely be beaten by the athlete with average genetics working his tail off.

So if the goal is to increase speed, we should try to do everything as fast as possible right? That means doing ladder drills, footwork drills, jumping drills, sprinting drills, endurance drills, and the list goes on. What could possibly go wrong? Well, let me tell you. When you first improve on a single quality such as fast feet, it is like strengthening one link on a chain. But by doing so, you have neglected the other very important links on the chain. And what happens when you have a weak link on a chain? The chain brakes. When it comes to your athlete, a broken chain is equivalent to an injury occurring from a cut, jump, or turn.

So what link on the chain do so many people neglect to train? The answer is strength. Yes, you may have increased the athlete's ability to perform a sprint and to contract his/her muscles, but now they are not strong enough to absorb those high-level forces into the ground. If you are still a little skeptical on the issue of strength and how it is needed to build speed, simply take a look at the best sprinters in the world. Have you ever seen an elite-level sprinter who is skinny with little to no muscle mass? Me neither. Did you know that at the peak of his career, Ben Johson would squat 600 lbs and bench press 385 lbs. That should tell you how strong the fastest humans beings in the world really are.

Now, does your athlete have to squat 550lbs and bench press 365 lbs to get a faster first step in their sport? Of course not! But success leaves clues! This is not about trying to be a bodybuilder and gain the most amount of muscle mass possible. This is about gaining strength in the form of pull-ups, push-ups, trap bar deadlifts, squats, etc. The good news is that more and more parents are coming around to this idea that strength & conditioning is vital to excelling in athletics. Not to mention the gains seen in discipline, self-esteem, confidence, and much more.

If you need one more assurance factor for the importance of strength training, let me give you some homework and you can see for yourself. Next time you are watching your athlete practice with their team, take a look at the fastest players on the team. Do you notice that in almost every case, the fastest players are also the strongest players? Checkmate. As the title suggests, strength = speed just as e=mc2.