When the warmer weather comes around, I want to do more sprinting and plyos to get my overall athleticism up. However, I still want to get stronger. Is it possible to increase sprinting speed, jumping, and max strength?
Stats
Height: 5’8’’
Weight: 186(could/should be around 160-170)
Bench: 230
Squat:315
Deadlift: 355(new PR yesterday!)
VJ: 27’’
40yrd dash: 5.6 (WAY slower then I’d like to be)
http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=1903482
Also, when you are training for sprints, warm up with ankle weights on your ankles. This will generate more tension so that when you take them off for training, you will fly. It’s like people doing one or two half-reps on super-maximal weight, then dropping to sub-maximal and doing the sets. you will get more power by the end of the session by doing this.
Please don’t run with ankle weights on. That is a terrible idea.
Are you in high school? Are you training or a specific sport?
I’m 21, and I’m just training because I like to. I just want to be more athletic.
Well, a good way to get faster and stronger at the same time is to do oly lifts.
WS4B is a great template.
Just search for it on Google.
[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
Please don’t run with ankle weights on. That is a terrible idea.
Are you in high school? Are you training or a specific sport?[/quote]
I didn’t say to run with ankle weights on. Just do your warm up drills with them on. Running with them on can hurt your knees and ankles and put unnecessary strain on joints.
I have westside principles in my training. I like having a ME day and DE day. When training, I usually have 3-4 exercises in the weightroom. What I plan to do is add the speed and plyo part of Kelly Baggett’s Speed manual on top of my weightroom routine. I know that people are going to say that I should follow Kelly Baggett’s program exactly, but I did that and I felt I didn’t get enough muscle stimulation, so I’m going to try my own thing. I’ve read all of the speed manual, Cressey’s ultimate offseason, magnificant mobility, and watched the efficient athlete series so I kind of have an idea of what to do in a program. I know that doesn’t qualify me to make a program, but I’m also pursuing my Exercise Science degree so I need to be able to make my own programs. Might as well experiment on myself huh? Haha. I should favorite Mike Robertson’s newest article in case I really jacked myself up.
Im gonna hafta disagree with you on your ankle weight suggestionForevernade. Even just doing drills with thoes godforsaken things will fuck up your joints. IF, you are gonna use Ankle weights uses them for paper weights or door stops or even as a butt plug should you feel so inclined but NOT for any kind of aerobic or athletic activity.
To answer your original question, Yes it is very much possible to increase speed, jumping ability, and max strength at the same time.
What does your weights and sprinting routine look like?
Are you sure you’re timing your 40 properly?
You’re strong enough that lack of strength isn’t why you’re slow. You’re just not converting your strength to power/speed. It’s possible your muscles are slow twitch dominant, so they’re not going to naturally generate a lot of power within a short time frame, for you. So you have to train them to do that.
These are my recommendations:
The best lower body plyometric exercise is sprinting. You should do that over and over and over and you will get faster. 40 yd dash and 100m (i.e. short distances) should be your staple. Practice, practice, practice.
Have you ever tried stadium stairs? It’s also sort of a plyometric exercise in that it forces you to generate a lot of power within a short amount of time. It also improves the length of your stride as well as it’s power. You bound up the stairs 2 or 3 at a time as quickly/explosively as possible for 10 seconds or so. Pump your knees high and pump your arms. Then rest and do it again, and again.
Have you ever tried a drag sled? It’s the same principle as stadium stairs.
Running on a slight decline, overspeed training. If you can find a hill with a slight decline (not more than 3% or so) this is great training for speed. Not a big decline or you’ll get hurt. The idea is that your body is going faster than normal and it gets your muscles and nerves that control them adapted to making the quicker contractions required in that situation, quicker than it’s used to making, which will make you faster.
There are all other kinds of lower body plyometrics you could use too. You can do a search on plyometrics on youtube for examples. Any lower body plyometrics will be relevant for your purposes.
The other thing is running mechanics and proper form. Not enough people study proper sprinting form. There is a science running efficiently. You can just videotape yourself and read up on that yourself.
2 days a week would work
Check out Joe Defranco’s Website, The WS4SB3 clearly illustrates how to improve both.