Ive never seen a weak athlete that was fast.
However, I’ve seen strong athletes that are slow…
So the questions now become-
1-how strong do they need to be?
And…
2- can you use your strength to RAPIDLY produce force to sprint and or move explosively?
How strong does an athlete need to be?
Obviously, there are going to be a lot of variables that go into this answer but for the most part we have created a set of general standards for our athletes. Some of the variables include age, ability, sport, and goals. Im going to list some numbers below however, keep in mind that these are standards we like our athletes to hit by mid HS. By being here by sophomore or junior year of HS we will have 1-2 years of HS and possible college to really get into more specific training. These standards are for strength and power sport athletes (baseball, football, track sprints/jumps/throws, LAX, wrestling, etc). After these standards are met we will then re-evaluate what the athlete needs based on goals, needs, sports, etc… Do they need to push the main lifts up even more? Do they need to become superhuman in some sort of accessory exercise and maintain the main lifts? Do they need to shift most of their attention to jumping or sprinting? For example, a wide receiver at 2.5 x BW (body weight) in the deadlift might shift his focus to other areas and maintain his 2.5 x BW deadlift (and it still might go up) but the emphasis in his training will shift, however, a linebacker we might now try to push to 3x BW.
| Level | Exercise | Standard |
| ABS | L-Sits on Handles | :30 |
| Hanging Garhammer Raise | 10x slow (don’t go below 90) | |
| 45 degree Side Bends | 15% BW x 10ea | |
| Russian Twists | 25% BW x 8EA | |
| Wheel roll outs | Full Range x 15 | |
| Cable Knee Pull Ins | 50% BW x 20 | |
| SQ/DL | BB Box Squat | 2x BW paralell |
| Sumo DL | 2.25x BW | |
| PUSH | Push Ups Max ROM | 10x paralell handles with chain |
| Dips (ATG Style) | 10x | |
| Bench | 1.35x BW | |
| PULL | BB Bent Row (from hang) | 50% of Deadlift x 6 |
| Chin Ups | 10x full lockout chest to bar pause | |
| SA DB Row | 50% BW x 8, upper arm 45 degree, pause at top, low back paralell to ground | |
| HIP EXT | RDL’s BB | 10x @ BW (low back paralell to floor) |
| Hypers | DE Squat Volume x 4 | |
| Seated Good Mornings | 50% BW @ thighs paralell to floor | |
| Jefferson Curls | Any weight bar below toes | |
| KNEE FLEX | Nordics | Assisted #1-3 x 10 to floor (minimal assistance) |
| LUNGE | KOT Split Squats | 10 reps from floor 10% BW Ea hand |
| Belt Squat March | 2X BW + Orange Band x 50 EA Leg | |
| Sissy Squats | 20 reps shins paralell to floor | |
| SHOULDERS | External Rotation | 5% of BW x 10 (STRICT) |
| Trap 3 Raise | 5% BW x :05 hold x 6 reps | |
| JUMPS | Hurdle hops | High Hurdles 5 in a row (over hurdle, not around, quick reaction off ground) |
| Vertical Jump (JJ) | 28″ | |
| Broad Jump | 1.5 x height | |
| SL Box Jump | Belly Button Height with approach | |
| ANKLES | SL Calf Raise on SB | 25% BW x 10 3 sec pause at top |
| Wall Ant Tib | 3×50 |
Now, can the athlete use his/her strength to RAPIDLY produce force? (The key moving faster)
All of our programs have jumping in them. Jumps for height, distance, weight, fast jumps, force jumps, arms, no arms, 1 leg and 2 leg. We are always trying to get better at jumping because jumping is the expression of explosive strength. Check our standards. If a guy is really strong on the lifts but the jump suck we know that needs to be addressed if he is going to ever run faster. Also, we add speed training in to make sure athletes are setting themselves up to run fast. Im not going to go through all the details of that here but some athletes already run ok and some need to almost re-wire themselves. For the most part if an athlete is strong enough, and can express that strength through jumping they will run pretty fast. After that, we will need to really specialize with some speed training. For the vast majority of athletes we’ve trained strength and jumping is the key.