Garage Blog

Incorporating these diverse training elements ensures that athletes can approach their speed development comprehensively. By fostering improvements in agility, strength, and technique, such programs enable athletes to unlock new levels of performance, propelling them towards their speed goals with each training session. Whether you’re an emerging sprinter or an experienced athlete, the path to enhanced speed and performance is paved with disciplined, diverse, and diligent training efforts.

When people think about movement in sports, they often focus on linear speed—how fast an athlete can run in a straight line. While linear speed is valuable, sports like soccer, basketball, tennis, and football demand agility and quick lateral transitions. This includes side-to-side movements, pivots, and reactive cuts that are essential for evading opponents, staying balanced, and maintaining control.

What is power and why should you care? If you are an athlete, your ability to be powerful is often the crux of performance. Power is fundamental to performance because it directly impacts explosiveness, speed, and strength—all massively important components in most sports. Whether your focus is strength, speed or endurance sport, improving your power is a game changer to success.

So how do you build that? You know if you want to build stronger legs, you squat. If you want better coordination, you work on your agility. But what should be the training focus for improved power? Take your pick at any of the exercises below and get good at them. And if you need help, head over to the peak strength app where we take the guesswork out of it for you.

To truly improve your speed, you must understand that sprinting is broken down into phases, each of which demands different physical attributes and training methods. The start of a sprint requires explosive power and flawless technique, while the middle phases rely on maintaining acceleration and top-end speed. By targeting each phase with specific exercises and drills, you can make significant strides in your overall athleticism and sprinting efficiency.

“Being slow is really helping my sport” said no athlete ever. Running faster can arguably improve ability and performance in almost every sport we can think of. Even sports that don't require running, say Olympic lifting for example, improving your speed can translate into improved efficiency, power, and precision of the lifts. So, while not all sports necessarily require speed in running, there is no real downside to improved speed.

Ground contact is crucial when running, whether covering long distances, sprinting, or making quick directional changes on the field. Each step involves your feet hitting the ground, where the lower limb muscles absorb impact and then contract to propel you forward. The calf muscles, including the often-overlooked soleus, play a key role in this elastic energy return and are vital for running endurance and speed.

Training the calf muscles, particularly the soleus, can significantly improve running efficiency, speed, and endurance. Unlike the gastrocnemius, which is more involved in explosive movements, the soleus provides the endurance needed for sustained activities like distance running and helps stabilize the ankle for efficient push-off and smooth strides.

Top end speed is your highest possible speed. This isn't necessarily about increasing speed, rather your ability to maintain your fastest speed in an efficient way. Top end speed can often be trained through improving mechanics and even neuromuscular efficiency. Acceleration refers to the rate you increase your speed from stopped or a slow speed to your top end. Ultimately, how quickly can you go from zero to 100. And deceleration is the opposite of acceleration. Deceleration refers to your ability to slow down quickly and efficiently.

Nearly every coach, scout, and teammate in the sport of football has one question when it comes to speed—how fast is your 40?

The 40-yard dash isn't just another drill; it's the gold standard for measuring speed in football. It’s the difference between being a prospect who catches the eye of scouts and one who’s overlooked. A mere fraction of a second can separate a good performance from an outstanding one, potentially altering the trajectory of an athlete's career. For players, it’s more than just a test—it’s a moment that can define their athletic prowess and open doors to higher levels of play.

Yes, top end speed matters. It matters a lot. Improving top end speed improves acceleration, which is an important part of changing direction. However, putting on the brakes to change direction is important. Having the requisite strength to handle the forces when overcoming inertia is important as well.

Because change of direction is so important, athletes need to train the ability to change direction. And one of the greatest methods to train change of direction is the 20-yard shuttle drill.

Day in and day out of the gym, you are working towards something. Striving for a sleek aesthetic, improving performance, chasing efficiency in functional movement and even working simply on preventing injury.

There is one thing all of these have in common: the importance of your glute muscles in each and every one of these endeavors. Your glutes play a massive role in every one of these goals and how you approach your training can help mold the outcome of your goals.

Glute centric fitness, booty gains, a juicy booty, butt stuff: call it what you want, we are going to unpack what this all means and how to capitalize on one of our favorite muscles to train.

One of the worst feelings as a running back is being able to see the edge and not being able to get there. Failure to make the play and outpace the scraping linebacker is a horrible feeling. Having the capability to get to the sideline, turn the corner, and scamper up the sideline to take it to the house is paramount to being an elite running back.

One of the most overlooked areas in strength and conditioning is the principle of speed endurance. Strength coaches love to live in the weight room. Keeping........