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.

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.

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........

Speed strength is an abstract term. You will hear people say speed strength is moving heavy weight fast. You will hear people say moving an absolute..........

Sprinting makes us think of coming out of the blocks from the gunshot. Being explosive out of the blocks will take us into the first, second, and third steps....