Coaches and trainers like to see those big numbers, squatting, bench presses, power cleans, dead lifts, etc. They presume, erroneously, that increases in speed, quickness and power automatically rise as the weight loads go up! Of course there must be some increases in speed, quickness and power when weight loads go up, but they are not in the realm of the increases when training specifically for speed, quickness and power.

The nueromusuclar system consists of the central nervous system afferent and efferent neurons, variations in neuromuscular impulse rates, muscle motor unit firing rates as well as muscle fiber contraction rates. Be serious for a moment. Do you really understand the system and the implications on weight and speed training? What are your training methods to  get  optimum results for increases in speed, quickness and power [explosive strength]. This is the 21st century, you should know this information. It has been available for decades!

To increase speed you must train for starting mechanics, acceleration, sprinting form and speed endurance. The two primary target areas must be stride rate and stride length. You can weight train to increase both stride rate and length, but you must understand the neuromuscular system to adopt the appropriate training methods and techniques. Sadly, most do not!

Check out Dynamic Force Weight Training for Speed and Power. Info@dynamicforceweighttraining.com. The top ten guidelines and sixteen physiological components will point you in the right direction. Also, scroll up to the header and click on power to understand the difference between strength and power. Most do not understand the difference. Why be one of them?   

Of course in these examples we are refering to Transfer of Training issues which is information for another time. So, back to the question, what is the formula for the appropriate weight load, number of reps and sets for athletes when training with weights. I assume most begin with determining the athletes one repetition maximums.

After establishing one rep maximums the issue of weight loads, reps and sets begins to get really cloudy! When you are weight training for speed and power you cannot use formulas established in popular body building magazines.

In athletes performing in sports which predominatly rely on speed and power it is shown in vatus medialis biopsies they have 50% more fast twitch muscle fibers than body builders. Body builders weight lifting work outs are not the paradigm for establishing weight loads, reps and sets in training for speed and power!

Does anyone know for a fact what is the appropriate weight load, reps and sets that is most effcient and productive when training with weights whether it be for speed, power, strenght, muscle endurance or whatever? I don’t think so! I beleive it mostly is opinion or what some one else has said. Is that how you wish to weight train yourself or your athletes?

So what might be a solution? The athlete determines what is the most efficient and productive for him or herself! Thats right, the athlete. The coach or trainer must understand neuromuscular impulse rates, muscle motor unit firing rates and muscle fiber contraction rates and appropriate lifting methods and techniques. After that they can set the athlete up with a weight training program that demands training each set to near failure or failure.

In the Dynamic Force Weight Training System we refer to the athletes “pain threshold”! On a subjective scale of 1-10, 9 to10 being near failure or failure is the athletes “pain threshold”. But you say, what if the athlete is faking it or quiting before they reach the 9 to 10 “pain threshold” level? So, what if the coach or trainers weight load, rep and set formula does not adequately challenge the athlete or is beyond the capability of the athlete and they quit before completing the weight load,rep,set formula?

In either equation, under  challenged or beyond the capability of the athlete, efficiency and productivity is missed. Futhermore, in weight training, under any circumstance, it is the athlete who determines the outcome, not the coaches or trainers formula of weight load, reps and sets.

So, why not put the responsibility on the athletes shoulders and let them learn what is their “pain threshold” and determine the ultimate outcome?Partner your athletes up and let them challenge each other.

Have them experiment with a weight load in which they reach their near failure or failure “pain threshold” within 4-10 repetitions. At the subjective “pain threshold” of 8-9, finish the set with an isometric contraction until failure and have their training partner assist them with racking the bar or dumbell.  

Our experience is the athletes “pain threshold” always increases, they can do more than they thought. Is it hard? Absolutely! Only those who are determined to be the best they can be prevail. In the athletes who are not motivated, it does not matter what the coaches or trainers formula for them is, they will not weight train in the most effecient and productive manner possible for optimum results.

It always gets back to the athlete. It is he or she who is responsible for optimum weight training outcomes. Of course a coach or trainers knowledge and passion is important in the process but the ultimate outcome is determined by the athlete. Now that is a fact!

First, their are two types of fast twitch muscle fibers, commonly referred to as either 2x fast twitch and 2a fast twitch or type 11a and type 11b fast twitch muscle fibers. Most understand the difference when referring to fast twitch versus slow twitch muscle fibers. Yes, the fastest of the fast twitch muscle fibers [2x or type 11a]  contract 10 times faster than slow twitch muscle fibers but they also contract five times faster than 2a or type 11b fast twitch muscle fibers.

There are four problems in almost every video and I presume the authors training and books. One, in weight training understanding neuromuscular impluse rates, two, how to recruit 2x or type 11a fast twitch muscle fibers, three, the fuel supply molecule ATP [adenosine triphosphate] available for contracting 2x or type 11a fast twitch muscle fibers and four, the recovery time necessary to refuel those 2x or type 11a fast twitch muscle fibers.

First, neuromuscular impulse rates vary from .5 to 120 meters per second and muscle motor unit firing rates vary depending on the size of the muscle from 9 to 50 pulses per second. In order for neuromuscular impulse rates and muscle motor unit firing rates to reach their highest potential, there must be rapid, significant applied force.

Training takes several weeks for those neuromuscular impulse and muscle motor unit firing rates to adapt to significant force that will enable fast twitch muscle fibers to adapt and develop. Finally, only rapid, significant applied force will recruit 2x or type 11a fast twitch muscle fibers.

Secondly, those 2x or type 11a muscle fibers only have stored fuel, ATP and CP [creatine phosphate] to contract only a few seconds [approximately 20-30 seconds].  Then anaerobic glycolysis provides the fuel, stored ATP in the muscles and liver, and it is 2a or type 11b fast twitch muscle fibers and slow twitch muscle fibers that are being contracted, doing the work!

That stored ATP in 2a or type 11b is depleted in approximately another 30 to 40 seconds and then fuel for muscle contraction must come from the “Krebs cycle”, oxygen dependent glycolysis from the breakdown of carbohydrates, fatty acids and protein.

Now the question should be, during a weight training set, why continue rapid, significant applied force when the 2x or type 11a fast twitch muscle fibers do not have the fuel to contract beyond 20-30 seconds.

The answer is you can train and convert 2a or type 11b fast twitch muscle fibers to 2x or type 11a fast twitch muscle fibers. This is where significant increases in speed and power are developed! As a foot note, slow twitch muscle fibers cannot be converted to fast twitch muscle fibers, never the less they are just as important in developing absolute or maximum strength.

Training recovery after each set of weight training. 50% of ATP is restored in approximately 20 seconds. 50% of the remaining half is restored in another 20 seconds. Several minutes, 2-5 minutes are necessary for total refueling after maximum effort to near failure or indeed failure of muscle contraction.  Only then comes the opportunity to again recruit 2x or type 11a fast twitch muscle fibers for that short period [20-30 seconds].

All types of weight training is helpful for athletes, but for developing optimum speed and power, the coach or athlete must understand the science and train with the appropriate methods to recruit the fastest of the fast twitch muscle fibers. In most weight training that is not accomplished and optimum speed and power is compromised.

We are getting close when coaches and trainers refer to ”explosive strength”, but it is still power and developing power or “explosive strength” requires specific training methods and techniques. There are two methods that I am aware that target power as a training goal.

First, rapidly applied, signigicant force to recruit 2X fast twitch muscle fibers and with repeated repititions convert 2A fast twitch to 2X fast twitch muscle fibers. 2X fast twitch fibers contract five times faster than 2A fast twitch muscle fibers. However, 2X fast twitch muscle fibers only have enough stored fuel, [ATP] and [CP] for 20-30 seconds during the training set. But if you want to train for and increase power, those 2X muscle fibers must be recruited and 2A muscle fibers converted to 2X.

The second method of training for power or “explosive strenght” is incorporating what is called SSC or stretch-shortening cycles. Rapid, cyclic compression creates small changes in the stretch-lenght of muscle fibers and generates sharp increases in muscle contraction/tension and the resulting force, “explosive strength” or power. An example would be to assume the Russian sprint position, with about a 60-70 degree angle at the knee of the foward leg, and about 10-15 degrees on the rear leg and simply bounce of the balls of both feet until near failure or failure.

Speed and power are intrinsicly linked. If you do not understand the science of power and strenght, scroll up to the header of the blog and click on Power. You will then understand the difference. 

Catabolic hormones, cortisol. glucagons, epinephrine and norepinephrine break down nutrients for fuel. Anabolic hormones insulin, testosterone, growth hormones and IGF-1replinish fuel stores and repair, rebuild and grow muscle tissue.

The priority system for generating energy [fuel] is first carbohydrates, then fat, and finally protein. However in hard training athletes, the metabolic system is upset due to the excessive elevation of cortisol, a catabolic hormone, resulting in the breakdown of first protien, then carbohydrates and fat. The result is protein degradation and the repair, rebuilding and growth benifits of intense, maximal training may be negated. 

Organic compunds called amino acids are used by human cells to make protein. Insulin, an anabolic hormone stimulates transportation of amino acids to muscles, activates elements of protein synthesis and helps decrease protein degrdation and net protein accretion, i.e. increase in concentration.

Our bodies physiological state, folowing intense, maximal training results in:

1. ATP [adenosine triphosphate]-CP[creatine phospahate] “fuel levels”, are depleted. 2. Cortisol levels have elevated 3. Protein synthesis declines. 4. Muscle glycogen levels fall. 5. Amino-acid blood levels fall. 6. Free radicals attack muscle structure. 7. Epinephrine and norepinephrine hormones increase [30 to 60 minutes]              

Insulin is the “anabolic regulator of the muscle”. It is released from the pancrease and may be the most important hormone to increase muscle mass and strenght. It is at the heart of the “nutrrient timing system”, when foods or supplements are taken!  

Regardless of the remote possibity of a well-balanced diet, intense, maximal training athletes have different metabolic needs from the average individual. Proper carbohydrate and protein supplementation is advised. There are four nutritional phases for athletes who are training hard.

1. Energy Phase: 30 minutes prior to and during training. 2. Anabolic Phase: 45 minutes following training. 3. Growth Phase/Rapid, two to four hours post-training and 4. Growth Phase/Sustained, five hours until the next training session. Each require various percents of high-glycemic carbohydrates and protein. Futher details are in the Nutrition Chapter in Dynamic Force Weight Training for Speed and Power Manual. www.dynamicforceweighttraining.com

One last note on creatine supplementation. Creatine is manufactured through it’s constituent amino acids in the liver and from the intake of protein.  Creatine is neccessary for the production of CP [creatine phosphate], the phosphagen energy system in the first 10-15 seconds of maximum force effort in training. Creatine directly stimulates protein synthesis, slows the use of ATP [fuel] during training and speeds the recovery of intra-muscular CP. Studies with creatine supplementation have shown significant gains in muscle strenght and mass as compared to corresponding placebos.

Athletes typically veiw the actual weight training as the most important part of gaining speed, power and streght. However, proper nutrition, including supplementation and rest are equally important and must be addressed!

Technically, “Speed does not trump other characteristics of athleticism”. Science [physics] tells us speed is the rate at which distance is covered. It’s velocity. Velocity is the rate at which distance is covered in a specific direction. In conversation and writing it is an insignificant issue, but in designing serious speed training programs, it probably should be understood.

There is much information on the Internet and other articles that are superficial and misleading regarding training to increase speed. One web site author who has been financially successful ”selling speed”, last fall sold a package of I believe 18 articles, written by different authors on speed training. I think the cost was about $90.00. The prevailing theme in over half the articles was significant increases in speed in just  30 days.  Now that is nonsense!Neuromuscular training takes approximately eight weeks. This web site and these authors parallel weight loss commercials! It’s that quick and easy! A few months later, the same web site author stated, “It’s not about the money”. That normally is the first sign  “it is about the money”!

Another web site author “selling speed” sells a training manual/CD set to “unlock the secret techniques proven to generate the fastest results.” I think the cost is more than $100.00. There  are no “secret techniques” to anyone who has done their homework, researched and studied speed and power. In one chapter he states, “once the CNS, central nervous system becomes fatigued, the work outs quickly lose their effectiveness.” How many coaches/trainers know enough about the central nervous system to understand if that is true or not?

How do you fatigue the afferent and efferent neurons, the neuro-muscular impulse rates or the muscle motor unit firing rates? If fatigue occurs ”in the CNS” it more than likely is the depletion of the chemical transmitter acetycholine [Ach], released at the neuromuscular junction. These authors need to “get off the surface and explain themselves”!

If you are considering increasing speed as the primary focus in your stenght and conditioning program, it is buyer beware of the material you read!

James Walker of the Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Utah, a USOC training site stated, “We’ve learned that the most effective training replicates the pattern of nerve firing and muscle movements that athletes use in their sport”. [Remeber neuromuscular firing rates vary from .5 to 120 meters per second and muscle motor unit firing rates have a frequency of 5 to 50 impulses per second]. Some refer to Walker’s comments as sports specific training.

In the system of Dynamic Force Weight Training for speed, power, strenght and flexibility, nueromuscular impusle rates and muscle motor unit firing rates, recruiting 2X fast twitch muscle fibers and not only sports specific but position and event specific training is the focus.

I too often see these issues being ignored and not applied. Either the athletes, coaches or trainers are not paying attention, do not know how to implement these “cutting edge” training methods and techniques, or simply are comfortable with what they were taught 10-20 years ago and are resistant to change.  Optimum performance of every athlete requires the athlete, coach and trainer upgrade their weight training programs to focus on these issues. 

Optimum speed and power with simultaneous increases in strength and flexibility cannot be achieved without training methods and techniques that focus on what Ebel and Walker have mentioned. The “one size fits all” approach is traditional, neanderthal training and a diservice to athletes, coaches, trainers and their teams. That is not the case with the system of Dynamic Force Weight Training!   

All forms of traditional weight training, including power lifts, primarily do not recruit 2X fast twitch muscle fibers. Power lifts, thought to have an impact on power and speed, increase strength, size and muscle endurance but perhaps never recruit 2X fast twitch muscle fibers. Therefore optimum increases in speed and power, sometimes referred to as explosive stength cannot be obtained.

To recruit 2X fast twitch muscle fibers, rapid, repeated, significant applied force is required.  While plyometrics are not considered weight training, they are a training action that does recruit 2X fast twitch muscle fibers. The primary weight training methods for recruiting 2X fast twitch muscle fibers for increasing speed and power are Bar Drops and Shock reps, with appropriate weight loads for each athlete.

It must be recognized that 2X fast twitch muscle fibers have only short term energy, fuel in the form of ATP [adenosine triphosphate] and CP [creatine phosphate] which is stored in the muscles and liver. That ATP is available for 5-7 seconds and CP 10-15 seconds. So there is a 5 to 15 second supply of fuel for recruiting, contracting and training of 2X fast twitch muscles.

After approximately 15 seconds, intermediate term anaerobic energy in the form of non-dependent oxygen glycolysis, is fuel [ATP] stored in the muscles and liver and is available for 30 to 40 seconds. After that time, muscle contraction depends on oxygen dependent glycolisis, [aerobic] often refered to as the Krebs cycle, the enzymatic breakdown of carbohydrates and fatty acids in the presence of oxygen. Also called oxidative phosphorylation, it produces 95% of our fuel [ATP] for daily use.

Weight training using rapid, repeated, significant applied force using Bar Drops and Shock repeititons is how to optimally increase an athletes speed and power!

Athletes, coaches and trainers must know this information in order to create weight training methods and techniques that focus on increasing speed and power. If you don’t see weight training with rapid, repeated significantly applied force in the training rooms, then how to optimally increase an athletes speed and power is not understood.

Speed and Power win!

After our initial meeting I felt I could and wanted to help him.  Physically he was 6″1″ and near 300lbs, however he did not look to be a D-1caliber athlete. In our first training session, he did not demonstrate good footwork which of course limited his agility.

In that first training session as we prepared to pull speed sleds, I asked him if he was ready. His response to me was “Coach, I was born ready”! I wasn’t facing him and nearly laughed, but when I turned and saw his face, the determination and passion was transparent. I didn’t laugh! I knew then I had one of those unique athletes that would do whatever they could to reach their optimum capability.

That proved to be true. Following a tough summer, it felt I could not work him hard enough, training specifically for speed, quickness, improved footwork and agility, he entered his senior year prepared to excel. He not only was named to his school’s classification All-State team, he was selected by the State Coaches to their top eleven team. His school retired his football jersey number, only the second jersey number to be retired in the school’s history. Wow, what he did for himself to reach that level.

He did receive a NCAA D-1 scholarship and started their first game at nose guard. That 800 hp “hemi diesel engine” he demonstrated, according to him at birth……set him apart, even when he did not initially look the part. Jervon was and is an inspiration! Some young athletes simply “get it done”. 

Why would a coach/trainer ever introduce a “muscle movement memory” that is certain to put the athlete at a uncompromising disadavantage. I assume the presumed benefit is ”warming up”, stretching the hip flexors and extensors, groins, etc. There are much better methods for doing just that!

If you can ever catch your opponent in that position, one leg across, in front or behind the other, you win! If that athlete is not also turning his hips, shoulders and head simultaniously in the direction of the lead leg, he or she will “freeze in that position or fall on their butt”! So why Carioca? I don’t know!

The second useless drill is the slow lunge. I refer to it as a “ slow Lunge to a slow 40″. Again I presume the benifit is to “warm up” the hip flexors/extensors and the quads. If you are trying to develop an athlete or teams optimum, not just good, better, best, but optimum speed, quickness and power, every drill must consider variations in muscle fiber contraction rates, nueromuscular impluse rates, and muscle motor unit firing rates. In place of a “slow lunge”, use similiar lunge methods like Russian sprints or Russian bounces. It’s better, it’s easy and you will continue moving in the direction of training for Optimum speed and power.