Training Max Velocity Speed in the Gym (It Can Be Done!)

Today I tested a low-ish HRV so I needed something somewhat gentle for the lower body and came up with this contrast circuit. Now most players and would head to the gym and develop their program based on muscles of the lower body, using regular tempo reps (2 - 3secs down then 1 - 2secs up). 

This type of training has it's place no doubt (early off-season phase) but unfortunately in an actual game of footy, gym lifts performed in a straight, up and down manner with slow contractions won't really get it done.

If you want to train to perform then using movements that train multiple force vectors (I've posted about this before) is a must as footy is a 360 degree sport.

Here’s how I developed this training session.

Step 1 – Decide on the aim of the session which was to train the lower body and as I’ve just completed a strength block I wanted something to assist with max velocity sprinting.

Step 2 – What components of the lower body do you need to train train to reach the aim of the session. With max velocity being what I wanted to train over acceleration (which I did on Tuesday), I decided that the components that I could train indoors were: 

Intramuscular Coordination 
Achilles Tendon Stiffness 
Vertical Reactive Power   
Horizontal Reactive Power

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      Coordination is the ability to sequence the right muscles to fire at the right time and in the case of sprinting, we’re talking hip extension of 1 leg while simultaneously going into powerful hip flexion of the opposite leg. The added component of this is that sprinting is also horizontal in movement nature so a perfect exercise for this is the Bosch Clean which as you can see below, is a perfect replica of human locomotion.

For Achilles tendon stiffness I wanted something to overload the movement with minimal impact so I opted for donkey ankle jumps which allow me to jump to higher then I could in a normal ankle jump thus overloading the Achilles upon impact far greater than normal.

      For vertical reactive (ballistic / up and down movement) power I went for trap bar jump squats which has been shown to result in as much, if not more power then any of the Olympic lifts which a far lesser learning curve in regards to technique.

      For horizontal reactive power I went for reactive long jumps with cable resistance which decreases the impact upon landing on each jump yet probably increases explosiveness from the resistance dragging you back as you jump.

       I did 3 circuits of these and went home.

      As you can see there is a huge difference between general and specific training and to really train optimally you need some form of specificity to get true transfer over to your performance.

      The thoughts of getting bigger and stronger is probably making your on field performance much better really as in the end you're getting better at training in the gym, not on the footy field which makes programming ultra important.

      Stop wasting your time and efforts in the gym and actually make an impact in this years finals series while you still have time to do something about it by following these steps:

       #1 - Click the Paypal icon at the top of the blog

       #2 - Send $20 to lange_troy@hotmail.com

       #3 - In the message part of the transaction type in your goal or glaring weakness in your game being  as specific as possible ("...I'm a full forward so I need to get faster over the first 5m of a lead from a  standing start..." for example)

       #4 - Give me 60 - 90mins per week x 4 weeks of your time

       #5 - Dominate on the field

       I only have limited places for this as I've been doing each program manually so get in before my  time runs out!