The Speed and Strength Training Pyramid: Steps to Developing a Faster Athlete

Developing a solid foundation of physical abilities is critical to designing effective speed and strength training programs for youth through elite athletes. In designing a program it is useful to consider the training pyramid. The training pyramid gives you a framework for designing training programs of athletes of all levels. Every athlete wants to be strong, fast, and compete at their best. Each athlete has different strengths and weaknesses and has different training experience. What we need to do is take a look at what lays the foundation of athletic performance. Following our performance evaluation we are able to identify areas of strengths and weakness for each athlete. The training pyramid presents a framework from which to develop higher level athletic abilities. If you are weak in abilities at the base of the pyramid, your performance in the abilities above decreases. Developing a solid foundation as the key to developing the total athlete.

General Physical Preparedness
 
General Physical Preparedness (GPP) is the base of the pyramid and encompasses a wide variety of training concepts. The idea is that there are some general physical qualities that are important no mater what sport or activity you want to participate in. Improving GPP helps develop physical abilities needed to perform physical skills at a higher level. Athletes new to strength training at any age should begin with the bulk of their training at this level of the pyramid. More elite athletes should re-visit GPP training during planned periods in the off-season. GPP includes;

1. Aerobic and anaerobic fitness
2. Static and dynamic flexibility
3. Core strength and stability
4. Coordination and balance
5. Muscular endurance

If an athlete is lacking in any of these areas, it will negatively impact their ability to perform activities further up the pyramid. This type of training may be in the form of circuits, med ball training, movement and technique drills, stabilization training.

Strength
 
Strength in its most basic form is identified as how much you can lift. The exact type of strength needed depends on the activity you participate in. Most athletes will benefit from improving strength with ground based, multi-joint, free weight exercises. Squats, lunges, presses, pulls, these exercises have carryover to many athletic activities and movements. To get faster, the most important type of strength to develop is relative strength. Relative strength is your strength to body weight ratio. The fastest athletes are ones who are able to squat nearly 2x their body weight. This level of strength takes time to develop, but the principle is that if you are stronger at the same body weight, you will be able to jump higher and run faster. Types of strength that can be trained at this level include;

1. General strength
2. Max strength
3. Strength endurance
4. Relative strength
5. Starting strength

These types of strength have different importance depending on the sporting activity you participate in. To optimally develop these qualities, you need to have some prerequisite abilities from the GPP level of the pyramid. If you lack flexibility you will not be able to safely get into good lifting form and your results will suffer. If you have poor conditioning, you will not be able to train hard through a full strength workout and again you don't get the same level of results. Strength training also builds the pyramid for the next step of power training.

Speed-Strength
 
Speed-strength training means training along the force velocity curve. According to the force-velocity curve, the faster the movement, the less force you can generate. This is because of the amount of time the muscle has to develop contractile force. Strength training alone trains the force end of the force velocity curve. The goal of this phase is to be able to take our improvements in strength and apply them at a greater rate of speed, or learn to apply our newfound strength with more athletic movements. Speed squats, band squats, Olympic lifts, sled pushes and pulls, resisted sprints, weighted plyo's, vertimax all fall along the speed-strength continuum. We utilize these activities in our training programs to develop your ability to apply force at higher velocity. This phase of training helps to transfer gains in strength over to gains in athletic performance. Training in this phase also highlights the importance of training at the levels below. If you do not have a prerequisite amount of strength, you will not be able to perform these tasks with adequate power to get the desired training effect.

Speed
 
Speed training is the pinnacle of the pyramid. Speed training requires taking sport-specific movements and performing them at a high velocity with optimal technique. Training speed involves training at the velocity end of the force-velocity curve. The external resistance is lower, and the rate of speed and force application is high. Starts, sprints, plyo's, agility drills are incorporated into speed training. Training must focus on not just top speed running, but acceleration, change of direction, and deceleration. This helps develop an athlete with not just top speed, but game speed for any sport. At this level of the pyramid, the only resistance the athlete must overcome is body weight. This again highlights the importance of relative strength and developing qualities at the base of the pyramid.

In developing an athletic performance program, it is critical to recognize that the abilities at the base of the pyramid influence abilities above them, but it doesn't work the other way around. Training only speed for example will have little impact on strength, or flexibility. This doesn't mean you cannot train at each level simultaneously. Programs can involve training in multiple different levels of the pyramid in the same session. However, the emphasis of training shifts to different levels as athletes' progress through the program. As athletes develop through a training program, they can spend less time on training at the lower levels, and more time at the top of the pyramid. The key to long term, sustainable results is to assess where each athlete is at on the training pyramid in order to design an appropriate training program. All athletes must keep in mind the need to develop a strong foundation and regularly re-visit the foundation of GPP and strength training during the yearly cycle. Weaknesses at the base of the pyramid can develop in athletes competing at the highest level if they fail to build a strong foundation for their performance. Think about the training pyramid when designing your next training program and build the foundation for athletic success.

Lose Belly Fat Fast - This 15 Minute Workout Will Help You Lose Belly Fat In 1 Week

You are going to complete a set of exercises aimed at burning off calories that will help you lose belly fat fast, exercises you can perform at home so no gym fees. However, what is the use of burning off say 250 calories if you pile back 350 calories by eating junk food. To get the fat off your tummy you must lose weight from the whole of your body so today you must start to eliminate all junk food and white carbohydrates from your diet.

Eat a well balanced diet that should contain, chicken breast or other lean cuts of meat, oily fish, greens such as spinach and broccoli, salads, beans, fruit and drink sufficient water to keep your body hydrated at all times. Do not fry your foods always grill. A well balanced diet is as important as any exercise regime if you are to successfully lose belly fat fast, so no processed foods whatsoever.

Before you begin any exercise program ensure that your body is properly warmed up and to achieve this you do some light jogging, some skipping or cycle around a couple of blocks.

You are aiming for high intensity interval training which means higher intensity than you would normally but for a shorter period and this 15 minute workout fits the bill.

OK let's begin.

• Standing Jumps Take any object that sits 6 inches off the floor ( a pile of books will do) and stand behind. The exercise is to jump backwards and forwards over the object as quickly and as many times as you can.


• Squat thrusts With hands on the floor stretch your legs back as far as possible then pull your feet as high up under your body as possible and as quickly as you can, repeat.


• Pike Crunches Lie flat on the floor with your arms fully extended above your head and your toes pointed out in front of you. Bend your knees slightly then raise your legs off the floor and at the same time raise your arms, keeping them straight until you get to the V position. Hold for a few seconds then return to the floor, repeat as many time as you can.


• Star Jumps Squat with your hands just touching the floor then launch your self off the floor extending arms and legs in a star formation, repeat as many time as you can. You really must explode into this exercise.


• Sitting Push Ups Sit in an arm chair with you hands on each arm, raise your legs until your body is in an "L" position. Complete as many push ups as you can, this works abs and triceps.


• Sit Ups. Lie flat on the floor and anchor your feet to a chair, then with hands behind your head, or folded across your chest raise your torso off the floor and when upright twist the body first right then left and return to the floor complete as many reps as you can.

These exercises should be completed with intensity and maximum effort but I would warn beginners and anyone really out of condition to take it easy to begin with. Also please remember that if you start to feel any discomfort or pain you must stop immediately, if you do not you will get hurt.

Always warm down with some light jogging or skipping.

If you complete these exercises daily, eat a balanced diet and keep hydrated you will begin to lose belly fat within a week, but you must be consistent and committed.

Make this your daily mantra: I must lose belly fat and I will.