Strength for Speed

Strength, leg strength is the key to being a top level athlete. With it comes speed, like mentioned above turnover can only be improved so much, so speed is most efficiently improved by power and strength in the legs.

Exercises to improve leg strength and explosiveness:

• Power and Hang cleans- for detailed explanation’s check out our Lifting Guide. These exercises are great for explosiveness and will greatly increase your get off and power.
• Glute ham raises- Click her for the visual description. The Key to this is to keep your back and head straight, use only your hamstring and glutes to pull your body up. Your hamstrings are probably the most important muscle to speed. It is the muscle that tears back on the ground when running so if you tear back with more power the further you will be purpled and the faster you will move.
• Squats- the key to this isn’t max weight but speed. Move the bar with velocity, use a heavy weight but one that can be done multiple times without to much struggle. Try switching up the amounts of reps and sets. A secret to building speed legs with squats is 1 rep sets with medium weight but doing the reps with violence and speed. 10 sets would be ideal. Once again see the Lifting Guide for more detailed descriptions.