If your an athlete who plays sports and who wants to excel at that sport, one factor that you may be working on improving is SPEED. Speed is an important part of almost every sport. The fastest person is usually the one who wins or gets the starting position. Over the next 5 post, I will go over my top 5 ways to begin increasing your speed. These are going to help point you in the right track in improving your sport performance on your own. If you like what you read and want some expert instruction and coaching, feel free to contact us at the Sculpt Fitness Personal Training Gym in either Bath or Hudson Ohio. Lets get on to the first way to increase your speed!
1. STRETCH!!
“Why on earth would you put stretching at number one ?”
Based on firsthand experience along with research, the athlete who has more flexibility in his body will be able to move easily through a full range of motion resulting in longer strides. The equation for running a fast time is the equation “ Stride Length X Stride Frequency”. This means that the athlete who takes the fewest steps with power will finish with a fast time. The combination of these two components will result in either a slow time or a blazing time. If an athlete cannot take large steps during his run, he will take numerous choppy steps that will not only look bad, but will cause a slower time. Although he may look like he’s taking powerful strong steps, he is failing to transfer that power down the field in fewer than 20 steps. To run a good time, a player should take between 17-20 steps at the most in a 40 yard distance. Any more steps, then he is neglecting the stride length part of the equation. Any fewer steps than 17, then he is over striding, lowering the amount of force being put in the ground.
When an athlete first comes to us wanting to work on speed and running a faster 40 yard time, I explain to him that flexibility will be a key component to his training regimen. It may not be the most exciting piece of the puzzle for becoming a faster player, but the results and benefits are numerous. A key stretch that I have a player perform is a hip flexor stretch To perform this stretch you want to take a huge step and then relax your back knee on the ground. Next you want to gently lean backwards with your upper body applying a stretch to your hips, quads and hip flexors. This stretch should be held for 30 seconds to 1 minute to really make a change in the muscle fibers. This will loosen up the muscles around the hip socket and the glute muscles. This will help in loosening a person’s stride after performed over several weeks.
Stay posted for the next way to increase your speed. For more information check out our main site at https://www.sculptfitnesstraining.com
SculptTrainer,
Chad Maleski
