08.01.03
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Click
here to Ask Joe about training. If you send a
question, it may appear on the website. Please do
not submit a question if you do not want the question
published. Only your first name will be used for privacy
reasons.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Submit your email address to subscribe to
our free newsletter.
You can receive our weekly email letting you know
when there are new Questions and Answers. We will
also keep you up to date with upcoming events and
new ways to become a better athlete.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Q: Joe, I need to get faster and
more explosive. My best 40-time is 5.41. I want to get it
down to 5.0 or even lower. I’m 15 years old, weigh
175 lbs. and I have been lifting for 2 years.
I rarely do leg workouts. Can you
please give me a few workouts that will increase my speed
and make me more explosive from my stance? I read your post
on Vinny Ciurciu – he played Pop Warner football in
my town and what he has done has inspired me a lot. I hope
to be as successful as him.
Thanks for your help!
Tom
A: : Tom,
It’s time for some tough love. You’re slow because
you’re weak. You CAN’T be weak and be fast!
That’s the bottom line. I’m not trying to be
rude – just honest. One of the reasons I achieve great
results with my athletes is because I tell it like it is.
If Vinny Ciurciu has inspired you –
you should see him in the weight room. He’s a beast!
He’s one of the strongest athletes I’ve ever
trained. That is one of the main reasons he was one of the
fastest linebackers in the country this year.
Now that you know one of the reasons that you’re not
as fast as you can be, I hope “rarely doing leg workouts”
will be a thing of the past.
I do want to help you, though, so I will
give you some GENERAL guidelines for lower body training.
I don't like giving out workouts to athletes I haven't evaluated
or personally taught proper exercise form, but this should
help. I also have no idea what equipment you have access
to. I'm assuming you have the basics, so I'll keep it simple.
First of all, don't waste your time doing
a lot of exercises on machines. (Example: leg presses, leg
extensions and calf raises won't do much to increase your
speed.)
Believe it or not, I only do 3 or 4 exercises
with all of my athletes (including the pros) on leg day.
Your format should be as follows:
Exercise #1 - Always do
a squat or deadlift variation (I favor box squats and trap
bar deadlifts. YOU MUST BE COACHED PROPERLY ON THESE FIRST!
Warm-up properly and work up to 4-5 sets of 6-10 reps on
one of these exercises.
Exercise #2 - Always follow
squats or deadlifts with a single leg movement. Step-ups,
single leg squats with the back leg elevated and barbell
reverse lunges are all favorites of mine. (There are pictures
of all of them on the "training pics" section
of this site.) Choose one of them and do 3 sets of 10-12
reps each leg.
Exercise #3 - Always finish
with hamstrings! My athletes always finish their leg workouts
with glute-ham raises, reverse hypers, pull-throughs or
leg curls. I'm assuming you don’t have access to the
first three exercises so do 3 or 4 sets of 8-10 reps of
leg curls.
Exercise #4 - Always do
"core" work (abs and low back) for 5-10 minutes
after legs.
After you warm-up, the workout shouldn't
last longer than an hour. If it does, you’re making
friends in the gym – not progress!
Hope this helps.
Joe D.
Return to Top
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Q: I’ve seen the “chains”
used a lot lately in various workouts (as shown in some
of your “training pics”). Are they just used
for added weight or do they actually serve another purpose?
James
A: James,
Thanks for the question. This is a very common question
because most athletes and coaches misuse the chains. So
here’s the deal:
No, the chains are NOT just used to add
weight. That is, if they are implemented properly. Notice
how I have the small chains looped around the bar and the
heavy (5/8") chains draped over the smaller chains.
(The smaller chains add only 5 extra pounds. Their only
purpose is to set up the heavy chains at the proper height.)
The heavy 5/8” chains are used to
ACCOMMODATE RESISTANCE. You must remember that you are always
limited in the amount of weight you can use in any given
exercise due to the fact that your leverage is different
at various points of the repetition. Take the bench press
for example: Once you get the weight past the “sticking
point”, the rest of the repetition is easy. An athlete
who can bench press 300lbs. can probably lockout around
400lbs. This same athlete would be limited to always using
300lbs. or less because he wouldn’t be able to get
anything heavier past his “sticking point”.
This prevents the top of the lift from ever getting fully
worked.
So in the case of the bench press, as you lower the bar,
the heavy chains gather onto the floor. When the bar is
on your chest and your leverage is at its worst, all the
heavy chain is on the floor - adding NO extra weight to
the bar. As you raise the weight and your leverage increases,
the chains unravel off of the floor, thus, increasing the
weight gradually. So the weight actually increases during
the course of the repetition as you get stronger. This is
what “Accommodating Resistance” means.
This also teaches athletes to ACCELERATE
through the entire repetition because the weight gets heavier
at the top. (The unraveling of the chains off of the floor
as you press the bar actually sends a neurological response
to your body to try and “out run” the chains
to the top.) This builds explosive power the best because
the athlete must explode throughout the entire repetition.
So in the case of Eric Downing's picture
on this site - we had 320lbs. of bar weight and two 5/8”
chains on each side of the bar. The chains add 80 extra
pounds of weight at the top of the repitition, as each chain
weighs 20 lbs. So when the weight is on his chest it's only
around 320 lbs., but at lockout it is 400 lbs.!
Hopefully this clears things up a bit.
Joe D.
Return to Top
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Q: : BRO,
I don’t have a question, just a comment. Your website
is sick! It makes me want to go eat RAW eggs and lift weights!
Disciple,
Vinny Ciurciu
A: Vinny,
I’m glad you finally got a chance to check out the
site. It’s athletes like you that made it possible.
Now, get off the damn computer and go make the team (Carolina
Panthers)!
Joe D.
Return to Top
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Q: Joe,
What do you feel are the main limiting factors that affect
an athlete’s speed? Why are some athletes fast and
others can’t sprint if their life depended on it?
Is it all genetic? This always interested me.
Jason
A: Jason,
This topic must interest a lot of people because I get this
question, or some form of it, everyday. So here it goes
. . . again.
I feel there are 4 MAJOR factors that affect
sprinting speed.
#1 – RELATIVE BODY STRENGTH
– Athletes who are strong in relation to their bodyweight
are always fast. Think about this: the primary function
of your bodies 600+ muscles is to contract to move body
parts. Only MUSCLE causes movement. If your muscles are
weak, they can’t move your body fast. Simple enough
for ya?
I get athletes faster in a 400 square-foot
room in the back of the gym commonly referred to as “The
Hole”. How on earth do I do this, you ask? I get them
STRONG!
#2 – FLEXIBILITY
– I feel flexibility is one of the most overlooked
components of training.
If you go to a track meet at the high
school, college or Olympic level you will notice that the
athlete that takes the FEWEST steps usually wins. Basically,
a bigger and more powerful stride length usually
wins the race at the higher levels.
Remember this equation: FLEXIBILITY + Strength = stride
length. A strong athlete who possesses great flexibility
will be able to cover more distance with each step, thus,
winning the race.
#3 – BODY COMPOSITION
– There’s no nice way to put this; If you’re
fat, you will never be as fast as you can be. Fat acts as
excess baggage when trying to run. Do you think you would
be able to run a faster 40-yard dash if I put a 20lb. weighted
vest on you? Of course not! Clean up your diet, shed some
fat and watch your speed increase at a record pace!
#4 – TECHNIQUE –
Most people list technique as the #1 factor that affects
an athlete’s speed. Although I feel that technique
is important, I list it last for the following reason: If
you’re fat, weak and not flexible, how the heck are
you going to be able to perform the proper running technique?
You see, proper running mechanics require an athlete to
possess factors #1, #2 and #3! Always work on the above
3 attributes while learning proper technique. Running correctly
will enable you to expend less energy when sprinting. The
more efficient you run, the faster you can become.
Joe D.
Return to Top
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Q: I play Div. III football and
I’m the strongest kid on my team. The problem is that
I feel I’m the strongest of the weak. We really don’t
have many “workout warriors” on the team beside
myself. I love weight room “war stories” and
I was wondering if you had any. What are some of the best
feats of strength you’ve seen? I checked out your
“training roster” and it looks like an impressive
cast. I’d love to see how I compare to any of your
top dawgs.
Darnell
A: Darnell, I love to
talk about feats of strength myself. Although I have TONS
of stories, I put this “Q&A” together to
provide educational information on training to help athletes
achieve their goals. I don’t want to spend too much
time on this (I can write all day), but a few recent “feats”
pop into my head.
#1 – Last year I trained University
of Alabama-Birmingham defensive end, Eddie Freeman,
for the NFL Combine. Eddie is a freak of nature –
he also likes to talk. During a lower body training session,
Eddie was arguing with one of the other athletes about who
was going to get drafted higher. Eddie ended up deadlifting
500lbs. for 5 reps. The amazing thing was he didn’t
shut up for the entire 5 reps. He was more in tune with
the argument, rather than the fact that he had 500lbs. in
his hands. This was also the first time he ever deadlifted.
(Eddie ended up being a second-round draft pick, thus, winning
the argument as well.)
#2 – University of Connecticut guard,
Brian Markowski, stopped in for a workout
a couple of weeks ago and parallel box squatted 600lbs.!
He did this with no lifting belt, no knee wraps, no nothing
– just a cut t-shirt and shorts. Oh yeah, he also
benched 365lbs. for 8 reps.
#3 – Kansas City Chiefs defensive
tackle, Eric Downing, is still legendary
among my athletes for his 30-yard, 660lb. sled drag last
year. (If you added in the friction created by the track
service he pulled the sled on, the resistance was probably
closer to 800lbs.!) I have a picture of this in my office.
It’s a classic.
#4 – Northwestern linebacker,
John Pickens, is the only athlete I’ve ever
trained who can perform single leg squats with the back
leg elevated, holding 100lb. dumbells. If you’ve ever
done this exercise, you can appreciate this feat of strength
much more. By the way, the last time we did this exercise
I realized mid-way through John’s set that his shoes
were untied and he was having a conversation with the person
next to him. He still performed a perfect set of 10 reps
with ease!
Darnell, how do you compare?
Joe D.
Return to Top
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
