My Thoughts On Common Speed Tools (Parachutes, Overspeed Treadmills, etc)
Submitted by Got Strength? Blog
I get asked regularly about a variety of overspeed and speed resistance tools like parachutes, weighted sleds, and overspeed treadmills when it comes to creating fast athletes.
I gave an answer to this here in my column on WannaBeBig.com and I thought I’d repost it here. These tools do have there place when it comes to training athletes, but for almost all beginning and intermediate athletes the dangers outweigh the benefits. Anyway, here’s my post:
Q. What do you think about speed resistance tools like parachutes?
A: : In general I have to admit that I’m not a fan of most of the sprint resistance tools that you see out there. I understand the thought process behind parachutes, overspeed treadmills, and all of that; I just think it’s misguided.
Sprint speed is governed by a few qualities: Power, which is affected by the CNS (total recruitment and recruitment speed) and muscular cross-sectional area, lever arms (which you can’t do much about), and technique. The idea behind the tools is that you take a learned skill (technique), and you apply it with a load to increase strength. To me that seems sort of backward.
What happens when you have a good weight-trained athlete squat at 50% and 120% of their 1RM? I’m willing to bet that the 50% squat is going be a nearly textbook perfect squat. Now let’s load the bar up to 120%. If the athlete doesn’t plant into the ground and does manage to grind the squat up, what’s it going to look like? It’ll probably be the ugliest shallow, knock-kneed Good Morning you’ve ever seen and bear almost no resemblance to a squat.
That’s what these tools are like. You’ve got a well-trained skill (sprinting) that you’re now adding more resistance to than you’ll ever use in competition and as a result the athlete needs to accommodate for the additional resistance by altering their sprint form.
If you’re going to sprint, then sprint. If you’re going to get strong, then get strong. Make your athletes strong through proper strength training, plyo work, and mobility work, and then apply that strength to their sprint practice.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
