Since the beginning of FTC (1999, I’ve timed tens of thousands of max velocity sprints.
When you record, rank, and publish, you learn things.
Here are some takeaways.
1) Best time to improve mph is in offseason and preseason. Max velocity needs to be seen as THE FOUNDATION of athleticism.
Supplemental work:
Lift
Jump
Bounce
Throw
🚫 laps, stairs, miles, gassers
💥 Never let today ruin tomorrow.
💥 Tired is the enemy, not the goal.
Don’t burn the 🥩
2) You CAN improve mph during a 🏈 season if you prioritize speed, eliminate traditional conditioning, shorten practices, and, of course, time sprints 2x per week.
🚫 Grind
3) It’s difficult to improve mph DURING a track season due to the high frequency of meets and the required lactate workouts needed to sprint further.
Even though mph may plateau, 100-200-400 times will improve through improved efficiency and acidosis tolerance.
Takeaway ⤵️
If you spend your entire offseason developing capacity, endurance, toughness, and weight room numbers, you are criminally neglecting speed.
Enter every season with the FASTEST, strongest, healthiest athletes. BTW, this type of training will attract fast kids (CATS) to your program.
Patiently let the season build capacity and efficiency without DETRAINING SPEED.