For an athlete, speed is very important. No matter what sport an individual plays, speed is almost always at the forefront of their game. Athletes spend time to develop their speed both on the practice field and in the gym. Here are 3 keys to building speed.

1. Smarter Strength Development - A smaller athlete has different needs and a different work capacity than a larger athlete. Larger athletes need more of a stimulus to get results. In this case the stimulus is weight. In order form them to get faster; we need to squat and deadlift more than a lighter athlete does for example. A smaller athlete does not need to push the same weights as the larger athletes to get the same results. A smaller athlete gains the same speed development benefits. If they do the amount that larger athletes do, they risk injury. Training the right muscle groups is also important. Posterior chain work will help increase speed. Also knowing where an athlete is in terms of their fitness and where they are in their training. Younger athletes should focus on their movement quality before adding more complicated movements.

2. Explosiveness and ground contact - Speed and explosiveness go hand in hand. One of the basic principles of speed is contact with the ground. This contact should be as hard as possible and repeated as quick as possible. We can train this hard ground contact through Olympic lifts, plyometrics, and medicine ball tosses.

3. Efficiency - All too often we see improper running technique. Just as stated before, younger athletes should focus on their technique early. It is far easier to teach technique early than to correct improper running techniques. Some examples of improper running technique are wasted energy, posture issues, and inflexibility to name a few.

Mark Radio is the General Manager of Body Elite. He graduated from Bloomsburg University in 2008 with a bachelors degree in Exercise Science. He is a certified nutritional counselor through AFPA. Mark enjoys working with all types of clients from any skill level. Mark tailors programs to your skill level and goals, putting an emphasis on strength training, high intensity cardio, and eating “real” food to get BE clients to where they want to be.