Something that’s been interesting me is how people get more powerful…transferring the weight room strength to a faster sprint, higher jump, etc.
I wanted to see what your stance was on conversion of strength. It seems to me there’s three camps:
- Get stronger + oly lifts
- Get stronger + dynamic box squats/jump squats
- Get stronger + traditional plyometrics
I didn’t include med ball work as one because that seems to be more like something cycled in.
You use #2 rather than #1 because of training economy and time if I understand right?
-So, why do you believe in box squats (DE Lower) over traditional plyometrics and sprinting for improving power (#3)?
Or to say, when you’ve got the static down, how do you get the spring?
delldell,
Yes, you are correct in that I usually choose #2 over #1 for increasing my athletes speed-strength.
BUT…you are totally off with regards to my take on plyometrics and speed training. Most of my (more advanced) athletes perform plyos and ALL of my athletes speed train. I don’t write about plyo workouts too much because I use them in so many different ways - within a strength-training session, within speed-training sessions, on their own, etc.
The mix up with regards to speed training may be because I don’t believe in speed training all-year long. Most of my athletes don’t start a speed and conditioning workout until 6-8 weeks before they have to report to camp or their season starts. I do feel that too many coaches beat the speed training to death. I believe that this leads to overtraining and injuries. I build the “foundation” for speed (strength, flexibility, nutrition/supplementation) all year long, but we only test our speed a couple weeks out of the year. Remember that it’s a long season for most athletes and you want them peaking when it counts!
(NOTE: When I refer to speed and conditioning I’m talking about specific speed work and very specific conditioning work - lactic acid threshold training, anaerobic endurance and anything else that prepares the athlete for his specific sport.
On the other hand, GPP workouts are used year-round for lower-level athletes that I feel need it.)
Hope this clears things up a bit.