Many athletes think that speed training and strength training have nothing to do with each other. In fact, some people think that strength training inhibits speed.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I have never seen an athlete running a great 40 that was not strong.

Relative body strength, or pound for pound body strength, is the quality that relates best to speed and explosiveness. For example, an athlete that can do a lot of pull-ups will likely have much better 40 potential than an athlete that can do only 2 or 3.

If you are a young athlete (say a sophomore in High School or younger) and do not need to test the 40 for recruiting purposes just yet, then work on general body strength first. General body strength lays the foundation for speed training and helps the athlete properly perform speed training techniques.

I have seen many athletes that could not benefit much from specific speed training because their bodies were too weak. They lacked core strength so they could not hold their body still while their arms were driving explosively.

Another big benefit of general strengthening is that the connective tissues of the body get stronger and are better able to tolerate the pounding of speed training as well as training for other sports. Also, weaknesses of the body will be brought up to par and balanced with the rest of the body.

As a general rule, I like for young athletes to use the same program for 4 weeks or 2 different programs for 6 weeks. My training template will always include movements that will train the following elements:

1. Squat or variation
2. Single Leg movement
3. Trunk/Hip flexing/extending activity
4. Upper Body Push activity
5. Upper Body Pull activity
6. Trunk side bend activity
7. Auxiliary exercises to specifically train weaknesses or areas susceptible to injury