In order to be faster you need good leg muscles. Mainly hamstrings right? So i figure i can do leg curls and streight leg dead lift to increase my speed. Now do i want heavy weight and only do about 10 reps/set or do i want light weight and however many reps/set im not sure? Anyone know how to train speed with a weight workout? Any other workouts besides the 2 i listed help with speed?
heavy/low rep or light/high rep weight 4 speed
- Thread starter bigmaczach
- Start date
Assuming you're talking about running faster, as far as legs go you'll actually want to be working your Glute, Quad, and Calf muscles.
This doesn't mean you should also neglect working complimentary muscles such as the Tibialis or the Hamstrings. Focusing on one side of any symmetrical muscle can lead to some pretty weird abnormalities, so I've been told (ie: only working abs, neglecting the back, only working biceps, neglecting triceps,) so don't get into any bad habits.
Also, before you start hitting the Good-mornings make SURE you have a very strong core (ie: back-extensions and abdominal work.) I'd recommend warming up your back before doing any Good-mornings.
As far as the number of reps and sets, it depends on what type of running you're doing. Since you said you want to run faster, I'd go with low-rep sets. Maybe starting at 3 sets of 5-8 repetitions once a week, adding one set every two weeks until you're doing 5 sets. Whatever you do, make absolutely SURE you're also incorporating leg-speed training into your week while you're power-lifting. Otherwise you will run around like a truck in low-gear.
Keep in mind there is nothing in this that will give you any sort of muscle endurance. This will pretty-much train your legs to have incredible bursts of speed for short periods of time. What I would do is first focus on high-rep sets, 4-5 sets of 15-20 reps, for a month or so and then begin bulking until you've reached a strength you're comfortable with. After that, go back to the endurance-lifting. This will generate more than speed, it'll give you power.
Hope this helps.
This doesn't mean you should also neglect working complimentary muscles such as the Tibialis or the Hamstrings. Focusing on one side of any symmetrical muscle can lead to some pretty weird abnormalities, so I've been told (ie: only working abs, neglecting the back, only working biceps, neglecting triceps,) so don't get into any bad habits.
Also, before you start hitting the Good-mornings make SURE you have a very strong core (ie: back-extensions and abdominal work.) I'd recommend warming up your back before doing any Good-mornings.
As far as the number of reps and sets, it depends on what type of running you're doing. Since you said you want to run faster, I'd go with low-rep sets. Maybe starting at 3 sets of 5-8 repetitions once a week, adding one set every two weeks until you're doing 5 sets. Whatever you do, make absolutely SURE you're also incorporating leg-speed training into your week while you're power-lifting. Otherwise you will run around like a truck in low-gear.
Keep in mind there is nothing in this that will give you any sort of muscle endurance. This will pretty-much train your legs to have incredible bursts of speed for short periods of time. What I would do is first focus on high-rep sets, 4-5 sets of 15-20 reps, for a month or so and then begin bulking until you've reached a strength you're comfortable with. After that, go back to the endurance-lifting. This will generate more than speed, it'll give you power.
Hope this helps.
When sport-training the best thing you can do is mimic the work you'll actually be doing in your competition - like jp said, plyo work (for muscular endurance and aerobic capacity) and speed drills.
It's also a good idea to set up a strong aerobic endurance base for last minute pushes. Some trainers suggest working for 2-3 months on endurance training, then switch to speed training - the idea behind it being that at the last moment of the race, you'll still have energy to give a strong, final push (while your competitors are running on their last ounces of fuel).
It's also a good idea to set up a strong aerobic endurance base for last minute pushes. Some trainers suggest working for 2-3 months on endurance training, then switch to speed training - the idea behind it being that at the last moment of the race, you'll still have energy to give a strong, final push (while your competitors are running on their last ounces of fuel).
Squats, powercleans and powersnatches.