Speed Strength…The Competition Killer!

I find it interesting that every puffy chest with an i-pod shuffle, or whatever that damn device is called, seems to be the “expert” trainer or strength coach in many athletic and fitness environments. I mean when you get sick you go to the doctor, if you need the brakes fixed on your car you hire a automotive technician, and if you have to defend yourself in court you get a lawyer. Now having said all of this it still amazes me that there are still folks that are either serious about competing or getting in shape and continue to believe that they can master the development and implementation of their own strength and conditioning program.

I mean how is hiring professional help with your strength program any different than any of those other services I just mentioned especially if you have an important need for it? This is even more true when examining the development of speed strength when looking at what you should be working on to compete in a sport.

Speed Strength, You Got It? 

Ok, so what is speed strength and why would someone have more confidence in themselves for developing it than they would in hiring and seeking the expertise from a professional? Pump the brakes my young Jedi and let ole BR answer one thing at a time here. First of all, speed is a component of strength and is a result of one focusing on the development of power. Speed strength can be developed through the implementation of plyometrics, as well as lifts and drills that are simply performed with a greater velocity such as you would do with the kettlebell swing or snatch lifts. 

Now I’ll address the other question regarding the fact that many puffy chested individuals think they are a better strength coach on their own. This one is interesting to me. You see I think it just boils down to ego. I think that many guys and even girls think that just because they can halfway lift a certain weight and if they do just that much then they’ll be ready to step into the ring or onto the field of play when it’s game time and just win. I’ve seen this happen time and time again to competing athletes and more often than not they end up getting their asses handed to them while walking off the field with their heads hanging low.

Look having game skills in your respective sport or competition is important. However being able to perform those skills faster, efficiently, longer, and harder than the guy or girl your competing against is the difference between winning and losing.Talking about all of this just reminded me of a related story that I witnessed right in the Team Octopus gym a couple months ago.

For those of you who might not be aware I do the strength and conditioning programs for the Team Octopus fighters and serious fitness personnel here in Atlanta. It’s a great MMA school with many disciplines including my strength and conditioning program as being one that many have participated in there at the school going on about 2 1/2 years now.

Now over the past year or so there have been a few individuals to come and waste my time and others trying out my strength and conditioning class for the typical one to two sessions only to never return to break another sweat or to develop any necessary traits for MMA such as speed strength! I’m fine with that too because I don’t want to waste my time with someone that isn’t going to be serious about training while, at the same time, they are doing nothing but taking time away from me getting to work with others who are serious about getting better!

So over the past year to 18 months I’ve watched a couple of these individuals come into the school and still participate in the other martial arts disciplines and times in between engage in some so-called crazy looking MMA workout that they got somewhere from a Muscle and Fitness magazine. I’ve had one of these individuals try to monopolize my time on more than one occasion and constantly bombard me with questions on training more than any paying client has ever done with me. Trust me it’s annoying, but it also feeds back into my initial statement that everybody is a strength coach; right?

Well obviously not everyone is a strength coach because a couple months ago I watched this particular individual try to spar with one of my very committed strength and conditioning students. Of course, my strength student ran circles around him and threw him around like a sack of potatoes. The point to this is that I noticed the time waster never programmed or included any relevant drills or lifts into the strength portion of his training that were predominately specific to MMA. He certainly didn’t develop any speed strength because that was pretty evident when I saw him sparring. In short, from a strength and conditioning standpoint he has basically wasted much of his time over the past 18 months.

You see speed strength (in this scenario for MMA) is crucial. Developing it is so important because it enables the athlete to generate force production quickly. In a scenario such as fighting you can see how such a trait can be at the very center of how one should program their strength training workouts. Speed strength is the competition killer!

So do you have speed strength? Does your respective sport require more of this or more absolute strength? If you need help figuring out what to do then please make sure you get your own copy of my Brandon Richey’s Better Than Steroids ebook right here today:

Remember that if you are a Kindle user (Reader or App.) then you can get your copy of my ebook right here on Amazon! Remember that most anyone can train hard, but only the best train smart my friend.