Speed Camp Offical Web site

Equipment Needed
SHOES: light running shoes, cross trainers, racing flats,
IDEAL: cross-country/indoor track shoes without spikes
(Low heel will strengthen the Achilles).
Great America Sports carries indoor/outdoor cross-county shoes
and spikes that are perfect for speed training - RECOMMENDED!

Final-Score.com, where every day is clearance day!!

These are good, but inexpensive speed training shoes.
The small rubber spike is not a real spike and this shoe is fine to wear casually.

Clothing ~Summer ~ Shorts, T-shirt, socks, bring warm-up on cooler days.
~ Winter ~ Long sweats, long sleeve loose shirt. Dress warm for warm-ups.

40speed.com training philosophy

"You have to figure out what makes your body accelerate; you have to move your body
down the track. I'm continuing to be adamant about figuring it out."
- Gail Devers, one of the greatest track athletes of all times.

Speed Camp participants will generally not race side-by-side. Drills are performed individually, typically in a line, back-to-back with individual coaching. With the exception of track, most sports do not experience side-by-side racing from equal positions.

Benchmark speed will be tested in 20, 40 and 60 yards, & the standing long jump. The goal is to improve speed, quickness and agility necessary for sports in a positive way that encourages every participant to improve.

Making fun of others WILL NOT be tolerated. Speed for Sports does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, disability, creed, national origin, or how fast you are when you start Speed Camp. We want you faster than when you came to us for training.

Speed Development

Speed, agility, quickness development workouts are varied to achieve maximum results in the shortest amount of time. Workouts typically include exercises and drills involved in the major components of speed development; technique, acceleration, flexibility, quickness, power, strength, agility, mental focus, and benchmarking (methods to test improvement).

A key principle of Speed Camp; you can't train the body to move faster by training slow. It's simple; long slow running trains the body to run slow. One more time: Slow running teaches your body to be slow! Speed for Sports training uses overspeed training to program the body and the brain to move fast.

Running the Pro-Shuttle 5-10-5 drill, one of the college and pro combine tests

How to Boost Competitive Performance

By moving away from outdated training routines such as traditional weight lifting for strength and selecting strength training specifically for sports, it’s easier than you may think to boost performance to previously unattainable levels. Long slow distance running only teaches the body to run slow. Even endurance athletes are using sprinting workouts to improve speed and endurance.

In a nutshell, Speed Camp will show you specific training methods that have the most impact on sport performances by increasing speed, acceleration, reaction, agility, and quickness.

Amazingly, many of new breakthroughs in sports speed take years before they become widespread. Example: Scientific studies have shown that when individuals train their arm muscles at a specific angle, they achieve major gains in strength, but there are almost no improvements at other angles, even though exactly the same arm muscles are involved. And this does not help in most sports...well, arm wresting maybe.

When athletes go to the gym, for example, they usually focus on the traditional exercises that they’ve read about in magazines, and know how to do. These include traditional bench presses and squats. These exercises are great for developing general strength, but they won't help developing speed unless plyo-lift techniques are applied to strength training. (If your school has a strength coach that uses plyo-lifts in sports training, consider yourself very fortunate).

Basically, squatting makes you a better squatter. In test after test, squats do not help vertical jump. Squats build slow muscle fiber, which is positive since that 40% of your "muscles." Plyometric drills builds the fast (IIa muscle fiber) and the super-fast (IIx muscle fiber). And to improve speed, specific exercises must be targeted at building all three muscle fiber types. So the combination of explosive squats, plyometric drills, and super-fast agility ladder drills will make muscle stronger and faster for sports.
More on developing muscle fiber types, click here.

         Working As a TEAM! 30 members of a High School
                football team learning the agility ladder

Speed Technique

Running and acceleration techniques are fundamental skills taught by Speed Camp. Participants will learn techniques of how to start faster and how to master the drive phase (first 7 steps that include the start and transition) and how to maximize upright running (fly phase). And they'll learn techniques to run faster in the fly phase.
We'll show participants how the foot should land on the mid-foot and relatively lightly (with minimal noise). The lower leg and thigh should be swept backwards at the time of landing, creating an active striking action. The landing should be as close to the center of gravity (as close under the body) as possible. And the landing must avoid the increased braking effects which accompany an exaggerated forward reach of the foot by extending the heel. See more details about how to improve your forty time, click here

Kata Speed & OverSpeed Training

"Kata Speed" is a term used in Speed Camp. The grand masters of martial arts have for years effectively taught katas (a slow-motion dance simulating actual fighting techniques) to train students in proper body positioning & movement. The technique of sprinting must be rehearsed correctly at kata speeds and then transferred to drills and runs at maximum speed that teach the brain and the muscles to run faster.

Plyometric drills will be performed to slightly exaggerate each phase of running and are typically performed in three phases; slow (for teaching), medium (for injury prevention), and very fast (to improve performance).

The brain/muscle connection and correct firing order of the motor units, (composed of brain motor nerves (neurons) and the group of muscles that it supplies), controls running speed. And the correct training process can improve, or limit, high frequency movements. The complex coordination and timing of the brain/muscle connection must be learned at kata speed and rehearsed at very high speeds to imprint the correct brain/muscle patterns. Note: A continuation of movements at slow speeds (jogging) will only program the brain and muscles to run slow.

Acceleration

Acceleration techniques will be emphasized in Speed Camp training since most sports require fast acceleration for short distances. The Valsalva acceleration technique will be taught, and the acceleration ladder will be used in combination with other drills. 20 yard sprints and 40 year sprints will measure improvements in acceleration.

Flexibility Training

Flexibility work will be performed during workouts. However, flexibility improvement takes time. Homework assignments of 10-minutes 4 X week will be given for stretching the muscles necessary for increasing speed; hamstrings, hips, quads, Achilles, ankles, feet, back, shoulders, arms. Stretching is unpleasant to most (see the hand of the head gesture that proves that point), but absolutely necessary.
More info on the latest research on stretching, click here

Performance Benchmarking

You'll be tested in almost every session to monitor your progress. This will help the coaches to enhance your strengths and strengthen weakness. Typically, 20, 40, and 60 yds, and the standing long jump will be used for benchmarking. There are many different methods of testing, but these basic measures provide will provide coach necessary starting benchmarks. See Speed Benchmarking form here.

Measuring flexibility Timing the 40

Quickness Drills

Quickness and speed are interrelated skills and must be developed in a coordinated fashion. Speed Camp workouts address these critical factors necessary for improved athletic performance.

Power Building Plyometrics

Power is strength in action and plyometric drills turn strength into power. This type of training teaches your muscles to generate more force and generate the force more quickly.
The goal is to develop more power. Plyometrics develops a high degree of strength in the muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones, since the impact forces are usually higher than they are during regular workouts. Plyometric training also stretches muscles, tendons and ligaments vigorously, promoting greater elasticity and efficiency of movement. Many 15 yard plyometric drills performed in Speed Camp will begin with 5 yards at Kata speed to rehearse the correct movement; the following 5 yards will typically be "form runs" that teach correct form, and the final 5 yards will performed as a high-intensity plyometric drill. More information on plyometrics, click here

This includes exercises that more closely imitate the biomechanics and motor patterns required for specific sports. This type of strength training is becoming increasingly popular in the sports speed training community because it provides ‘specific strength’ – more strength to carry out the actual movements needed in a particular sport.
Strength is different than power. Strength is how much you can bench press. Power is combining the bench press muscles and effectively pushing off an oncoming blocker with blinding fast bench press type movements. Strength is a fundamental base for power development, and plyo-weight techniques that build strength for sports will be explained.

Agility development requires special equipment to develop quick feet and ankles. The agility ladder will be provided by Speed Camp for agility drills. This is a favorite for many participants. These drills build ankle and knee stability. And most will see improved coordination in only a few workouts. Agility training has a positive impact in other sports like Ms. Fitness competitions.

For more information on Phil Campbell's book on fitness improvement click the book cover below.

Click here to see Phil Campbell's fitness book Ready Set GO Synergy Fitness

Fuelingtactics® - teaching strategies to help athletes outwork the competition.

Need sports speed equipment or if you're in NY and need speed coaching - Sports Speed Etc