Athletic Quickness

[RIstar]

DO NOT MOVE THIS POST I WANT ONE POST FOR THIS PLEASE....


Ok I have a article and would like to know what you all think about this type of training for explosive speed compared to weight lifting like most people do.

http://www.athleticquickness.com/page.asp?page_id=53

It's long but if you could read the whole thing then I could be very happy so we are all on the same page.

[fastbal95]

How is your season going?

[RIstar]

Fine so far we have not started games yet but my MPH is very high right at the moment I would say about 76-79 mph.

I've been able to long toss like 250 feet for the 1st time in my life. I sit comfortably at 220 feet with a ragged loose arm.

But what do you think about the article?

[fastbal95]

I didnt read it.

You havent started games yet? Where at you from?

[RIstar]

North East

I'm ok with stating games later since it helps me get my mechanics down longer and get my arm in the shape I need it to start the season.

Read the article lol

[Jon Doyle]

Certainly most people perform weight training movements too slowly, if they are doing the right movements in the first place.

Isometric training, at best, is a compliment to either a very advanced athlete that needs specific strength at a certain joint ROM or someone who is so weak they could barely do anything.

It certainly won't make you a better athlete at the high school level. What a joke this is. This is another case of someone never really training anyone, just making things up.

[Maxx]

These are my thoughts, take them for what they are worth......

compared to weight lifting like most people do.

Unfortunately, the author has the same belief that you do--tha everyone is training wrong by using leg extensions, leg curls, bicep curls, and training in the 8-12 rep range. Anyone who knows what they are doing is not training like this--they are using appropriate exercises and training explosively in the 3-6 rep range with appropriate rest periods.

However, I think that his assumption that training in the 8-12 rep range works only the slow twitch muscles is completely false. He uses this definition:

“Slow twitch fibers are fibers that are responsible for the strength and endurance of a muscle only, and not the speed in which a muscle contracts. And a slow twitch response is defined as one where your muscles can undergo extensive repetitive contractions before fatigue, that is, before getting tired.”

2 points with this definition:

1-Slow twitch fibers are not involved in strength
2-He says extensive repetitive contractions--8-12 is not extensive.

I think that the type of fiber engaged in the activity has a lot more to do with the type of energy system being utilized at particular points of the activity. The author makes no mention of the role of the energy systems.


Also his examples are awful--the "dumbing down" of a muscle, comparing the fast and slow twitch responses of the brain to the responses of muscles, and this:

With some training programs neuromuscular reeducation programs is so effective it can actually train slow twitch muscle fibers to behave more like fast twitch muscle fibers and/or train fast twitch fibers to behave more like slow twitch fibers.

Really? Where is the evidence?

It's all just a gimmick--he's trying to sell something different. Different is ok if it is proven to work. But again, where is the evidence? Meanwhile, all of the training methods that he claims are not effective for increasing speed have produced reproducible results and are used with a variety of athletes. Go with what is proven to work until something comes along that is PROVEN to work better.

[Jake Patterson]

Beware of strength program bearing blogs...
I recommend Jon and Bill!!

[RIstar]

I kind of thought it was a bad way to try to train.

I have unbreakable abs and it is the best way to train the Core that I have seen and most baseball specific out there.

[Maxx]

I'm not real familiar with Kelly Baggett, but here are a couple of articles that I think will give you better idea of what is occurring in the body and the best ways to train for speed:

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/muscletyping.html

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/fasttwitchmachine.html

I did notice he made the following comment:

Short duration heavy isometrics (<10 seconds) in the weakest joint angle of a movement may also be useful to create strength gains without causing negative fast to slow conversions but the jury is still out here.