Improve Sports Speed

Improve your sports speed by doing the following:

1. Improve your core strength.

2. Get more overall body strength.

3. Improve lower body strength and power.

4. Perfect your running mechanics.

5. Improve your quickness, acceleration speed, change-of-direction speed, closing speed, speed endurance, speed strength, backwards speed and top end speed.

6. Improve your power (rate-of-force production).

Also, read my Article Series--Run Faster!

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Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Core Strength Stabilizes The Spine

Stabilize your spine with adequate core strength. Stop thinking so much about your "6-pack abs" and work on the things that will make you a better athlete and protect you from injury! The strength of the "deep stabilizing core muscles" is critical to your athletic success....

The "deep stabilizing core muscles" are: transversus abdominis, multifidus, internal obliques, lumbar transversospinalis, pelvic floor and diaphragm.

If these deep muscles don't activate properly, your spine, pelvis and joint structures are placed in a position that will lead to injuries.



The transversus abdominis is the deepest layer of all abdominal muscles and it is considered your body's internal weight belt. When it contracts, it causes hoop tension around your mid section like a girdle. When the transversus abdominis is working properly, it contracts before the extremities (arms and legs) will move. Bracing your torso will activate the transversus abdominis (act like you are taking a punch to the gut).

When the spine is unstable, the central nervous system will not recruit the extremity muscles correctly. The extremity muscles assist with functional movement patterns. For example, if you bend over to lift a heavy load, your transverse abdominis needs to activate in order to stabilize your spine. When it doesn't activate and stabilize, you are at high risk for a low back injury.

When you make a habit of not recruiting the transversus abdominis to stabilize your spine, your joints will begin early degeneration.

The multifidus lies deep to the spine crossing over three joint segments. It works to provide joint stabilization at each segmental level. The vertebrae need stability to work correctly and reduce degeneration of joint structures.

The pelvic floor covers the area under the pelvis. The pelvic floor is critical for core stability.

Some exercises that improve strength in the "deep stabilizing core muscles" are planks, side planks, bridges and cobras.

Train hard and smart to succeed in your sport!

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Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Speed Ladder Drills

Use speed ladder drills to improve quickness and agility. A player rarely reaches maximum speed during game competition. Having great change-of-direction speed (agility with quickness) allows you to beat your opponent "to the spot" or recover from mistakes in positioning.

How many times have you seen a player with "not great speed" repeatedly make plays to help the team win. This is not an accident. You can improve your change-of-direction speed with proper training. Read my post that discusses change-of-direction speed in detail.



You can also improve quickness by improving your reaction time. You do this by training to make the right choices as quickly as possible. You can practice reacting to sight or sound cues.

To physically improve your quickness, ladder drills are great for improving footwork. The drills should be done with maximum effort to mimic game-time situations.

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Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Speed Strength Is The Key To Speed and Power

Speed strength, or how fast your muscles can produce force, is the key to improving your speed and power. Just getting stronger will not continually improve your speed and power. You must train your muscles to move faster with the correct motions.



Here are some ways to train your muscles to move faster:

1. Sprinting with maximum effort. You have to train fast to get faster!

2. Do plyometric exercises.

3. Do weight training exercises at full speed.

4. Build muscle mass, especially bulky fast twitch muscle fibers.

5. Improve your dynamic flexibility so your body can move efficiently.

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Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Improve Sports Power

Improve your sports power with high speed exercises. Powerful athletic movements initiate with or transfer through your core area.

For example, the best way to increase arm speed is that power needs to be transferred from your legs through your core to your throwing arm. This will increase your arm speed and throwing miles-per-hour (MPH). Many athletes have strong, powerful legs but weak cores......that will give you a POWER SHORTAGE!



Advanced core exercises should be performed in a standing position because most athletic movements are made on your feet. When you do standing core exercises, you engage all of the trunk and hip stabilizer muscles and not just the abdominals and low back.

For beginning athletes, start with low-intensity exercises and master technique/improve strength. Then you’ll progress to lying, sitting, kneeling, standing, standing on one leg and power (high speed) exercises. Failure to follow these progressions will lead you to certain injuries like low back pain and trauma.

Core exercises (all exercises for that matter) should be performed in all 3 planes of motion (sagittal, frontal, transverse) since athletic movements occur in all 3 planes of motion.

Many medicine ball exercises such as throws, rotational passes and wood chops engage the core and total body in all planes of motion.

What have you been doing to improve your core strength and arm speed?

Be sure and download your Free Dumbbell and Medicine Ball Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Improve Your Golf Game

If you want to swing your golf club with more power (club head speed), then you need to do the right kind of training!

Golfers have not traditionally been "workout warriors" in the weight room. Thanks to golfers like Tiger Woods (a huge advocate of strength training), more golfers are seeking the benefits of strength training for their sport. Strength training not only makes golfers better players, but it also decreases injury recovery time and/or prevents injuries.

Low back pain and various other trunk-related injuries are common to amateur and pro golfers. Since the golf swing is one of the most explosive and biomechanically complex movements in sports, a player needs to follow a golf-specific strength and conditioning program. Failure to do so will inevitably lead to injuries.

With this workout, you will improve core strength, muscle endurance/strength, flexibility, balance, range of motion and power. You will be the best golfer you can be (whatever that may be).

Core training is the foundation that improves your overall golfing game. The greater your core strength, the greater your extremity (limbs) strength and power will be. Posture, flexibility, strength, balance, stability and power will all be enhanced with a strong core.

Flexibility will increase joint range of motion which increases your club swing range and time for generation of force.

Strength alone will not do much to improve your club head speed. All the components work together to transfer the power generated in your lower body to your trunk, to your arms and finally to the club head.

Finally, strength and conditioning (which includes cardio training) will allow you to have the muscle endurance you need to finish those golfing rounds on a strong note. Golfers, a great golf game starts with conditioning!

Be sure and download your Free Dumbbell and Medicine Ball Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Plyometric Exercises Improves Your Power

Plyometric exercises will help you improve your sports power. The training exercises should mimic the movements in your sport (mechanical, physiological and metabolic similarity).

Safety concerns during plyometric training are:

1. Proper footwear for the athlete
2. Proper training surfaces (hard surfaces should be avoided)
3. Program design and supervision by a fitness professional

Early training in plyometrics should focus on good technique and landing form. Speed of execution should start only after you have learned proper technique. Failure to follow this protocol will almost certainly lead to injuries. Here are some popular plyometric exercises:

Kneeling Two-Armed Chest Pass


Squat Jump


Two Armed Wall Pass


Broad(Long) Jump


Tuck Jumps


There are literally dozens of plyometric drills and exercises that can be tailored to your sport and position played. Bigger, faster and stronger! Every athlete wants this to happen. Don't rush the strength and power building process!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workout and start changing your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Explosive Dumbbell Calf Raises Improves Speed And Power

Explosive dumbbell calf raises will improve your speed and power. The lower legs can provide 20% to 25% of the power needed for an explosive start. And, explosive starts can be the difference in you making the play or winning the race.



Do 3-4 sets of 25 repetitions as fast as you can. Use your toes/balls of feet to explode upward with each repetition to retrain your calf muscles to move faster.

Don't use momentum to bounce up and down. Bouncing won't generate the force you need to improve speed strength in your calf muscles.

You can work the calf muscles more frequently than other muscle groups (up to 4 times a week) because they recover faster.

Be sure and download your Free Dumbbell and Medicine Ball Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Medicine Ball Side Lunge

The medicine ball side lunge exercise works the often neglected frontal plane (lateral movement) of motion.



The medicine ball side lunge forces you to decelerate movement through one hip at a time, placing greater emphasis on the gluteals and hamstrings. It trains you to move correctly in the lateral direction. Many knee ACL injuries occur when athletes place too much stress on their knees and not enough stress on their hips during deceleration. In other words, the hips are often under-used during sports activities.

You will improve your lateral speed and power only if you have adequate strength in the frontal plane of motion.

Be sure and download your Free Dumbbell and Medicine Ball Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Standing Arm Pump Speed Drill

Use the standing arm pump speed drill to help you run faster. This drill will help you develop quick and powerful arm movements. It also stretches and strengthens your arms.



I have seen many athletes not pump their arms fast enough or properly when running....pumping your arms fast, especially at the start, helps you accelerate faster. Accelerating to your top speed faster can help you "make the play" or "win the race."

1. Stand and pump your arms as fast as you can with control.

2. Use the shoulders (and not the elbows) to pump your arms as fast as possible. The hands should be relaxed in unballed fists.

3. Move each arm as one piece with the elbow bent at 90 degrees. Arm action should be straight forward, up and down and never flailing side to side.

4. Keep your shoulders relaxed and head up looking straight ahead. Keep your chest spread and the lower back locked in.

Running mechanics are critical to improve your speed. Part of the running mechanics is properly pumping your arms. I have seen more than one athlete run with little or no use of the arm pump. This is a big mistake!

Be sure and download your Free Dumbbell and Medicine Ball Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Strengthen Rhomboids With Bat Wing Exercise

Strengthen the oft-neglected rhomboid back muscles with the bat wing exercise. The rhomboids are located in the middle of your upper back. In general, people spend more time strengthening the frontside of the upper body than the backside of the upper body. This leads to muscle imbalances and injuries.



1. Lie down on your stomach (on a bench or swiss ball).

2. Start with the dumbbells on the ground and pull the dumbbells up to your rib cage. You will pull the dumbbells up only about 6-8 inches. Hold for 2 counts while squeezing your shoulder blades together.

Two popular exercises that target the lats are dumbbell rows and lat pulldowns. The bat wing exercise will target your rhomboids. Include this exercise more in your workouts.

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Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Standing Long Jump

The standing long jump (or broad jump) is a test of your explosive leg power. The NFL Combine uses the standing long jump as one of its test for athletes.



Use a soft athletic surface such as grass, astro-play or rubber floor to perform the long jump.

1. Stand behind a marked line.

2. Swing your arms back and bend your knees to propel your take-off.

3. Use a 2-footed take-off and landing. Jump as far as you can and land without falling backwards.

Your jump is measured from the take-off line to the nearest point of contact which is the back of the heels.

Results of your long jump:

Excellent:

Male, 8.5 ft. and above
Female, 6.5 ft. and above

Average:

Male, 7.5 ft.
Female, 5.5 ft.

Poor:

Male, 6.5 ft. and below
Female, 4.5 ft. and below

Include standing long jumps in your training to improve your leg power and running speed.

Be sure and download your Free Dumbbell and Medicine Ball Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Build Athletic Power With Medicine Ball Workouts

Build your athletic power with more medicine ball workouts. No serious athletic training program would be complete without medicine ball work....the best athletes move naturally with little or no wasted motion...to do this, you MUST train your muscles with "natural movement patterns." Medicine ball exercises help you to do this....



Power can't be effectively transferred from your legs to your arms if your core is weak....athletic movements like jumping, swinging a bat, swinging a racket, rotating, turning, twisting, etc. can be "powerized" with full speed medicine ball training.

For example, the medicine ball rotational throw (pictured above)trains your body to move explosively while swinging, rotating, twisting or turning.

Training for strength and power is a comprehensive, systematic approach and it is much more than “gym science.” If you are a serious athlete, you need a program that continually challenges and improves your core strength!

Be sure and download your Free Dumbbell and Medicine Ball Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Core Strength Gives Power When You're Fatigued

Core strength is important to "power you up" when you are fatigued late in the game!

One of the first signs of fatigue that I look for in an athlete is whether he or she can remain strong and upright towards the end of the game. If your core is weak, you will start to "bend over" and lose power and explosiveness when you run. Next, your arms will start to "flail" instead of pumping powerfully to fuel your running.

Adequate core strength helps your speed endurance, which is the ability to maintain maximum velocity or a percentage of maximum velocity for a prolonged period of time or in a fatigued state. The best players and teams have excellent overall body strength, core strength and speed endurance (and they win the most games).

If you are a serious athlete, you need a program that continually challenges and improves your core strength! You will lose power and speed during the game if you have a weak core area! Sports Fitness Hut's Athletic Abs Training System will give you the strong core that you need to compete!

This training system has 3 levels: basic, intermediate and advanced. So, you can progress at your own pace. This workout will also work perfectly with any Sports Fitness Hut full body strength workout program!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workout and start changing your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Leg Swings Improves Dynamic Flexibility

Leg swings are a great way to improve your dynamic flexibility, loosen your hips and make you a faster, more fluid athlete.

If your hip flexor muscles are not flexible, you will not even be a good athlete in your sport(s)! Tight hip flexors also lead to some painful injuries (like pulls and strains) that are hard to recover from.

Side Leg Swings

Front Leg Swings

Just swing your legs back and forth at least as high as your waistline. As you become more flexible, your legs will swing higher and more fluid.

Front and side leg swings are perfect to do before your sprint workouts. Try them out today!

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Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Medicine Ball Front Chop

The medicine ball front chop is a great full body core exercise that also works your lower body. Do this exercise at a moderate pace before progressing to full speed.

Building athletic core strength is important for athletes to avoid injury and increase power output. Do as many core exercises on your feet as you can to build an athletic core.



1. Start with your arms extended with the medicine ball overhead. Your feet should be slightly wider than shoulder width with your feet pointed slightly outward.

2. Squat down while moving the ball to the ground between your legs. Look straight ahead and brace your torso (as if taking a punch to the gut).

3. Extend your hips, contract your glutes and rise back up to the starting position. Repeat.

Be sure and download your Free Dumbbell and Medicine Ball Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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