Speed Training w/ Speedchain
 

http://www.hawaii.rr.com/leisure/rev..._ttsfaster.htm

I'd be interested to hear what you guys think of the information in the article above.

I bought a Speedchain last winter and have not done anything with it yet. I am considering adding it my routine this winter and seeing what kind of speed gains I can make by next Spring.

Bacc

Well.... I just bought one, still isn't delivered. But maybe we can see how we both do. I'll let you know when it's here and we can compare notes.

Is there only one place to get them...they seem pricey.

The chains do seem pricey but go to a Home Depot and check the cost of chain. Chain is expensive.

Speedchain Demo Video
 

Click on the video clip for an action demo http://speedchaininstructions.com/

:)

Skipper . . . Watched the video. Can you give us the LBG description of what this bad boy can do for our motion?

Can that thing lead to overloading?

Can you lock this thread so Mike O doesn't see that thing?

Speedstik
 

What are the merits of this training aid over the speedstik?

Thanks for the link. Looks dangerous, sounds very noisy. I'll just work on zone 2 alignments a little more instead. Safety first.

I don't think its that dangerous. Not much more dangerous or nosier than say using a Speed Stik or swinging a club.
When I was down at the Swamp, Yoda showed me how to use the the Speed Chain and it does teach you a lot. For example I have a habit of dragging the club way inside on the backswing but do that with the chain and you end up hitting youself with it and on the way through you can't whip it too much from the inside either as again you will end up hitting yourself.
For me it taught me how to really use my pivot (for a swinger the pivot is where all the power comes from) and I could really feel that I could trace that planeline really well. On the way through impact and to follow through I could really feel that I was 'dragging a wet mop' and I could sense the lag pressure in my number 3 pressure point.
Alex

Linky or Kinky...back on the chain-gang
 

Just wear your leather mask for protection.

Has anyone used this for an extended period of time and noticed a difference?

"Speed Chain"
 

Obviously if you used it - it might have a particular benefit that you were focusing on for swinging. However, that said- their is little to NO logic in the article- fast clubhead speed means high hand speed? Increasing your strength doesn't increase your handspeed? Then he shows some behemoth long drive champion? I mean the article is all over the place- Very poorly done. I didn't really look at the product besides the video link that Lynn provided, however, if you wanted to work on that excercise why wouldn't you just grab your garden hose and save some money?

A garden hose would not provide anywhere close to the amount of variable resistance that the chain provides.

I agree...the article is a bit spastic...but I think there are some points to be taken away from it.

I have been lifting weights and stretching for the last 4-5 years and have gotten MUCH stronger and more flexible. However, my clubhead speed has not moved a bit in that same time span. So, for me at least, being stronger and more flexible has not translated into faster clubhead speed.

Bacc

Athletic Quickness
 

Guys, try this instead...

IMO, You have far potential to increase your distance by improving your Impact Aligmnents than you do by increasing your strength. That said, if you already have good alignments anything you can do to improve your body can be a plus to your game.

justin, would you but the 'swing faster and throw harder' series?

Amen . . .

Grail Quest
 

Slinger,

Could you 'do the math' for us? Please tell us how this program translates into 'more distance' -- especially for the 'non-athletes' among us. Thanks!

ohhhhhh
 

yikes,, chain and rubbers...

whats next? Handcuffs and whips?:naughty:

Over the Top
 

Sorry...this is a fad type of training aid...no way will this catch on. No way will you find me in my backyard swinging something like that...I'll scare the neighbors, the birds, all of mother nature, holy cow. This is not an indoors training aid for the average home owner either.

DG

Junk
 

The whole article is junk- for me. I just can't even get motivation to read it again- and I just skimmed it the first time. That said - I'm certainly not saying that given the proper perspective that one might be able to pull out a couple of perspectives that might be helpful. So what are the points that you would say should be taken away from it.

Its tough to find all the different sizes of chain and know the different lengths to fit together. Home depot has chain, but it would take some trial and error to get it right.

You cant get them anywhere else that I know of.

I've had the chains for about a year now, using them off and on, more off. I gained probably 7-10 mph right away, and I mean instantly. I haven't got the speed increse up as far as I'd like yet but I think with routine work I could see higher gains. It gives lag and drag new meaning, its like anti-flip therapy.

That article (an older one) actually led me to this site. The SC forum mentioned this place in one of their threads and to check out some of the Tomasello videos of the flail.

As for the article, I think there some merit to the strech-shorten cycle thing, and the faster tempo. As was said earlier if your alignments are o.k. then some more speed always helps.

Hey DG-does your husband golf?, maybe he would like a set! :laughing9 :laughing9

Sonic_Doom your husband needs all the help he can get you better buy him two sets...one for each arm!!! :laughing9 :laughing9 Yes, see Chapter 5 on "Power" of the Tomasello Australia video series...there you will find all that you need to know on Power...it's in "The Magic of the Right Forearm".

BTW, call me the next time you see PGA Tour pros out on the driving of a PGA Tour event swinging a speedchain...

I'll stick with weighted clubs...I can swing a weighted club anywhere, indoors/outdoors no problem.

DG

To me, the most salient point is that being stronger and more flexible does not necessarily translate into more clubhead speed. Certainly, they both help with overall fitness and health, which is why I take the time to do them, but general fitness does not equate to being able to move/swing faster. Getting a lot stronger on bench press, pull ups, and squats has not made me any faster.

I also think their points regarding the stretch shorten cycle of muscles are worth considering.

Also, I'm not saying it's a panacea for all things golf or that you should ignore alignments and just swing this thing to fix your golf swing. I was just curious if folks thought this would be something that would be a useful addition to the "quest" to get better at a game we all love.

Bacc

Delaware Golf,

In all seriousness, its not that loud or dangerous even for indoor use. The benefits are worth it IMO, I bet you don't mind scaring off the wildlife at the golf course (that is of course on the rare occasion you hit it into their habitat) :laughing1

What's your number? I heard Brian Gay was using them, as well as Freddy Funk, Charles Howell and others. It does do a number on the turf though so you probably won't see them at a tour range. If its good enough for LBG,,,

That's fine, just don't expect to increase your clubhead speed (much).


What if your right forearm is not your dominant arm? Mine is very passive do to this fact, so I'm not sure Tommy could help.

There is a huge difference between working out as a bodybuilder and a powerlifter. Incidentally, a powerlifter (with low body fat percentage) may not look all that much different from a bodybuilder. However, the adaptations that have been made in their physiology are tremendously different. The powerlifter can accelerate quickly, whereas a bodybuilder can lift a lot of weight (most often slowly). Lifting weight slowly will not likely improve a person's clubhead speed much, if it all. If you want to improve speed, you need to re-educate your nervous system to move quickly. I would be extremely surprised if the speedchain isn't very effective in assisting this re-education and muscular adaptation. My brother is 6'1" 130 pounds and hits the ball over 300 yards on a solid shot. If he trained like a powerlifter for a period of time and ate properly he would start to look more like the guy pictured on the website and would probably be competitive on the national long drive circuit. My brother is blessed with a higher proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers. A bodybuilder could potentially hit the ball a tremendous distance, but it would also be as a result of having a high proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers in spite of an exercise program that would tend to decrease the number of fast-twitch muscle fibers.

One exercise physiologist broke down the type of demands that are placed on athletes in a variety of sports as according to: speed, speed strength, maximum strength, endurance, etc. Golf was 95% speed according to the author. So don't be surprised when your swing speed stays the same or decreases a bit after an extended program with weighted clubs.

Matt

I have heard that a strict regimine of Hostess King Dons and Twinkees would significantly improve your fast twitch musckles . . . as well as other activities not suitable to this here forum.

Put down your chains and your dumbellz . . . pick up a spoon and a fork.

working out is for metroz.

pivot-controlled-hands
 

No wonder it's fast, fast enough to whip a chain through the air, yet too fast to load and sustain a lagging golf club through impact.

Training for Speed
 

What are some types of training, other than the Speed Chain, that do increase speed for golf?

Sprinter vs. Marathon Runner

DG,

Yoda was referring to the link that I put up.
www.athleticquickness.com

Will post more on this 'system' and how I adapt it for golf.

Justin

Just wondering...
 

bts,

Looking at the video, its most certainly NOT a pivot controlled hands, or at least your understanding of a PCH is wrong.

Just wondering what is the swing speed that your "sustain the lag through shoulder rotation" procedure produces.

Thanks

Sports Anatomy, Muscular Contraction & Speed Training
 

The following series of articles are excerpted from www.athleticquickness.com.

Please note that I am not a licensed reseller nor do I receive any incentives for this 'promotion'. What I am is a satisfied user of the program and feel that it may help those in need of more clubhead speed.

Sports Anatomy, Muscular Contraction & Speed Training

What will Determine the Success or Failure of a Speed Training Program?

by Dr. Larry Van Such

Section I. Slow Twitch Fibers and Slow Twitch Response

Section II. Fast Twitch Fibers and Fast Twitch Response

Section III. Neuromuscular Reeducation

Section IV. Training For Speed


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sports Muscles and their Functions
Lesson 1. Hamstring Muscles
Lesson 2. Thigh Flexor Muscles
Lesson 3. Quadriceps Muscles
Lesson 4. Adductors Muscles
Lesson 5. Calf Muscles
Lesson 6. Thigh Extensor Muscles
Lesson 7. Abductors Muscles
Lesson 8. Triceps and Anconeus Lesson 9. Wrist Muscles
Lesson 10. Rotators of the Hips
Lesson 11. Rotators of the Spine
Lesson 12. Movers of the Arms





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




I. Slow Twitch Fibers and Slow Twitch Response

The most popular way to exercise your skeletal muscles is through weightlifting. For example, the quadriceps are typically trained on a leg extension machine, the hamstrings are typically trained on a leg curl machine, the adductors/abductors are trained on adductor/abductor machines and the pectoralis muscles are trained on a flat bench, incline and/or decline bench with dumbells or machines.

Plyometric training is another popular way to exercise your skeletal muscles that involves the stretching of a particular muscle and then quickly trying to contract it. Examples of plyometric training include jumping up and down off of boxes, running steps and jumping rope.

The problem with training your muscles with these strategies is that no matter how fast you perform a repetition, the end result will always be that the muscle gets stronger, not faster. This is because the combination of weight training and/or plyometric training with repetitions conditions both your slow and fast twitch muscle fibers to carry on a slow twitch response only.

Slow twitch fibers are responsible for the strength and endurance of a muscle, and a slow twitch response is defined as one where your muscles can undergo extensive repetitive contractions before fatigue.

Therefore, any training routine that puts your muscles through repetitive contractions (i.e., repetitions), like the ones done during weightlifting and/or plyometric training, is a slow twitch exercise program. It’s good only for strength and endurance and never for speed.

Extensive repetitive contractions (i.e., repetitions) force the lengths of your muscles to be constantly changing. Muscles contract then elongate, and this process is repeated over and over again anywhere between eight to twelve times. This is what’s known as a “set.” Doing sets of exercises provides your muscles with an infinite number of potential stopping points between the beginning of a repetition and the end.

This has the effect of overloading your muscle memory pertaining to just one specific stopping point. A specific stopping point that is well-defined in a muscle’s memory, as you will see, is necessary to produce faster contracting muscles. Without them, your muscles will always be slow to respond.

For example, performing biceps curls: You begin with your arm down by your side holding onto a weight, perhaps 20 lbs. Next, you flex your forearm upwards until you can no longer move it. This process is usually repeated over and over again until the muscle tires. The net effect is the biceps is trained to be strong at the starting point, ending point and all points in between.

However, if you want your biceps muscle to contract to a specific point very quickly, two-thirds of the way for example, it cannot do so … at least not very fast. It’s hasn’t been trained to perform this way. It’s been conditioned to contract to and through an infinite number of points (a slow twitch response) throughout the repetition, not just one at two-thirds of the way.

This pre-determined distance you may want to contract to is not well defined within that muscle. It’s mixed in with an infinite number of other potential stopping points. The memory of this muscle is overloaded. With regards to speed, this muscle is now slow to respond. It’s confused having no specific target distance to contract to.

Have you ever tried to throw a baseball, swing a golf club or kick a football after lifting weights or doing plyometric exercises? These activities cannot be done very effectively. They all require that your muscles have specific target distances to be able to snap and contract to very quickly.

However, the fast twitch response within your muscles gets wiped-out or stripped away with this type of training. This is what’s known as “dumbing-down” your muscles and is why you’ll always feel tired, heavy and sluggish (i.e., slow) following weight training and/or plyometric training. Slow twitch response training programs like these are good only for strength and endurance, never speed.

II. Fast Twitch Fibers and Fast Twitch Response

Why is it important for muscles to have a specific target distance to contract to? Because when they do, and when you start training them to respond that way, their speed of contraction increases significantly.

Fast twitch fibers are responsible for the speed of muscular contraction, and a fast twitch response is the ability of a muscle to rapidly contract to a specific distance over a short period of time. Therefore, any training program that conditions your muscles to go from a state of complete relaxation to an immediate state of contraction is a speed training program.

Repetitive contractions, as in weight training and plyometric training, are of no value to the speed with which a muscle contracts. (Do not confuse any increased coordination you may develop in performing certain plyometric exercises with that of an increased rate in muscle contraction. Increased coordination is common to all types of training that’s done on a daily basis and is only the first step towards developing fast twitch contractions.)

How and why will a muscle begin to contract faster when it has a specific target distance to contract to? Well, for a start, muscles have memory. They have the ability to learn a particular activity/movement and repeat it automatically with practice. The less they have to remember (one specific target distance), the quicker they can contract to it. Our brains work the same way. The less we have to remember, the quicker we can recall things.

For example: If you went into a room filled with a 100 different items, and someone asked you to find one particular item, a screwdriver for instance, immediately your brain will create the proper neuro-pathways (i.e., memory) associated with finding that screwdriver. And, if you were asked to go back and find that same item again, you would become quicker at finding it. Before long, you wouldn’t even have to think about it -- you would immediately know where to go (a fast twitch response). However, if each time you were asked to go into that room and look for a different item, your brain would never develop a consistent pattern of thought (memory), and you would constantly have to think about where something is. This non-specific pattern of thought would always take longer (a slow twitch response).

A muscle trained to contract to just one pre-determined distance or stopping point can do so a lot faster than a muscle that’s been trained to contract to and through an infinite number of distances or stopping points. This does not limit the muscle’s ability to function. It increases it.

A lot of athletic skills that require speed are dependent upon this principle. Throwing a baseball, swinging a baseball bat, tennis racket or golf club, running fast, jumping high, kicking a ball far, etc., are all driven by your muscles’ ability to snap or contract with amazing speed through a specific contact point or predetermined distance.

Martial artists know this. They know that if they can get their muscles to go from a state of complete relaxation to a state of immediate contraction at the instant or distance of making contact with a board, it will snap in half. Train your muscles the right way and watch your speed increase.

Interestingly enough, anything that uses memory responds very similarly. Computers are a good example. If your hard drive is overloaded or full of programs, picture files, video files, audio files, etc., what happens when you try and browse for just one file? It takes a while doesn’t it? Usually an hourglass will appear, as this is a sign that it’s going to take some time before it finds the file. But, if you clean or de-fragment your hard drive and delete unwanted files, doesn’t the speed of your computer increase? Yes, it does. When you free up its memory, and give it just one thing to look for, it performs much quicker. Your muscles can be trained to work the same way.

III. Neuromuscular Reeducation
Neuromuscular reeducation is the definition given to any form of athletic training, rehabilitation program or bodily movement that requires your muscles and nerves to learn or relearn a certain behavior or specific sequence of movements.

Learning to ride a bicycle is a good example of how your muscles and nerves eventually learn and develop the neural networks and motor pathways necessary to ride effectively. Initially you start off with training wheels.

Your body begins to develop a broad kinesthetic sense (sensation of muscle movements through nerves) necessary to maintain your balance. Shortly afterwards, one training wheel is removed and your muscles and nerves are forced to increase their kinesthetic ability or awareness to maintain a tighter balance. Ultimately, both training wheels are removed, and all of your muscles and nerves become perfectly coordinated together producing the desired effect -- riding the bike.

People who’ve been involved in serious accidents go through their own form of neuromuscular reeducation. These people are sometimes confined to a bed for prolonged periods of time. When this happens, they may have to relearn how to walk. Rehabilitation programs are designed to help these people go through similar progressions just as you may have done in learning to ride your bicycle. In the beginning, it’s a challenge to get these people on their feet. Once that’s accomplished, therapists begin to physically move one leg in front of the other. This happens very slowly as with each leg movement the patients who are holding on to handrails must reestablish their balance before continuing. This process goes on almost indefinitely (days, weeks or months, depending on severity) until all of the neural pathways and motor networks necessary to help them walk again are relearned.

Athletes who train to excel in a given sport subject themselves to a higher level of neuromuscular reeducation all the time. Every day in practice, whether you’re catching a ball, shooting baskets or swinging a club, your muscles are constantly refining the pathways necessary to master these movements, making them appear effortless and without any conscious thought.

Some neuromuscular reeducation programs are so effective they 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. There are major differences between these programs, although the majority of athletes are not even aware of them.

If you’re not careful, what you think is a speed (fast twitch) training program could actually be a strength and endurance (slow twitch) training program in disguise. And, by using one of them, you could be engaging in a neuromuscular activity designed to get all of the muscles you exercise to behave like slow twitch muscle fibers only. Not only will these not make you faster, they could make you slower as well.

So, how do you know if a “speed” training program is really a strength and endurance program in disguise? Ask yourself three questions:

1) Does it require repetitions? (You already know what repetitions do to you.)

2) Does it take longer than ten minutes to complete? (Speed training, as the name implies should be fast, right? Absolutely!

3) Do I feel tired, heavy, and sluggish afterwards? (Do you feel slower instead of faster when you’re done?)

If you answer yes to these questions, then you do not have a speed training program. You have a strength and endurance program.

As a side note, every weight training program and/or plyometric training program I have ever seen fell into these categories. Jumping up and down off boxes, running down a field with a weight sled or parachute strapped around your waist, lifting weights as fast as you can, obstacle courses, etc.

These are all strength and endurance (slow twitch) programs. Sometimes they are sold as “speed training programs” leading to a lot of disappointment among the athletes who try them. If you happen to have one of these programs and are not performing to the level that you know you can, don’t worry, here’s some good news ...

IV. Training for Speed
AthleticQuickness.com offers several training programs designed to neuromuscularly reeducate your muscles to carry on fast twitch responses only.

The secret to these programs’ success lies in their training strategy -- isometric training with the resistance band. It’s a highly effective technique that forces your muscles to reform the neural networks and motor pathways necessary for speed.

The training is quick and easy, as speed training should be. By using it, you will feel lighter, faster and more responsive immediately. Compare this with the tired, heavy and sluggish feeling following weight/plyometric training and you will soon realize the advantages to this remarkable speed training strategy.

Currently the following programs are available from AthleticQuickness.com that will help you awaken the fast twitch response within specific muscle groups are as follows:

RUN FASTER with Isometric Training!
KICK FARTHER & RUN FASTER with Isometric Training!
JUMP HIGHER with Isometric Training!
SWING FASTER with Isometric Training!
TEE OFF with Isometric Training!
SERVE FASTER, RETURN HARDER & MOVE QUICKER with Isometric Training!
By using these programs, sport specific activities that are greatly improved are running speed, kicking distance, cycling speed, vertical jumping height, long jumping distance, baseball bat speed and hitting distance, golf club head speed and hitting distance, pitching speed, racket speed, and a vastly increased ability to approach the net faster in tennis.

Always glad to help, and remember, at AthleticQuickness.com, “We’ll bring you up to speed!” ™

Dr. Larry Van Such

Why Most 'Speed' Training Programs Will Fail You
 

Understanding Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers and Why Most ‘Speed’ Training Programs Will Fail You


I’m always amazed when I see or read about some new way to train your muscles for speed. Just the other day I was watching television and the people were demonstrating how they would train their muscles to get faster.

The exercises they were showing consisted of the following:

1) one person had a very larger resistance band tied around his waist and another person was holding on to the other end about ten feet behind him. The person in front then started to run and the person behind him holding the band was following too, except they were trying to run at a slower pace, thus producing tension in the band to make it harder for the first person to run.

2) Another exercise consisted of yet another large resistance band. This time the band was fixed to something on the wall and the person (facing the wall as well) was pulling the bands with both hands back towards them (similar to a rowing motion on a weight machine), over and over again, as fast as possible.

3) Another of their speed training exercises consisted of what appeared to be markings (made of either tape or paint) on the floor in the shape of squares. The person then began to randomly jump with both feet in and out of these squares, with the coach/trainer, encouraging the athlete to go “faster and faster”.

4) And finally, the last exercise they showed was an athlete holding on to two small dumbells weighing about twenty pounds each. They were performing biceps curls and again, the coach/trainer was encouraging the athlete to do them faster and faster.

At first I thought this was a program teaching people just a few more ways to train their muscles to get stronger. When I heard the host of the show state that these exercises were a breakthrough in speed training, I almost fell out of my chair.

With all due respect to these well meaning individuals, there is no way any of these exercises will ever make you faster. In fact, when you do these and other similar exercises, you should expect to get slower.

Here’s why:

Most people do not understand the complete definition of what a slow twitch fiber is. In case you are wondering, here it is:

“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.”

Now this definition of a slow twitch fiber is not my definition, but rather, one that is taken directly from medical textbooks found throughout the world.

Now, you may have already known about the first part of this definition; that is, slow twitch fibers are responsible for the strength and endurance of a muscle and not it’s speed, but what about the second part that states that a slow twitch response is defined as one where your muscles undergo extensive repetitive contractions before fatigue?

What is the relevance of this statement? More particularly, what is the relevance of the phrase extensive repetitive contractions?

Well let me ask you a question;

What do all of the above-mentioned exercises have in common?

And, what do weightlifting and plyometric training have in common?

How about extensive repetitive contractions. Or, how about just, “repetitions”? Would you agree that all of the above mentioned exercises along with just about every other weight training and plyometric training technique are well known for putting your muscles through a lot of repetitions? The answer is: Yes.

So what does this mean? Well for starters it means any training routine that forces your muscles through repetitions, like weight training and plyometrics do, will by definition train your muscles for better strength and endurance, and not for speed. Or in other words, any training routine (like the ones shown on that TV program, plus weight training and plyometrics) involving repetitions is, by definition, primarily a slow twitch training program and not a fast twitch one.

Be advised: Fast Twitch Fibers – The Fibers You Rely On For Speed - Can Inadvertently Be Trained To Act Like Slow Twitch Fibers

And if you ever hope to become really successful at increasing your muscle contraction speed, then its extremely important that you understand this. Why? Because if all you ever do is weightlifting and plyometric training, or any similar routine involving a lot of repetitions, such as working out with medicine balls and jumping up and down off of white boxes, then not only will you be training your slow twitch fibers for better strength and endurance, but you will also be conditioning your fast twitch fibers to behave the same way.

This is because all skeletal muscles have both slow and fast mixed together, and you cannot separate them from each other and train them individually. They are always trained together and at the same time. And by weight training and plyometric training, which are primarily slow twitch exercises, like it or not, your fast twitch fibers get dragged into these exercises and then they start acting or behaving more and more like slow twitch fibers. This is great for your strength , but bad for speed. And this is why a lot of times, it is not uncommon to actually get slower after doing these types of exercises.

“Why Did I Get Faster After Doing Plyometric Exercises?”

Now I know some of you reading this right now might be thinking, “I don’t know if this is entirely true because I did get faster after doing plyometric exercises or weight training and some of those exercises mentioned in that TV program”. You may have done exercises such as running down the football field with a sled of weights or a parachute attached around your waist. Or you may have run the steps at the stadium, or maybe you did a lot of jumping up and down off of white boxes. These are all plyometric exercises and yes, I’ll admit it is possible to get a little faster by doing these types of things. Whenever you get stronger and increase your endurance at something, you can’t help but get a little faster. But how much faster did you really get? And, how long did it take before you saw any improvement? Dropping your 40 yard dash time by 1/10 of a second after training for 4 months to a year is not that big of a deal unless you are at the absolute peak of your athletic ability.

And I think its worth mentioning here that a lot times, what is perceived as getting faster with plyometric training and weight training is really nothing more than an increase in muscular coordination with that particular activity. And the thing to understand is that increasing your coordination is common to all types of training, not just plyometrics, and it will always give you the appearance of getting faster, but it is only the first step to increasing muscle speed. And so, with weight training or plyometric training, any increases in speed will always be secondary to increases in strength and endurance.


Why Extensive Repetitions is Ultimately Counterproductive To Making Your Muscles Respond Quicker

And so let me summarize for you what I have said so far.

Slow twitch fibers are responsible for the strength and endurance of a muscle and a slow twitch response is one where your muscles can undergo extensive repetitive contractions without fatigue.

Therefore, any training routine that involves a lot of repetitions is a slow twitch exercise program and good mainly for strength and endurance, not speed. This includes lifting weights, all plyometric exerices, running down a field with a weight sled or parachute attached to your waist, swinging a baseball bat with a weighted doughnut at the end, running with ankle weights, and any exercise where you try to perform a repetition faster and faster.

Also, since slow twitch fibers are mixed together with fast twitch fibers, they are always trained together and so not only does weight training and plyometric training condition your slow twitch fibers for strength and endurance, they also condition your fast twitch fibers to behave the same way.

This is ultimately counterproductive to speed training.

The only sure and pure way to train your muscles to get significantly faster is by using the resistance band with an isometric training strategy the way we teach it. And, the only place to find such a program is right here at AthleticQuickness.com.

Always glad to help.


And remember, at AthleticQuickness.com, “We’ll bring you up to speed!”

Dr. Larry Van Such

Isometric Training
 

ISOMETRIC TRAINING - The quickest way to run faster !

“What is the single most effective way to increase the speed of muscular contraction?”

When you mention the word isometrics, many athletic trainers will shrug their shoulders and say something like, "Yes, I am aware of this type of training; but, for what we do, it's too limiting".


Well, in all fairness to them, they are both right and wrong. They are right in the fact that isometric training, when applied to weightlifting, is limited because the muscle is only trained or strengthened at one set position. This means that when performing repetitions as on a bench press, its not much value other then helping you get past a sticking point.

But when you mention to them that it is the single most effective means of increasing the speed of muscular contraction, they are usually at a loss as to why. The good ones, however, will ask, "How?".


“Strength and endurance programs have little to do with increasing fast twitch response.”

Consider this: Whenever you lift weights for 45 minutes or more, how do you feel afterwards? Do you feel quicker? More responsive? Faster? Or, do you feel tired, heavy and sluggish? Most people would say the latter. The reason why is that most training programs, even when they say they are for increasing speed, are usually strength and endurance programs.

And, strength and endurance programs have little to do with increasing fast twitch response. So, if your current "speed training program" lasts more than 30 minutes, and leaves you tired, heavy and sluggish, then you are not training for speed but rather for strength and endurance.

So, how do you train for speed?

Isometrics alone won't help you much, especially if you are locked into a weightlifting mentality. However, if you will just allow yourself to follow along with an incredibly simple yet effective speed training strategy, you will perhaps for the first time be able to recruit, isolate, strengthen and quicken those hard-to-get-at fast twitch fibers.

Imagine instead of using weights or dumbbells, that you could use those resistance bands you see lying around your local gym. Imagine for a moment what happens when you stretch a small little rubber band, the kind that most postmen use to hold your mail together. Imagine stretching it apart about 12 inches and then releasing one end of it. What happens? Basically the other end of the rubber band snaps back at you with amazing speed.

“You are training your muscles to respond with amazing speed just like an elastic band.”

Now imagine grabbing a hold on one of those larger resistance bands at the gym and stretching it. And, instead of releasing one end of it, you hold the band apart for about 10 seconds. Now what is happening? Basically, the elastic properties that exist within that large rubber band are now being downloaded or transferred directly into the muscles that are opposing it.

So, in effect you are training your muscles to respond just like an elastic band -- to contract with amazing speed.

The reason why your muscles will do this is because your muscles have memory and can be programmed to contract very quickly to a contracted position.

“Unleash a huge reservoir of untapped muscular energy just waiting to be set loose.”

Imagine if you knew how to precisely isolate all of the muscle groups within a specific athletic skill and trained them this way. What do you think would happen? You would become quicker than you have ever been before.

The best part is that it doesn't take weeks and weeks of 45 minute training sessions to accomplish. Speed training, as the name implies, should be fast. All of the speed training programs offered at AthleticQuickness.com take only 10 minutes or less per day to perform.

So, unless you have applied isometric training with the resistance band to specific muscle groups in your body, you still have a huge reservoir of untapped muscular energy just waiting to be released.

In the next article, we will be talking about a few of the less known muscles that are responsible for increasing running speed, such as the iliacus and psoas muscles, et al.

See you at the finish line!

Dr. Larry Van Such

Golf - The Anatomy of the Forward Swing
 

GOLF - THE ANATOMY OF THE FORWARD SWING

Understanding which muscles are involved in the golf swing will help you condition them to perfect your golf swing and lower your golf score.


One of the nice things about training your body to perfect a certain skill is that if you pay close enough attention to the way your body maneuvers anatomically while performing that skill, you can get a pretty good general idea of the muscles involved that make it happen.

You may not immediately know the muscles' names; but, you can begin to appreciate how perfectly the human body was designed. And, if you really apply yourself and do the proper research, it isn't long before you arrive at an entire list of muscles that need the proper training and conditioning that go into the perfection of a skill.

There are basically 22 muscles involved in the forward golf swing. The proper conditioning of these muscles will increase your club head speed and give you better control.

For AthleticQuickness.com, the nice thing about all of our programs is that we already have taken the time to identify the various muscles involved in performing a particular skill. And, in this article, we are going to list all of the muscles involved in performing the forward golf swing. This information is well documented in the TEE OFF with Isometric Training program.

The Golf Swing

The normal golf swing has three basic components:

1) The back swing
2) The forward swing or downswing and
3) The follow through

The back swing is like the wind-up in baseball that stretches your muscles and readies them for release during the forward swing. The forward swing or "release" part of the golf swing is when 100% of your speed and power is generated. This is what will determine your shot distance. The follow-through is what a lot of people say defines your "signature" as a golfer ... i.e., how you finish your swing defines your commitment to the game.

Because the forward swing is where 100% of your speed and power is generated, it is for this particular movement that we will define the muscles involved. The forward swing begins with your hips rotating laterally from right to left for the right handed golfer (just the opposite for the left handed golfer). This is the main function of the lateral rotators of the hips, and the names of these muscles are as follows:

Lateral rotators of the hips


Gluteus Maximus
Gluteus Medius
Quadratus Femoris
Pyriformis
Superior Gemellus
Inferior Gemellus
Obturator Internus
Obturator Externus
Gluteus Minimus
The forward swing continues next with lateral rotation of the spine and the names of these muscles are as follows:

Lateral rotators of the spine


External Abdominal Oblique
Multifidus
Rotatores
Once the spine has rotated, the shoulders also begin to rotate and a downward pulling motion of both arms takes place from right to left (for the right handed golfer), beginning over the right shoulder and passing in an arc-like fashion downward through the point of contact with the ball where both forearms end up in full extension. This is the main function of the primary movers of the arms and extensors of the forearms.

Primary movers of the arms


Pectoralis Major
Posterior Deltoid
Teres Major
Latissimus Dorsi


Extensors of the forearms

Triceps brachii
Anconeus
The fifth and last muscle group activated during the downswing are the primary movers of the wrists or wrist flexors and extensors. Note that for the right handed golfer, the right wrist flexors and left wrist extensors are activated.

Primary movers of the wrists (Right Handed)


Right flexor carpi radialis
Right flexor carpi ulnaris
Left extensor carpi radialis
Left extensor carpi ulnaris
There you have it -- twenty-two muscles that are primarily involved in the forward swing.

If you want to increase your club head speed and start making longer drives, then you will need to speed up the contraction rate within these muscles.

And, the TEE OFF with Isometric Training program will show you just how simple and easy it is to do.

Always glad to help!

Dr. Larry Van Such

Modern Isometric Training
 

THIS IS NOT THE ISOMETRIC TRAINING PROGRAM YOUR PARENTS WERE TAUGHT....

Today's isometrics outperforms plyometrics and other programs for speed training.

I recently received an e-mail from an older gentleman claiming to know more about isometric training than I could ever imagine. So I called him and politely asked what it was that he thought our website may have left out relative to isometric training.

He proceeded to tell me that "back in the days" when he played football, they used isometrics in the training room with weights, barbells, etc., and that the trainers and coaches and players at the time didn't have much use for it other than "a little extra something" to add to your routine.

He also told me that speed training was best taught by doing plyometric exercises with weights and fast repetitions, and I strongly disagree with this notion. So, I asked him a very simple question,

"When you performed your speed training strategy with plyometrics, weights and repetitions, how did you feel afterwards? Tired? Heavy? Sluggish?"

And his response was a resounding, "Yes, I felt tired after my training!" My next question was, "If these were really speed training strategies, why do you think they made you feel slower and tired? Shouldn't a speed training program leave you feeling lighter, faster and more responsive immediately? I certainly believe they should." On the other end of the phone was pure silence and along with what I believe was the humble beginning of someone starting to accept something new. Someone finally starting to think logically about speed training and not merely reiterating what was improperly taught years ago.

Although I didn't learn anything new from this well meaning individual, it did get me to thinking that one of the biggest obstacles I sometimes face when presenting this information is simply past negative thinking regarding the greatest speed training strategy in the world. Old habits die hard and not a day goes by when I don't get the question,

"Isn't isometrics only useful in helping you get past a sticking point during weight training?"

Well, like the title of this article reads, THIS IS NOT THE ISOMETRIC TRAINING PROGRAM YOUR PARENTS WERE TAUGHT. No, this is much, much different. You see, although our website is filled with useful information, it sometimes helps to remind our readers that the way we teach isometric training is NOT to help you get past a sticking point in the weight room.

No, the way we teach isometric training is to condition your muscles to contract with amazing speed when you need it. We teach that muscles have memory, and the more you train them to respond either to speed, or for strength, the more the muscles are likely to respond in similar fashion -- for speed OR for strength. The key is to know how to train your muscles for these two very different muscular responses.

There are really only two categories of training.
One of them is speed training, and the other is strength/endurance training. Some people hooked on plyometrics think there is a third category called explosiveness; but, the reality of this is that it is nothing more than a strength and endurance program being sold as something new and different, i.e. explosive training.

I don't know about you, but personally I don't want to put my body through any “explosive" conditioning. It is much too risky. Sprains and strains are common with this training, and worst of all, it is the complete opposite of speed training! In fact, the more you participate in plyometrics, the slower you will become. You may develop a little better coordination, which is often confused with getting faster, but you never really do get faster.

And, so, isometric training with the resistance bands stands alone as the only pure and sure way to train for speed.

All other training programs/routines are in opposition to this and are nothing more than strength/endurance training. The way to know if your current speed training program is really a speed training program and not a strength/endurance program, is to ask yourself two basic questions:

1) Does my routine require repetitions?

2) Does my routine take longer than 15 minutes to complete?

If you answer yes to these two questions, then you are training for strength and endurance, NOT SPEED.

Order the programs. They are pure speed training programs. Once you learn these strategies, they will also help you to identify what other training programs are good for you as well, regardless of who in the past may have told you otherwise.

Always glad to help!
Dr. Larry Van Such

Why Isometrics is Ideal for Speed Training
 

2 Reasons Why This type of isometrics is ideal for speed training!

Because this type of training does not mix endurance or strength training with speed training, it can focus soley on the 2 factors that make it a pure speed training program - with pure speed training results.

First, what is meant by 'muscle contraction speed'

Let’s use the biceps muscle in your arm for an example. When your arm is stretched out straight then your biceps muscle is stretched. Now move your fist towards your shoulder. What has happened? Your biceps muscle ‘contracts’ thus moving your fist toward your shoulder. Now, obviously the faster your muscle contracts then the faster your fist will move. When your biceps muscle is ‘programmed’ to instantly contract to a certain position, you have then achieved lightning like speed.

The types of fibers in your muscles that create this type of speed are called ‘fast twitch muscle fibers’. They are not the same as strength and endurance fibers and therefore need to be conditioned separately. You can not condition your muscles for quickness the same way you condition your muscles for strength.

Reason 1) Time required for training

Our research has shown that fast twitch muscle conditioning takes place within the first 10 minutes of isometric training only.

Afterwards, your body's own physiologic processes will start recruiting slow twitch fibers to complete the training, which is contrary to speed training. The longer your body is involved in slow twitch training, the less faster your muscles become.

Speed training should, as the term implies, be fast. If your current "speed" training routine takes longer than 20 minutes to complete, then you are NOT training for speed but, rather, for strength and endurance.

Most speed training programs on the market take about 45 minutes to an hour to perform. Even if you performed our program for more than 10 minutes, you will start conditioning your muscles for strength and endurance and not speed. This is perhaps the hardest thing for competitive athletes to grasp, and that is, to limit the amount of time for speed training to just 10 minutes.

Reason 2) Repetitions

All other speed training programs require your muscles to perform repetitions, whether it be through running, jumping up and down off of boxes or running down a track with parachutes and/or weight sleds. Repetitions build strength and endurance within muscles, not speed.

Again, our research has shown that when muscles are forced to go through repetitions where the length of the muscles are constantly changing, the body's fast twitch muscle fibers are completely ignored, resulting in a strength and endurance training program and not a speed of contraction routine.

If this all sounds a little confusing consider this: If all you had to do to run faster was to go out and run, then each time you ran, you should be faster then the previous time out. But, we all know this is not true. This is because running more does not make you faster; but, rather, it improves your strength and endurance to run longer.

Isometric training does not require repetitions in the traditional sense. Instead, muscles are locked into a position for a given period of time forcing your body to recruit those much needed fast twitch fibers that are almost always ignored with other types of training (for example, plyometrics, weight training, etc.). The end result is faster contracting muscles, all the time, without exception.

More on Isometrics...
 

Isometrics Training and Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers

The little known 'secret formula' for speeding past your competition.

In order to help you fully appreciate the value of isometrics training to increase your speed, agility and power, let's take a quick look at some basic principles of muscular contraction.

To start with, all skeletal muscles consist of three main fiber types. These fiber types are:

1) Slow twitch fibers- Responsible for the strength and endurance of a muscle.

2) Intermediate twitch fibers- Possess qualities of both slow and fast twitch fibers.

3) Fast twitch fibers- Responsible for the speed of muscular contraction.

The fast twitch muscle fibers are responsible for giving the athlete his speed, agility, quickness, and power. Fast twitch fibers are 10 times faster than slow fibers.

Isometric training, the way we teach it, will isolate and condition your fast twitch muscle fibers and therefore increase your speed and quickness.



Isometrics using resistance bands is the ideal strategy for speed training. This is partly due to fact that the energy stored in a stretched band is much greater than gravitational energy used by weights. Therefore the faster acceleration of a stretched band is 'transferred' to the muscles when used with an isometric exercise.

The biggest advantage to isometric training is two fold.

First, by forcing your muscle(s) to hold a position for a certain length of time, your body will begin to recruit and activate more and more motor units to help maintain this contraction. Motor units that are rarely exercised within a particular muscle are now brought into use, perhaps for the first time.

Second, the motor units that are recruited are forced to contract continuously, time after time, with no appreciable decrease in force output. This allows your muscles to achieve a state of maximum contraction very safely and effectively.

The end result is that the entire muscle matures very quickly.

So how does this condition the fast twitch muscle fibers?

The fast twitch muscle fibers are often overlooked because they are mostly ignored for purposes of contraction speed in exercise routines where the muscle length is constantly changing, when doing multiple repetitions with weights, for example. As far as your muscles are concerned this is endurance training, the job of slow twitch muscle fibers.

The Athletic Quickness Speed Training Programs use the resistance band to help isolate, condition and quicken various muscle groups in the body. The resistance band is ideal because its resistance will change depending on how far the band is stretched.

By utilizing the unique properties of the resistance band, and maintaining the muscle at a specific length by using an isometric exercise, the muscles will develop a fast twitch response.

This means, first, that the nerves and muscles develop the memory to accelerate instantly to the contraction point of the isometric exercise, and secondly, the fast twitch muscle fibers are conditioned to maximize the speed of the muscle contraction.

By strengthening the fast twitch muscle fibers, you have increased the speed at which the muscles contract or move.

When this application is applied to your thigh flexor and extensor muscles, for example, the result is an explosive increase in your running speed and power!

The same principle holds true for increasing the speed and power of any muscles that are critical to quickness and power in any sport specific activity.

In baseball for example that would be the muscles used in hitting and pitching. In basketball quickness and power are required by the leg muscles used in jumping and making quick reactions.

If this sounded a bit confusing, just remember these two things:

1. Fast twitch muscle fibers are the key to explosive speed and quickness.

2. Isometrics using the resistance band is the secret weapon for isolating and conditioning the fast twitch muscle fibers.



Isometric training has been around for a long time and so it is nothing new. Many extraordinary results in muscle size and strength have been achieved in a very short period of time with this type of training.

Below is a direct quote from Wikipedia Encyclopedia under the heading Isometrics:

"What is known, however, is that Isometric Exercise provides the fastest stimulation for muscle tissue and increases nervous conductivity and enervation (the ability to contract more muscle fibre). As such it increases the strength of the participant faster than any other natural method."

However, because of the number of new training products and techniques out on the market today, its use by athletes is often overlooked.

Many "experts" disagree with isometric training for several reasons: 1) They relate isometrics with weight training; and, if that is the case, they are right. Isometric training with weights will do very little for speed. 2) If they acknowledge using resistance bands, they more than likely use them with a weightlifting strategy involving repetitions, which also is of no benefit for speed.

Training techniques that use repetitions or that last more than several seconds will not isolate the fast twitch muscle fibers and will therefore train for strength and endurance - and not for speed.

Isometrics, the way we teach it, is the proven formula that will specifically result in speed and quickness in your athletic activities.

There We Go...
 

So there we have it, all the isometric speed training stuff that pertains to golf.

Using this system, I have boosted my MAX swing speed from 127mph to 137mph. My average speed when I play is between 118-122 thereabouts. For guys that don't already swing at my speed, I would think that greater than 10mph gains can be made.

Forum members like jr33, nuke99 and vikram who have seen me swing in person attest to a "sudden acceleration of the club" on the downstroke.

That said, I do not use the exercises detailed in the book - only the theory behind it and the high tension rubber band that the company sells.

I substitute the exercises for something I feel is more golf specific. Besides, the author doesnt seem to be a golfer and makes some disgusting poses that masquerades as a golf swing.

All said, it helps to have forearms like mine ha ha ha...:) :) :)

Real club for real man. So what are we?
 

yeah.. I tried his XX Cobra on XX stiff 540.. stiff as a rebar.

I could not even launch it properly, just drop everything out of the sky. my SS is about 115+ already at that time. then he proceed to show me how he loads the shaft from above, the true meaning of Bending and loading the shaft with Naked Eyes, then proceed to bomb it , bomb bomb bomb..

To top things off, he told me, Real clubs for real man.... I didn't know to laugh or to be ashamed of my manlihood.

When this fella first shook my hand, I thought .. WTF Ouch.. Steel clamps?... When this Man is up at Atlanta soon, beware of his handshake ... I'm especially worried for 12 bucket , I heard he got a whimpy handshake..

compda, could you share a couple of sudden acceleration of the club exercices using this resistance? Why do i get the feel you might tie a band to the cieling?:eyes: