How to Run a 4.2-second 40 Yard Dash!

Friday, 03 February 2012 01:57

In my previous blog post, I revealed my Top 9 Drills to Improve Acceleration Technique. That blog post was well-received from my readers due to it's "timely" nature. You see, it's Combine training season and 75% of the "Ask Joe" questions I receive during this time of year pertain to improving the 40 yard dash. 

Running an impressive 40 requires a powerful start and acceleration; therfore, athletes and coaches love learning new drills that will potentially help with that portion of the race. The drills I revealed should be "staples" in every athletes speed training program; but the bottom line is those drills don't mean sh#t if you can't 'put it all together' when it comes time to actually run your 40! So I decided to take a video of four of our elite level athletes "putting it all together" during a recent technical speed session. This session focussed on perfecting each individual athlete's 40 yard dash stance and first 10 yards.

Although I've answered countless questions on this topic over the years; I figured what better way to learn than to watch four athletes that have all been officially clocked at 4.2 seconds in the 40 Yard Dash! I really don't think there are too many gyms on this planet that have this level of speed & talent training together in one group at one gym.  

So without further ado, check out this very special "behind the scenes" look at our "4.2 Crew" working on their 40 starts...

Notice the incredible angles they were able to hold while getting in their stances >> positive shin angles, flat back, and the strength to hold themselves up even though their front hand is placed behind the front shoulder, etc. Before they even started running, you could probably tell they were going to explode forward just by the angles they were holding in their stances.

By the way, did you notice the incredible physiques these guys possess?? One of the reasons they're all able to hold that "advanced" stance is because of their insane upper body strength.

Ironically, all these guys can bench press double their bodyweight. But before you go and order a pizza so you can "get your bench up" with the hopes of running a faster 40; please take note that the four athletes shown in the video have single-digit bodyfat percentages! As you can see, strength alone isn't good enough. As I've stated time and time again, relative strength is the key to sprinting speed! 

Hope you enjoyed this 'sneak peek' of an actual training session with elite athletes. One of the things I'm going to try and do more of is provide my readers with actual workout clips...performed by actual athletes...that are actually getting results in the real world!!! (This type of information is something that is definitely lacking in our industry.)

In my old age, I'm getting kind of sick of reading articles that are based on "theory" and written by "experts" whose client list is shorter than Mini Me! 

-Joe D. 

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*Got a question, comment or feedback pertaining to this blog post? If so, leave a comment below and I'll do my best to get back to you guys right here.

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Top 9 Drills to Improve Acceleration Technique

Sunday, 15 January 2012 02:18

In honor of "Combine Training season", I've decided to provide a fool-proof list of drills that have helped us produce some of the fastest football players in the country. All of these acceleration drills are "economical" exercises that are simple to teach and provide fast results! (Speaking of "fast"... I'm going to make this blog post very fast and get right to the point. As many of you know; my time is limited during this time of year :))

So without further ado; here are 9 drills that have worked time and time again with regards to improving 40-yard dash starts and overall acceleration technique & power with our athletes. Incorporate them into your speed training programming and thank me later!

Here's my Top 9 List (in no particular order)...

#1) Prowler march: teaches proper acceleration lean (at a slow speed so athletes can "feel" it), along with positive shin angle and increases concentric strength/force application

#2) Mountain Climbers into sprint: rehearses the motor pattern of "driving one knee forward (positive shin angle) and fully extending the other leg backward"; my coaching cue for this is "splitting the thighs apart" / improves functional mobility / teaches athletes to fire out low

#3) Push-up starts: teaches athletes to fire out low / helps reinforce positive shin angle when driving out of the push-up position

*Here's a video showing the first three exercises "in action" with our new group of NFL hopefulls this past weekend...

#4) Jump-back Acceleration Starts: teaches athletes to push off both feet during the start of a sprint

#5) Bounding: improves force application & power / improves functional mobility / reinforces "covering ground" with each foot strike (as opposed to short, choppy steps)

#6) Heavy Ass Sled Drags: teaches proper acceleration angle & force application into the ground at slower speeds (for better learning) / improves concentric strength at specific angles

#7) Prowler and/or Sled Sprints (light/moderate weight): teaches proper accleration angle / overloads specific sprint musculature at higher speeds

#8) Medicine Ball throw into sprint: "momentum" of the throw helps with forward body lean and the feeling of "falling" during the first 10 yards of a sprint / improves overall power

#9) Hill Sprints: increases hip flexor and extensor strength / improves force application during each foot strike

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*For those who have been emailing and asking me about posting more videos of this years NFL Combine/Pro Day class -- it's time to start checking our youtube channel on a daily basis! Our Combine program is in full swing and I will be posting more videos and "introducing" you to this years crew in the days & weeks to come! In fact, we already posted our first video of University of Nevada All-American D-lineman, Brett Roy. Brett was the first player to contact me and reserve a spot in my Combine program this year; so I felt it was fitting to feature him in our first video. In case you missed it, here you go...

Once again, we have attracted an "interesting" bunch :)

Keep checking back to learn more about these athletes and their training as they prepare to play on Sunday's...

'Tis the season!!

-Joe D. 

P.S. Drop me a comment below and let me know what you think of my "TOP 9 LIST".....or share YOUR favorite drills for improving acceleration mechanics.

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Make 2012 your STRONGEST year ever! Check out the information-packed resources below...

NEW! >> EXTREME!  130+ Never-Before-Seen 'Imperfection' Exercises!

AMPED! The Most Comprehensive Warm-up System Ever Created!

POWER! Over 90 Exercises Proven to Build eXpLoSiVe Beasts!

SUPER STRENGTH! Joe DeFranco's Strength Training System Revealed!

6 Comments

Researcher vs. Coach: What's the difference?

Sunday, 08 January 2012 20:45

Q: Hey Joe D I recently purched power and it is amazing!! You guys opened my eyes to so many new exercises & concepts for developing explosive athletes..i cant even begin to tell u how much i learned. There is one part in the dvd that is confusing me though. In the intro you talk about the principle of dynamic correspondence and this was very interesting to me. This principle states: functional movement must also match the duration of movement, the intensity of movement, and the speed of movement or it isn't functional for their sport.

This made a lot of sense to me..... but the thing that bugs me is that your Train Slow, Be Fast blog post was one of the most helpful posts I've ever read on your site. My athletes benefitted from your HASD's in just one session, yet doesn't that blog post completely contradict the principle of dynamic correspondence?? Have you changed your views since filming power?? Any input would be awesome, i realize your very busy during this time of year.. thanx coach!!

Darin

A: Darin,

Great question. You have definitely brought up an interesting point that I feel my readers would like me to address. 

I will start my answer by quoting YOU. In your question, you say, "...your Train Slow, Be Fast blog post was one of the most helpful posts I've ever read on your site. My athletes benefitted from your HASD's in just one session, yet doesn't that blog post contradict the principle of dynamic correspondence?"

Here's my advice: If you try something with your athletes and it works; it shouldn't matter what the "research" says! If you want to 'make it' in this business and actually have athletes seek you out and pay you for your expertise, remember this quote: "RESULTS trump RESEARCH!" Athletes don't give a shit "what the research says"; all they care about is what you do for them. 

Don't get me wrong; I have read countless books, articles, studies and translated texts regarding human performance -- and I learned something from almost all of them. (In fact, my training library is so big I had to look into renting a storage unit when my twins were born lol!) With that being said, I've also learned that you shouldn't believe everything you read. Every athlete is different and every situation is different. For example, you asked me about my "Heavy Ass Sled Drags" (HASD's) contradicting the Principle of Dynamic Correspondence. You were correct; technically speaking, that exercise does contradict one of the principle's taught by a world-renowned sport scientist (Yuri Verkhoshansky). Specifically speaking, the "speed & duration" of HASD's does not match that of a 10-yard sprint. Therefore, it can't be considered functional (according to Verkoshansky) with regards to improving your sprint times. Although I have the utmost respect for his research; I refuse to neglect any exercise or method based on someone else's word...even if that person happens to be a lot smarter than me :)

During the past 15 years, I've prepared almost 200 athletes for the NFL Combine or their NFL Pro Day. During this time, I've watched these athletes perform over 12,000 ten-yard sprints! I don't know of any "researcher" that has performed a 15-year study analyzing football players' 10-yard sprint technique as it relates to their 40-yard dash performance. This is why I felt the urge to share the results I was getting when having my athletes perform this "contradictory" exercise. (FYI, most "sprint" research has been done with 100-meter sprinters. While there are some similarities between the 40-yard dash and 100-meter sprint, there are also many differences. This was also one of my motivations for getting my 40-yard dash "research" out there.)

My advice to all trainers and coaches would be to 'read & respect' the research, "borrow" what pertains to your athletes and discard what doesn't. At some point, you must experiment on yourself and with your athletes so you can draw your own conclusions. 

NOTE: The Principle of Dynamic Correspondence is definitely a principle of training that coaches should be aware of and respect. I can tell you that it does hold true most of the time (in my experience) - especially with advanced athletes looking to improve performance. This is why we address it in our best-selling POWER! DVD. (But - as I've already stated - you're not obligated to listen to me or anyone else, besides yourself. So feel free to do your own research and draw your own conclusions.) 

I will conclude this topic by making one final point:

I feel that there are two different types of 'professionals' in the "Sports Performance" field. On one hand, there are great coaches/trainers. On the other hand, there are great "researches/sport scientists". They are both important with regards to the continued advances in human performance, but they are not necessarily interchangeable. When it's all said and done, I personally would like to be remembered as a great coach. Sometimes my programming may have to be complicated... Sometimes it may contradict the best sport scientists and translated 'Russian texts'... And sometimes it may be so damn simple it's comical...

In the end, I hope people will remember me for the RESULTS I helped my athletes produce; regardless of what "method" I used to get them! 

Do YOU have any "contradictory" training methods or exercises/ideas that 'go against science' or 'challenge the research', yet produced incredible results with your athletes? Share them with other readers by dropping us a comment below! 

-Joe D. 

Make 2012 your STRONGEST year ever! Check out the information-packed resources below...

NEW! >> EXTREME! 130+ Never-Before-Seen 'Imperfection' Exercises!

AMPED! The Most Comprehensive Warm-up System Ever Created!

POWER! Over 90 Exercises Proven to Build eXpLoSiVe Beasts!

SUPER STRENGTH! Joe DeFranco's Strength Training System Revealed!

8 Comments

Stephanie McMahon Levesque Interview!

Thursday, 29 December 2011 19:13

So you still think that strength training makes females "big & bulky"?

If so, check out the interview that Stephanie McMahon Levesque recently did with RxMuscle.com! Once everyone sees the pics of Stephanie, I think we will be able to put this myth to rest forever!! (Click the link below to see the interview/pics...)

Stephanie McMahon Levesque: First Daughter of the WWE & Super Mom of 3! 

-Joe D. 

2 Comments