Speed Training – Myth Busters Edition

August 3, 2009 on 10:31 am | In Muscle Building Articles, Strength Training | 10 Comments

Myth:  Gaining muscle will make me slow.

Truth:  That’s a load of crap.  BUT there is some basis in truth….

I have heard this from 4-5 different parents.  Someone is feeding them a LOT of misinformation, and I think I know who… that’s a post for a different day.  Keep in mind most of the athletes in question are 5′6 – 6′3 and between 145-175 lbs…

Here’s WHY there is that misconception and the shred of truth in this argument.  There is functional and non functional muscle size.  Somehow, people think that benching, squatting, deadlifting, olympic lifting for a few months will make them look like this:

huge Speed Training Myth Busters Edition

However, that doesn’t happen, especially with a properly designed program.  (Heck, if it did happen like that, 3-4 months of training and then huge, a lot of people would be jumping on that program!)

Now let’s bring it back to proper perspective. 

Here’s my simple response (a little over simplified, but again this is speaking to the general public and not other trainers.)

“Have you watched the Olympics?” 

“Which runners are more muscular, the fast sprinters or the slower marathon runners?”

“Therefore, does muscle make you slow, or are the Olympians doing it wrong?”

That usually makes something click and they get it, feel free to use that line of questioning if you have to get into this debate! 

I picked this picture off of projectswole.com and it pains the picture I’m trying to explain:

marathon runner vs sprinter Speed Training Myth Busters Edition

Another one from Oakland’s Crossfit site, same sprinter.

marathoner sprinter2 288x300 Speed Training Myth Busters Edition

I’m certainly not anti-marathon, I have a few family members that are big into them.  However, here’s the bottom line: 

 Muscle CAN make you faster. 

- Joe Hashey, CSCS -

PS.  ===>  Interested in getting quick?  Check out the Truth About Quickness I posted about a few weeks back.

Double PS.   Want to see some speed?  Check these guys out!  (Note no skin and bones in the bunch!)

10 Comments »

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  1. Coach Hashey,

    Personally I find that the marathon runner versus sprinter example isn’t necessarily the best way to go, as Olympic sprinters usually have a much higher proportion of fast-twitch fibers than your average person.

    So building up those fibers is bound to be beneficial as those are the real “money” fibers. Contrast that with a marathon runner, especially at the elite level, who would likely be very slow-twitch dominant……………not to mention he wouldn’t want to be lugging around anything more than the mass needed to achieve a winning time.

    Plus marathon runners wouldn’t be able to sustain a sprinter’s pace for 26.2 miles, so a speed comparison is more like apples to oranges.

    I like to measure an athlete’s performance, and if I find it dipping from previous benchmarks, then I go back and re-examine the program and assess the positives of negatives of what is being included to see if it is the program that might be at all responsible for the performance decrement.

    You quick example likely still works to get the point across, so I apologize if my post comes across as me trying to crap on something for no good reason and makes me sound like some arm-chair trainer SOB.

    Comment by Jack — August 3, 2009 #

  2. Jack, thanks for the comment.

    Of course a sprinter couldn’t run a marathon, you are right on. However I train athletes that want that burst of speed and then have a time to recover, ie the huddle during football.

    So, you are correct on the large scale, and I want to make sure I can relate those concepts to specific needs of the athletes.

    Keep ‘um coming!

    Joe

    Comment by Admin: Joe Hashey, CSCS — August 3, 2009 #

  3. Coach Hashey,

    Upon further review, I think my post was a bit hasty and not exactly pertinent, since more functional mass versus someone purposely keeping weight down out of sporting necessity only seems to highlight that for pure speed in the short term and at full bore, more of that “functional” mass will help give you more horsepower to work with; and the nature of the longer distance running ncessitates keeping weight down by the events very nature.

    So I do apologize for posting before I thought things through more. And as always your knowledge is much appreciated. It’s a pleasure to read your site.

    Comment by Jack — August 3, 2009 #

  4. First I would like to thank Joe for posting my first bodybuilding comp pic….ok seriously Joe has a great point here. The stuff thats put out in the magazines can work for that once a year dude who gets that spit of motivation to train and do there programs that they say Mr. “O” does to get huge….First off thats not even the beginning. Second consistency is key to progression in all things!

    Comment by Bill — August 3, 2009 #

  5. Sprinting takes strength and anaerobic activity, otherwise known as power. This requires muscle. I think those pics say it all. It isn’t about how you look but how you train. If you are a body builder that uses the classic slow lifting method to muscle your way through the workout, then you will teach your muscles to work slowly, but if you work out quickly, your muscles and nerves will learn to be quick. I think sprinters and track athletes have the most amazing bodies.

    Comment by Rhea Morales — August 4, 2009 #

  6. Great job Joe! Speed is born out of strength, in my opinion.

    Comment by Jamie Sulc — August 4, 2009 #

  7. Right on. Gaining lean tissue through intelligent training will also make you stronger. A stronger athlete IS a better athlete.

    Comment by Josh Hewett — August 6, 2009 #

  8. I agree with the points raised but unfortunately the sprinter shown, Dwain Chambers, has just returned from a ban for EPO usage iirc; not the greatest example for the “health” part of the slogan!

    Not that that affects the point of his greater muscle mass causing him to be faster – in fact it probably even backs it up.

    Comment by Ian — August 24, 2009 #

  9. Ian, good point, just a google image. Of course that kind of performance enhancement is cheating, and good thing he got banned.

    Also, good point on saying that sprinters are after more muscle, even to the length of cheating, just to get faster.

    Comment by Admin: Joe Hashey, CSCS — August 24, 2009 #

  10. good information. muscle can really make u faster

    Comment by Niqo — November 13, 2009 #

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