And strength training isn’t doing chest flys at the local Globo Gym.
“You can be ‘interested’ in speed & agility all you want.
But if you’re interested in speed & agility without accompanying it with the concrete foundation (strength training) that allows you to access speed & agility..
Speed & agility will forever remain an interest.”
-Ray Zingler on X
I had a great conversation with a potential (now current) client’s father a few months ago.
He was very much interested (as we all are) in speed & agility for his son.
I affirmed to him that I was very much interested in speed & agility for his son as well, as I know that enhancing speed & agility are critical for improved sport performance.
Understandably this dad was a little reserved about “strength training” for his middle school son, and not knowing any better, I understand the reservation.
On the surface, the way most perceive speed & agility is very benign. Running, sprinting, shuffling, changing directions, etc.
And strength training, is curly haired kids rounding their backs at the commercial fitness center doing ego-driven deadlifts with over the ear headphones on, trying to impress a girl (who they never will) that is 3 levels out of their league.
If I didn’t know any better as a parent, I’d likely gravitate towards this speed & agility stuff, too.
But fortunately, this dad had a very level head and was open to listening and learning (imagine that) about youth strength training and why it is paramount for his son’s speed & agility.
In an effort to be judicious of his time, I quickly debunked the myths associated with youth strength training using lay terms and explained how the traditional model of speed & agility for our kids is missing the most critical component of speed development: force.
Our current S&A model encourages our kids to move their feet quickly, but go nowhere fast.
Sports love quick feet (sometimes), but what they love even more is covering large amounts of ground with SPEED.
And to do this, we must “increase our force reserves” and we do this by strengthening our muscles, tendons, and ligaments, to give them the opportunity to access higher levels of force.
We do this by increasing RELATIVE (to the individual) strength, not trying to squat 600 pounds ass to grass.
The dad understood completely and bought in.
His son has been a member at our gym for 3 months, he loves every second of the training, and guess what has tangibly improved in his time with us:
Speed & Agility.
You can’t get around strength training.
