I was at the Houston Texans web site and they have a section on fitness, well I thought I would check out what the texans S & C coach has to say. It seems to me that he strongly believes that you have a genetic potential for speed, so i guess basically what he’s saying is either your born fast or your not. He says “You cannot make a person run faster than his genetic predisposition for speed will allow him to run.” is this true? And if so how do you know when you have reached your genetic predisposition? When gains in speed stop coming?
He also goes on to say, "We plug all of our players into our running program. Eventually some will run faster than others. There are no special exercises that magically improve speed. If there was, every athlete would be fast.
You can’t alter your genetic pool or the characteristics you’ve inherited from your parents. But you can develop the potential speed you do possess by exploiting those factors you can control."
Maybe I am misinterpreting but it seems that he is saying that basically either you got it or you don’t.
hes right, hes saying everyone can get faster, but not everyone can get to an elite speed level. So basically you can develop what you have, and thats the best you can do. If that wasnt true everyone would be olympic sprinters, have elite speed, etc… So basically develop speed to the best of your abilities, some people are “born” faster than other(ie more efficient and excited nervous system, higher ratio of fast twitch fibres, greater number of fast twitch fibres in the upper spectrum, etc…)
That’s the critical analysis of speed. What he doesn’t mention is that most athletes and people don’t “ever” come near to their actual potential in any skill. Besides olympic athletes, most athletes don’t ever even get close.
FYI, Riley is a HIT guy. Some of what he says makes sense, but he points to genetics TOO much. His programs don’t come anywhere close to getting people to their potential. They’re basically maintenance/bodybuilding programs for gifted athletes. Don’t blame him though, an NFL coach doesn’t want to complicate things with even the slightest risk of injuries and you’re definitely not going to do that sitting on a machine. Texans still had one of the highest amount of injuries…hmm…
If somebody puts it that simple way you can’t argue against it. And of course it’s true that you can’t run faster than your body allows including training, nuitrition and all the other factors that contribute to the development of certain abilities. But all these additional influences might change your body more (especially the first years of your childhood) than most people think.
I think reality is more complex than all this simple theories.
If it was true some sports (especially sports like sprinting) would becaume COMPLETE NONSENSE if genetic manipulation of humans should ever work.
Example: If I want my son to be the fasterst man on earth I would simply make scientists change the genetical code of my sons first cell so that his CNS, his muscle(fibre)structure, even the proportions of his limbs would be perfect for sprinting. And with the necessary amount of training…sorry if I’m too philosophic.
For those of you not familiar with HIT training, HIT is arthur jones’ system (the nautilus guru) who developed this system I believe in the early-to-mid 70’s. I don’t know that much about it, but Ken Mannie (Michigan State’s strength coach) has provided good points in the past about it’s use. Most of these HIT Jedi (i’m not bs’ing you all, this is what they’re called) believe in lots of TUT (time under tension lifting, squat, bench pressing, basically “bodybuilding” lifts) and going to failure in one set. I won’t pretend to understand the whole system, but do I really need to? Try looking up on a net search: “HIT is Bulls#%t!” and you’re just about guaranteed to find a lot of information on how bad of a system it is.
You would be surprised. I tell all my athletes that you would be amazed at how poor a lot of the training these athletes are put through. Everyone always assumes that elite athletes are all in “superior” condition, that they are extremely strong and powerful, and that they are all technically great. Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong. I tell everyone that a 500-600 pound squat for a 300-350 pound lineman is not that impressive. When they look at their own bench presses and realize that they squat 320-400+ pounds at bodyweights between 170 - 200 + pounds they realize the difference. Most of these so called “strength coaches” have merely been around since the start of the profession in the 70’s and have been teaching that same information. When a real coach gets a hold of some exceptional athletes and actually sees improvement, it is much more impressive than just seeing a professional athlete lift and run the way the standards say they should be able to. These professional athletes and their coaches may look great compared to the average joe, but compare them to an athlete who trains with someone who knows what they’re really doing, and the difference is incredible.
This qoute right here shows how much he knows about training. It’s the survival of the strongest theory, one program for everyone and the best will emerge. Not very sound science in the way of training however.
Intresting…so why dont more professional athletes, who have the means to do so, due their own research and learn for themselves. And, in the offseason, perhaps find a strength coach that can really get everything out of them, as David Boston did with CP?
A lot of them do. Alot of them are genetic freaks too. This HIT stuff and machine stuff is pretty crappy for getting someone to their potential, but during the season when the players are busted up, they can serve the purpose of maintaining muscle mass adequately I’d bet.
That’s off season! In season, you get what your team has hired, and, for most players, the training bonus is a significant part of their income, so they can’t miss the team’s training. If your team has a HIT guy- tough luck! At least you get paid on your way down the crapper!
I have worked with athletes and coaches at the NFL level…remember that inseason training is tough… the Colts had James doing icebaths every day just to play! Not much lifting there. The league is tough and it is impressive to see guys play week to week. Tedy B with the patriots is not doing speed work and power cleans now with a calf strain…
I don’t think anyone’s disputing that. I think player development and “speed training and genetic potential” was the original topic, both of which HIT training and machines will do very little to improve. I agree on the in-season training. The League is sick!
I don’t know…after he ran up and down the field after the AFC championship win he looks good to go…I think he will play and two weeks is a long time. Perhaps if the organization was reading Regeneration Lab they would call up Travis Skaggs and fly him to Houston.
I have no problem with this statement at all. You can train Maurice Greene and I with the same protocols, the same diet, supplementation, weight lifting etc. He will run a 9.7 and I…well, I’ll be somewhere in the back.
