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Secrets of Speed and Quickness Training
A collection of articles
by Dr. Larry Van Such - Vol. 2
Applying strength training to your thigh flexor muscles will not make you run faster or jump higher no matter how much you train
To run faster and jump higher you will have to train your muscles to contract quicker.
Hey, basketball players, does your coach have you training your "Pectineus" muscles? or "Sartorius" muscles? SAY WHAT? Why do I need to train these muscles? I didn't know they even existed!
Listen carefully. If you want to gain as much vertical jumping height as possible and increase your running speed as much as you can, then you might want read the rest of this article.
The most important muscles used in running and jumping
These two muscles are parts of a group of muscles known as your thigh flexor muscles. And, your thigh flexors muscles are the most important muscle group in your body when it comes to jumping higher and running faster.
Ok, so maybe you've heard of the thigh flexor muscles; but, you say, I do all the necessary training for these muscles, such as plyometrics, squats, leg presses, jumping off boxes etc.
Good. All of these types of training are fine, but they will never make you faster or jump higher no matter how much you train. In fact, the more you participate in these types of training, the slower you are probably becoming.
How to train muscles to contract with flat-out speed
Listen carefully. There is only one way to train your muscles to make them contract faster and, in turn, to enable you to run faster and jump higher; and, it’s not plyometrics, squats, leg presses or calf raises … rather, it’s isometric training, using the resistance band on specific muscle groups at predetermined muscle positions. Don't ever forget that!
Read on. Here's how simply and effective isometric training works: You've probably seen resistance bands lying around the local gym. They are usually in some obscure place or tied around some gym equipment. You may have even used them yourself. If you have, ask yourself this question: Did I use them with a "weightlifting" strategy? In other words, did you grab a hold of this band and start performing repetitions?
If you did, you won't notice any change in your fast twitch muscle response, which is what you need to improve if you want to jump higher and run faster. Certainly you don't want to add bulky muscle mass to accomplish speed and quickness goals, right? Anyway, those funny looking rubber bands are your secret to success when you want to get fast.
Isometrics trains muscles to respond instantly and speedily like a stretched rubber band
Take, for example, when you stretch a simple rubber band and then release one end of it. What happens? The rubber band snaps back with amazing speed. Now imagine taking a very large rubber band like the ones at the gym, stretching it, and instead of releasing it, you hold it apart for about ten seconds. Now what is happening?
What's happening is that the elastic properties that exist within the rubber band are being "downloaded" or "transferred" directly into the muscles that are opposing it. So in effect, you are training your muscles to respond exactly like a rubber band -- to contract with amazing speed. The reason why your muscles will do this is because they are "elastic" in nature as well and they have "muscle memory".
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’ with it's 'memory' 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.
So, if you could identify all of the muscles involved in running, jumping, etc, and then apply the most effective speed exercises to train your fast twitch muscles (isometric training with the resistance band), just think how fast and how high you could run and jump?
It's simpler than you think. All of this valuable information has already been researched and tested and is currently available at AthleticQuickness.com.
AthleticQuickness.com is the only company that has the rights to this valuable information. So, if you want to be faster, quicker and start jumping higher, you need to be using the training programs that guarantee results … the AthleticQuickness.com programs. Your competition might be doing the same.
Always glad to hep,
Dr. Larry Van Such | 
