How to Build Fast Muscle
Many athletes want to build muscle fast. However, to truly improve your performance, you need to build fast muscle.
As Mike Wallace’s new contract shows, speed is a premium skill in sports. Although not everyone is blessed with the genetics necessary to run a 4.3 40-Yard Dash, many athletes can improve their speed by properly training and developing their muscles. Here are some tips on how to build fast muscles.
Focus on Speed Muscles
To improve your speed, you must recognize which muscles need to be developed. When training for speed, you are improving your ability to rapidly apply force into the ground as efficiently as possible. To produce this force, the muscles responsible for hip extension—primarily the glutes and hamstrings—must be strong and powerful. Exercises such as Deadlifts, Step-Ups, Lunge variations and Glute-Ham Raises are great for developing these muscles. (Learn how to bulletproof your posterior chain.)
Increase Power
All of the strength in the world won’t matter if you can’t apply it rapidly. You must use lighter weights and do higher speed reps to train your muscles to contract as quickly as possible. Perform exercises like Olympic lifts, plyometrics or weight-training movements like Squats, explosively. (Do combo lifts to increase power.)
Perform Sprints
If you want to run fast, you need to include sprints in your training. No one became fast by accident; it takes hard work and practice to improve speed. There is no better way to work on speed than to actually sprint. Ten-, 20- and 40-yard sprints improve acceleration and ground force production so you can propel yourself forward faster with each stride.
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How to Build Fast Muscle
Many athletes want to build muscle fast. However, to truly improve your performance, you need to build fast muscle.
As Mike Wallace’s new contract shows, speed is a premium skill in sports. Although not everyone is blessed with the genetics necessary to run a 4.3 40-Yard Dash, many athletes can improve their speed by properly training and developing their muscles. Here are some tips on how to build fast muscles.
Focus on Speed Muscles
To improve your speed, you must recognize which muscles need to be developed. When training for speed, you are improving your ability to rapidly apply force into the ground as efficiently as possible. To produce this force, the muscles responsible for hip extension—primarily the glutes and hamstrings—must be strong and powerful. Exercises such as Deadlifts, Step-Ups, Lunge variations and Glute-Ham Raises are great for developing these muscles. (Learn how to bulletproof your posterior chain.)
Increase Power
All of the strength in the world won’t matter if you can’t apply it rapidly. You must use lighter weights and do higher speed reps to train your muscles to contract as quickly as possible. Perform exercises like Olympic lifts, plyometrics or weight-training movements like Squats, explosively. (Do combo lifts to increase power.)
Perform Sprints
If you want to run fast, you need to include sprints in your training. No one became fast by accident; it takes hard work and practice to improve speed. There is no better way to work on speed than to actually sprint. Ten-, 20- and 40-yard sprints improve acceleration and ground force production so you can propel yourself forward faster with each stride.