martin
Martin,
Thanks for the website. I have been trying to get into speed training and have been reading everything I can get my hands on. Your DVDs are fantastic and very helpful. I have a question about a few pieces not on your DVDs that are in every catalog out there. What do you think of the acceleration adjustable ladder, the plantar flexion resistance bands and the DARD dorsiflexion trainer? Ryan L.
Pictured is Steven Brooks, who recently committed to Wake Forest baseball going through a session on the acceleration ladder. Like any tool, it is not just the purchase, but the correct usage that makes it productive in a program.
Ryan,
Great to hear from you and thanks for writing in. Also thanks for the nice words about the DVD Series. As the series has continued to grow over the years, I am seeing that after going through the entire set, a trainer can pull away a ton of useful insight and exercises.
As for your question, there was a time when I was much more of a “purist”. What I mean by this is that if it wasn’t a dumbbell, a barbell, or just plain movement, I was an instant skeptic. Now although I still believe that you can get just about everything done with the previously listed media, if there is a tool out there that gets young athletes moving, training, or even thinking about skill development instead of sitting on the couch, I have to look into it and see how it can possibly fit in a program.
For anyone that has read my Train to Win: 11 Principles of Athletic Success (which by the way, the second edition is being completed as I write this) one principle in training is variety. What I mean by this is not only do you have to add new physical stimuli to the body to force adaptation, but you also have to mentally stimulate the athlete to keep them from getting bored too. So, if you have a tool that you understand, use appropriately and produces the result you are looking for, it can be something to fit in your program. That is, after all, why you can look across the world at a number of different training programs and philosophies out there that all produce results! There is more than one way to skin the training cat. At the end of the day, if the program produces results and the kids enjoy it, you are on to something.
As for the listed equipment, we currently use 2 of the 3 in our program. We started with the adjustable ladders but since they were a little user unfriendly, we painted ladders of different stride lengths on our floors and we have had nice results using them. They are good tools to teach mechanics to kids and the ladder offers a visual and “reason” for kids to perform the drills correctly. The key is having your underlying philosophy of the mechanics you are looking for and why you are using the tool in the first place. We also have used the DARD over the years. This is a tool that strengthens the anterior muscles of the lower leg. Although we don’t use it a lot, it can be a viable tool for rehab from ankle sprains or as a tool to reinforce the cue of keeping the toes “up”. Since it takes time to use though and is really a one on one exercise, it might not be set for group settings and younger kids. As for the bands that connect to the lower leg to resist the toe down position (if this is what you mean), I have not used them so cant really comment. Perhaps for them you get a set and see what you think.
Over the years, I have had the luxury to have been sent literally hundreds of products to try out. I suggest you and your staff try things first, and you make decisions not just on is it results driven, but also if it is fun. There is so much out there to choose from, I am convinced you can have both.
I hope this helps and best of luck.
Martin Rooney
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I was wondering that if someone grows, do they usually get faster and stronger as well, because their muscles have also grown. Rajbir Cheema
Remember those days? There was nothing like seeing how much taller you got when you were growing up. The great question posed here is "Did that growth make you faster?"
Rajbir,
Thanks for writing in and for the stimulating question. Although the question is a little vague, it definitely opens up a Pandora's box of answers, so I will do my best with what I am sure will be a rant.
On first glance at the question, I am sure that most people would of course state that yes, as a person grows (and I guess we are talking in height here) they should get faster. For instance, my daughter, who just turned four, has been getting faster over the last two years I have been timing her. Now yes, over that time her form and strength have improved, but I think her growth definitely has something to do with it.
On second glance, there are some problems with this theory when it comes to the topic of speed, especially when we apply it to the current trend in obesity in this country. Right now, the largest growing demongraphic for obesity in this country is ages 2-5! That means that not only are these kids growing up, but they are also growing out! As a result of this, a kid can get bigger and stronger as a result of the weight gain, but also slower as a result of the crushing blow to his or her relative body strength. One look at the kid below and ask yourself if his speed is going up or down.
Now some people might think that I put this photo in there for a laugh, but this is a serious issue. Not just with our kids but also with the parents of these kids (and 50% of the kids in this country are overweight) and our educational system. Now back to the question.
Now that I have covered the topic of relative body strength and growth, we must also talk about what the growth of the muscles means. Even though a kid may get taller in height does not mean that the cross sectional area of their muscles is going to greatly improve. Since this is a major determinant of force production (and correlates to speed) dont rely on height as an indicator. So, the take home message is that an athlete has to train especially when they hit adolescence to improve muscle size and strength. Take a look at all the top sprinters out there today and evaluate the size of there muscles. In the below pic of the sprinter, ask yourself if this guy just counted on getting taller, or working to get stronger. And, by the way, it is never to early to start training.
Now that we are on the topic of sprinters, you may find it interesting that most of the top sprinters in the world for the shorter sprint distances usually range from about 5'7 to 5'10. To most people out there, this is not considered a very tall person, so there is obviously a point when growing and height start to negatively affect speed. That is probably why you dont see any 7 foot 100 meter world champions out there. Imagine if this guy below that I used to train could run the 100 in 10 flat!
So overall, I hope everyone had as much fun thinking about this topic as I did. Take home message, as kids grow, they will get taller and can get faster and stronger as a result of this growth. These speed and strength gains, however, can be counteracted by poor diet and lack of exercise. Also, just because someone is taller doesnt mean they will be faster or vice versa. There is also the interplay of technique (coordination), cross sectional area and overall muscle mass (strength), length and attachment sites of tendons (leverage), fast vs. slow twitch muscle composition (speed/strength), mindset and more.
My advice, grow your kids with them getting big, strong and fast in mind.
I hope this helps.
Martin Rooney
Parisi Speed School. Great website! I am amazed by all the training content and useful information. I am also really happy that it is for free. I pay for a couple of sites and dont get as much. My question is not really training based, but about travel. I would love to come and train this summer there, but live in Michigan. Where do you have people stay and who can I contact about this? Is this something you all do? Mike
Pictured above is Justin Smith of La Quinta High School in Southern California. Justin Spent this summer with us and is tearing it up. Right now, he has 146 carries for 1026 yards and 17TDs leading his team to a 7-1 record! Right now he is the leading rusher in the Desert Valley League.
Pictured here are brothers Saul Chicas, Joe Reyes and Rene Reyes from Houston, Texas. Right now the boys are living here for the next month to train to get ready for professional soccer. They currently play for the Houston Galaxtigos and are getting ready for the Loews Cup Tourney. They are here to take advantage of the training they have read about and are making the sacrifice to be here.
Mike,
Great to hear from you and thanks for writing in. Over the years, we have had athletes from all over the country and all over the world (South America, Europe, Japan. etc.) come in to train with us for periods of time.
Our athletes stay at one of the few hotels that we have a relationship with and they set up their physical training, nutrition work and therapy (if they need it) with us. The contact for this would be Tim at tsobanko@parisiusa.com.
We look forward to seeing you this summer. I know the trip out here will be one that not only will you get better, it will be one that you will never forget.
Martin Rooney
Hello, this email is for Martin Rooney. My name is Jerry Babbage, I purchased your training for warriors dvd and let me say firstly it's bad ass!! I really enjoyed watching it espeically the last part of cd 2 it was funny! My question is about the dynamic warm up. On dvd 1, you listed some additonal warm ups you use, my question about the additional warm ups is are they done after the orginal warm up or are they done as a seperate warm up? Thank you for your time and hope you continue to develop training material for martial artist. Take care and God bless!
Pictured is Renzo Gracie and the IFL Pitbulls Team going through the “traditional” Parisi Warmup. Although this is the cornerstone of the training, there are many other ways that we warm our athletes up at the facility. Not bad form for those guys, huh?
Jerry,
Thanks for writing in. I am pumped that you enjoyed the Warrior DVD and that you are using the information to get better. Yes, the outtakes are funny at the end. I threw those in to give everyone out there a “feel” for the guys and show that they are human like the rest of us. All too often everyone thinks that in order to be a fighter, you have to be this crazy, anti social monster. Over my years spent with these guys, there is nothing further from the truth. I guess when you know you are tough, the end result is that you don’t have to ever act it. I think that is real mastery.
As for the warmups on the DVDs, they can be used in a few different ways. Just like any style of training, you can get stale with simply the same warmup over and over. We do change exercises in and out and reps and sets, but sometimes we change the entire warmup altogether. For instance, before our hurricane days, we may just do the stationary warmup and then move right to the ladder. I have found this gets us to a good steady state for the upcoming work. On upper body days, we may just do the stationary warmup and then move into the bear crawl series and med ball work. This keeps us fresh and gets the upper body going. And on some days, we may do a full Parisi Warmup and then the ladder or the bear crawls depending on the workout and the level of fitness of the athletes.
The take home message is that you must mix it up to stay fresh, but must also follow the principles of the warmup to make sure you are still improving performance and warming up properly to prevent injury.
I hope this helps. Now go train like a Warrior!
Martin Rooney
Martin,
When you are working with an athlete on sprint mechanics what are important things that you look for? I have really enjoyed your work and want to thank you for the time I know it takes to help everyone out there. Cheers, Evan
Pictured is a past Franchise Training class learning the importance of both leg recovery and force application. Without working on both, you are leaving some speed on the table!
Evan,
Thanks for writing in and for the appreciation. I would say that spending the extra time learning and delivering info for everyone is work, but since it is something I really enjoy, it is easy for me to do. As long as everyone out there keeps getting better, I will be here to help move things forward best I can.
When I start working with an athlete, the first thing I do is take them through our Parisi Warmup and assess their strength, flexibility and technique. There are a number of assessment tools out there, but over the years, I have found that our warmup is excellent to use for this job. I like it because there are static and dynamic movements. Just checking one or the other may limit what you see. I also like it because the movements are going to leave clues to what you are probably going to see later when you do a sprint assessment.
After the warmup, I chart everything and have the athlete run. Again, from here, I am looking at virtually every joint of the body and seeing what is going on in terms of strength, flexibility and technique. For instance, if the athlete is bent forward at the waist during the sprint, a coach or parent can yell “stand up straight” until they are blue in the face, but if the cause is that the athlete’s low back is weak or the hip flexors are tight, the issue will not be resolved until it is correctly identified and remedied.
During the sprint phase, I like to pay attention to both the mechanics of the arms and the legs. As I will always say, speed is a skill and is something that must be learned and mastered before you think just because you have the helmet and pads on that you are ready to compete.
Since I have covered arm mechanics in past posts, I will focus on the legs briefly here. I think the human body is an amazing machine. When you look at the legs during sprinting and apply the concept of long and short levers, you get an interesting picture of how we evolved. As you should know, a short lever is a fast lever. If you were to choose a bat to swing against a fast ball pitcher, you would instinctively choose the shorter bat to swing it faster. If you were to choose a pole to wedge under a heavy boulder to roll it, you would choose the longer pole for stronger leverage, hence the Archimedes Quote, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world”. Now I am not talking about moving the world, but looking at the transition from a short to long lever that the leg makes when you look at proper recovery and force application during top end sprinting (different mechanics during acceleration).
During recovery, the leg shortens to half its length to move more quickly as it then extends and becomes long once again to apply as much force as possible into the ground. If the leg doesn’t shorten correctly, or the force application is improperly delivered, speed and form with be impaired and chance of possible injury increased. This is the stuff we work on every day at the Parisi Speed School.
I hope this rant gives everyone out there some direction and a new look at our amazing bodies!
Martin Rooney