Part 8 of 18
🧠 Introduction
Last article we discovered something important.
Sprinting isn’t just:
👉 glutes
👉 hamstrings
👉 quads
👉 calves
We also discovered:
👉 hip flexors
👉 arms
👉 torso
And we discovered that all of those contributors participate together during sprinting.
💥 In other words, we’ve now identified most of the major contributors involved in producing running speed.
That realization naturally creates another question.
If sprinting depends on all of those contributors…
👉 why does so much speed training seem to keep pointing back to the same ones?
🤔 Look Back At Your Training
Think about the speed training you’ve performed over the years.
Maybe you’ve done:
👉 squats
👉 deadlifts
👉 cleans
👉 lunges
👉 hill sprints
👉 sled running
👉 parachute running
👉 resisted band running
👉 broad jumps
👉 box jumps
👉 depth jumps
👉 bounds
At first glance, they seem very different.
Different coaches.
Different programs.
Different equipment.
Different training styles.
Different facilities.
Different philosophies.
But are they really as different as they appear?
🏋️ Look At The Weight Room
Let’s start with the weight room.
Athletes are often told to improve speed through exercises like:
👉 squats
👉 deadlifts
👉 cleans
👉 RDLs
👉 step-ups
👉 leg press
👉 lunges
All useful exercises.
All capable of making athletes stronger.
But look closely at what many of them emphasize.
Again and again, the focus often returns to:
👉 glutes
👉 hamstrings
👉 quads
👉 calves
The exercise changes.
But many of the contributors being developed remain remarkably similar.
A squat looks different than a deadlift.
A deadlift looks different than a clean.
A clean looks different than a lunge.
Yet much of the emphasis often keeps returning to the same contributors.
🏃 Look At Sprint Training
Now move outside.
Maybe you’ve done:
👉 hill sprints
👉 sled running
👉 parachute running
👉 resisted band running
👉 tire drags
👉 acceleration work
These feel very different from lifting weights.
And they are.
But ask yourself:
What are they primarily asking your body to do?
In many cases:
👉 push harder
👉 drive harder
👉 overcome resistance
👉 project more force into the ground
Once again, much of the emphasis often returns to:
👉 glutes
👉 hamstrings
👉 quads
👉 calves
A sled looks different than a hill.
A hill looks different than a parachute.
A parachute looks different than a resistance band.
Yet many of them continue emphasizing remarkably similar contributors.
💥 Different packaging. Same ingredients.
⚡ Look At Plyometrics
Then come the jumps.
👉 broad jumps
👉 box jumps
👉 depth jumps
👉 bounds
👉 hurdle hops
👉 tuck jumps
Again:
different exercises
different drills
different coaching cues
different ways of training
Yet many of them continue emphasizing:
👉 glutes
👉 hamstrings
👉 quads
👉 calves
Once again:
💥 different packaging, same ingredients.
🤔 The Pattern Starts Becoming Hard To Ignore
The coach changes.
The gym changes.
The equipment changes.
The exercises change.
The terminology changes.
Yet many speed-development methods continue returning to the same contributors.
And there is nothing inherently wrong with that.
Those contributors matter.
They contribute heavily to running speed.
They deserve attention.
But now another question starts appearing.
If sprinting depends on:
👉 glutes
👉 hamstrings
👉 quads
👉 calves
👉 hip flexors
👉 arms
👉 torso
Why does so much speed training keep returning to only part of that list?
💥 Think About The Last Year
Over the last year:
How many hours have you spent developing:
👉 glutes
👉 hamstrings
👉 quads
👉 calves
?
Hundreds?
Maybe more?
How many speed workouts ultimately returned to those contributors in some form?
Probably far more than most athletes realize.
Not because they intentionally ignored the rest of the system.
Not because they were lazy.
Not because they weren’t working hard.
Most athletes simply followed the training they were shown.
And much of that training kept returning to the same contributors.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Often under different names.
Often under different exercises.
Often under different coaches.
But still returning to many of the same contributors.
🤔 Maybe This Changes The Question
Most athletes assume speed improvement slows down because:
👉 they need to work harder
👉 they need a better workout
👉 they need more motivation
👉 they need a different coach
👉 they need a different program
But maybe there is another possibility.
💥 Maybe much of your speed training has been developing the same contributors over and over again…
👉 without realizing it.
Maybe the issue isn’t that you’ve never trained for speed.
Maybe the issue isn’t that you’ve been avoiding hard work.
Maybe the issue isn’t that speed training doesn’t work.
💥 Maybe you’ve simply spent years developing the same contributors from different angles.
Different packaging.
Same ingredients.
🧭 Continue The Journey
If sprinting depends on more than GHQC…
and GHQC has been receiving most of the development…
💥 what contributors haven’t?
That’s where we’re headed next.
