We went to the Perform Better 3-Day Functional Training Summit in Providence, RI. One of the presentations we had circled was with Boo Schexnayder – “The Importance of Speed Training for Non-Speed People.”
Coach Schexnayder is regarded internationally as one of the leading authorities in training design and track and field coaching. He has over 40 years of experience in the coaching and consulting fields. Boo’s resume is incredible because he is a been-there-done-that coach:
- 12 years as a member of the track & field coaching staff at Louisiana State University (LSU)
- Guided LSU track & field teams to 12 NCAA Championship teams and 19 individual NCAA Champions
- Coached triple jumper Walter Davis to multiple World Championships, and long jumper John Moffitt to a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens
- Coached many Olympians, and served on coaching staffs for Team USA in the 2003 Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo, the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing, and was the jumps coach for Team USA at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
He knows a lot about coaching! All those years and experiences develops his coaching wisdom, of which he’s sharing for those of us who want to learn and be better.
Throughout his presentation, Coach Schexnayder made these five points repeatedly:
- Quality over quantity
- Value intensity over density
- Simple over complex
- Wise and/or smart (activities/exercises/programs) over risky and/or dumb (activities/exercises/programs)
- Multi-joint over single joint
The truth is what his presenting about speed includes the same principles we apply to our training programs at ELEVATE, whether it’s our small group (TEAM), small group personal training (ELITE) our distance coaching.
The basics, done very well and consistently, will always lead to performance progress.
Use these five principles in your own training and you will continue to make progress over time.