Following of from our previous blog, below is Part 2 of the interview with elite coach John Quinn. View PART 1 here.

John shares some of his ideas on strength and speed development.

CB: Ok what about strength development what are you strategies you use with your athletes?

JQ: My thoughts are we need to stimulate the muscle first; we might stimulate the glutes and hammys by doing a single leg squat then I want to get them to apply that stimulation into an explosive type exercise like a 20-meter sprint.

Or it could be a max squat with a vertical jump

An incline bench press and a medicine ball throw

Strength training opens the gateway for speed development

CB: So you use a lot of complex or contrast training in strength development?

JQ: Yep we use a lot of complex type training. Sure there are guys in the gym who are big and waddle around the gym but most of them waddle slowly and unless that strength can be converted in power it is useless.

Power = speed x strength

Many people are more worried about how much they can lift; I am not too concerned about that as I am about the speed and getting that strength at speed.

I also like training in the superset or paired exercise format.

CB: That is a great example of transfer and how our training needs transfers to improvements in performance in the sport or activity and t is not about the numbers we put up in testing. One sport I am currently involved in is Soccer, their culture is not one of strength training, they see little value in it and it is a constant battle to get them to see the benefits in it. I know you spend some time with the Socceroos so you know what I am talking about. Why do you think that is?

JQ: They don’t understand strength development and how to correctly apply it to training, they have the perception it is in the gym that is non-specific to their performance, it is definitely a cultural issue with soccer.

All it will take is one team to adopt a strength and speed approach and for them to get success then everywhere will want to take this approach.

CB: Ok a couple of quick ones to finish. Who is going to win the AFL flag this year? I don’t think your boys from Essendon will feature to highly?

JQ: I think the Western Bulldogs will win the AFL grand final and I think they will play Geelong

Parramatta will win the NRL Grand final not Melbourne, not sure who they will play but I am a big Parramatta fan and I can’t believe you a boy from Wagga doesn’t support Parramatta.

CB: Well John your on your own there, I agree the Western Bulldogs will be definitely hard to beat this year but Eagles are my tip for the NRL.

We thank John for his time and willingness to share his insight into coaching and athlete development.

You can visit John’s website www.quinnelitesports.com.au