NFL Values Speed, Trains it Incorrectly

What is the most analyzed and valued skill NFL teams are looking for? If you said power, you were close. While power is valued, speed is the most valued skill in an NFL player. A players 40 yard dash and shuttle times are heavily scrutinized at the NFL combine. In fact a good 40 time can propel an athlete from a second round pick to a first round pick. Conversely, a player's collegiate career can be overshadowed if their 40 yard time is slow.

Why is this an issue? While speed is so heavily coveted, the training that athletes use to get ready for the combine tends to be dominated by conventional weight lifting. Why? The perception is that bigger is better. Squats are a very popular exercise used to increase speed. While a squat will give you short term gains in mass, it does little to increase your speed.

The misconception about a squat is that a squat is actually a back exercise, not a leg exercise. Think of it like a chain, it starts at the back, then goes down to the hips, down to the knees, down to the calves and then to the ankles. Knowing this should be very alarming. You see many athletes using a back exercise to increase speed.

It's important to understand that any type of power or speed movement by the body is NEVER proceeded with any type of weight load. It is actually preceded with NO weight load. This is the way your body works, so why would you train for speed or power with heavy weight loads?