Most coaches use the same lifts, the same drills, and the same sprint work… yet their athletes still fail to develop real, transferable speed. The problem isn’t effort. It’s a lack of exercise classification for sprinting.

In this Sports Speed Insider session, Sam breaks down why most speed programs stall, how adaptive reserve dictates what athletes can tolerate, and why learning to sprint must come before training to sprint. You’ll see how to classify exercises by specificity, motor unit recruitment, and transfer — not just “hip dominant vs knee dominant.”

If you coach speed, acceleration, or team sport performance and want clarity on what to use, when to use it, and what to remove, this session will change how you structure training forever.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:05 Introduction – Why Speed Training Needs Better Classification

1:05 The Biggest Gap in Modern Speed Training

1:42 Why Gym Exercises Don’t Transfer to Sprint Speed

2:29 Adaptive Reserve Explained (Why Athletes Get Sore)

3:26 Why Sprinting Breaks Athletes Early On

3:48 Learning to Sprint vs Training to Sprint

4:08 Charlie Francis, EMG Data & Speed Exercise Selection

4:49 Motor Unit Recruitment Explained Simply

5:41 How to Classify Speed Exercises Correctly

6:10 Wall Drills: Low Intensity, High Skill Transfer

6:47 Exercise Order That Actually Improves Acceleration

7:36 Extensive vs Intensive Speed Training (When to Use Each)

8:30 When Speed Training Becomes Truly High Intensity

9:13 Replacing Gym Work With High-Transfer Speed Exercises

9:48 Final Takeaways + What’s Coming Next

LINKS

Sports Speed System Book

https://www.speedbysportland.com/sportsspeedsystembook

Field Speed Toolkit

https://www.speedbysportland.com/field-speed-toolkit

Legacy Mastermind

https://www.speedbysportland.com/legacy-mastermind-home