Fred Duncan (@Fred__Duncan)
Charlie Francis’ work completely changed the way I thought about training. His clarity on speed, intensity, and programming still holds up decades later. That same philosophy is the backbone of my approach…you adapt to the stimulus you impose. If you want speed, you have to ...
I learned early on that some of the best programs and the best results came from coaches who used the most basic, simple means. No gimmicks. No complexity for the sake of it. Just consistent, repeatable training that made their athletes better. It’s easy to get caught up in the ...
How your training actually transfers to sprinting Drills like skips and bounds don’t directly transfer to sprinting but start to replicate elements of the biodynamic and kinematic structure of sprinting…similar joint angles, velocities, and coordination. Short sprints (5–30 m ...
Two things can be true…you can work to improve an athlete’s sprint mechanics without trying to copy every element of a track and field model. That’s something I talk about a lot in my new ebook/program, Speed Kills. First, we have to separate the quality of speed, how it’s ...
The hill is something that’s stayed in my programs for years. There’s no cost, it’s easy to set up, and it naturally fixes a lot of common sprinting errors. The incline forces better projection and posture without over-coaching, and it’s a little more concentric-dominant, ...
What you do and when you do it is what actually changes performance. Programming > exercises This study is a good reminder of that. Heavy strength shifted the profile one way, high velocity work shifted it the opposite way, and only the velocity oriented changes that ...
The 3 plyometrics & jumps I use most for developing acceleration - Broad jump variations (single / multi / loaded / MB) - Seated or static-overcome-dynamic jumps - High hurdle hops with forward displacement These jumps map to the force-time and positional demands of ...
People see something done fast and assume it must be developing speed. That’s the mistake. Ladders are fine…you can use them for specific drills, warm-ups, or basic coordination. You can even add a reactive layer and make them more legitimate. The problem is when people ...
Everyone wants to get faster, but most people train speed in isolation. Rather than viewing everything as separate buckets, you need to think about how these pieces feed and interact with one another. Speed is built when sprinting, strength, plyometrics, and conditioning are ...