Squat for Speed!!

An interesting article in the Sept issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning used the relationship between 1 RM squats and 5,10, and 40 meter sprints. The general concept behind this would be that the ability to apply more force to the ground (strength!!) would aid your ability to produce a higher sprinting velocity. The subjects were football players from Appalachian State who were put through a warm up, produced a 1RM squat and then were timed in 40,10, and 5 meter increments. They then took the 1RM and divided it by the athletes BM. The end results were that those with the higher RM as compared to BM (able to squat a higher % of there body weight) ended up with faster 40 and 10 meter times. The 5 meter times were statistically non significant. In conclusion, this study would be a great practical reason to start using great free weight multi-joint movements like the squat. I emphasize free weight multi-joint because as the study also mentions no correlation between machine squats, or isolated muscle strengthening and sprint speed.