F.A.S.T.

F.A.S.T.

F.A.S.T. PROGRAMME

What is it?

F.A.S.T. stands for Flexibility – Agility – Speed – Training and has been designed to allow sports minded people develop their speed of movement patterns that effect players during sporting competition. However these movement patterns can form part of an injury rehabilitation programme.

The programme is tailored for specific sport movement and can be introduced for very young performers as well as elite professionals.

Young adults are more susceptible to specific training regimes at particular age groups and it is part of the F.A.S.T. programme to tap into these windows of opportunity to help each performer reach their maximum potential.

Fundamental Phase of Youth Development (6-11 years)
The fundamental phase of youth development is a multilateral phase that builds a foundation on which complex motor abilities can be developed. Agility, Balance, Coordination & Speed (ABC’s) are the key aspects of running, jumping, throwing & kicking.

Blinding Speed. Rapid Acceleration changes. Explosive lateral movement. Lightning fast response. These are some of the qualities top athletes possess. No matter what the sport - lateral, linear and vertical movement skills are important. Once thought to be genetic, we know now that these skills can be trained and nurtured. It is known as F.A.S.T. And it's now an important part of successful training and conditioning for top athletes and their trainers. The key difference between F.A.S.T. and traditional training is that the emphasis is on the neuro-muscular system. The brain controls our body movements. Messages are sent to the muscles through nerves. By developing and honing the neurological firing patterns, the brain and body learn to work together much more efficiently. F.A.S.T. concentrates on improving the individual's neuro-muscular system so that initial movement - whether lateral, linear or vertical - is automatic, explosive and precise. It's what helps a basketball player to be the first to a loose ball, or football player to cut right-left-right. With ongoing F.A.S.T. drills, the neuro-muscular system is reprogrammed and restrictive mental blocks and thresholds are removed. The result: An instinctively quicker athlete.

F.A.S.T. starts with warm up and dynamic flexibility training. Dynamic flexibility training has been shown to be a better method of stretching before competition, and may also be more effective than static stretching in injury prevention. It includes mimicking movements that would be performed in the sport/activity and also some specific movements to stretch the muscles in preparation for work.

Innervation
After warm up, F.A.S.T. training aims to get the feet moving faster. By encouraging the brain to send out more frequent impulses to the muscles, both the rate of strides and the power of each stride can be increased. The end result is faster, more agile performance. Generally ladder drills are used here with a variety of linear and lateral drills and as the athlete improves a combination of the two.

The mechanics of movement (commonly referred to as running technique) is vital in the production of speed. Development of effective movement mechanics is therefore a crucial part of the F.A.S.T. system. Getting players to move effectively and efficiently will allow them to be faster and potentially to avoid injury. Use of the hurdles is great here to assist and teach correct mechanics. One should emphasise correct posture for the athletes. Some light plyometrics using the low hurdles may be useful, as would some direction change drills. Always emphasise correct technique.

Accumulation of Potential
Once effective mechanics have been established, the aim is to get players
prepared for explosive work. Baseline conditioning of the muscles and
skeleton provides a sound foundation for the demands of explosive training.
This is the time for conditioning of the athletes. Programmed agility is useful
here in small quantities. Such things as obstacle course runs and direction change drills. Be aware that the potential for injury is high if you mix quantity with fatigue. The emphasis is quality.

Explosive training is done using short speed bursts, resisted running, contrast training, assisted running and complex training (medicine ball work and plyometrics). In resisted running, the body is made to recruit more muscle fibres than normal. In contrast training however the resistance is removed but the body still recruit’s fibres as it would if the resistance was being applied. Increasing muscular recruitment leads to an increase in muscular power output.
Assisted training increases the frequency that the brain sends impulses. The short speed bursts can be achieved with tennis ball drops and or reaction drills.
Again emphasise quality not quantity.

Expression of Potential
After explosiveness has been developed; this must be made sport specific, by using explosiveness in movement patterns that relate to the sport. High intensity tag games are useful. Most importantly the athlete should leave practice feeling they have moved real fast and powerfully, but with control.

Overview of Long-term Athlete Development