This is one of the most confused terms when it comes to working out. I hear sport coaches, parents, athletes and even many trainers call any type of running “speed training”. Speed training and conditioning are 2 totally different things so you have to ask yourself are you looking for speed training or are you looking to run sprint after sprint with no real assembly of breaking or resting between reps.
Let me try and explain the difference as easily as possible. Conditioning is running typically middle distance runs example (400 meters, 200 meters, 100 yards) with little rest in between each rep. While this is okay every once in awhile, if you are a field or court athlete you need to develop acceleration, deceleration, reacceleration, change of direction, power and max speed. If you want to compete at a high level then you need to get the proper training.
I tell all the coaches, athletes and parents I meet that anyone can condition you. It is not very hard to have someone bark out commands to run 200 meters. On the other hand it does take a knowledgeable person in the strength and conditioning field to come up with a system for each team to have that team excel and progress each and every time they train.
As I spoke about in past videos, speed is a skill and developing that takes a system and knowledge of what type of drill to do for that session and also what type of rest is needed between reps. If we are looking for greater speed development for our athlete/team than we better do our research and hire someone who does this not just someone who will run your team until they puke.
Check out other video’s on training by going to Youtube and subscribing to the Coach Brix page. We need to raise the bar in this industry as more and more “trainers” pop up each and everyday.