How to Get Faster (Acceleration, Deceleration, Agility & Strength) | Les Spellman

About this episode

In this episode, I speak with Les Spellman, one of the most in-demand speed coaches in the world, who has trained more than 100 NFL athletes and worked with elite performers across football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and track. We discuss whether you can actually make people faster, what speed really means beyond a 40-yard dash time, and why the fastest athletes are not always the most successful on the field. Les explains his car analogy for speed (engine, brakes, and steering), how the density of a sport shapes its speed demands, and the key differences among linear speed, change of direction, and agility. We break down why deceleration is one of the most overlooked and high-force qualities in sport, how cutting angles change the braking demand, and why agility ladders miss the mark. Les also dismantles the “stay low” cue for acceleration, explains the four sprint archetypes (bounders, drivers, spinners, and bouncers), and shares how he uses the weight room to train high, fast, and slow force. We also cover session design and rest intervals, how often to hit near-maximal speeds, his post-game blood flow restriction (BFR) recovery protocol, when kids should start speed trainin