Do we want a 160lb QB with a 90 ponund squat or a 230 lb QB with a 550 pound squat? Who will be faster? More explosive?

Running speed is influenced by being able to apply more force into the ground, and the fastest way to improve this is to increase lower body strength.

Not only will heavy load front and back squats train the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves to produce more ground reaction force, but they will increase strength in the entire core musculature. This will allow athletes to integrate their increased speed into sports-specific movements on the field or court.

Recent studies prove that squats increase speed. For example, a study performed on elite rugby players showed that an increase in maximal squat strength during an 8-week pre-season training program made the players significantly faster at short sprints. The players performed two microcycles that included a 4-week maximal lower body strength program followed by a power program of the same length.

For the strength program, players did back squats, clean pulls, deadlifts, and Nordic curls, all at 85 to 90 percent of the 1RM. For the power program they did hang cleans, squat jumps, back squats, and Nordic curls, all at 85 percent of the 1RM.

Results showed that the players increased their maximal squat by 30 kg, improving from 170 to 200 kg. These impressive strength gains translated to improvements in sprint speed of 6 to 7.6 percent over 5, 10, and 20 meters. The players were able to apply more ground reaction force during the initial acceleration phase of sprinting.