A couple months ago, I wrote about Tim Tebow’s workout program and how tough it seemed.  I think it was great insight into how hard an NFL quarterback must work to make it at that next level.  Today, I wanted to discuss some exercises I discovered that Tim Tebow uses for his speed workout.  These were a little hard to come by, so I don’t have a whole heck of a lot to share, but what I will do is discuss about what I think he could add to make him just a little faster and avoid those defensive players trying to knock his block off.

The first drills I saw that reportedly Tim Tebow did to improve his speed was running stadium steps.  This was found on the Men’s Health website.  You first warm-up by doing some walking then walking lunges.  After that, he was ready to rock and roll.  Basically, he would run the entire loop of the stadium 1-3 times.  After that, he would rest 3 minutes then incorporate some speed work.  The speed work consisted of running up 30 steps as fast as you can, then walk back down.  Repeat this 5 times.

Alright, so that doesn’t seem too earth shattering.  Let’s scour the internet a little further and see what we come up with.

I stumbled across a website that supposedly got this workout from Mick Marotti, Tim Tebow’s strength coach at Florida who is now with Ohio State University.  He started Tebow off doing speed drills at full speed when his body was its freshest.  This would consist of form drills, wall speed drills, starts, and resistance runs.  He would then move into some plyometrics and finally some intense strength sessions to get the legs stronger.

I don’t know if any of those websites really had inside knowledge on Tim Tebow’s speed workout.  So, I’m going to throw my two cents in for what it’s worth.

If you recall from my original Tim Tebow workout post, I mentioned that his 40 yard dash at the combine was 4.71 seconds, his 20 yard shuttle was 4.17 seconds, and his vertical jump was 38.5 inches.  I recall that while running the 40, his running form didn’t look half bad.  The problem is that if you give me a couple weeks, I can make anybody look good running the 40, so throw that form out the window.

With those times at the combine, you can assume he has a lot of power that he can generate from his legs.  If he has to take off in a straight run, it might not be the quickest, but if it is in a short area and he has to cut back quick, he might be able to allude people (as illustrated by his 20 yard shuttle time).  Remember, he ran a faster shuttle time then DeSean Jackson, who would smoke Tebow in a race of any length.

When you watch Tebow run in a game, it doesn’t look that pretty.  He uses his size and strength when he needs to.  He can be a little shifty, but when he has to really accelerate, I just don’t see it and in the last few weeks that has shown as defenses seem to be figuring him out.

If I were to work with Tebow in one area of speed, knowing that I’m not going to get him to DeSean Jackson heights, but could squeeze every extra burst out of him, it would be initial acceleration.  His first 5-10 yards.

So how do we work on that you ask?  I wrote a blog post awhile back about new speed research that just might provide the answer.  The research suggests that if you want to improve speed for 5-15 yards, then assistance running will do the trick.  Basically, this is either downhill running or getting pulled by a sprint cord so that your legs are going faster than what they normally do, yet you maintain proper mechanics.  If you implement this into your speed workout, that speed for the first 15 yards should improve.  The same distance that Tebow might be running to survive getting pummeled by a lineman.

I don’t know how long Denver will be able to stay alive in the playoffs, but I’m sure whenever their run ends, Tebow will take a little time off.  After that, he will get right back into the weight room and start working on trying to improve his strength and power.  Once he begins his speed program, I would then throw some assistance running into the mix after a couple weeks to start working on this.  Get that initial speed improved and it is one less thing he has to worry about for next year.  His throwing on the other hand, well….