Last month, I watched one of my pro hockey players hit the ice after working with me for about 8 weeks. His coach pulled me aside after the game.

“What did you do to him? He looks like he’s playing on a different speed setting than everyone else.”

The secret? We didn’t add more squats or sprints to his program. Instead, we fixed his body’s spring system.

What if I told you the key to explosive speed isn’t in your muscles, but in a network of tissue most athletes completely ignore - your fascia.

Most athletes have never heard of fascia training. But after working with hundreds of elite athletes, I’ve discovered it’s the difference between good athletes and unstoppable ones.

Most athletes are training for speed all wrong

For decades, we’ve been told that building bigger muscles is the key to athletic speed.

But that’s only half the story. What about the system that transfers that power to the ground?

While everyone obsesses over muscle size, they ignore:

• Foot and ankle strength
• Their suspension system (stiff, restricted fascia)
• Movement patterns
• Force absorption

The result?

Athletes who look strong in the gym but move like they’re stuck in mud on the field or ice.

Most athletes are just building bigger engines, and then putting them in cars with flat tires and broken suspension systems.

Your Body’s Natural Spring System

Think of your body as having a built-in spring system.

Your feet and ankles form the foundation, and your fascia is the network that connects everything together.

This fascia is a web-like connective tissue that wraps around every muscle, bone, nerve, and organ in your body. It’s like an internal suit that helps coordinate movement and transfer force.

When healthy and elastic, fascia acts like a powerful spring system.

No matter how strong your muscles are, if your spring system isn’t working properly, you’ll never reach your athletic potential.

Many of our hockey athletes are shocked when they discover how much untapped speed they have once we optimize these overlooked components.

One of our players who was struggling with his performance implemented this approach and told me: “It’s like I discovered a new gear I didn’t know I had.”

Let me break down the exact 4-step system that will transform your speed and give you a lasting competitive edge.

Step 1: Start Training Barefoot

Ditch your shoes during training to instantly activate your body’s natural speed system.

This simple change reorganizes your entire movement pattern from the ground up.

When your feet can feel the ground directly, thousands of nerve endings wake up and start feeding crucial information to your brain.

Modern athletic shoes are like putting noise-canceling headphones on your feet. They block the sensory feedback your brain needs to optimize movement.

Brazilian soccer players develop incredible speed and agility by playing barefoot in the sand and on the streets from a young age. They’re constantly strengthening their feet and training their fascial system without realizing it.

Since I had all my athletes go barefoot a few years ago, the results have been remarkable. Athletes started shaving seconds off their times and have almost completely eliminated injuries.

Quick tip: Incorporate these active recovery movements between sets instead of resting:

• Toe walks (20 steps forward)
• Heel walks (20 steps forward)
• Ankle rockers (10 each direction)
• Mini pogo hops (20 quick bounces)

Athletes always tell me they feel weird doing this at first and don’t see the point, only to come back a couple weeks later saying it’s completely changed their game. Trust me.

Step 2: Wake Up Your Elastic System

Your fascia is designed to store and release energy like a spring, but most athletes deactivate this system without knowing.

The biggest mistake athletes make is training exclusively for strength while never training for elasticity. They build powerful muscles that can’t efficiently transmit force through their fascial system.

The most explosive animals in nature don’t get their speed from muscle size—they get it from elastic recoil. Your body has this same capability, but everyday life (chairs, shoes, inactive lifestyles) puts your fascial system to sleep.

To activate your elastic system, do these exercises twice weekly:

• Box jumps: 4 sets of 5 reps (focus on minimal ground contact time)
• Side-to-side bounds: 3 sets of 8 per side (emphasize quick redirection)
• Depth jumps: 3 sets of 6 reps (maximize the spring effect)

Think of these movements as tuning your body’s suspension system.

The connection between force absorption and speed is crucial here. When your fascia efficiently absorbs force during landing, it stores that energy like a compressed spring. This stored energy can then be immediately released into your next explosive movement.

This is why elite sprinters appear to “float” - their fascia and muscles work in perfect harmony to absorb and redirect force with minimal ground contact time. Each landing becomes a launching pad rather than a speed-killing impact.

Step 3: Restore Your Fascial Movement

Your fascia is a natural shock absorber and power transfer system, but overtraining and poor recovery can create stiff spots that block force from moving up the chain.

When your fascial system works optimally, force transfers smoothly through your body. When there are restrictions, energy gets lost and performance suffers.

One of the biggest differences between elite and average athletes is how well their fascial system functions.

To restore and optimize your fascial network, do this before workouts:

• Banded hip openers, marches, and skaters
• Dynamic movement prep (walking lunges with rotation, leg swings, arm circles)
• Strategic foam rolling: 2 minutes each on calves, hamstrings, and feet

Step 4: Connect Your Power Chain

Many athletes struggle with calf pain and cramping. This is why some soccer players resort to cutting holes in their socks for relief.

These issues actually stem from poor fascial integration—when the body’s force distribution system isn’t functioning properly.

Through proper fascial training, we teach the body to channel force through the entire kinetic chain, from feet to calves to glutes to core. This creates a unified elastic system that distributes stress efficiently.

The result? While other players battle fatigue and cramping in the second half, athletes with well-trained fascial networks stay explosive and fresh.

The Springboard Effect

When your fascia, feet, and nervous system work together, you’ll experience what I call the “Fascial Springboard Effect”—the sensation of effortless speed that defines elite athletes.

Start doing French Contrast blocks twice per week:

1. Heavy compound lift (trap bar deadlift or squat jump): 5 reps at 85% effort
2. Explosive plyometric (box jump or broad jump): 5 reps at maximum height/distance
3. Weighted reactive movement (dumbbell split jumps): 5 reps with light weights
4. Pure speed drill (10-yard sprint or lateral shuttle): 5 reps at 100% effort

Rest 15 seconds between exercises and 3 minutes between full blocks. Perform the block 3-4 times total.

One of our hockey players who implemented this full system saw his numbers improve across the board after just 8 weeks. His coaches were stunned when his first-step quickness was unrecognizable.

Your Speed Advantage

The beauty of this approach is that it doesn’t require more time in the gym—just a smarter approach to training. Many of my athletes actually reduce their training volume while seeing better results.

Your 4-step action plan is simple:

1. Train without shoes to reactivate foot muscles and improve ground feel
2. Add explosive exercises to build quick, springy movement
3. Release tight tissues with foam rolling, dynamic stretches, and active recovery
4. Combine strength, plyometrics, and reactive exercises to unite your whole body’s power

The athletes who develop game-changing speed don’t just train harder—they train smarter by fixing the foundation that most athletes don’t even know about.

Your fascia is the secret weapon that can transform your performance and keep you injury-free for years.

Want to see exactly how my pro athletes implement this approach? Our Pro Hockey Academy is a full 12-week off-season program for Hockey Players with this approach and is the exact system we use with our pros. You can also check out our Top Shelf Program which is a library of workouts you can do that follow this strategy.

​You can check those out here.​

See you next weekend,

Tony