Whether you are playing in the Super Bowl, training for the NFL Combine, or just want to improve your running speed for fun, you may have seen Coach Isaac Hadac’s popular social media channels since they are designed to help you smash your previous metrics.
Hadac, a former Division 1 football player from Binghamton, NY, now trains aspiring athletes to develop all areas of their play, and with few skills being as important as possessing the ability to blitz past opposing players, speed is an essential aspect of any great athlete’s arsenal.
“I’ve played football since I was 6 years old, following in my brother’s footsteps,” says Hadac. “I didn’t even come to fall in love with the sport until I was a sophomore in High School. There, I realized that I had the potential to be a great player, and I set my sights high on making it to the NFL. Out of high school, I was afforded a ‘preferred walk-on’ offer at a couple of D1 schools and decided to head to a small FCS school in the hopes of finding some playtime. I worked my tail off that fall semester, but realized that FCS college ball is totally different from tiny New York State Class D football. After struggling and losing my faith, I decided to fall back to Ithaca College where my brother had been an All-American Defensive End, to try to find my passion once again.”
Take a step back before putting your best foot forward
“When COVID happened, I didn’t see a negative, I saw it as an opportunity for me to change my life and become an elite player,” says Hadac. “I used this time when the world slowed down to experiment with my training and change who I was as an athlete. Thankfully, I fell back in love with the game and when we were finally allowed to play live again in the fall of 2021, I was a new player and had a stout season; racking up 17 Solo Tackles and 31/2 sacks in my first true year of college football, on a nationally ranked team.”
Hadac transferred to The University of Albany in the spring of 2022, where he finally reached his ambition of playing elite quality D1 football. It was also during this time that he developed his “5 Star Football” Package, offering training and nutritional advice for D1 level players, or those that want to attain this level. Now, with coaching taking over Hadac’s life, the baller is devoted to building. up his training business further. Also, through social media, he enjoys sharing the hard-earned knowledge that he has acquired through real-life application and experience.
“My third TikTok post, which featured a new training split and emphasized the importance of breaking away from traditional bodybuilding splits, unexpectedly took off and helped grow my account to over 10,000 followers,” he says. Currently, Hadac has 170,000 followers on TikTok, and more than 50,000 on Instagram. Many of these views are coming from athletes scouring the internet to improve on their running and acceleration speed. “In today’s game, speed is an essential component of success,” says the coach. “It’s no longer a unique advantage, but rather a basic requirement. Every year at the NFL combine, we see more and more players setting new records for their 40-yard dash times, showcasing incredible speed and quickness for their size. Personally, I’ve never been naturally fast, so I knew that it was an area I needed to focus on and improve.”
“There is no, one magic solution that will make you faster,” says Hadac. “An athlete needs to workout in the gym and on the field correctly, consume the right foods and liquids, recover effectively, and schedule their weeks accordingly. The gym is an essential component for improving your 40-yard dash. At the same time, it’s important to lift correctly or the gym may actually impede your progress. “
He adds: “Before I started experimenting with different training methods, I was lifting like a bodybuilder. While I was quite strong for my age, the training made me stiff and slow. I was not focusing on fast-twitch muscle development through plyometrics or contrast training. Additionally, I was experiencing more injuries on the field. Other important methods for building speed in the gym include stretching and core strengthening. There’s also joint strengthening and stabilization, plus building explosive power via heavy, compound movements. But again, to see significant speed results, it’s not only about gym work but also about proper training on the field, eating and recovering correctly. The gym is just one piece of the puzzle.”
Fortunately, Hadac has provided readers with a comprehensive workout that you can practice, to improve on your own running times on the field. “Over the past few years, I’ve been able to significantly reduce my 40-yard dash time,” he says. “While it is also crucial for athletes to include unilateral training in their programming, which includes plyometrics exercises, some coaches promote advanced plyometric training that include hurdles and complicated movements, but I find that they can be confusing for athletes. My approach is to keep the training simple and straightforward.”
The full workout is below. To modify and make easier for beginners: you could begin with 1 set where 2 are called for, or simply build up to the full workout by practicing it in manageable sections.
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Coach Isaac Hadac’s Super Bowl Speed Workout
Warm-Up:
Light Jog (100 yards down and back)
Stretch: (10 yards down and back for each)
Knee Pulls
Quad Pulls
Walking Toe Touch
Hamstring Scoops
Frankensteins
Lunge With a Twist
Spiderman Lunges
Lateral Lunges
Form/Activation: (2 sets of 10 yards for each)
High Knees
Butt Kicks
High Skips
A-Skips
B-Skips
Bounds
Backwards Sprints
Toy Soldiers
Acceleration: (2 sets of 10 yards with each leg)
Push-Up Starts
Half Kneeling Lateral Starts
Split Stance Starts
Half Kneeling Starts
Sprinter Stance Starts
Top End Speed: (2 sets of each)
60 Yard Striders (90% Speed)
50 Yard Build-Ups (Jog to 100% Speed)
Flying 20’s (Build Up 40 Yards, 100% Speed for Additional 20 Yards)
