Pearce Performance Lab

.Personal records today.

Tage:

30-yard dash — 3.68 sec — all time PR, down from 3.7 sec

DB Jump (20 lb): — 19.7” — new PR, up from 19.4”

Harper:

DB Jump (12 lb): 17.5” — new PR, up from 16.1”

Mi Mi tonight:

15 lb. Dumbbells Vertical
Rep Height
1 17.3
2 17.9
3 18.2
4 18.2

Best: 18.2” — Tied her PR.

Bodyweight Vertical:

Rep Height
1 19.9
2 20.3
3 20.0
4 19.7
5 19.1
6 18.8

Best: 20.3” — matches her 8/10/26 PR.

Box Squat (3 straight sets, 140 lb, 8/10): 0.57 / 0.59 / 0.57 m/s — very consistent, all above 0.55 m/s target.

She’s really getting stronger and more explosive. Can’t wait to see how it translates to the court.

These 3 killed it today.

10 into 10’s

Mi Mi ran a blazing PR of 1.16 seconds.

Dumbbell Jumps — 8/10/26

• Simon: 14.0” (12 lb) — PR, beating his previous best of 13.3” (8 lb, 7/22/26)
• Harper: 16.1” (12 lb) — PR, beating 15.9” from 7/30/26
• Mi Mi: 19.4” (15 lb) — PR, beating 16.9” on 8/6/26,

Worth flagging on Simon’s comparison: his prior best (13.3”) was with 8 lb dumbbells, while today’s PR (14.0”) was with 12 lb — a heavier load.

Bodyweight Vertical Jump — 8/10/26

• Simon: 18.3” — PR (previous best: 18.2”, 7/31/26)
• Harper: 24.1” (previous best: 25.1”, 7/30/26 — not a PR)
• Mi Mi: 20.3” — PR (previous best: 19.6”, 7/24/26)

Mi Mi breaks her 15 lb dumbbells vertical jump with a jump of 16.9 inches today!

Tage breaks his 20 lb dumbbells vertical jump with a jump of 19.4 inches. He also broke his all time bodyweight vertical jump with a jump of 27.4 inches. This is all after only being out of his cast for 6.5 weeks.

After just a few weeks of adding weight training, here is what Mi Mi did today. Debbie Walker

30 yard sprint

• Today’s best: 4.20 sec (1.55/1.38/1.28)
• Previous best: 4.28 sec (7/24)
• Improved by 0.08 sec — new PR

DB Jump (15 lb):

• Today’s best: 16.6”
• Previous best: 15.9” (8/4)
• Improved by 0.7” — new PR

CMJ (bodyweight vertical):

• Today’s best: 19.6”
• Previous best: 19.4” (7/24)
• Improved by 0.2” — new PR

Mi Mi & Tage 30 yard sprints. Mi Mi gets a head start and she’s trying to not let Tage catch her.

Why we emphasize lifting.

There’s No “Strength Ceiling” for Speed

There’s no magic strength ratio where athletes stop benefiting from getting stronger. Absolute strength always sets the ceiling for speed — whether an athlete squats 1.5x or 2.5x bodyweight, the need for ground force never goes away.

The key is how you build that strength: precise intensity, low volume, frequent exposure — paired with dynamic work (lifting, jumping, sprinting) year-round, often in the same session.

Building elite relative strength takes years, but only 20-30 minutes a few days a week. Sessions stay around 50-70 minutes, even for top-level athletes — because fatigue, not effort, is the real limiter. Overreach in training and you stop adapting.

Field sport athletes will never hit truly elite strength numbers because their schedule can’t fully optimize for it — same as with speed. The goal is to get as strong as possible within that reality, not chase a number that doesn’t exist.

— Credit: Zac Goodman ()

How fast can you lose your speed if you don’t keep training it?

Turns out sprint speed is more resilient than you’d think — at first. Research on detraining shows that breaks under 4 weeks generally don’t hurt sprinting speed much, thanks to neuromuscular adaptations that stick around. One study even found three weeks of detraining didn’t decrease muscle thickness, strength, or sport performance in adolescent athletes. 

But push past that 4-week mark and the story changes fast — max sprint speed, strength, and power start dropping off a cliff. Moral of the story: short breaks are fine, but don’t ghost your training for over a month if speed is your game. 🏃‍♂️💨

Source: Gavanda et al., “Three weeks of detraining does not decrease muscle thickness, strength or sport performance in adolescent athletes,” Int J Exerc Sci (2020).

7/31/26 - FLYING 10'S

1. Mi Mi - 1.17 sec (18.32 mph)
2. Owen - 1.29 sec (16.62 mph)
3. Wyatt - 1.33 sec (16.13 mph)
4. Simon - 1.36 sec (15.71 mph)
5. Elliott - 1.47 sec (14.47 mph)
6. Will - 1.59 sec (13.40 mph)
7. Koen - 1.61 sec (13.21 mph)

7/31/26 - 2 LEGGED TRIPLE JUMP

1. Owen - 20'03"
2. Simon - 18'00"
3. Elliott - 17'04"
4. Wyatt - 16'08"
5. Will - 16'08"
6. Koen - 14'02"