The AFSM Secret: How to Turn Off Your Body’s ‘Speed Brakes’ and Explode
Before we dive into the science of elite speed, make sure you are locked in for our upcoming season. Check out myfootballcamps.com for the latest camp dates, visit coachschuman.com for elite performance insights, and head over to boardwalkbeastsfb.com to join the most competitive club in the region.
Stop Training Slow
If you want to play for the Boardwalk Beasts, or if you have any aspirations of playing high-level college or pro ball, you need to understand one thing: speed isn’t just about how hard you can push into the ground. It’s about how fast your brain can communicate with your muscles.
Most athletes hit a plateau because they are training their muscles to be "strong," but they aren’t training their nervous system to be "fast." You see it all the time, the "weight room warrior" who can squat 500 pounds but gets burned on a post route by a kid who looks like he’s never seen a barbell.
Why does that happen? Because the heavy lifter hasn’t learned how to turn off his "speed brakes."
At Boardwalk Beasts Football Club, Coach Schuman’s training philosophy centers on bridging the gap between raw strength and game-day explosiveness. One of the most advanced weapons in our arsenal is the Antagonistically Facilitated Specialized Method (AFSM).
If you want to stop being a "slow" strong guy and start being an explosive playmaker, pay attention.
What is AFSM?
AFSM is an advanced training protocol designed to rewire your nervous system. Its goal is to teach your body to contract and relax opposing muscle groups at velocities that actually mimic what happens during a 40-yard dash or a sudden cut on the field.
Most training focuses on the contraction (the "squeeze"). AFSM focuses on the relaxation. In the world of elite sports, the athlete who can relax their muscles the fastest is almost always the one who moves the fastest.
The Science: Sherrington’s Law and Your Internal Brakes
To understand why AFSM works, we have to look at Sherrington’s Law of Reciprocal Inhibition.
This law states that when one muscle (the agonist) contracts, the opposing muscle (the antagonist) must simultaneously relax. Think about a bicep curl: for your bicep to shorten and lift the weight, your tricep has to lengthen and get out of the way.
Now, apply that to sprinting. When your hip flexors fire to pull your knee up, your glutes and hamstrings need to relax instantly. If they don’t, they act as a "brake."
During explosive movements, your body has a natural "overprotective reflex." Your brain is terrified that you are going to tear a muscle or blow out a joint because you’re moving so fast. To prevent this, it keeps the antagonist muscles slightly tense to act as a decelerator.
Elite speed comes from inhibiting this reflex. The true limiting factor in your 40-yard dash isn't how fast you can fire your quads; it’s how fast you can get your hamstrings to stop pulling in the opposite direction. AFSM trains your brain to "let go" of the brake, allowing for total, uninhibited acceleration.
How to Apply AFSM in Your Training
This isn't your standard 3-sets-of-10 workout. This is high-intensity, high-velocity work that requires total focus. Here is how we break it down:
1. The Active Eccentric "Pull"
In a traditional lift, gravity does the work on the way down. You slowly lower the bar, then push it back up. In AFSM, gravity is too slow.
Instead of letting the weight fall, you use your antagonist muscles to violently and rapidly pull the load down. For example, during an AFSM squat drop jump, you aren't just dropping into a squat. You are using your hip flexors and abs to yank your hips toward the floor. You are essentially entering a "free fall" state that is faster than gravity. This creates a massive amount of kinetic energy and puts the muscle under a unique type of high-velocity tension.
2. The Explosive Reversal
The magic happens at the bottom. The instant you reach the end of that violent "pull" or the second your feet strike the ground, you must reverse the action. There is zero transition time. You explode upward in the concentric phase with maximal intent. This teaches the nervous system to transition from high-speed relaxation to high-speed contraction in milliseconds.
3. Loading Parameters (Light and Fast)
Because the goal is velocity, not mass, the loads are light. We typically use 25% to 55% of an athlete’s 1-Rep Max (1RM). If the weight is too heavy, the movement slows down, and you lose the neurological benefit. We want "shock training." We want the bar moving so fast it’s a blur.
4. Timed Sets
Forget counting reps. When you count reps, you tend to pace yourself to finish the set. In AFSM, we use Timed Sets, usually between 5 to 10 seconds. You do as many high-quality, maximal-velocity reps as possible in that window. This forces your nervous system to operate at 100% output for the entire duration.
Why AFSM is the Game-Changer for Youth and High School Athletes
At Boardwalk Beasts, we see a lot of talented kids who have the "tools" but don't know how to use them. AFSM bridges the gap between being a "novice" athlete and an "elite" athlete by drastically improving intermuscular coordination.
Here is why this matters for your recruitment and your performance:
- Increased Rate of Force Development (RFD): In football, the person who gets their hands on the other guy first wins. RFD is how quickly you can get to your peak power. AFSM sharpens this to a razor's edge.
- Raw Speed: By turning off the "speed brakes" (the antagonists), your limbs move more freely and faster through the sprinting cycle.
- Injury Prevention: By training the body to handle high-velocity transitions, you actually prepare the tendons and ligaments for the chaotic stresses of a real game.
Coach Schuman has always preached that "The best ability is availability, but the second best is explosive speed." AFSM addresses both.
Putting It All Together
If you are in a peaking phase, meaning you are getting ready for a showcase, a combine, or the start of the season, AFSM should be a staple in your program. It is the "finishing touch" that turns off the governors on your engine and lets you see what your body is actually capable of.
Remember, this is about quality, not quantity. If you aren't moving at maximal velocity, you aren't doing AFSM. You're just doing light lifting.
We implement these high-level strategies at our Skill Position Camps and during our QB/WR Elite Series. If you want to be coached by the best and use the same methods used by the pros, you need to be at our next event.
Take the Next Step
Don't let your own body hold you back. Learn to turn off the brakes and start playing at a different speed than everyone else on the field.
Ready to elevate your game?
- Register for our upcoming showcases at myfootballcamps.com/schedule.
- Check out our Recruiting Programs to get your name in front of college coaches.
- Follow the journey and get more tips on our Podcast.
- Join the hunt at boardwalkbeastsfb.com.
Note to Sonny (Social Media Manager): The blog is live! Please post the link to the nucsports.com blog on all platforms. Use the tag #BeastMode and #AFSMSecret. Let’s get these athletes moving!
BEASTS ON THREE. ONE, TWO, THREE… BEASTS!
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