Do you remember Jose Canseco?

He was a famous baseball player from the late 80's-early 90's era, a giant of an athlete who was also as fast as a deer.

In fact, he was the first player in pro baseball history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.

One a historic display of strength, the other a rare showing of elite speed.

Until that point the entire sport of baseball, along with many other sports, shied away from weightlifting.

The fear was it would make you musclebound, and more likely to get hurt.

Canseco's performance changed that perception, ushering in a newfound desire for athletes to get bigger and stronger to improve performance.

Unfortunately, Canseco didn't turn out to be the best role model for this paradigm shift.

His success was fueled heavily by performance enhancing drugs, which, combined with an obsession to lift heavy, eventually cut his career short.

But in his early years?

The guy was an athletic marvel, living proof that building strength fuels speed development.

Actually, maybe Canseco is the perfect example of strength training in athletics.

On the one hand, he showed the world how strength can build speed, not destroy it.

By working to fill a shortcoming in his athletic profile, Canseco saw nothing but better results at the start.

But once his lack of strength was no longer holding back his game, he should have changed his priorities to other areas.

Namely speed and injury prevention training, with a smaller focus on pure strength and muscle building.

So many youth athletes today are experiencing the benefits of getting stronger, how it helps to develop so many other skills too.

Unfortunately, too many can't let go of this, lifting far beyond what they need for athletic performance.

Today, we know that once you can properly squat twice your bodyweight, any further gains won't help you to run faster or jump higher.

Up until that mark, though?

It's one of the best ways to increase your speed and power.

All of the most successful athletes I've seen over the years understood strength training in moderation would fuel their success on the field, the court, or the ice.

Many didn't love how strength training felt, but they did love the burst of acceleration they got from it.

And as time passed and they got quite strong for their size, their focus moved on to other areas.

It was always about performance in sport.

It wasn't about shying away from something they didn't want to do.

And it also wasn't about loving weightlifting, because that was always a means to an end for them.

This was the mistake Jose Canseco made, and many still make today.

Others never started strength training to being with.

We don't remember their names because they never got to the top of their game, like Canseco did.

If you're not strong enough right now, weight lifting can enhance your speed.

For those that are extremely strong for their size, it's not going to help any further.

Where you are in your development will tell you whether you need more strength training right now, or less.