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SWH

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Theres lots of drills and excercises meant to improve sprints but what are the ones that are most effective or the ones that really work? Training in rugby, small 10-20 metre dashes are what are needed to be worked on most for me but training will be different for other people. Different sports may require different training, techniques or drills.

Some different techniques i've been taught to do include the following -

The Stride - Technique while sprinting is very important depending on what sport you do. The focus of a good stride is to expend as little energy as possible throughout the run which will decrease losses in speed along the way. Key elements that should be looked at include;

Relaxing - leads to minimal energy usage, can be seen mostly in upper body motions
Light feet - Leads to faster strides and minimizes energy usage.
Posture - Good posture will contribute to core strength
Lifting feet instead of knees - Contributes to speed off the mark and will help acceleration

Accelerating Off The Mark - Working on acceleration plays a key role in getting ahead early in a race. Acceleration is most important for many sports which involve being quick off the mark for small increments at a time. Skills and techniques include;

Exploding off the mark - Exploding off the mark for the first few strides. Leg speed and longer strides are key from the starting position.

Good starting position - Contributes to quick feet off the mark and contributes to biomechanics.

Extending stride lengths - Stride lengths should be lengthy more so than small quick strides. This will expend less energy but may make it more difficult to side step or change directions if need be.

The main goal of a good sprint is one that maximizes speed with as little effort as possible. This should be practiced regularly. Less energy expenditure will pay off during the end of your race or run.

How can I train to increase speed?

There are many methods that aid in sprinting/speed training. Exercises include;

Squats - Squats are arguably the most important exercise for anybody who does weights training. Squatting will increase the muscle mass throughout the whole upper body as well as triggering natural hormones. Squatting will improve your explosiveness off the mark and overall strength.

Resistance training - Resistance speed training can be as easy as tying a rope to a tire and pulling it along while running. There are many different products and ways to do this which include speed bands, speed chutes and sleds but they will all give away similar results.

Explosive weights training - There are different methods of this kind of training. Kettlebell training is a good example of explosive movements which is a great cardio/power workout. Other exercises that fit into this category include jump squats, oly lifts (powercleans, clean and jerk, snatch).

In the end, speed and strength go hand in hand and explosiveness is key. So your weights program combined with practice on technique will lead to successful increases in speed.

This is a discussion thread so please feel free to provide feedback or add in anything i may have missed :)
 
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In regards to squats, I'd definitely include unilateral exercises, such as Bulgarian split squats.

Plyometric exercises are also essential for a good sprint program and improving speed. Things like depth jumps, power hops, bounding etc.

Here's a good article on types of strength/power training and transfer to sport performance - if you're up for a read.

http://www.athletics.com.au/coaches/2474/articles/3500

Should just be able to download the PDF.
 
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Heavy sled runs really helped for me :)

Really looking forward to this as I really need to get faster for touch footy
 
Heavy sled runs really helped for me :)

Really looking forward to this as I really need to get faster for touch footy

I'm looking to start sled runs soon, gained 15kg since last season so i need to work on my speed lol. Hope they work well for me too :)
 
When starting out trying to improve sprinting speed keep it simple.

Get Stronger at squats and deads as well as do sprints. Start off simple.

Technique is important but if you want to get faster for sport it pretty much goes out the window during a game. Don't intentionally try and take bigger strides that will just slow you down

Plyometrics do work but are advanced and have high risk of injury. For most people it is a good idea to skip them unless you have a good coach directing you what to do.
 
Ok ?!

Please feel free to share :)

If your are running with a sled it is too light to improve strength much and if it slows down your top end speed by more than 10% it effects your running mechanics enough that it doesn't really carry over to running without a sled. There are much simpler and effective ways to improve sprinting speed.
 
ok lets get technical..
/an im bored
things i am doing with my NFL/soccer guys.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4VY9CrZYz8[/ame]

The current NFL record is 4.2s i believe.

Sam u can apply the below as your playing NFL which is similar in the physical attributes.


Some tools I've found helpful for teaching athletes to improve their 40 yard dash is the use of speed ladders (can use cones or anything really) and agility/speed hurdles (we have both of these at PTC) to improve hip position and height and general speed sessions for track athletes. Such as flyings 30's.

What is a flying thirty?
A flying 30 is a simple drill to work on acceleration and top end speed needing only 4 cones or markers:

1. Runners starts at (A) cone and accelerated for 30m to cone (B)
2. Between (B) and (C) cone runner exerts 100% effort whilst maintaining correct form.
3. Runner decelerates between cone (C) and (D)


(A) ------------------- 30m--------------------(B)----------------------30m------------------------------(C)------------------------30m--------------------(D)

The drill can also be flipped to focus more on acceleration. With the runner running with 100% effort between (A) and (B) with a relaxation phase between (B) and (C) and then accelerating between (C) and (D)

I hope that helps, unfortunately running is a very visual thing to coach as lifting is so without seeing vision im kind of just throwing general principles out here. Of course a good dose of plyometrics would be beneficial for explosiveness and lifting explosively can't be underestimated.

Tips on getting off the mark

1. Basically after the initial drive phase the runner would want to lock that arm position in at 90 degrees and drive from the elbow forward rather than swing the forearm from the elbow.
2. The easy one to spot is that they run like lifters, when you squat or dead you push your ass out back but when we run we want out hips forward, it's almost a completely different pelvic position than lifting. We want everything up and down in a straight line and that means hips foward


Tips on Running itself

One thing that people that aren't trained to run do is that they always tense up across their shoulders when they try to run fast.
Whilst thats good for a say quarter back during a game bracing for contact is can significantly slow an athlete down over a 40yd dash.
You will see if they are tense by noticing reduced range of motion in arm drive, raised shoulders and visually by their face.
It is super important to explain to the athlete that being relaxed whilst running requires less energy output, creates less resistance and will actually increase speed. A simple tip to achieve this is to tell the athlete to relax their bottom lip almost like they have had an anesthetic from the dentist.

Im currently working with a coach who trains top level 100m runners and To increase the speed of my athletes.

U can try and google the above but good luck finding a match for it. It was all bloody typed out. ;)
 
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Biggest mistake folks make with their speed work is not training for maximum speed.

Speed needs to be trained fresh. Anything less than 90-95% of your best time over a distance is pretty much useless. Volume low. Recovery/Rest periods high. People will happily rest 5 mins between squats sets but struggle to rest 2 mins after a sprint. Alactic power needs full recover.

Technique drills etc are ok, but there are two problems. 1. they don't address any underlying issues 2. if you play sport, as soon as the ball becomes involved 99+% of athletes revert back to old/bad techniques.

Strength is important but it will really depend on the specific athlete as to what type of strength they need.

Acceleration is much more relevant to field sports than top speed, but it is never done from a start like in the NFL combine. Unless you are attending the combine you can certainly work on starts/accelerations but it would be a waste of stimulus to do so from such a position. Side note: Those guys spend so much time on their starts and 40s because success in the NFL correlates with draft status and thus first contract. Combine results only correlate with success in the sport for running backs and that is in the 40yard test only. So in 7+ tests and 9+ playing categories or 63 position/test combinations and only one is relevant.

Agility should be trained by playing you particular sport or modified games/drills. There are a few drills for agility and you can certainly get creative but the best training to to be making decisions in game based situations.

Change of direction can be done in drills etc Pro agility, Illinois etc but again these hold little value unless you are actually being tested in them. Stick to agility based stuff.
 
Biggest mistake folks make with their speed work is not training for maximum speed.

Speed needs to be trained fresh. Anything less than 90-95% of your best time over a distance is pretty much useless. Volume low. Recovery/Rest periods high. People will happily rest 5 mins between squats sets but struggle to rest 2 mins after a sprint. Alactic power needs full recover.

This is a VERY good point.
 
Good posts sam, trent & mahoney, this is exactly up my alley for my training. I think for speed its important to have strength (squats), explosive strength (oly lifts), fast twitch (plyometrics) and good old fashioned practice (sprint intervals and cone drills)
 
I thought it was a given that I was always going to be slow because I'm white :p

Thanks for the tips in this thread though. The only real type of sprints I do are hill sprints. No real progressive training method though, just do 10 of them as fast as possible with adequate rest periods. Going to try and implement some of the above into that.
 
Arguably the most important aspect of increasing your sprint speed is to actually practice the sprint.

And Using a full body weight training template in the off season.
 
I thought it was a given that I was always going to be slow because I'm white :p

Thanks for the tips in this thread though. The only real type of sprints I do are hill sprints. No real progressive training method though, just do 10 of them as fast as possible with adequate rest periods. Going to try and implement some of the above into that.

Hahah damn white people too slow these days ;)
 
Arguably the most important aspect of increasing your sprint speed is to actually practice the sprint.

And Using a full-body, weight-training template in the off season.
For clarity (i'm sure you didn't mean full bodyweight training.)
 
The only real type of sprints I do are hill sprints.

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that hill sprints don't really help improve sprinting on a level surface. Something about messing with your technique too much because the foot strike is in a different position from running on the level, making the mechanics quite different. I cbf looking for the reference unless it is really important.

Dr Michael Yessis has written a book called Explosive Running which has a lot of analysis on proper technique and specific exercises for improving speed and strength. It might be worth tracking down if that is your area of interest.
 
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