Sprinting speed

[David Lawson]

How do I increase my sprinting speed for 100m? eg What exercise do I do, for how long and what to do in the gym or something.

[Jay Ashman]

Originally Posted by David Lawson

How do I increase my sprinting speed for 100m? eg What exercise do I do, for how long and what to do in the gym or something.

basically, sprint more.

Work on power development for your legs and foot speed, as well as sprinting technique.

double-unders (for foot speed and quickness), box jumps, footwork drills, starting drills (off the blocks), overspeed training, parachute training, etc..

there are a lot of things you can do...

why do you want to improve it? for track or for fun?

[David Lawson]

Originally Posted by Jay Ashman

basically, sprint more.

Work on power development for your legs and foot speed, as well as sprinting technique.

double-unders (for foot speed and quickness), box jumps, footwork drills, starting drills (off the blocks), overspeed training, parachute training, etc..

there are a lot of things you can do...

why do you want to improve it? for track or for fun?

I'm training for 100m speed.

What distance(s) should I run, how many sets and reps. Would sprinting a full court basketball court, I think around 30m do?

Should I try some mid distance, at least 3km maybe, jog with like a little incline, 90 meters long incline, on some part of the course of the park? If so, how should my schedule look like, including the weight training days and off days.

What's overspeed training and how do I get a parachute, and where do I train with it.

I am already squatting. What muscles apart from the legs that I should train in the gym to increase my sprinting speed and what exercises do that?

[Steven Low]

Lift heavy (deadlifts), work your start, short sprints <30-40m.. as you improve a bit you take some out to 60-70m

Check out this thread:
http://www.performancemenu.com/forum...read.php?t=106

[Chris Forbis]

Scott Kustes wrote an article in Issue 58 of the PMenu worth checking out.

Kelly Baggett has good stuff: http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/articles.html

If you're doing this for basketball, keep in mind that the longest straight distance you will ever have to run is 25-30 meters. You might want to throw in some change of direction sprints (down and back for time) to prepare for the rapid deceleration to rapid acceleration that comes with playing basketball.

[David Lawson]

Originally Posted by Steven Low

Lift heavy (deadlifts), work your start, short sprints <30-40m.. as you improve a bit you take some out to 60-70m

Check out this thread:
http://www.performancemenu.com/forum...read.php?t=106

Why take it out to 60-70m?

Do I need to train every muscle to improve my sprint speed? Thx

Originally Posted by Chris Forbis

Scott Kustes wrote an article in Issue 58 of the PMenu worth checking out.

Kelly Baggett has good stuff: http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/articles.html

If you're doing this for basketball, keep in mind that the longest straight distance you will ever have to run is 25-30 meters. You might want to throw in some change of direction sprints (down and back for time) to prepare for the rapid deceleration to rapid acceleration that comes with playing basketball.

Where is Issue 58?

[Jay Ashman]

David, Ben Johnson had a fantastic squat and deadlift, of course he was on winstrol but he still had to train.

Squat heavy, build strength up. As that strength increases you need to work the fast twitch fibers to make yourself powerful and explosive. Power Cleans will help with the explosive part of it.

Perform Better has a speed and agility section that has some good stuff in it.

For now do what Steven suggests. Most 100m runs are won in the first 50m. Not many HS athletes have that 5th gear to turn it up like we sometimes see the elites one do. Its all in how fast you are off the blocks and how quickly you accelerate and maintain top speed. Work that hard.

Get stronger and do some drills to increase explosiveness and quickness.

I also suggest medicine ball work - http://www.medicineballs.com/education/howto/howto.html especially the drills where you are bouncing the ball of the thighs explosively as you stride.

And to answer your question about training the entire body, yes. Have you ever seen Ben Johnson, Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis, etc.? They are not "smooth". They are muscular. Sprinting hard means your arms are pumping hard, your core is working and your entire body is working together to keep you running fast.

[Scott Kustes]

Read my article. It covers all aspects of speed training up to the 400m...speed/acceleration, speed-endurance (necessary for the 100m), plyometrics...all covered.

Issue 58 - http://www.performancemenu.com/zen/i...roducts_id=250

[Jay Ashman]

I remember that article well, Scott... good stuff in there.

Scott, what do you make of some medicine ball work for explosive training for sprinters? When I was training to get my 40 time lower, I did a lot of them and it worked well for me, what is your take on it?

[Scott Kustes]

Originally Posted by Jay Ashman

Most 100m runs are won in the first 50m. Not many HS athletes have that 5th gear to turn it up like we sometimes see the elites one do. Its all in how fast you are off the blocks and how quickly you accelerate and maintain top speed. Work that hard.

Most people are fading at the end because they neglect working the 50-100m part of the race. So by default, if you win to 50m, you likely win to 100m. However, that's a pretty poor race strategy. Build up the speed endurance that your opponents aren't working because they are focusing on how fast they are off the blocks and how quickly they accelerate, as you just suggested.

The end of the race is at least as important as the beginning. From about 60m on, it's speed-endurance...you are slowing down.

Note, Carl Lewis was rarely the first one out of the blocks. He won by smart race strategy...lengthening his acceleration (rather than trying to get up to top speed as fast as possible) and overtaking them at the end (with superior speed-endurance, aided by not hitting hit top speed till later in the race). Prime example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVRl8gihrHM

The same could be said of Bolt's race in Beijing...he was the last one out of the blocks, though he's a freak of nature that doesn't conform to many "rules" of sprinting.