Speed Training

A generic blog title, to be sure. "Speed training." Every athlete wants it...they want to be faster. So they do "speed training." They either go to an expert, or they Youtube some "speed training" drills to use on their own. Or they just participate in their school "speed training" program. But what is it exactly?

In the simplest terms, without trying to be too obvious, speed training is the pursuit of improvement in overall velocity & speed----i.e., getting faster. It can be generic, or it can be sport-specific. By "sport-specific" I mean that soccer speed is not necessarily the same as baseball speed in terms of overall physiological muscle use & oxygen consumption.

In this brief blog post, I want to focus on a very simple definition, with the goal of providing some take-home points for you the reader. Here we go:

Speed is:

1. IMPROVEMENT IN STRIDE LENGTH: if you are taking short baby steps, then you can't cover as much ground with each step when compared to bigger steps. Obvious, huh? But think about it, when you run, are you really getting everything you can out of each step? Are your knees not driving up as high as they could be driving? Do you have weak hip extensors (butt-area muscles) that prevent a solid push? These things can be contributors to a shorter stride length, which can cause you to take too many inefficient steps.

Have someone watch you run....or even LISTEN to you run. It doesn't take too long to the trained eye/ear to notice an inefficient stride length. Stretch out your hip flexors (above your quad muscles), which might allow you to drive your knee higher. Strengthen your hip & hamstring muscle group to allow you to obey Newton's 3rd Law (don't worry about looking it up---here it is. If you have more force driving into the ground (more strength) then you get more return in your stride.

Be careful not to overstride.....this can lead to too much "braking" force---slowing you down as you might tend to land with your heel. Good sprinters land on their toes/balls of feet.


2. IMPROVEMENT IN STRIDE FREQUENCY: You can teach speed. It's called improving motor engram patterns, or more simply, creating muscle memory. Think about this scenario: imagine being forced, due to an injury, to brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand. Try it. It is the craziest thing! Until, after a few days or weeks, it becomes just as normal as your dominant hand. That's called developing new muscle memory patterns. If you teach your sprinting muscles how to sprint properly, and teach them how to do it faster, then they will learn it. The body is truly amazing at what it adapts to.

Get someone to help you with your sprint mechanics....it may feel unnatural at first--just do it & get used to it. Video your running form & practice your arm mechanics in the mirror.


I hope this gives you some "take-home" points...I welcome any discussion & questions here!