Sprints

Uphill sprints are great

Baller4174,

Perhaps you can get some advice from a track coach or someone on the proper way to sprint or run because I see so many guys at showcases and tryouts that have no idea how to maximize their speed because they run with such poor form. Not running in a straight line, swinging arms side to side, not running all the way through the distance of the sprint, too straight up, leaning back too far,choppy steps, not warming up properly--these are things I see at every showcase or tryout we've been to. Any one of these things, especially a combination of them can add needless tenths of seconds to your sixty, time from home to first, or your time from first to third.

I agree with both of the previous posts. Doing things such as plyometrics, uphill sprints, resistance training, and proper weight lifting will do more for your speed than just going out to a field and running sprints. Get with a speed or track coach as Three Bagger said. I was a 7.1 runner a year and a half ago. By working with a trainer on how to maximize distance on my start and learning proper running form, along with the things mentioned above I am now down to a 6.6. Not everyone has the athletic ability to be a plus runner, however, you can make yourself considerably faster by doing these things.

Can you explain a bit more regarding maximizing your distance at the start. Thanks

What is resistance training? Also, what kind of workout would you recommend for getting faster? And how often would you guys recommend for me to do sprints? I was think maybe 3 days a week?

2-3 days a week are fine.

One day do up to 10ea 100 yard sprints. (believe me this is hard so work up to it and rest in between runs)

Then do one day of a combination of 20 and 40 yrd sprints. Up to 15. Stay fresh as you don't want to break down your form. Start in a baseball stance like you are stealing.

One day of doing stadiums will get you the "over" work again work up to 12 of these.

This is a simple way to increase your speed without all kinds of gear.

Again proper lifting and explosive stuff DLOCK said will help (a lot) but just doing what I recommended is going to make you faster and more athletic.

Good Luck!

Thanks a lot! I've been running long distance (I know it's bad) just to simply get in shape and stuff. Figured I could now start concentrating on speed now that I finished the running program I was on. What is stadiums?

And is only 10 100 yard sprints enough?

Go out and do them at full speed and you won't be asking about "only". They break your body down and if you overdo them then you lose form and do more harm than good.

Stadiums are running up the football stadium stairs from the bottom to the top. Run up glide back down and rest and then run up again.

Okay, just an update.  

 

I've now being doing sprints for a week or two and i have some questions.   I really can't tell anything.  Will i see results immeadietly?  How long do I need to do these before i can start to see some real results.

Young_Baller

 

There is a lot of great information out on the web. To maximize your speed potential you need to break things down into the different aspects of sprinting and then focus your training regimen accordingly - sprint mechanics, strength, cadence, and endurance.

 

MECHANICS - Three-Bagger is right, poor mechanics can rob you of your speed potential significantly, up to 9-11% decrease in speed.  In real terms, if you have the potential to run a 4.5 second 40 yard dash, poor mechanics can turn that into a 4.8-5.0 seconds. Go to Completetrackandfield.com and AthletesAcceleration.com, I like a lot of what Latif Thomas (Google him) talks about in terms of speed training and mechanics. Plyometrics and technique drills.

 

STRENGTH - In the initial phase of a sprint, strength is what gets you going. The first few explosive steps to getting to top speed is impacted by your explosive strength - doing shorter speed/sprint drills 10-20yards, running hills/stairs, using resistance tools (weighted vests), and weight training will all help with this phase of your speed potential. If you can decrease your time in the first 10-12yards of a sprint your overall time will also be dramatically decreased.

 

CADENCE - This area is much more challenging to improve. A lot of that is pre-determined by your ratio of fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers that you naturally have. However optimizing your sprint mechanics will help with speed cadence. NOTE - be careful as you read about speed training, a lot of focus is put on strength and endurance which does help in decreasing your sprint times (in effect, making you faster), but does NOT actually make your legs turnover faster/increase sprint cadence. One thing that I have done in the past with my sons and players is doing short sprints down slight declines/hills. When I say “SLIGHT” declines, I mean no more than a 6-8 foot drop over 20-30 yards. DO NOT sprint down steep hills …. you will increase you risk of injury – shins, joints, heels and/or a “face-plant” if you trip. The idea is decrease resistance to increase/promote quicker leg turnover. We do these on a nearby municipal golf course. I have found them to be very effective.

 

SPEED ENDURANCE

Increasing speed endurance will increase the duration you can maintain top speed AND decrease your rate of deceleration as you start to fatigue. The important thing to remember is to NOT mix speed endurance training (longer sprints 60s, 80s, flying-60s, etc) with explosive speed days.

 

In summary, I believe a balanced program alternating between strength/endurance days with explosive-speed days while incorporating SIGNIFICANT warmup exercises and mechanics drills in every workout is a winning combination (I stress “significant” because so many athletes neglect this critical area).

 

Good luck!!

get with your buddies on the track team and work out with them