Throughout my time as an athlete and now trainer I have heard of several quick fixes to improve speed. A specific type of equipment, a workout plan, and even shoe companies manufacture advertisements and marketing campaigns around instant results using their product.
I remember being convinced Frosted Flakes had the special elixir to take my game to the next level based entirely on a commercial (thankfully my parents only bought one box).
Nevertheless, you can still see trainers, coaches, and even athletes professing their allegiance to something specific that can produce immediate results.
It has been my experience however that these individuals are only giving a piece of the entire story. You probably thought I was going to disavow speed training equipment and workout plans. Many of them are helpful but they should be used appropriately and in conjunction with a development plan. Overspeed training is great in the last phase of your training but not so great in the early stages. As a changeup in my resistance training, I’ll occasionally have my athletes push a car. Distance and reps vary based on the athlete and when they need to be at their peak shape.
If, and this has happened, I get an athlete on a limited time frame, I assess their top speed, acceleration, lateral quickness, explosiveness, technique, and form. This is to see exactly where I can make the biggest gains in the shortest amount of time.
By pinpointing a specific limiting factor and relentlessly working to develop it the athlete can improve their speed performance. I should mention that dedication to a speed-specific plan is the ideal course for speed improvement, but if the time period is less than ideal, there are still paths forward. Similar to eating a candy bar when you’re starving. It’s better than nothing but a feast would be much better and more sustaining.
Limiting factors in speed development include:
Genetic/Biology:
“What you left the hospital with” as my old coach used to say. Puberty and changes in the body during adolescence account for major changes here. The ideal height and weight vary depending on the sport, age, and sex. This cannot be taught or learned and thus is the biggest limiting factor to speed development.
No matter how much you work in the weight room, and improve your endurance, flexibility, mental preparedness, running mechanics, and conditioning, the likelihood of you becoming Usain Bolt is slim. As trainers, we cannot make you into someone else. We can only help you become the very best version of yourself!
Strength:
Producing force at low and especially high levels of movement. Running is basically a bunch of little jumps so if we are able to produce more force when the foot touches the ground, it will propel the body further.
With this factor, the athlete can get faster using weight training and plyometric training. Do be warned, that the increase in strength must be usually correlated with an increase in weight as muscle weighs more than fat. Depending on the athlete, 20 pounds, 10 pounds, and even 5 pounds can significantly help or hurt speed and acceleration.
Endurance:
How long can the body maintain muscle contractions? This is more factorable in races after 300m and high-speed movements around 30 seconds (the image of full-court press in basketball come to mind) as the body will now have difficulty metabolizing all lactic acid it is producing.
While highly dependent on conditioning, endurance is not the same. Think of it more as speed endurance. If a 100m sprinter is able to accelerate to top speed at 30m but can only sustain it for 10m, you will see the other runners in the race begin to catch them. It does a boxer no good being able to punch with a force of 1,000lbs if they can only do it once. If they don’t land the blow and their endurance is lacking, their going to have a major problem for the rest of the bout.
Flexibility:
Similar to strength, flexibility can help speed performance away from the field of competition. Dynamic stretching before practice/competition and static stretching after should ALWAYS be completed. Not only will it increase the stride length but it will greatly reduce the risk of muscle pulls that are horrible in every way.
I even coach my athletes to spend time during the day and before going to bed to lightly stretch. I don’t care if you think you’re ready to train, there is no reason you should ever skip stretching. The athlete needs to be able to place his/her body in the correct mechanical positions, and if they are tight they will simply be unable to complete the necessary running motion. Beware though that as strength increases, flexibility decreases.
Mental:
You would be surprised how often an athlete can “psyche” themselves out. In practice, they look world-class but during competition, the superstar that they were when no one was around diminishes into someone almost unrecognizable.
Adversely, other athletes have the ability to “turn it on” during competition. They are the most frustrating in my opinion because you see what they are capable of if only they would have the same drive in practice that they do during competition.
Being able to focus on the moment and block out all distractions is paramount for the elite competitor during practice or game situations and since it is mental it has the highest level for improvement. Everyone can improve their mental state to achieve things, they even thought were impossible.
Personally, I believe everyone gets in the “zone” differently but the end result is the same. They’re performing at a very high level effortlessly. The game is slowing down for them and they are perceiving things seemingly before they even happen. Great resources have become more available for transforming yourself to get into this mindset.
Running Mechanics:
More often a problem with younger athletes. The proper arm and leg movement can be taught and learned to more efficiently apply force. The key though is that when the athlete is in competition it has to become 2nd nature. There are other things that should be on the mind of the athlete and the running form should not be one of them.
Hence, it is important to drill the proper form constantly when the athlete begins their training. Especially in the longer sprint races in track and field, 400m and up, the athlete might feel as if their mechanics our sound but trainers and coaches should remain vigilant and send verbal cues if it form begins to wane.
Conditioning:
This is the base of any good training program. The foundation that if not secure, you can not build anything else on. This is usually the most unpleasant part of training. Those of us who have been around a while remember two or even three a day.
Suicides in basketball, the beep test in soccer, cross country for track and field, and gassers in football bring out painful repressed memories. Even so, the better-conditioned team usually has a dramatic advantage and it can be a great equalizer between a “blue-collar” athlete and an elite athlete. Speaking plainly, if your opponent’s heart rate is through the roof and yours isn’t, your odds generally improve.
