• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

8 Lesser-known Tips to Sprint Faster

You are here: Home / Archives / 8 Lesser-known Tips to Sprint Faster

This guest blog was written by Adarian Barr, Assistant Track Coach, Jump/Hurdles/Multi-events at the University of North Carolina in Pembroke.

To read Adarian’s past articles on this Blog, click here

8 Lesser-known Tips to Sprint Faster

Do This, Don’t Do That, can’t you read the sign?

In Track & Field, we are told NOT to do a lot of things when it comes to sprinting.

The “non-biomechanically correct“ phrase is the end-all be-all phrase for why we are guided to NOT do a particular things a certain way.

We have no scientific data to determine which way is biomechanical correct and which one is not.

The next phrase we often hear is “waste of energy” to do something a certain way.

The major problem we have is no scientific data that determine what is the more energy efficient way of moving.

In the past years we have witnessed a new style of the Start that involves a toe being dragged and a lot of people came out against it even though the person doing it ran faster than what the scientists thought was humanly possible.

johnson_michael

We had Michael Johnson (image-left) run faster than others with an unorthodox style of running.

Heck, look at the high jump when the Fosbury Flop was first performed. They laughed at him back then, and now that is the dominant style of high jumping.

I even recall some long jumpers performing a front flip as part of their long jump and that was soon banned as it was deemed hazardous way of jumping even though they were jumping well over 25 feet.

Just recently I watched a YouTube video where the sprinter knee was coming in towards the center of the body instead of straight ahead, the preferred visual method. Michael Johnson said the athlete was wasting a lot of energy and should drive the thigh forward, block with it and then drive it down.

You may ask yourself…well… How did we get here?

The Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson era was my era of Track & Field and they displayed two very distinct styles of running. In that era was also Flo Jo who displayed a very distinct style of sprinting as well.

Carl Lewis has the “pretty style” of running that fit our visual appeal for how you should sprint. Calvin Smith, a former 100m world record holder at 9.93, also was the first athlete to run both sub 10 and sub 20 in the same day and is never mentioned as one of the top American sprinter. Perhaps his style was not visual appealing?

But visual appealing has never explained how we sprint at optimum speeds.

We have the theory of reducing ground contact time by .01 for so many strides (see Dr. Ralph Mann’s lectures from USATF NPEP 2007), but that theory never explains HOW to take off .01 per stride. (Click here for Ground Contact Time Debate (2009))

Then we have the segmental theories of “move either the arms or legs”, “step over drive down”, and of course the classic “lift your knees higher”.

Thus we can move on to the “spring mass model theory” of bouncing down the track. Apply more force to create a better bounce but now we are back to how to apply more force.

Finally, we also have the stride length formula of Cissik (2005) 1:

<snip> provides a formula for maximal stride length for men (2.5 to 2.7 * the leg length from the greater trochanter of the femur to the floor) and for women (2.3 to 2.5 * the leg length from the greater trochanter of the femur to the floor)

But this doesn’t explain when should the stride be at this length?

If you get something new or different and have success with it we quickly try and dismiss with the former mentioned phrases.

Here are a few things that go against the grain that you might want to take a serious look at and that explain how to do versus generic cues and vague instructions telling you what to do.

8 Things to Do to Sprint Faster

clip_image001

1. Hold your arm bent at 90 degrees that is something to do. The way to do it effectively is to place tension on the wrist. Cock the wrist as if you are drawing guns from a hip holster.

2. Make the wrist the focus of the movement, not the hand and not the elbow. This will allow the athlete to drive through the shoulder.

** Update **

3. By holding tension at the wrist it also allows for the knee to rise up. This solves the knee lift issues.

4. This one simple action also helps keep the ankle joint cocked. This solves the dorsi foot flexion issues

clip_image003

5. Adduction is better than hip flexion for bringing the knee forward. It also creates a continuous movement via internal rotation of the knee versus a stop and go movement by lifting the knee, driving the thigh and then driving it down. Adduction also allows for stronger and more complete contraction of hamstrings and glutes muscles. Last but not least adduction provides for greater range of movement at the hip joint during while allowing knee flexion to occur without stressing the hamstrings.

** Update **

To bring the leg towards center of the body. Instead of straight linear up and down. Regardless of the leg position be it in front of the body or behind the body. Bring it back to the body via adduction which still will create flexion and extension at the hip and knee joint. The movement is contious in one direction which reduces braking action created by linear up and down movement.
The way to bring it down is the difference being stated.

clip_image0056. Don’t push the ground, push through the ground. To help push through the ground; you can put your head over the main push leg this creates a one sided body rock. This is another reason to adduct the leg versus lifting and pushing down the thigh.

7. Patience is allowing the legs to work completely. Move legs first and arms follow. This allows for a complete push cycle to take place.

8. Think energy build up and release instead of force application and production. You want to build energy with double leg pushes, and then you continue to build energy with a single leg push.

The faster you build up to maximum energy, the faster you can sprint.

When you release the energy, this is where the spring mass model comes into play and the relaxation advice. You relax to release the energy that you have built up. The more you have built the faster and farther you will bounce.

The last thing is maintenance or endurance is how you slowly dissipate this energy. As your bounce rate slows down you have to start double leg pushes again. This is speed maintenance or endurance.

And that is how you sprint and sprint fast.

About the Author

Adarian Barr is the Assistant Track Coach, Jump/Hurdles/Multi-events at the University of North Carolina in Pembroke.  He is also Movement Specialist and Track & Field coach with Next Level Athletics and Fitness, as well as the inventor of PALO.

References:

1- Cissik, J. (2005). Means and methods of speed training: Part II. Strength and Conditioning Journal , 27 (1), 18 – 25.

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • Oregon22 Coaches Club now Online
  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}