How To Sprint?

This basic guide assumes that you're new to sprinting but not to training. Slot yourself in where you feel you belong - if you're more experienced, skip the first few steps. If you're new to training and you want some extra advice, get hold of me in the comments section below and I'll see what I can do to help you!

1. Build up your posterior chain

Start about 4 weeks before you plan to sprint. Work on building your posterior chain with glute bridges and some time spent on the glute ham machine if your gym has one. Add in some deadlifts and squats if you're not already doing them. Remember that for sprinting purposes especially, your posterior chain finishes at your toes; you sprint on the balls of your feet. You shouldn't heelstrike when you run anyway but you can't when you sprint. So make sure you build up the calf muscles and plantar flexor muscles on the soles of your feet. Doing bridges on your toes will help. So will skipping or running on the balls of your feet, and so will doing calf raises.

2. Work on running

Don't run for distance; run to gradually run faster. Keep distances at a mile or lower and vary your speed, going faster when you feel you can and easing off the gas when you feel you need to. This helps prepare your body for sprinting by improving your running and boosting your cardiovascular performance at the same time.

3. Hill sprints

Some people might want to just stop at hill sprints. You can build a brutally effective training session out of hill sprints alone, and the potential for injury is less, though the potential for improvement is also less. I'd use a distance around 20-40 metres and run it four or five times, with 2 to 3 minutes' rest between runs. If that sounds like a lot of rest, try it; you'll find you need it. Remember this is power training, not 'running.' The aim is not to tolerate being very out of breath, but to accelerate up the hill as fast as possible. At the 20-40m distance you should still be accelerating when the sprint ends.

4. Sprints

Try to keep distances low, around 20m to 60m. Decide in advance whether you're sprinting for power or conditioning; for power, use 2-3 minute rest periods and around 4-10 sprints altogether, focussing on acceleration and contraction. Try to feel that with each stride you're accelerating and try to feel your posterior chain powering you along. For conditioning, use shorter rests and more volume, but bear in mind that higher volume and less rest can mean more risk of injury; don't try to run for conditioning the way you run for power!

See Also: Running Shoes: The Ones that Fit Are Better than the Expensive Ones

5. No sprint? No Problem!

Some people can't run because of preexisting conditions or injury. If you have a broken leg, there's not much I can do for you here, but if you're overweight and can't run because of risk to your joints, or you have arthritis or another condition, this is a good opportunity to use a crosstrainer. Set the machine to 'uphill' and follow the same type of protocol as that shown above. You won't get all the benefits but you can still get a boost in power and strength that will surprise you, as well as improved cardio! If the crosstrainer is out, you might want to try doing sprint training on a rowing machine; you won't get al the benefits, again, but the intensity and resultant strength gains make it a popular HIIT conditioning tool and you can adapt it to a power exercise if you have to.

If there's something important I've missed, or you have a story to share, get in touch with me in the comments section below and we'll sort it out!