Posted on August 19, 2015 by Jenny Cromack

As a personal trainer I enjoy training individuals for a variety of goals but nothing compares to helping someone improve their speed! There is something about training for speed that makes training so much fun. Whether you’re a runner, a rugby or hockey player, a footballer or you simply want to be fast here is a programme designed for improving your speed.

 

 

Now if you’re training to get faster one workout session isn’t going to cut it, there are a variety of elements that need to be developed. For example we know the sprinter needs to get stronger, but they also need to develop starting strength, explosive strength and reactive strength, all of which are very different characteristics:

• ​Starting strength refers to generating strength at the start of a movement from a static position.
• Explosive strength refers to the ability to continually increase force per unit once movement has commenced
• Reactive strength refers to the ability of the individual to transition quickly between eccentric and concentric contractions

We have not even begun to discuss power, rate of force development, or eccentric strength. Head spinning? Exactly! BUT the good news is through a well structured program each variable can be trained on top of the last, similar to the same way a pyramid is built.

Now to run through every single workout far exceeds the demands of this blog. So here are two workouts that can be implemented to enhance sprint performance:

Workout 1- Use towards the beginning of a training program

Goals:

• ​Increase neuromuscular efficiency
• Increase tissue tolerance to stress loads
• Develop concentric strength 
• Build foundation for eccentric strength, explosive strength and reactive strength

• ​​A. Back squat 4 x 4 (load range 75-85% 1RM) (rest 3-5 mins)
• B. Hang snatch 4 x 4 (Load range 40-60% 1RM full snatch) (rest 3-5 mins)
• C. Barbell Romanian deadlift 3x 5 (load range 75-85% 1RM) (rest 3-5 mins)
• D. One arm dumbbell bench press 3 x 6 (load range 75-85% 1RM) (rest 3-5 mins)
• E. Kneeling pallof press 3 x 10-12 (resistance band)