Be a Speed Racer

Jason Snell

It’s true that elite sprinters were born with the tools to run at astonishing speeds, and no matter how hard you work, you’ll likely never catch them. But even they train every day—for hours—to get faster and stronger. And so can you.

To help you build speed, we turned to Jason Snell, a fitness manager at Willow Glen Active 24 Hour Fitness in San Jose, who competed for Australia in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta in the 100 meter relay, completing his leg in 10.2 seconds. After shredding his hamstring during the Olympic trials in 2000, Snell moved to California and began coaching high school track and eventually became a trainer at 24 Hour Fitness.

We picked his brain and had him set up a training plan that will help you run as fast as you can, only faster.

Monday: Shorter distances at top speed.

Today is a pure speed day designed to teach your body what it’s like to run at top speed. It’s really important to focus on being explosive with your running action during this workout, which means you should emphasize leg drive and body position. Keep your body in a straight line, head positioned so that you are looking about 3 to 4 feet in front of you. Focus on being powerful with your arm movement. Arm drive will spur speed and power in your legs. As you drive your elbows aggressively back, your lower body will keep pace. Stay low to the ground gradually coming to a tall running position.

This particular workout is done in a ladder format. You increase the sprinting distance by 10 meters after each group of runs starting at 20 meters working your way up to 50 meters, then back down to 20 meters. As the distance increases, the number of reps decreases. It’s also a session, which requires a shorter recovery between each run (about 45 seconds rest). Slow jog back to the starting point between each sprint.

{ 5x20 - 4x30 - 3x40 - 2x50 - 3x40 - 4x30 - 5x20 } x 2

You want to do this type of workout two times. A good way to judge your rest periods between each set is to monitor your heart rate. When it drops down to about 110 beats per minute (bpm) you’re ready to start again.

Tuesday, Thursday: Gym Time

There are several gym exercises essential for speed. You’ll need to build lower body strength to help propel you down the track, across the field, or up the court. And you’ll also want core and ab strength to stabilize yourself and control your technique.

Your gym workouts will take approximately 1 and half hours and should be done on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It’s important to stick to the same routine for a couple of weeks to enable strength increases and muscle memory. You’ll continue to add exercises that progress into more explosive and dynamic movements.

The idea behind the structure of this program is to gradually increase weights as you lower the repetitions. This will complement what you are trying to do when you run. More strength means more power, which means faster speed.

Exercises

Single-leg Squats
Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart, and lift one leg slightly off the floor in front of you. Make sure the knee of the opposite leg is directly above the foot. While bending forward at the waist, bend that knee and squat down as far as is comfortable without knocking your knee out of alignment.

Leg Press
Sit with your feet hip-width apart on the platform, toes pointing forward, knees directly over your second and third toes, shoulders back, and navel drawn in. Keep your rear in the seat throughout the motion, rather than allowing it to roll forward. Exhale, and slowly push the platform until your legs are almost straight but not locked. Hold, then slowly return to the starting position.

Bench Press
Although the classic bench press may not be directly useful for running, it plays an important role in developing the upper-body strength needed to perform more advanced strength exercises. Lie face up on a flat bench and by grasping a bar just wider than shoulder width. Position your hands with weight distributed evenly. (The arms should be straight with a slight bend in the elbows, bar positioned directly above the middle of the chest.) Slowly lower the bar toward you by bending the elbows, pause the bar approximately 1 inch above your chest then reverse the motion by straightening the arms and pushing the bar back to the starting position.

Lunges
Lunges are one of the most important functional exercises for strength training and running. Start by standing with the torso upright and holding a dumbbell in each hand. Start by bending your back knee, and let the rest of your body follow its motion. Keep your upper body still with your shoulders back, chest out, and abs tight. Do two to three sets of 12 to 15 reps with each leg.

Decline Bench Crunches
This is a variation of a standard sit up. Find a declined bench that allows you to hook your feet under so that it supports the front of your shins. Position yourself so you are sitting perpendicular to the bench. Perform a standard sit up by lowering your upper body (back) toward the bench and then returning to a seated position (perpendicular), arms are crossed across your chest. Repeat this motion until the repetition range is met.

Leg Raises
Leg raises are great sprinting-specific ab exercises focusing on controlling motion under pressure. Lie in a straight line on your back or an incline ab board or bench with your head at the raised end. Grasp the end of the bench near your head with your hands to stabilize your body. Adjust the position of your legs by bending your knees until you feel your lower back relax. Using your ab muscles and bending from the waist, raise your feet in a controlled arc motion to a position directly above your head. Return your feet in the same manner to the start position and repeat until the desired repetitions are reached.

Bent-Leg Dead Lifts
Start by positioning yourself behind an Olympic bar (bar should be resting on the ground). Bend at the hips, your legs should have a 35-degree angle in the knees and grasp the bar about shoulder-width apart with the elbows locked out. Maintain this position while lifting the bar off the ground. Using your lower back and thighs raise the bar up using a powerful and quick movement. Your back is straight and the torso is in an upright position at this point. Lower the weight and start again. This is an exercise used to increase hamstring and lower back strength. The bend in the knees puts greater emphasis on the back of the legs.

Wednesday: Endurance with controlled technique. Longer distances at a fast, yet relaxed pace.

6 x 250 meters with a slow jog back to the start as recovery between each run. 250 meters is just over half of a quarter mile track. You will start approximately 50 paces before the curve on the back straight of the track and end at the finish line.

Then go 300 meters – 200 meters – 100 meters with 100 meters walk rest between each distance (2-3 sets). Keep a steady pace while you walk the recovery so that your heart rate doesn’t drop too low. Keep it around 110 bpm.

This style of sprinting will fine-tune your running mechanics. You have enough time over the distance to focus your attention on different aspects of your form. So use this workout to stay in control while working on overall endurance. The endurance piece is not only that you’ll be constantly moving with an elevated heart rate but because of the total distance you’re covering. If you were to add it up in total, its approximately 3500 meters, or over 2 miles. That’s an eternity for a sprinter.

Friday: Speed endurance day. Train your body to maintain a top end speed.

4 x 100m (30 sec rest) with a back up 50 meter sprint (full recovery between).

3 x 150m (45 sec rest) with a back up 50 meter sprint (full recovery between).

This is a gut-check workout. You need to call upon every ounce of energy both mental and physical to get through it.

You would compare this workout to super setting. You just have enough time to finish the first distance, turn around, and then back it up with the 50 meter run. The full recovery gives you time to catch your breath and allows your body to replenish some of the vital enzymes needed to perform these short bursts.

Remember to walk around during the recovery. Sitting down will only cause your muscles to tighten up. There is no set time for the recovery period between each of these sets, so listen to your body. If you need 3 minutes, if you need 5 minutes, so be it. Emphasis here is to improve your lactic acid tolerance and to push the envelop with back-to-back short recovery sprints. It’s all about the quality of each run, not how quickly you finish the entire workout.