Building Speed

Speed is an essential component for most sports and events of Track and Field. However, evidnece suggests that speed is less ‘trainable’ than other skills (Moran, Sandercock, Rumpf & Parry, 2017), highlighting the importance of an efficient training regimen to assist athletes to reach their genetic ceiling (Haugen, Tonnessen & Seiler, 2015).

This article will examine three methods that coaches can employ to maximisetheir athlete’s top speed and acceleration.

1. Build Strength in the Athlete’s Posterior Chain

When it comes to maximising your athlete’s top-end running speed, the posterior chain (P-Chain) plays an essential role. The gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and hamstring complex has been found to be especially important for increasing stride frequency by allowing for a greater acceleration of the leg moving forward during swing (Dorn, Schache & Pandy, 2012).

One of the challenges for coaches, is being able to activate this muscle group to improve performance on competition days or to prepare the body for an intense training session. Crow, Buttifant, Kearny & Hrysomallis (2012) found that a simple, low intensity set of exercises could effectively activate the gluteal muscle group and result in increased peak power output in a subsequent activity. This study also supported the hypothesis that lower limb movements such as jumping and sprinting are affected by gluteal power and activation.

The exercises used in this study are listed below and the authors recommend them to be performed in the athlete’s warm up:

Double Leg Bridge

Side Lying Hip Abduction

Stability Ball Wall Squats

Hip Abduction

Lower Extremity Lift

Side Gluteal Clam

Single Leg Hip Extension

Other exercises that are likely to be appropriate for glute activation include planks, side planks, straight and bent-leg lateral band walks and glute marches, provided intensity remains low. The objective is to activate without evoking fatigue.

When it comes to building strength in the hamstrings and gluteus maximus, the American National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends the following exercises for untrained to moderately trained participants:

Squats: A variation of back squats, front squats, barbell squats, rear-foot elvated squats or other variations.

Lunges: Forward lunges, reverse lunges, walking lunges and clock lunges are particularly effective for working the glutes and hamstrings

Deadlifts: Widely considered to be one of the most efective ways to build posterior chain strength (not too many other common gym exercises target the hamistrings like a deadlift) and can be done with a range of stances and grips for variation. The challenge for the coach is knowing when an athlete is ready to handle deadlifts as they can be one of the more dangerous exercises if technique is incorrect. Starting with a hip hinge is recommended for untrained or younger athletes.

Hip Thrusts: We had a detailed look at the advantages of hip thrusts for sprinters in the January edition of Athletics Coach so flick back to the previous edition for an analysis and instructions on how to best perform this drill for track and field athletes.

2. Focus on Acceleration

The athlete’s posture changes significantly between acceleration and top-speed running and coaches need to ensure that their athletes have the correct technique and required strength for both phases.

Block Clearance From the set position (Figure A), the athlete should be positioned to deliver the maximum amount of force possible into the pedals. You should be able to draw a straight line from the ankle, up the shin and through the middle of the shoulder joint at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. Stronger and shorter athletes may be able to tolerate lower angle. Encourage the athlete to push back hard through their heels to minimise drop of the shin on initial launch.

The athlete should launch into a high position with the shoulders moving along the ~45 degree angle (Figure B). The ankle, knee and hip should be in a straight line with the force moving in the same direction to maximise velocity and distance of the takeoff.

Arm Action You are never going to be able to get the desired body posture for acceleration if the athlete’s arms are not doing what they should. Powerful arm action that results in big splits between the athlete’s arm and legs assist the athlete to balance and are a great indication that the high force and extension required to drive the athlete forwards are being achieved.

Initial Strides Ground contact of the foot should occur under or just behind the hip. One common issue coaches need to be aware of is the shin of the leading leg being cast out for in front of the body and landing in front of the hip (Figure C). This causes the athlete to have to drag themselves forward with their hamstrings, resulting in increased ground contact time and energy loss through the system.

Shin Angle The best explanation of shin angles during acceleration that I have heard was by Jimson Lee, who compared acceleration to pushing a car stuck in the snow. The natural position someone will take when trying to push will be with their lower body, spine and shin all leaning forward at approximately 45 degrees. This allows for the generation of much greater force than if someone was trying to push in an upright posture. As generating force to propel the athlete forwards is the essential component of acceleration, this is the posture that we want to achieve in our sprinters.

Acceleration As the athlete accelerates, the coach should look for the following points:

Decreased ground contact time

Increased stride length

Increase height of heel recovery

Increased upright posture with every stride

American Sprints coach Chidi Enyia describes the acceleration phase as one where “no step should look like the step that preceded it.” As the athlete increases their velocity, the kinematics should also change with every stride. The transition to maximum speed running should be smooth and come naturally to the athlete - coaches need to be aware not only of athletes rising too quickly, but also of athletes staying a low position for too long.

As acceleration is heavily determined by the angle of the body and the explosive strength of the athlete, developing power and technique is essential for performance. Athletes are never too young to begin developing their acceleration and the challenge for the coach is to select ageappropriate activities that correspond with the athlete’s developmental age.

Games-based Approach For young athletes and beginners, there are a number of fun games that can introduce the low-to-high movement of acceleration and work on building their agility, balance, coordination and strength required to accelerate.

Sally and Steve - Alter the starting position to add variety and additional challenge, working towards the low to high motion we want to see in block starts.

Rob the Nest - By keeping distances short, this activity can be a great way to have young athletes perform multiple accelerations in a fun manner. Having the participants collect an item off the ground in the centre achieves the low to high motion as they sprint back to their starting position.

Short Sprint Training It may seem obvious, but you could not find a more specific exercise for acceleration than repeated sprint starts. Sprint programs with repetitions no longer than 20 metres have been found to significantly improve acceleration in previously trained athletes after eight weeks (Spinks et al., 2007). ***The program that they used is included in the full article.***

Speed/Agility Training A combination of sprint and agility training has been demonstrated to be an effective method to develop acceleration in untrained adolescents (Venturelli, Bishop & Pettene, 2008) and highly trained sportsmen over a four week program (Buchheit et al., 2010). ***The program that they used is available in the full article***

Plyometrics There is strong evidence to support the use of plyometrics to improve acceleration speed (Rimmer & Sleivert, 2000; de Villareal et al., 2008). See the article on plyometrics in this edition of Athletics Coach for more information.

Resistance Training Athletics coaches should always use a strength and conditioning expert to design an appropriate program to meet the needs of the individual athlete. The goal of any resistance training should be to gain functional strength and power while avoiding the addition of excessive mass.

Highly respected sprints coach, Stephen Francis recommends training mostly with free weights as he believes that this better resembles the sprinting action. A list of resistance exercises that he uses for senior athletes (18 years and over) can be found in the full article.

3. Develop the Running Posture

Coaches who have completed a Level 1 Community Athletics Coach or Level 1 Run Leader course recently would know that we prioritise getting the running posture of our athletes and runners right, from day one. One of the great sprinting coaches, Tom Tellez said that posture is the first and foremost aspect of speed and is a critical component for improving running efficiency, power production, elastic energy production, injury prevention and relaxation. Tellez’s claims have been supported by peerreviewed evidence over the last two decades, all highlighting the importance of developing the correct running posture in your athletes (Novacheck, 1998; Watson, 2001; Hardin, Van Den Bogert & Hamill, 2004; Nakayama, Kudo & Ohtsuki, 2010; Farris & Sawicki, 2011;Teng & Powers, 2015)

Morin, Edouard & Samozino (2011) identified that posture played a critical role in sprinting success. Correct running posture enhanced the generation of force in the desired orientation, resulting in improved speed output. A notable finding from this study was that the orientation of the force applied was more important for generating speed than the amount of total force generated - highlighting the important role correct running posture plays for sprinting success.

An athlete is never too young to focus on improving their posture. In fact, this is a skill that it is highly recommended to focus on with young athletes. Poor running posture can be a difficult habit to break, so it’s essential to develop positive habits early. If you do have an older athlete come to you with posture that needs correction, be patient and use the recommended training progressions on the page BELOW below to slowly develop the required technique and body strength.

1 Skipping on the spot or skipping moving forwards are great activities for building strength, coordination, agility and improving the athlete’s posture for sprints. It can be included as part of a dynamic warm up or as part of a circuit.

2 A-Skips are one of the most common sprinting drills - additional focus on posture can be achieved by asking the athlete to perform the drill with their hands on their hips or behind their head.

3 Not only are straight legs a great drill for working on the desired fast leg action, this drill can also assist build the required strength in the core for holding the desired running posture.

4 World class sprinting coach, Glen Mills recommends including a hill sprints session every week with his elite athletes to improve strength and running posture. Distances are kept short when focusing on posture- no longer than 40 metres for his sprinters.

5 Wickets are most commonly used to improve the athlete’s front-side mechanics and stride length/ frequency, but can also improve the running posture by asking the athlete to perform wickets with arms up above their heads.

6 For highly respected sprinting coach Stephen Francis, core work that assists with posture while simultaneously building power is key. He recommends using medicine ball exercises such as twists, overhead throws and jumping exercises holding the medicine ball.

What do the Jamaicans do?

Stephen Francis’s training philosophy for athletes 18 years and over places a heavy emphasis on technique and speed endurance. A general training week is included below:

*This is his training program for elite athletes and is provided for your general information, not to be copied for junior or developing athletes.

Monday (split between am and pm sessions)

• Hill sprints (30-40m)

• Dynamic Stretching

• Core

• Free Weights

• Plyometrics

Tuesday (split between am and pm sessions)

• 400, 350 or 300 (no more than 6 reps)

• Core

• Med ball exercises

• Drills / Form Runs

Wednesday (split between am and pm sessions)

• 250, 200 or 150 (no more than 8 reps)

• Hill running

• Free weights

Thursday (split between am and pm sessions)

• Circuit training (body weight exercises)

• Med ball exercises

• Drills / Form Runs

Friday (split between am and pm sessions)

• Sled work

• Dynamic Stretching

• Core

• Plyometrics

Saturday (am only)

• Free weights

• Slow speed endurance

Sunday

• Rest

Francis usually keeps maximum speed distance to 30m but does go up to 2 x 50m for his senior athletes later in the season. He avoids going up to 60m as he believes it risks injury and the athlete’s physical condition. Speed endurance work at a lower intensity is done over 80, 90 and 100m.