Sprint Like a Beast With Speed Training
Will you be surprised to learn that almost none of the long distance runners do traditional speed workouts? No, tempo run , fartlek workout, or interval track workout does not count. We’re talking about speed development , a type of training that’s more common among sprinters.
These workouts are designed to increase your acceleration, maximum speed, or speed endurance. To better understand these workouts, let’s formulate our terms correctly:
Acceleration is how quickly you can go from resting position to maximum speed. In other words, this is how quickly you can pick up your top speed from a standing position. This is a good indicator of power.
Top speed is your top speed – the fastest you can run at. If you try to sprint with 100% effort and reach your “maximum” speed, then you will pick up your maximum speed.
Speed-endurance is how long you can hold your top speed before slowing down. Most runners can maintain a maximum speed of no more than 40 meters (this is normal!).
These are not the elements of speed that long-distance runners usually focus on, but a little bit of speed work can be of great benefit to you.
Why Sprint?
Runners should add speed activities to their workouts for three reasons.
First, it increases your top speed. At maximum speed, you can run faster, thereby increasing your available speed range .
This makes you feel much lighter when you run slower. And if you are competing in medium distances, such as 800m, mile or 3000m, you will experience a real improvement in your results.
Second, sprinting at maximum speed forces more muscle fibers to be recruited to increase energy production in the leg muscles. With more fiber, you will be able to run faster at the end of the race.
Finally, the speed of development will increase your efficiency (for the computer geek, this is called “running economy”). All of the extra muscle fibers now available can be used when you’re tired during a workout, running uphill, or finishing a long run.
Since running at maximum speed also reinforces proper running form, it further improves your economy so you can run faster with less effort.
How to add a sprint to your workout
The work on developing speed is difficult – not because there is a lot of volume at a fast pace or the rest is short, but because it has a high neuromuscular component. In other words, it puts stress on your central nervous system.
They challenge the communication pathways between the brain and muscles and require a long recovery period and little overall work.
Because they are so challenging, it is best to do these workouts when you are fresh at the start of your workout.
After a series of dynamic exercises , light jogging and warm-ups, you can add a few short reps before the main part of your workout.
Here are some examples, each of which gets more complicated:
- 4 8-second uphill sprints, walking 60 to 90 seconds between sprints for recovery
- 4 x 20 meters, 90 seconds – recovery after 2 minutes of walking
- 6 x 25 m, 2 min – 2:30 walking recovery
- 6 x 30 m, 2 min – 2:30 walking recovery
Remember, all that is needed is a little sprint work. There is no need to do a lot of reps at maximum speed. In fact, it only predisposes to running injuries . When in doubt, do fewer reps for longer recovery. Be conservative to stay healthy!
Doing at least one of these workouts per week is all it takes to build strength, efficiency, and speed like a sprinter. This is not a focus, but rather an additional training tactic that will help expand your speed range.
Spend about a month doing one acceleration session per week and you will start to feel faster and stronger than ever before.
And soon you will be faster at long distances!