Training for speed requires developing fast-twitch muscles.
If you want to increase your running speed, you need to activate the number of fast-twitch muscles in your legs. Bodybuilders and sprinters have been found to have a larger-than-normal percentage of fast-twitch muscles, which provide a burst of speed in power lifting and for shorter sprints. To develop this kind of speed for running or for playing tennis, soccer, football or basketball, or simply for the thrill of seeing how responsive your body is to training, you'll need to take a twofold approach that involves resistance exercises and speed training. There are several steps you can take to increase running speed.
Instructions
Seven Steps to Increase Running Speed
1. Perform lunges. These work the larger muscle groups: quads and hamstrings. After a brief warm-up of 10 to 15 minutes of walking or slow jogging, select two 10- to 15-lb. barbells. Hold one in each hand and do lunges. Start with your feet hip-width apart, your chest lifted and lower core abdominals engaged. Holding a barbell in each hand, step the right foot forward, then shift your weight until your right foot is directly above its ankle. Step back and repeat to the left. Do 12 to 15 repetitions for two or three sets.
2. Perform hamstring curls on a hamstring curl machine. Select a light to moderate weight to begin: 20 to 40 lbs. Lie on your belly on the bench, and curl your heels around the machine. Clasp the arm handles by your sides as you draw your tailbone down. Lie flat, with your legs straight. Exhale and bend both knees as you curl the heels toward your hips. Pause at the top, then lower down with control. Do 12 to 15 reps for two or three sets. This works your hamstrings and glutes, at the back and side of the hips.
3. Set up a low bench or rise for doing step-ups. Hold a 10- to 12-lb. barbell in each hand. Step up on the bench with the right foot as you lift the left leg, bending the left knee. Pause at the top to engage the lower abs. Step down. Repeat on the other side. Perform two or three sets of 12 to 15 reps.
4. Run in deep sand to engage the bulky muscles of the calves: the gastrocnemius and the soleus. Working out on sand will create power in the abs and glutes -- key areas to build if you training to run faster.
5. Run on a treadmill or at the track. Jog for a few minutes, then run as fast as you can for your chosen distance, and time yourself. Jog a bit more at your normal training speed, then repeat the sprint. If you have the stamina, do it once more and take an average time from these three sprints.
6. Proceed to the speed training by jogging at 60 percent of your maximum for five minutes to warm up. For speed intervals, sprint at 60 to 70 percent of your maximum for 60 to 90 seconds, then jog for another 60 seconds and repeat. Do so for seven to 10 rounds. Jog for 15 to 20 minutes at 65 to 55 percent of your top speed.
7. Include at least two speed work days in your training. After two to three weeks, time yourself for the same distance: a mile or a lap. If you did not see any improvements, add time in the pool. Standing in the shallow end of the pool, "run" through the water across the width of the pool. Repeat seven to 10 times for two rounds. Time yourself again after two weeks to see if there is any improvement.
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