Why is it so difficult to improve your speed and become faster? Let’s see… you can’t train speed, you have to be aggressive to run faster, strength training just makes you bulky, interval training is the same as speed training and working on your flexibility doesn’t help your speed? Wrong..there are so many myths associated with speed training but here are five that will get you rolling.
#1: You can’t train speed?
You may think this myth doesn’t make any sense, but most athletes and/or coaches think it’s difficult to train speed. This is far from the truth. My brother and I were a bunch of “slow pokes” before we started running (well not that slow but you get the idea.) We started speed training to become faster on the football field. Sure genetics can play a role with how fast you can become, but you will become faster with the right training. 99% of the time just working on your technique and form can significantly improve your speed. Athletes can improve their speed though at any age through a speed program that develops the entire athlete.
#2: You have to be aggressive to run fast.
This is the complete opposite!! You have to be relaxed to run faster. When you hear aggressive, you end up trying harder. When you try, you tense up your muscles, then end up fighting the movements. You want to get to the point where you feel like you’re not running at all, because then that is when you’re actually running.
#3: Strength training makes you too bulky.
I laugh at this one all the time. Coaches will say “You’re getting too big!” Well how is your strength though & flexibility? That’s all that really matter. Most bodybuilders aren’t that strong compared to powerlifters…and which are bigger?! Yes, the by-product of becoming stronger will be getting bigger, but it comes down to how fast can you move that weight. Not only will strength training improve your performances as your strength levels increase, but it will also reduce injuries if done correctly.
#4: Interval Training is the same as Speed Training
Speed training consists of 2-8 seconds of maximal intensity sprinting with full recovery. This probably goes against what most coaches think, but this is the only way to become faster. Running repeat 100s or 200s does not improve your speed…at all! If you don’t recover from each interval, proper form decreases, intensity decreases, and then there is no consistency and no improvement.
#5: Flexibility won’t help get you faster
This one hurt me the most in the past. I didn’t think flexibility could make me run any faster, until I actually put time into my stretching. The biggest problem area for the those looking to increase their speed are the hips. If your hips cannot reach full range of motion, this inhibits the top speed you could achieve. If the hip flexors have poor flexibility an athletes’ stride length appears dramatically short. Flexibility is such fundamental component of speed training that athletes often forget about. Be sure to stretch after each practice, when the muscles are loose and warm.
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Great post Justyn,
Many of those points are common sense, yet the myths still exist!
Regarding point five – I totally agree about the importance of flexibility of the hip flexors. Tight hip flexors can affect posture and glute activation – increasing injury risk and decreasing sprinting performance.
Regards,
Tim
Thanks Tim! You are absolutely right, they are common sense but athletes still do them lol.
The hip flexor issue was always my biggest problem and people just don’t understand how big of a role the hip flexors and glutes play in how your sprint.
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