How do you ‘get into’ sprinting?

The following is a simple template one could use as a starting point if you wanted to ‘get into’ sprinting. There are an infinite number of ways to train to run faster, so take what you wish out of this guide. This article was written as a guide for those with no track experience, no coach and want to get faster with limited resources.

Sprinting is one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) expressions of athleticism. Sadly, at some point in our lives, most stop sprinting. There’s rarely a genuine need to sprint as we age, and most forget the euphoria and joy they felt as a kid while running fast. During childhood and adolescence, most would sprint while playing ‘Tag’ or ‘Bull Rush’ during lunchtime or physical education classes. After finishing high school most people stop playing team sports. There’s no need to sprint regularly as we’re not running from our school mates or chasing a ball anymore.

However, I implore you to not lose your ability to sprint. To do so is the beginning of the loss of your athleticism and it’s not all that easy to get back.

The most simplistic way to ensure you’re sprinting regularly would be to join a touch football team or any team sport which requires speed (which is most field sports). However, playing a field sport alone will only take your speed to a certain point. Sprinting in a field sport is sprinting under fatigue, and therefore, your speed will likely not improve.

If you would like to make improvements in your speed, I would suggest to keep reading.

For those of you who have not been raised in the Track and Field environment, I’d imagine it’d be difficult to know where to begin if you wanted to start learning to sprint. I preface the following template with the statement that no program you can find on the internet is perfect enough to replace the guidance of a coach. Sprinting is not running. It is technically and physically demanding and for these reasons, if you were to begin your sprinting journey void of a coach, one should try create an environment which promotes good technique and practice.

Typically a sprinter would train three qualities – acceleration, top speed and speed endurance. Acceleration is the quality of reaching maximum velocity; top speed is maximum velocity achieved over a particular distance and speed endurance assists in inhibiting the loss of velocity as well as extending the time of which one can perform slightly sub maximal sprinting (imagine a 400m runner in the last 150m of a race). Speed endurance is not practical for those trying to introduce themselves into sprinting. After all, sprinting at high velocity while utilizing the lactate system as a source of energy is a quality specific to those with the intention to compete in track. Therefore, to begin sprint training, I’d suggest two sessions which can be completed once a week each addressing acceleration and top speed qualities. Separate the two sessions by a few days throughout the week (e.g. complete a session on Monday and then on Thursday) and work in the exercise you’re already completing around it (although I wouldn’t recommend maximal effort lifting, such as a heavy squat, if you do gym work already, a day before sprinting). Try to feel fresh for the day of when you sprint.

Session 1: Acceleration

Find a hill. It’ll be your best friend to learn how to accelerate. This hill should be no longer than 25-30m and 6—10 degrees in gradient. Hills promote athletes to ‘push’ and to project horizontally. How this session could be structured would be something like this:

- Warm Up (increase body temperature, dynamic stretches, whatever makes you feel good).

- 2-4 x Build up run though up the hill at 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% effort with 1-2 minutes rest between runs.

- 2-4 x Sprint (95% effort) up the hill with 4-6 minutes between runs.

Session 2: Top Speed

On a flat surface, you’ll be completing ‘flying’ sprints. A flying sprint is a run which is completed with a build up of speed prior, e.g. a common flying sprint for a sprinter could be a 70m run, where 50m of it is spent building up speed, and only 20m is spent with the intent of maximal sprinting. Some track and field coaches may cringe at the idea of beginner athletes completing flying sprints, as it is a very potent stimulus for elite sprinters and true training of maximum velocity. For a new sprinter though, I believe they’re practical as most newcomers to sprinting are likely to blow their gasket before 30m, and may not be able to get into an upright position at 30-50m to even give themselves the opportunity to hit their max velocity. Furthermore, flying sprints teach athletes to stay relaxed and patient while sprinting. A session may look like this:

- Warm Up (increase body temperature, dynamic stretches, whatever makes you feel good).

- 2-4 x 50m Flying Sprint (30m build up, 20m sprint) - Build up run though up at 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% effort with 1-2 minutes rest between runs.

- 2-4 x 50m Flying Sprint (95% effort) with 4-6 minutes between runs.

Both sessions are simple and low in volume, but that is how sprinting should be.

I recommend doing these sessions with a friend, and I have three reasons why:

- To know if you are running faster and improving, you will have to test. Mark a date (perhaps 4 or so weeks into training) to measure a sprint time over a given distance (your choice; perhaps 40m, 50m or 60m) and ask for your friend to time you for 2 or 3 sprints.

- Ask for your friend to video. It’s fun to see how you sprint. Make adjustments, experiment, compare. Everyone sprints differently but continue to perfect your technique. If you don’t know the qualities you’re looking for in your technique, watch the best sprinters in the world sprint (not just in Track, but in team sports also). I cannot give blanket recommendations or ques that can help everyone through an article. Enjoy the upcoming learning experience of running fast.

- It’s fun training with someone. Sprinting requires long rest breaks in between repetitions. Banter and competition helps the training process.

A few notes I thought would be worth adding:

- Make every sprint ‘easy’. Unlike performing a heavy squat, an increase in overall body tension will not increase performance. Stay relaxed. Perhaps consider sprinting more of a 95% effort rather than an ultimate 100% effort.

- Respect the rest periods. If you want to run fast, you do not want to turn your sprints into a conditioning session.

- Experiment with drills prior to the run through sprints. A YouTube or google search will come up with all sorts of sprinting drills. Try a drill for 2 or 3 weeks, assess whether you enjoy and understand its purpose. If you like it, note it down as a good drill. If the drill sucks for you, throw it away. I’d recommend only have 2-3 technical drills at any one time. You do not need or want your sessions to last forever.

- If you want to progressively overload your sessions, do not do so by rapidly increasing the volume of your runs (i.e. going from 4x sprint efforts in a session to 8x sprint efforts over the course of a month). Overtime, if you sprint consistently, you will run faster. That, in itself, is a form of overload. You will be able to milk a lot of gains from consistent sprinting with the given format before results plateau, so stay patient and sprint every week.

Go to a park and sprint, damn you.

Happy sprinting.