How to improve speed

How To Improve Speed

There are two easy ways to improve speed. The first is improving your running mechanics. Most of us run like we're drunk, with hands swinging all over the place, and our feet pounding the ground like we are 600 pound behemoths. So, if you can improve your running technique then you will increase your speed.

The next best way, to improve speed, is to make your legs stronger. Yes, that's right. Crank it up by lifting that iron. The more force you can apply against the ground the faster your legs will run. Trust me, it works. If you work on your parallel squat and hamstring strength you will develop leg power, and that dictates into more speed.

How do I know? Well, from personal experience of course, I acquired a serious leg injury while competing in a powerlifting meet (I tore all four quads and the patella). Approximately six months after the accident, I was able to begin squatting again. My strength increased slowly.

During this time, I was training a young man to get ready for his freshman year of college football, and we had a little race to see who was faster. The 40 yards was counted off and the start given. I ran a 5.1 at 270 pounds. I accomplished this with no running at all, just stretching and performing heavy squats!

Now, if I started developing my running technique, stride length, and stride frequency, I could have possibly dropped my time four tenths of a second, running a 4.8 second 40 yard dash. Oh yeah, I beat that young man by two tenths of a second!

Mass plus acceleration equals power, right? How many times have you seen a game where one team just overpowers the other team for three quarters and then the team you thought was beat turns the game around by driving their opponent into the ground?

It happens alot doesn't it? Perennial powerhouse Nebraska does it all the time. It doesn't matter how big and strong your team is; you will surely loose unless you know how to utilize your speed.

You cannot reach your full speed potential by just running sprints or just working on leg strength either. You must work on both, with a number of other speed training techniques to achieve your top speed development.