How to get faster
These guides teach the training the Sprint University app prescribes. You sprint short and fast with full rest, jump, lift heavy but fast, work on your mechanics, and keep your easy days easy.
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Training
- Sprint WorkoutsAcceleration, top-speed, tempo and speed-endurance sessions written out with sets, reps and rest.
- Speed TrainingHow to lay out a week of speed work around high and low days, and how to progress it.
- Periodization for SprintersMacrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles, indoor and outdoor peaks, what the research shows and how to taper.
- Tempo Runs for SprintersExtensive vs intensive tempo: paces, distances, rest, where tempo goes in the week and sample sessions.
- Plyometrics for SprintersBounds, broad jumps, depth jumps and hurdle hops for sprinters, with sets for each and how to progress.
- How to Be More ExplosiveRate of force development explained, the lifts and jumps that raise it, and a sample week.
- Does Muscle Make You Slower?Strength vs speed: why force per kilogram sets top speed, how elite sprinters are built and the lifting that transfers.
- Fast Twitch vs Slow Twitch FibersType I, IIa and IIx fibers, why humans don't have IIb, a champion sprinter's fiber mix and what training can change.
- Sprint Warm-UpA 15–20 minute sprint warm-up, with versions for acceleration days and top-speed days.
Technique
- Sprint FormHow to move when you accelerate and at top speed, and the form faults that slow you down.
- Sprint DrillsThe A-march, A-skip, B-skip, wicket runs and ten more drills, with what each one fixes and how much to do.
- Acceleration DrillsSled pushes, hill sprints, falling starts and 10–40m sprints to train your first steps.
- Block StartHow to set your blocks, the on-your-marks and set positions, and how to push out of them.
- Stride Length vs Stride FrequencyThe speed formula, Bolt's step data from his 9.58, and how to measure and train each from your own video.
- How to Stop OverstridingWhat overstriding is, why it brakes you, how to spot it on video and the drills and cues that fix it.
- Wicket DrillsWhat wicket runs train, how to set spacing from your own stride, run-in, wicket count and progression.
- Tall vs Short SprintersHow height changes stride length, acceleration and top speed, with elite 100m sprinters' heights.
Recovery and health
- Am I Recovered?What jump tests, HRV, resting heart rate, sleep, RPE and soreness tell you about your readiness to sprint.
- CNS FatigueWhat the nervous system does in a sprint, central vs muscle fatigue, how long each lasts and how to train around it.
- Deload WeekWhy fatigue hides fitness, how often to deload, what to cut and a sample sprint deload week.
- Hamstring Injury PreventionWhy sprinters strain hamstrings, the risk factors with evidence, and the Nordic curls and top-speed work that cut risk.
- Caffeine for SprintersHow much caffeine to take before a sprint by bodyweight, when to take it, side effects, sleep and under-18 cautions.
Team sports
- How to Get Faster for FootballSprint training for football players: your stance, the first 10 yards and a faster 40-yard dash.
- Speed Training for SoccerMatch sprint demands, curved sprints, repeated sprint ability, and speed weeks for in season and off-season.
- Speed Training for BasketballFirst step quickness, court sprint demands, plyos and in-season speed work for basketball players.
- Speed Training for Baseball and SoftballGood 60-yard dash and home-to-first times, faster starts from the box and a lead, and a sample week.
The Sprint University app
Follow the guides as a weekly plan
The Sprint University app lays this training out week by week for sprinters from 60m to 400m and adjusts each day to your HRV, resting heart rate and sleep. The program is based on how Lawrence L.O. Johnson, a 6× NCAA All-American and Team USA sprinter, trains.
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