TOP 5 EXERCISES TO INCREASE YOUR SPEED
At Atlas High Performance, our Speed School sessions are all about getting athletes faster, more confident, better able to change direction and also improving their movement abilities on the pitch. We've taken the best parts of coaches like Les Spellman, Tony Holler and the guys at Speedworks and structured our sessions around that to give young athletes exposure to the best programme you can find. Here are 5 of our top exercises for increasing sprint speed and learning how to accelerate better.
Pogo Jumps
For pogo jumps we are working on an athletes ability to use their feet and ankles more efficiently during sprinting. Having "stiffer" ankles when the foot hits the ground allows athletes to apply more force which then means they can accelerate at a faster rate. Pogo jumps teach a full foot landing where the athlete has to try and get off the ground quickly. Spending too long on the floor means you get that feeling of getting "stuck". The fastest athletes in the world have really short contact times when they sprint and they are able to apply large amounts of force in that timeframe. You can progress these to single leg when an athlete has learned how to be stiff on the floor.
For pogo jumps we are working on an athletes ability to use their feet and ankles more efficiently during sprinting. Having "stiffer" ankles when the foot hits the ground allows athletes to apply more force which then means they can accelerate at a faster rate. Pogo jumps teach a full foot landing where the athlete has to try and get off the ground quickly. Spending too long on the floor means you get that feeling of getting "stuck". The fastest athletes in the world have really short contact times when they sprint and they are able to apply large amounts of force in that timeframe. You can progress these to single leg when an athlete has learned how to be stiff on the floor.
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Broad Jumps
Broad jumps are a great way to teach athletes to project their hips forwards. It's a key component of acceleration in the sense that if an athlete has strong hips, they can produce more force from the glutes and hamstrings. Broad jumps also teach athletes how to land in a position that is slightly similar to their deceleration position. Being able to drop their hips, bend their knees and stop still are all parts of the learning portion of decelerating. What's the use in being able to run fast if you can't slow down or stop? As athletes get older and physically stronger, their broad jumps should improve in distance and this should correlate with having a faster 10m sprint time.
Broad jumps are a great way to teach athletes to project their hips forwards. It's a key component of acceleration in the sense that if an athlete has strong hips, they can produce more force from the glutes and hamstrings. Broad jumps also teach athletes how to land in a position that is slightly similar to their deceleration position. Being able to drop their hips, bend their knees and stop still are all parts of the learning portion of decelerating. What's the use in being able to run fast if you can't slow down or stop? As athletes get older and physically stronger, their broad jumps should improve in distance and this should correlate with having a faster 10m sprint time.
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Wall Drills/Switches
These are great for teaching athletes the correct positions to be in when accelerating. They teach the "head to hell, strong as steel" posture, they teach that horizontal forward lean position with the knee punching in front. They also teach what it feels like to push aggressively through the ball of the foot and "push the ground away" rather than straight down. All key components of the sprint. From here, you could progress to adding a switch where the athletes has to aggressively switch legs. Switching the legs prepares the athlete to strike the ground with loads of force from the hips. When done correctly, athletes can accelerate so much quicker and efficiently from a static position.
These are great for teaching athletes the correct positions to be in when accelerating. They teach the "head to hell, strong as steel" posture, they teach that horizontal forward lean position with the knee punching in front. They also teach what it feels like to push aggressively through the ball of the foot and "push the ground away" rather than straight down. All key components of the sprint. From here, you could progress to adding a switch where the athletes has to aggressively switch legs. Switching the legs prepares the athlete to strike the ground with loads of force from the hips. When done correctly, athletes can accelerate so much quicker and efficiently from a static position.
Resisted Sprints
This tends to cover the physical bucket a bit more. When an athlete understands all of the concepts we've mentioned above, now it's time to load it up. Being able to repeatedly produce quality, aggressive steps in the initial part of the sprint is how you get up to speed quickly. We typically load the sleds anywhere from 50% to 120% of bodyweight depending on how early they are in their development. We can also use resistance bands for large groups. It's important not to go too heavy with these as sometimes it can effect technique and it turns into a grind. This would effect our ground contact times too much which we've already mentioned are important to keep short.
This tends to cover the physical bucket a bit more. When an athlete understands all of the concepts we've mentioned above, now it's time to load it up. Being able to repeatedly produce quality, aggressive steps in the initial part of the sprint is how you get up to speed quickly. We typically load the sleds anywhere from 50% to 120% of bodyweight depending on how early they are in their development. We can also use resistance bands for large groups. It's important not to go too heavy with these as sometimes it can effect technique and it turns into a grind. This would effect our ground contact times too much which we've already mentioned are important to keep short.
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Max Effort Sprinting
All the exercises above are simply useless unless an athlete gets a chance to let rip at 100% effort on a straight line sprint. For younger athletes in our Speed School sessions, competition is key to get the most effort out of them. Use your imagination on the starting positions or how you set it up. The key part is that they are competing and trying to run as fast as they can everytime. For more advanced athletes in our individual coaching sessions, we use timing gates or GPS units to ensure that we are getting close to max effort on every rep. You must sprint at least 95% of your fastest sprint speed 1-2 times per week to improve it, or else you're just maintaining. This is why sprinkling some maximal effort sprints into the end of your warm ups are key to keeping players fast and explosive.
All the exercises above are simply useless unless an athlete gets a chance to let rip at 100% effort on a straight line sprint. For younger athletes in our Speed School sessions, competition is key to get the most effort out of them. Use your imagination on the starting positions or how you set it up. The key part is that they are competing and trying to run as fast as they can everytime. For more advanced athletes in our individual coaching sessions, we use timing gates or GPS units to ensure that we are getting close to max effort on every rep. You must sprint at least 95% of your fastest sprint speed 1-2 times per week to improve it, or else you're just maintaining. This is why sprinkling some maximal effort sprints into the end of your warm ups are key to keeping players fast and explosive.
On the 6th July, we are bringing Tony Holler over from the US to give us a masterclass into how we improve speed and power with the athletes he works with. He's a Hall of Fame coach and we're incredibly lucky to have him over. If your interested in how the best coaches in the world prepare their athletes to dominate their sport and remain fresh, fast and competitive, then this seminar is for you. You can check out more details and ticket prices by clicking here.
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