The 2 Reasons You’re Not Getting Faster

If you’ve hit a plateau in your speed training, you may be thinking to yourself, “I sprint all the time, why am I not getting faster?”. Of course there could be a million different reasons why your speed is not improving. However, more often than not, there are a few minor changes that you can make to your current training program to get a better result. The goal is always to work smarter, not harder, and while there are multiple variables that go into speed development, the answer may be much more simple than you think.

You’re not taking appropriate rest periods

Rest periods during sprint workouts are extremely important. The amount of time you take to recover between sprints, or a series of sprints, can have a dramatic effect on the training adaptations you make. Let’s say your goal is to build work capacity so that you can sprint repeatedly without getting tired late in a game. During this phase we would keep rest periods short and leave our recovery between repetitions incomplete. In the short term this might not help you run faster times, but it will help you build work capacity so that you can handle more repetitions, and spend more time at top speed later on in the training cycle. You may want to stick to shorter distances (acceleration) during this capacity phase due to the amount of stress that accumulates over longer distances. Keep in mind that the goal is not to cover the most ground, but rather to complete the most high quality repetitions.

An acceleration workout with incomplete rest might look something like this:

• 6 x 10 x 10 meters (10-20 seconds rest between reps) (2 minutes rest between sets)

In this session we would complete 6 sets of ten 10 meter sprints. Our total volume for the session would be 600 meters. We can perform these accelerations from a variety of start positions, such as, pushup, half kneeling, and standing.

On the other hand, if our goal is to develop maximal speed, we may want to adjust our rest periods a bit differently. Typically, this is where I see athletes make mistakes. Everyone is in such a rush to get things done and fit their training in, that they neglect the longer rest periods when they are necessary to progress. Think of it this way. If the goal is to get faster you are going to need to run at fast speeds. The less rest you take between repetitions, the more tired you will be, and the less likely you are to run near your fastest times. What you’re ultimately doing is dampening the training stimulus by sprinting under fatigue and running slower times. Don’t forget that the longer the sprint distance, the more you will be fatigued, and the more time you will need to rest between sets and reps.

A high quality speed workout with complete rest might look something like this:

• 3 x 20 meters (2-3 minutes rest between reps) (3-4 minutes rest between sets)
• 2 x 40 meters (4-5 minutes rest between reps) (4-5 minutes rest between sets)
• 2 x 60 meters (6-8 minutes between reps)

If you are the type of person who likes to be constantly moving, these longer rest periods might be a good time to work in some light corrective exercises.

You’re spending too much time in the weight room

Now let me be clear, if you are a high school or early college athlete, this more than likely does not apply to you. There is still plenty of strength and muscular development in your future that will help you improve your sprint times. What I am saying is that, in my opinion, there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to absolute strength for speed development.

Speed development is, first and foremost, about gait (walking) mechanics. When we look at the traditional weight room approach for track and field sport athletes, what you’ll typically find is that it does not support optimal gait mechanics. In fact, it often promotes poor gait mechanics! If our goal is to have fluidity of movement, we need to be sure that we are not promoting the opposite in the weight room. This is why we typically take a very low volume resistance training approach with our athletes and allocate a majority of our time to sprinting, change of direction, and plyometric drills. We program just enough resistance training to increase their strength, while we can still work on improving their reactive strength, shortening their ground contact times, and improving their posture.

• There are a multitude of ways that we can program resistance training for athletes, but this is one example of how a day could be structured after your speed and power work:
• Knee Dominant Hinge (front squat, back squat, zercher squat, leg press, etc.)
• Horizontal Push (dumbbell floor press, bench press, landmine press, pushups, etc.)
• Horizontal Pull (single arm dumbbell row, split stance cable row, chest supported row, etc.)
• Lower Body Accessory (nordic hamstring curl, glider hamstring curl, copenhagen adduction, calf raise, etc.)
• Upper Body Accessory (dumbbell curls, band triceps pushdowns, scap raise, etc.)

Nothing fancy here. A few simple, but important movement patterns are plenty to get the adaptations that you need as an athlete. Within a structure such as this one there can be a ton of variety. Sets and reps can vary throughout the year (hence why I opted not to list any) and plyometric and corrective exercises can be interspersed throughout, but the main idea is to keep it simple and only do enough to get the job done.

Don’t get me wrong, resistance training should be an important part of any athlete’s program. It is essential for tendon health, power development, and physicality on the field. However, it is not the only piece of the puzzle. If you are worried about detraining maximal strength and muscle size by cutting down on your lifting, you shouldn’t be. It is well documented that high quality sprinting results in strength and size gains. Remember, sprinting is 5-6x body weight force every time you contact the ground. This is something that cannot be replicated in the weight room no matter what exercise you do! It is by far the best bang for your buck exercise you can do to train all of the qualities that high level athletes possess.

If you’re an athlete whose sport depends on speed, sprint more! If the goal is to get maximally fast, rest more! It’s that simple. In a world where speed training is becoming more and more complex, stick to the basics. There is a lot that goes into speed training but these two simple adjustments will take you a long way.