How to run faster: a sprint coach's guide

What makes you fast

Running speed is stride length times stride frequency, and that formula says nothing about what drives either one. In one study, researchers put 33 runners of different abilities on a force-plate treadmill. The fastest athletes swung their legs back into position no quicker than the slowest, and the time to reposition the leg barely differed between them. Faster runners applied greater support forces to the ground on each contact.

The direction of that force changes as you go down the track.

• During acceleration you need to push horizontally. In a study comparing field 100m performance with treadmill force data, the athletes who kept pointing their force forward as they sped up ran faster 100s, and total force alone did not predict performance.
• At top speed you need big vertical force in a short ground contact. In a 60m force-plate study, propulsive impulse drove acceleration, and mean vertical force was the contributor to maximal speed.
• Late in a race even elite sprinters lose some speed. Speed endurance training aims to keep that loss small.

A complete speed plan trains each phase on its own and builds the strength and elastic power that let you put more force into the track. Sprint University lays out each week that way.

Seven rules for getting faster

These come from the Sprint University system, the method behind the app, which is built on Lawrence L.O. Johnson's own training and preparation.

1. Sprint at 90% or faster in every training week. Speed never gets parked for a block and rebuilt later.
2. Run speed work at 95–100% effort with full rest. A rep that's slower because you're tired is training something else.
3. Keep hard days hard and easy days easy, and never put two high-intensity days back to back.
4. Give every rep a distance, an effort percentage and a rest time.
5. Open acceleration days with something explosive, such as a sled push, jumps or med ball throws.
6. Finish every rep tall, even the easy ones. Posture is part of what you're training.
7. When you miss a day, let it reflow into the rest of the week. Don't cram the missed work into the next session.

Train acceleration

Every sport uses acceleration, and every race starts with it. Train it with 10–40m sprints from a crouch, three-point or block start at 98–100% effort, resting 2–4 minutes between reps. Resisted sprints against a light sled, a hill or a partner force a longer push and a lower body angle.

Week 1, day 1 of the app's base program is an acceleration day:

That adds up to about 180m of sprinting plus four short sled pushes. A review of elite sprint training lists acceleration sessions at 100–300m total, with 2–7 minutes between reps, so the small volume is deliberate. For more, read acceleration drills and, if you race on the track, the block start guide.

Train top speed

You can hold true top speed for only a short stretch, so max-velocity work uses a run-in and a short timed zone. The standard tool is the flying sprint: build up over 20m, run 100% through a 20–30m zone, then rest 5–6 minutes. Elite programs rest 4–15 minutes between max-velocity reps and end the session as soon as speed drops.

Sprint-float-sprint runs (20m fast, 20m relaxed, 20m fast) teach you to hold speed without straining. The sprint workouts guide covers both sessions.

Train speed endurance

For the 100m, speed endurance means holding top speed through the line. Repeat 60m sprints at 100% with 6 minutes of rest, or extend into 80–150m reps. The 200m and 400m need a bigger share of it each week. Keep the rest long: a rule of thumb from elite coaching is 1–2 minutes of rest for every second of all-out sprinting.

Plyometrics and strength

Jumps and lifts raise the ceiling on the force you can put into the track. A meta-analysis of 26 studies found that plyometric training improves sprint performance, and the best results came from mixing jump types and including horizontal jumps such as bounds and broad jumps. A separate meta-analysis found that a stronger squat carries over to faster sprinting, by about 3% on average.

The app gives plyometrics their own low-intensity day of straight-leg bounds, broad jumps, depth jumps, hurdle hops and med ball throws, and it adds a short weight-room block of two or three lifts to the hard track days. That lifting follows a triphasic wave (slow eccentrics, then isometric holds, then explosive concentrics) in short sets so each rep stays fast. See plyometrics for sprinters and speed training for the details.

Clean up your form

Good form turns force into speed. Out of the start you should look like you're pushing a car, with a long body lean, full extension and shins angled forward. At top speed you run tall with your knees up in front and your feet landing just under your hips, and your arms drive straight forward and back without crossing your body.

Drills like the A-march, A-skip and wicket runs groove these positions at low speed so they hold up at high speed. Sprint form covers the positions, and sprint drills has the drill library.

A week of speed training

A week of speed training alternates high days (sprinting at 95–100%, heavy lifting, max jumps) with low days (tempo, mobility, low-volume plyos). Week 1 of the app's base program looks like this:

1. Day 1Acceleration + SledHigh day
2. Day 2Jumps + ThrowsLow day
3. Day 3Sprint-Float-SprintHigh day
4. Day 4Recovery Tempo (optional)Low day
5. Day 5Top Speed, Flying 20sHigh day
6. Day 6Active Recovery (optional)Low day

That's three hard sprint days, never back to back, with optional recovery work between them. Every session starts with a full warm-up, and the sprint warm-up guide has the one the program uses.

Recovery

Sprinting fast takes a fresh nervous system. If you train tired, you teach yourself to run slow. Three habits help most:

• Sleep more. When Stanford basketball players extended their sleep to a goal of 10 hours in bed for 5–7 weeks, their timed sprint dropped from 16.2 to 15.5 seconds.
• Keep recovery days easy: tempo at 60–70%, mobility, a barefoot walk. Resist turning them into an extra workout.
• Train to how you recovered. Sprint University reads your HRV, resting heart rate and sleep each morning from Apple Health (so Apple Watch, Oura and Whoop data all count), plus a quick check-in. On a low-readiness day it trims the session's volume by about 30% and keeps the intensity. The research on HRV-guided training shows a modest effect: in endurance athletes it matches or slightly beats fixed plans, with fewer negative responses.

Test your progress

Without a measurement you can't tell whether your training is working. Sprint University starts with a testing week: a 100m time trial, a standing broad jump and a 3-rep-max back squat, each on its own day with a rest day between. You retest at the week 4 mid-point and again at the end of week 6.

Once you have a time, compare it with our sprint time ratings.

How to run a faster 100m

The 100m uses all three phases, so the plan above applies directly. Three points are specific to the race:

• Practice starts every week, from blocks if you race from them. A clean start and a long, patient push over the first 30m set up the whole race.
• You reach top speed partway through and then hold it, so don't try to accelerate all the way to the line. Sprint-float-sprints and flying runs train that transition.
• Stay tall and relaxed through the finish. Reaching or leaning early costs you time.

If you play a field sport, the same principles apply with the 40-yard dash as your test. See how to get faster for football.

Common mistakes

Sprinting tired

Short rest turns speed work into conditioning. Rest 2 minutes per 10–20m, 3–4 minutes per 30–40m, and 5–6 minutes for flys and 60s.

Too much medium-pace running

Running at 80% is too slow to build speed and leaves you too tired for the next fast day. Run fast days fast and easy days easy.

Skipping the weight room

Strength raises the force you can apply, and two or three heavy, fast lifts on hard days are enough.

Never measuring

Time a sprint and a jump before you start, then retest every few weeks with the exact same setup.

Cramming missed sessions

If you miss a day, move on. Doubling up the next day gives you two half-quality sessions.