The only way to train to sprint faster is by sprinting.
But the best way to begin sprinting is…not to.

An athlete started working with me recently to learn how to sprint. Their immediate goal is to capture the health benefits of sprinting – including how it makes you smarter! – but they have an interest in Masters track & field competition once they have practiced a bit. This athlete comes from a distance running background and, somewhat ironically, my advice to them was to NOT run.

How to begin sprinting comes up frequently. Every body, in theory, is capable of sprinting. Every person benefits in general from sprinting and competitive athletes benefit in measurable performance-related ways. But I learned the hard way about the risks of sprinting to a body which isn’t conditioned to it. The advice I’ve now offered three prospective athletes may just benefit everyone.

Before you get into sprinting, whether for fitness or for performance or for the sport of track & field specifically, allow me a few suggestions…

First, part one, get mobile.
First, part two, get strong.
Second, get “fit” for sprinting.
Third, start…slowly.

1a: Get Mobile

The most common athletic activity among adults is running. “Running” almost always refers to sub-maximal, sustained-effort locomotion for some defined duration. That’s distance running. For most people, it’s jogging. Recreational running is awesome because it is accessible, simple, and measurable. It’s a weak foundation for sprinting, though, because it has smaller range-of-motion and lower velocity of limb movement at every joint.

Distance running without complementary strength training or consistent cross-training traps you in hip flexion, ankle plantar flexion, and torso or thoracic spine rotation (because few runners swing their arms from the shoulder). Sprinting demands hip hyperextension, high-load isometric ankle dorsiflexion, and both shoulder flexion and extension with thoracic spine extension.

Said differently: sprinting demands that you be more mobile than distance running requires you to be. So get mobile before you start sprinting.

I recommend 4-6 weeks of twice per week doing these exercises (eventually as joint prep before your warmup, but you may find them challenging at first):

• 2-leg hip bridge, 3 x 5, progressing to 1-leg hip bridge, 2 x 5 R/L
• seated ankle ABCs, twice through, progressing to standing ankle ABCs once through
• straight-arm hanging from a bar, 3 x 10 sec and supported if necessary, progressing to 1 x 1 min with scapular movement throughout

1b: Get Strong

Ground contact forces in distance running sometimes reach double-bodyweight. Those forces are dispersed across your full foot (because you roll from heel to toe and from eversion to inversion with each foot strike) over a relatively long duration (typically 0.30 seconds per step) and are largely absorbed in your muscles (because your knee and hip tend to stay bent during the running stride).

Ground contact forces in sprinting often reach triple-bodyweight. Those forces are absorbed and rebounded primarily across the ball of your foot during a short duration (less than 0.15 seconds per step) and are largely managed by elastic tissues like your plantar fascia and Achilles tendon.
Read that again: 50% more force on 75% less surface in less than 50% of the time using tissues you barely stimulate with distance running. Sprinting makes massive demands on your eccentric (touch down), isometric (all phases), and concentric (toe off) strength regimes.

Only sprinting actually builds the capacity for such large loads to be delivered quickly, but the stronger you are in general, the more resilient you are to the biggest injury risks of sprinting. After your first week or two with the mobility exercises above, depending on your training history, I recommend extending your mobility training sessions with these strength exercises:

• 1-leg deadlifts, 3 x 5 R/L, progressing from no weight to two-handed load to one-handed load (in your right hand while balancing on your left leg)
• kettlebell swings or stiff-leg deadlifts, 3-5 sets of low reps (10-20 for swings; 3-5 for deadlifts)
• squats of every variety, but goblet squats taken deep with long pauses using heavy weights, something like 3-5 x 3-5
• pushups, hanging leg raises, and pullups – it’s okay if you can’t do these, but you need to start on the necessary progressions to make your midsection and shoulders strong enough for all of them!

That’s a pretty good strength training routine for any athlete but it is a mandatory strength foundation for anyone who wants to sprint.

2: Get Fit (For Sprinting)

A typical running cadence for a capable jogger is 150 steps per minute. A novice sprinter will often exceed 200 steps per minute at maximum velocity (but won’t go for a full minute, obviously). You don’t just take your steps more quickly; you take them more powerfully. Your knees rise higher and your stride is longer while you take steps more quickly. This means sprinting challenges your tissues and your brain with far greater demand than running. That requires special preparation.

Everyone considering sprinting in their training needs to ramp up to the limb velocities, range of motion, and dramatically higher contact forces of the activity. After your first month of the strength training above, complement those training days with one to three days per week of the following drills.

1. jump rope or line hopping, 5 x 10-20, progressing up to 2 x 100 – you must learn to be elastic to sprint safely, so bounce from stiff ankles rather than pogo-ing with your knees and hips
2. stair running, 50-100 total steps, progressing from single-step running to double-step running to single-step high-knee “sprinting” to double-step “sprinting” (it is not a sprint, by definition, because you have very little forward projection with each step and the velocity is so low)
3. after at least two weeks only jumping rope and running up stairs, swap one stair day for a hill day; start easier than you think you need to and only very, very slowly increase your speed
4. after at least two weeks with one stair day and one hill day, advance to both days on the hill at high-output effort but with some proper sprint drills on the flat

3: Start Slowly

Once you’re doing sprint drills on the flat alongside hill sprints, ratchet up your hill sprint effort gradually.

Get up to “real” sprinting volumes – 150 – 300 meters in a training session, ideally divided across reps 20 – 50 meters in length.
Get up to “real” sprinting intensities – the highest stride frequency your brain can handle through the full range of motion (“knee up, toe up; big arms”) from your very first step.
Take “real” sprinting recoveries – approximately 45-60 sec of rest per second of effort. That generally means three to eight minutes of rest between hill reps.

Know that shorter sprints are more taxing on your soft tissues and nervous system than longer sprints. Know that shallower hills are more taxing on your connective tissues than steeper hills (which happen to be more taxing on your muscles).

How Much Sprinting Is Enough?

Sprinting twice per week is plenty for any adult to get the hormonal, cognitive, and coordination benefits of sprinting. If you want to become a competitive Masters sprinter, you start with this 6-12 week ramp-up, then you transition to sport-specific training…which really just means more of the same: more mobile, stronger, more powerful, better coordinated, and more technical. You do the same things better. Additional training days are spent on event-specific practice or on general athletic training, not on sprinting more.

The Bottom Line: Starting Sprinting As A Runner

You may find these suggestions more conservative than you believe you need. Consider this: a hamstring strain takes an experienced and conditioned sprinter a minimum of ten days to rehab; it takes most of us five to six months because of real life. I would much rather you ease in for six weeks than watch you sit on the sideline for six months due to an injury!

If you want your technique evaluated or to be taught the Speed Drill Warmup one-on-one or to discuss training and competing as a Masters sprinter, I’m here for it. Reach out.

Otherwise, train smart and train hard. While I want you to progress slowly…don’t ever train slow.