Tuesday 31 May 2016

How to Sprint Faster

Sprinting is a skill most of us athletic fitness freaks have, but sprinting fast can be one skill in a thousand, million, possibly a billion in which case you should be running for the gold medal against Usain Bolt in the Rio Olympics! However, many of you I am sure have no intention in winning the Olympics gold but instead may want to improve sprinting for better rugby; more rowing power; or even be better at playing tag with your friends. But how can we acquire such a indispensable and essential skill? Can it be trained and improved or is it all to do with genes. You're about to find out so keep reading!
Genes
It is true that athletic ability can be based a lot on genes. You may have seen only black African people usually being in the 100-200 meter finals. It is true that genes are the reason for their success but always remember genes can be changed. Let's say you have diabetes-B in your family it doesn't at all mean that you will get diabetes. You can be the different one and be healthy to avoid diabetes. Similarly genes can be altered by training them, then they can also be passed on once altered. So never let a person tell you that it's not in your genes. We're all the same, roughly, and genes don't matter!

Sprinting is about Pace
Sprinting is about power yes, but it is mostly about the pace. Not pace as in how fast you go when running, I'm talking about the how quickly you can rotate your thighs and also how quickly you should be taking of with every step. With every stride you take, ensure you quickly take off from the ground as quick as you touch it. The ground is you enemy! This will mean you won't be wasting too much time adjusting your grip, which your feet  do when they touch the ground. As soon as you touch it go! How quickly you thighs work is important too, the quicker your other thigh comes to take the next stride, the quicker you can take your thigh on the ground off the ground. 
To practice how to quicken the movement of your thighs the best exercise would be step ups of a bench. Do this as fast as you can for 1 minute about 5 times taking 30-60 seconds breaks in between because it is important to be fully charged before the next set. To up-en the workout and make it harder you can carry dumbbells or attach weights to your waist. This will improve the amount of power you use to step of the ground. But remember to hold the dumbbells close to your chest with your arms bent to avid any elbow or wrist joint damage.

The Splits
The splits are very useful exercises for sprinting. Many of you boys/men will not want to do this as it is harder for males and easier for females. But trust me, splits can make you run further with every stride, literally! Usually taller sprinters are better than smaller sprinters because there strides are longer and can run much fast cause of this. I can't give tips on how to get taller to improve your sprinting, but I can give tips on have to take longer strides when running. You need to do the splits, this will stretch your Iliopsoas and Hamstring. If you cannot perform the splits for whatever reasonthere are other exercises that will stretch the same group of muscles and tendons, watch this video for information.


Explosive Exercises
Another key aspect to sprinting perfection is having lots of explosive strength. What is explosive strength? Explosive strength is the type of strength which you use to quickly push or pull something. It is a mix of speed and power, to do everything quickly but with power. Exercises like jumping squatsjump lunges and tuck jumps will really help you do the sprints as it will mean you will run with explosions in your steps. You can measure how much explosive power your legs have by measuring how high you can jump, height jumped minus your height. anything above 35 inches is good for a sprinter.

Last thing Posture, and the way you run is also important. You should be running with your back straight with chest out, knees high not back bent, leaning forward, a good posture can make improvements by seconds on your high score. Do all of these are you will sprint faster. Remember to Subscribe to this blog for weekly updates. Don't be shy to press that share button underneath either. And if you need any help, comment in the comment section down below and I will deliver personal advice to you. And please, please, please comment on how I should improve my blog.