April 27, 1999

By Jim Sayih

Lately I’ve received many inquiries about how to increase one’s physical speed. Whether it’s football, baseball, swimming, or running, the harsh reality is that some people are simply born to be fast. Sports performance as well as physique development is primarily determined by one’s DNA. You might as well thank your parents for the great gift of fast twitch (strength/power/size) fibers or your lack thereof. Does this mean that those with genetically unsuitable parents have to give up hope? Not really. Even though genetics is the primary factor for speed development, there are still several other factors which can be altered in order to maximize your speed potential. Technique, reaction time, rate of force development, acceleration, strength, and power are all variables that add up to maximum speed.

Regardless of the sport, being fast is of utmost importance. Obviously, sprinter like Michael Johnson has to run fast to win. But Michael Jordan also has to run fast to win. Let’s not forget Terrell Davis either. Pick the sport, and I’ll bet speed plays a major role. How do these people train different than the standard "bodybuilding" routines you will find in most mainstream publications? The answer is "Specificity". Specifically, think about using movements in training that most closely resemble running, and performing those movements in a way that places high demands on the appropriate energy system for your sport. Now target your fast twitch muscle fibers, and leave your slow twitch fibers alone! This is the formula for speed specificity.

Hitting the stair machine or stationary bike may be a great cross-training activity, but it will do little or nothing for improving your running speed. If you want to run fast, then run fast. Use the movement that most closely resembles the activity you are trying to enhance. Other activities, like cycling, do not have as great a transfer of training effect to running speed as running itself. In the weight-room, this means getting off the bench and getting into the squat rack. Running is primarily hip extension. Squatting is primarily hip extension. To get even more specific, you can try one-legged squats. The best way to do these is to get a pair of dumbells and perform them like a step-up on a bench. Lunging could also be used as a running specific weight training movement, but tends to be less explosive. To mimic the explosive hip extension of sprinting, try clean pulls from the floor. Throw in some stiff-leg deadlifts for hamstrings and your choice of abdominal work for trunk strength and stability. This is what mechanical specificity is all about.

Metabolic specificity is the next issue we must address in order to maximize our speed development workouts. Your body has three energy production systems: the ATP-PC system; the fast Glycolytic system; and the Oxidative system. The ATP-PC system provides energy rapidly and predominates activities that last less than 10 seconds. The fast glycolytic system begins to provide substantial energy in the 15 second to 3 minute range, and the oxidative system begins to provide substantial energy after three minutes of activity. Why should an athlete wishing to develop speed for a sport that contains running bursts lasting less than three minutes (like football, baseball, or basketball) perform traditional "aerobic" training like running three miles? They shouldn’t! This goes against metabolic specificity. Train the energy systems which will predominate the activity. If you make the longest play in football, you can only run 100 yards. That should take less than 15 seconds. When building speed endurance, use distances or times in your workout no more than 2 – 3 times the actual distance or time of your event. When working on maximum speed or acceleration, use distances or times less than or equal to the actual distance or time of your event.

A third way of maximizing your speed potential is to target your fast twitch muscle fibers. These fibers are most affected by high intensity, short bursts of activity. High-intensity weight training movements as well as repeated short sprints will properly stimulate fast twitch fibers. Equally as important as stimulating the proper fibers is not stimulating slow twitch fibers. These provide no benefit for speed/strength/power athletes. They are primarily activated by low-intensity, long-duration movements, like high-repetition weight training, and distance running. By performing high repetitions (> 15) or running for distance, there is the danger of converting fast twitch to slow twitch fibers. And if, by the grace of your parents, you don’t have the fast twitch fibers to spare, this is a definite way to decrease your speed.

The following tables give a six-week program for increasing your speed. Sports vary with the distance in which you will need maximum speed – so this program will take the middle ground and focus specifically on 50-m sprint speed. Test yourself before you start, follow the rules, and see how fast you can get.