Exercises to Improve Your Running Speed

By Zakwan Zaini

The current men’s world record of 9.58 seconds is held by Usain Bolt, set at the 2009 World Athletics Championship final in Berlin, Germany. How do these athletes train to improve their running speed?

Before we jump into a training method, we need to know the fundamentals first. The most important factors are acceleration, maximal speed of movement, and speed maintenance. Good strength and power is also one of the components that is required for better speed movement but the athletes speed can be slowed down if they are too heavy.

There are tons of exercises that you can choose to help with your running speed progression but to choose the one that best suits is the tricky part. So, here’s a list of exercises that everyone can do even for the beginner level. Once you start to see improvement, then you can increase the intensity. 

Power + Strength Training

1. Box Jump (6 reps maximum, 1 set)

2. Single Leg Hops (6 hops each leg, 1 set)

3. Squat Jump (6 reps, 1 set)

4. Depth Jump (6 reps each leg, 1 set)

5. Dumbbell Swing (12 reps, 2 set)

6. Dumbbell Front Squat (12 reps, 2 set)

7. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift (12 reps, 2 set)

8. Bulgarian Split Squat (12 reps each leg, 2 set)

For more information on our personal training programs or if you have any questions, please contact us at 012-334-1511 or send us an enquiry here.

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