Advice on sprinting

sound_wave

hey all! heres the story..

with the rugby season approaching fast i have succeded in achieving my target weight for the season, 90kg, through working hard on my running and my lifting.

now i want to start to focus on building my speed . ie: aceleration and top speed. i know this wont come over night so i am willing to work very hard over the next 2 months.

so any advice guys/gals on programs, shuttles weights links etc to help develop my speed work!

thanks
Pat

tunney

The thing about speed work is that it is the type of training that is most likely to cause severe injuries. Its generally considered by runners that proper speed work should not be done until you have achieved a decent level of aerobic fitness and are clockin up a fair few miles a week.

Presuming that you have built up a decent base try some of the following making sure to do no more than 2 speed work sessions a week.

Warm up by doing a 10 minute jog and streching and cool down the same way.

*Interval training
Generally do my interval time based but can be done on a distance basis as well.
Go very hard, nearly as hard as you can but avoiding flat out sprints, for 1 minute.
Jog lightly for 1.5 to 2 minutes
Repeat this 6-10 times.
If done properly you'll be wrecked afterwards

*Fartlek training
This done on how your body feels rather than time or distance. Is meant to be fun.
Basically you pick an object in the distance, an arbitrary distance away and run faster than normal to it. Near-sprint, strides anything you want. Then once you've reached it, jog till you feel like you can go again. A HRM comes in handy here.
Only problem with this is having the will-power to force yourself to go hard and go often.
I like this one

*Hill repeats
Find a big long steep hill.
Run x hundred metres up it hard.
Jog back down
Do then N times.
Can't say I've done this but many many people swear by it.

There are loads more types of speed work training but I don't think that they would be of interest to you.

As for weights:
Squats
Calf raises
Hammers

Work these muscle groups and it should help.

Don't try doing any speed work unless you are running at least 20 miles a week. (Some say 15 miles a week, others 40, I say 20 )

sound_wave

well im currently running about 25 miles per week so i should be sorted on that front.

thanks Tunney ill try out all that. Roll on the training!

Thanks
Pat

Genghis

I've tried interval training similar to tunneys description - I 800m (1/2 mile) in under 3 mins per interval, and have built this up by adding one session a week from an initial 4 to a current 10 intervals.

It is very demanding, very tough (especially on later intervals), but extremely rewarding in terms of speed. While I was following this programme for a marathon event, even over 2-3 months I noticed significant speed improvements - example, I ran 13 miles about 12 weeks ago in 1hr51 (or 8.54 minutes a mile). Last Monday I ran 11.8 miles in 1hr23 (or 7.04 minutes a mile).

Try to identify the best speed work for Rugby - my goal was to be able to run faster for long distances - you may be more interested in being able to sprint faster over very short distances.