How do i get faster??

Hort101

Hi.. i play loads of sports and i suppose I'm known as a fit and fast chap by now.. (Sorry if it sounds big headed or what ever) how would i improve my speed on the pitch, and reaction speed even more??

Any help/tips ect would be great.. Thanks

tunguska

Hort101 wrote: »

Hi.. i play loads of sports and i suppose I'm known as a fit and fast chap by now.. (Sorry if it sounds big headed or what ever) how would i improve my speed on the pitch, and reaction speed even more??

Any help/tips ect would be great.. Thanks

Short fast stuff is the way to go for football man. Regular football training does involve some sprints but I found that there wasnt enough running specific training involved. I think all out 200s and 400s would definitely be of benefit. Daniels has programs for shorter distances that I think would be good for footballers. Only problem would be time. I mean you'll train with your team at least twice/week and then a match on saturday/sunday, so that doesnt leave a lot for extra speed work that wont overcook your central nervous system. Maybe one other session on your own time would do the job. You could try somethng very basic like 12 x 400s with 60secs recovery, really hammering the intervals though. Yo can get the daniels book on amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Daniels-Running-Formula-programs-marathon/dp/0736054928/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332585228&sr=1-1-spell

Hort101

Thanks very much I will be purchasing that book..

Do you think doing ladders would help?? just short steps and short speedy runs??

tunguska

Hort101 wrote: »

Thanks very much I will be purchasing that book..

Do you think doing ladders would help?? just short steps and short speedy runs??

Yeah ladders, cones, plyometrics, all of that helps. But its good to add longer intervals aswell. I mean you could run the pitch length flat out, jog the pitch length for recovery then go again, and do that x 12. When I played most of the lads would run out of gas at around 70mins, and if at that stage you're not wasted, you could probably skin the fastest guy on the pitch regardless. So it'd be worth doing longer stuff aswell like 800s, 1000s, even mile repeats.

MD1990

do u do any weights?
start doing doing some Squats
also start doing Pylometrics (Lots of different jumps)
when wanting to improve speed do high intensity workouts with 2-3 Mins recovery between sets

Hort101

Yeah for the last two years iv trained over the winter and just went all out in the gym.. i done work myself and then trained with the team later in the winter and done 2 months strength and conditioning training.. to be honest there was nights that we where doing so much squats i thought my legs where going to fall off.. does all this pushing to the limit work?? do squats do much for you?? and what other exercises are good for speed??

ecoli

The lads are on the right track. You need to work like a sprinter moreso than a distance runner.

Here are a few links which should point you in the right direction:

www.charliefrancis.com/community/

This is basically a great sprinter website from the man who basically defined modern day sprinting

http://www.elitetrack.com/

Very much a sprint focus forum which has a well of useful information

http://brianmac.co.uk/index.htm

Another good source in terms of Plyometrics, weights and sprint training


Hopefully you find something here that will help

Hort101

Thanks very much

erico956

I use to run track back in junior high and high school. i joined the army and it turned into long distance running for me. I still remember though, that for us, in track, we would do a long distance run (3-5 miles) and while on the run, interject a few quick spurts of about 4 to 500 feet.



www.gymtrainingforums.com

Getonwithit

Are you (op) asking how would you get faster, improve your reaction time for functional purposes in a team sport?

Hort101

Yea i just wanna get so light on my feet that no one can keep up?? i want fast reactions, great top speed, and extremely fast acceleration..

YFlyer

Heard Gareth Bale was a handy runner in his teens.

RandyMann

Hort101 wrote: »

Yeah for the last two years iv trained over the winter and just went all out in the gym.. i done work myself and then trained with the team later in the winter and done 2 months strength and conditioning training.. to be honest there was nights that we where doing so much squats i thought my legs where going to fall off.. does all this pushing to the limit work?? do squats do much for you?? and what other exercises are good for speed??

Besides squats, there are deadlifts and overhead squats which are good. Sprinters tend to go for the olympic type lifts of power cleans and snatches which develope explosive power. These compound exercises are difficult to perform and you would need to shown how to do these by someone qualified in this area to be safe.
My guess is if you practiced 30m repeats at 100% effort mixed with 60m repeats on another day would develope acceleration etc. Also hill work would be beneficial. You would also need to factor in some football practice too though if you have enough time in your week

RandyMann

Hort101 wrote: »

Yea i just wanna get so light on my feet that no one can keep up?? i want fast reactions, great top speed, and extremely fast acceleration..

Don't we all mate !

Getonwithit

RandyMann wrote: »

Besides squats, there are deadlifts and overhead squats which are good. Sprinters tend to go for the olympic type lifts of power cleans and snatches which develope explosive power. These compound exercises are difficult to perform and you would need to shown how to do these by someone qualified in this area to be safe.
My guess is if you practiced 30m repeats at 100% effort mixed with 60m repeats on another day would develope acceleration etc. Also hill work would be beneficial. You would also need to factor in some football practice too though if you have enough time in your week

Best answer here. Not much to add to that
Take your pick from
-Flying 30s.. Jog in and then acce,erate for 30 meters, jog on for 70m before bursting again (best suited to your functional requirements)
- All out 60s- Flat out 60m sprint walk back recovery of 3/4 minutes. 5 should be sufficent. Doesnt look like much but it will feel it..
- Hill sprints 30-100m uphill, focus on form.. use of arms, driving knee. 6-8

General fitness and conditioning is important as well and all sesions should be preceded by a good warm and followed by a good warm down.

dna_leri

+1 on what the last two posters said, you will not do many 200m+ sprints in a game.

Some stats, from study of soccer:
Player covers 9.2 – 13.3Km
30 – 80 runs between 85 -95 % speed
13 runs at 95-100% speed
Average distance sprinted – 13.5m
1012 changes in movement pattern
Sprint – 1 per minute
Movement pattern change – 11 per minute

One of the principles of training is specificity in terms of distance and movement pattern.

So you should work on:
Quickness off the mark: Re-action, Sprint over 5m
Acceleration sprints over 10m, 15m 20m
Ability to change direction or pace over 10m, 15, 20m
Maximum effective pace over 20m, 25, 30m

Speed training specific to your sport along with supervised plyometrics and weights will give most benefit.

Hort101

So true