May 14, 2017 – How to Run Faster

Growing up everyone had that one gym classmate that could just burn you in a race. You always heard a common phrase from teachers and coaches: ‘You can’t teach that speed’. This is true to an extent, but my belief is that these kids just have a knack for the fundamentals of running fast. Some of these techniques can still be taught. As a refresher from the last running series: running is a simple formula:

SPEED = Stride Frequency X Stride Length

If you look at the 100m dash finalists, they’re all different heights, weights and muscle sizes. Each has found their own way to manipulate the number or length of their steps to be lightning fast. The legend Usain Bolt for example has a big advantage with his monster leg length. He only needs around 40 steps for the 100m dash!

All this speed comes at a cost. The faster you run the bigger the muscles you end up using the more energy you use. For example when sprinting you’re using more glute max and hamstrings; whereas jogging you use more calfs and lower leg muscles. But a lot of the same rules apply as jogging:

• Good Torso Positioning
• Limit Overstriding
• Neutral Food Strike
• Limit Vertical Bouncing

There are obviously some technique differences but your goal is still similar: efficiently convert as much energy as we can forward. Next posts we’ll get into starting and accelerating