Reaching top speed on the run can feel both exhilarating and exhausting. It takes full-body muscle activation, power, force, and strength to get the legs to turn over quickly so you can sprint fast. And learning how to sprint faster means putting some key training techniques on your schedule and zeroing in on a few form points to help you run more efficiently.
For that, we explain the basic mechanics behind sprinting faster, plus what to focus on when it comes to form to increase your top speed. And we even offer tips on what to include in your workouts to build the power you need for faster sprints. Get ready to dig deep and let those feet fly!
The Biomechanics of Sprinting Faster
One of the main factors for speed is form. Sprinting isn’t exactly just a sped-up version of your regular running form during an easy run. It’s similar, but different: The movement patterns of running and sprinting are similar in that you still need to put one foot in front of the other, but different in that sprinting is a much more dynamic version of running—more explosive, to be precise.
If you compared them on a continuum, walking and easy jogging would be on the left side, while sprinting would be on the far right. Think of the progression like this: walking to jogging to running to fast running to sprinting. All will get you from point A to point B, but sprinting requires more power and muscle activation to cover the same stretch of road.
Another difference between jogging, running, and sprinting is foot strike. When walking, jogging, and running, many runners land with a heel strike. The faster you run, the more likely you are to shift from heel strike to midfoot to a forefoot landing.
9 Steps to Reaching a Faster Sprint Speed
If you want to get faster at sprinting, the key is to nail down the basics. Follow these nine steps to speed up your sprints.
1. Warm Up
The harder you run, the more vital it is to warm up your muscles. Walk and easy run for a minimum of five to 10 minutes, and include dynamic exercises or drills such as high knees, butt kicks, and skipping to further prepare your body to run fast.
Our five-minute warmup routine will open up and stretch your hips, quads, hamstrings, and back. To support the biomechanics of faster sprinting, you can also try our more explosive form drills, which help get the body ready for the power it needs to supercharge your speed. (Doing these several times a week is a great way to stay consistent and see results!)
2. Focus on Posture and Core
Keep your torso upright, shoulders relaxed and away from your ears, and engage your core (don’t collapse your upper body forward). Unleash your proud pose, chest lifted, and lean forward from the ankles.
Incorporate core-strengthening moves into your workouts to help give you the power to push forward and maintain this taller posture. This can include moves like planks, side planks, sprinter sit-ups, and leg lifts.
3. Think Circular
Train yourself to think like a cyclist and move your feet in a circular motion, raising your thighs up until they are parallel to the ground, and driving your knees up and down. Think about the motion your feet make as being round like a circle, rather than an oval or a reaching-out, “pawing” motion.
4. Land Efficiently
Focus on pushing off from your toes to propel yourself forward. Running softer and landing quieter may help reduce injury, too, research shows.
Working on plyometrics during your strength sessions will help with this softer landing. Think: Squat jumps, plyometric lunges, and skaters, all of which hone your explosive power, while helping you build the stability you need to land softly.
5. Drive Your Arms
Hold your arms in a bent position at 90 degrees, and drive your elbows straight backward to create momentum. The position helps ensure that your movement and force travel in the same direction.
It’s a more exaggerated arm swing than a jog. Move your arms through a wider range of motion with your hands coming up as high as your chin and backward toward your butt. But try to avoid letting your arms cross the centerline of your body. Everyone’s natural mechanics are different, but doing so will cause rotation in your torso, which leads to inefficient running.
6. Shorten Your Stride
Long strides are energy wasters—you end up producing more vertical energy and projecting more upward motion than forward motion. Focus on cadence speed rather than distance as you sprint. You’ll run faster and more efficiently by taking short, super quick strides.
Increasing your cadence by using a metronome, running to the beat of faster music, and practicing on the treadmill can help with these faster steps.
7. Kick Your Butt
As you push off from your forefoot and toes, bring your heels up toward your butt before pulling your knee forward, swinging your leg out, and landing again. Doing so will help engage more muscles in your legs and glutes for a more powerful stride. You need those glutes activated and strong to offer more power on the run, after all.
8. Breathe
Relax into your running pattern. Syncing your breath to the rhythm of your feet will reduce wasted energy from muscle tension. Think about breathing from your belly a.k.a. diaphragmatic breathing, which you should practice both on the run and when you’re out of your running shoes.
9. Perform Rolling Starts
Try this drill to feel the difference between walking, jogging, running, and sprinting: Start by walking, and increase your speed every 10 seconds until you reach a sprinting speed.
As with any high-intensity workout, a little goes a long way. Work into high-intensity sprint training gradually to allow your body to adapt to the demands of the workout, and stick with it to see improvements in your running fitness and overall health.
