Increase Your Speed: for athletes

Hi! I hope you’re doing great, really great. Today I’m going to explain the ultimate formula to gain speed and agility as an athlete. This will be useful for many sports like soccer, tennis, basketball, and of course, it directly impacts track and field sprinting.

You’ll probably need a gym, but you can also find routines to do at home. Let’s get started.

You’ve probably seen top-level athletes running at high speeds, for example: Kylian Mbappé, Usain Bolt, Cristiano Ronaldo, and more recently, Vinicius Jr. These beasts have reached top speeds of over 35 km/h, with the fastest being Usain at 42 km/h (which is actually a world record). And if you’re wondering—yes—you are capable of reaching those levels. To do that, we’re going to focus on power, which is the result of: muscle contraction + strength. The speed of muscle contractions and relaxations (the fascia) directly affects your speed, since it determines how fast your legs move in the action of lifting, touching the ground, and pushing off. The faster you can do this, the faster you’ll be. In short, this refers to how fast your legs move. This is also known as the “fascia,” and when we train it, we are improving the elasticity and responsiveness of the muscle fibers and the connective tissue that surrounds and supports the muscles.

On the other hand, there’s leg strength. The more force your legs can produce, the more you can push off when your foot hits the ground. All of this comes down to power, and with the right training, it can turn you into a cheetah. Here’s an example video showing what having high leg power looks like:

So here I’ll explain how to train contractions and strength so that, with a lot of effort, you can reach that level—or at least become much faster.

First, to train muscle contractions, we’ll use “plyometrics,” which are based on continuous explosive jumps to increase explosiveness (contraction and relaxation) throughout each set. Besides improving contractions, plyometrics can also improve your endurance, jumping ability, and overall injury resistance. I recommend doing it in a gym, as you can train both leg strength and plyometrics there. Ideally, you should do plyometrics 2 to 3 times a week. Here are some exercises you can use to build your routine. You can also search online for many more exercises to create your plan.

Exercises: lateral jumps, explosive squats, high-speed rope jumps (you can also do jumps without a rope using weights), box jumps, and jumping lunges with light weight.

Technique: To perform these exercises correctly, follow this: as soon as you touch the ground or finish a rep, go straight into the next one as fast as possible. These exercises are also known for being very intense.

Sets and reps: 30 seconds, 3–5 sets, or 12–15 reps, 3–5 sets.

Photos:

Explosive squat

175735207-hombre-haciendo-ejercicio-de-sentadilla-explosiva-ilustración-de-vector-plano-aislado-sobre-fondo.jpg

(credits https://es.123rf.com)

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High-intensity rope jumps

(credits https://www.entrenamientos.com)

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Box jumps

196915080-young-crossfit-woman-doing-box-jumping-at-the-gym.jpg

(credits https://es.123rf.com)

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Jumping lunges

(credits https://es.123rf.com)

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Lateral jumps

(credits https://www.runnersworld.com)

(You can search the web for more photos or example videos if you don’t have a clear idea.)

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Now, to train leg strength, we’ll focus on strengthening the “quadriceps,” “hamstrings,” and “glutes” as follows: you’re going to do 5 to 8 sets with 2 to 6 reps using the maximum weight you can lift. The formula for gaining strength only is based on low reps with heavy weight, and that’s exactly what we’re doing here. You’ll only gain strength, not muscle mass. But if you want to start by building some muscle mass first, that’s fine too—just don’t overdo it. Here are some photos and names of exercises you can do:

Deadlift