Speed Training: How to Actually Get Faster

A concrete sprint plan: how many metres per session, how long to rest, which lifts support it, and how to lay out a week that actually makes you faster.

Speed isn't something you either have or don't — it's a trainable skill, but the rules are very different from everything else you do in the gym. The biggest difference: you don't sprint to exhaustion. You sprint fresh, in small doses, with rest periods that will feel absurdly long. Here's what that looks like week to week.

What speed is actually made of

Running speed is the product of two things: stride length and stride frequency. Both depend on how much force you can put into the ground in a very short window. An elite sprinter's foot is on the ground for about 0.08–0.10 seconds per step; a typical recreational athlete sits at 0.13–0.17. That's the whole story in one sentence — you don't have time to push, you have to strike.

A sprint has three phases. Acceleration runs from the start to roughly 20–30 metres: body leaning forward, short steps, pushing at an angle. Maximum velocity shows up somewhere between 25 and 40 metres for most people — you're upright and the foot lands under the hip, not ahead of it. Maintenance is everything after that, where speed is only lost more slowly or more quickly. If you're not a track athlete, the first 30 metres is the part worth training.

Warm-up: 15–20 minutes, no shortcuts

Hamstrings tear in the first few seconds of a maximal sprint, almost never at the end. The warm-up isn't a formality.

5 minutes of easy jogging, heart rate around 130–140.
Dynamic mobility, 8–10 reps per drill: leg swings front-to-back and side-to-side, lunges with rotation, hip circles.
Technical drills: A-skips and B-skips, 2×20 metres each, plus 2×20 metres of high skips.
4–6 build-ups over 40 metres at 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%. Walk back between each one.

What the session itself looks like

Two numbers matter: volume and rest.

Volume: 150–300 total metres above 95% effort per session. That's 6×30 metres, or 4×40 metres, or a mix like 3×20 plus 3×30. More than that isn't toughness, it's just fatigue.

Rest: budget 1–2 minutes for every 10 metres sprinted. For 30 metres that's 3–5 minutes; for 50–60 metres it's 6–8. Yes, you'll spend most of the session sitting down. That's correct.

Quality control: use a stopwatch. Once a rep comes in more than 3% slower than your best of the day (on a 4-second run, about 0.12 s), the session is over — regardless of how many reps were written on the plan.

For acceleration

Starts from a standing or falling position: 6–8×15 metres, 2–3 minutes rest.
Hill sprints on an 8–12% grade: 6–8×20 metres, 3 minutes rest. The hill fixes your body lean for you.
Sled pulls or band resistance: load up to 15% of body weight, 6×20 metres. Heavier than that changes your mechanics instead of building them.

For maximum velocity

Flying sprints: 20 metres of gradual build-up, then 20 metres flat out, 4–6 reps, 5 minutes rest.
Rolling starts, 6×30 metres, 4 minutes rest.

The strength work behind it

Two strength sessions a week, 40–50 minutes each, always after sprinting or on a separate day — never before.

Back squat: 4 sets of 3–5 reps at 80–87% of your one-rep max.
Romanian deadlift: 3×6–8, with a controlled 3-second lowering phase.
Nordic hamstring curl: 3×4–6. Single best piece of hamstring insurance there is.
Box jumps onto a 40–60 cm box: 4×3, full recovery between sets.
Bulgarian split squat: 3×8 per leg.
Trunk holds, front and side: 3×30–45 seconds.

Laying out the week

Three or four sessions is plenty for a recreational athlete:

Monday: acceleration (6×15 m plus 6×20 m uphill) plus strength.
Wednesday: tempo running for recovery — 10×100 metres at 70% speed, 60–90 seconds rest. This isn't speed work; it's the day that flushes your legs out.
Friday: maximum velocity (4×20 m flying plus 4×30 m) plus strength.
Weekend: walking and 20–30 minutes of mobility.

Leave at least 48 hours between two sprint sessions. After 4–6 weeks, take a deload week at half the volume.

Fuel and recovery

Meal 2–3 hours before: 1–1.5 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight (for an 80 kg athlete, 80–120 g), with some protein and minimal fat.
Protein across the day: 1.6–2.0 g/kg (for 80 kg, that's 130–160 g).
Water: 500 ml two hours before, then 150–250 ml every 15–20 minutes during the session.
Sleep 7–9 hours. On 5 hours of sleep, no programme works.

The usual mistakes

Sprinting at the end of a session, already tired. That's conditioning, not speed.
Cutting rest to 60 seconds because longer feels lazy.
Piling up 20×50 metres — plenty of fatigue, zero speed adaptation.
Sprinting on hard pavement with no strength base underneath it.
Obsessing over arm position instead of force into the ground.

When to see a doctor

Sharp pain in the hamstring or groin, especially with a tearing sensation: stop immediately. If you're still limping after three days or bruising appears, get it looked at.
Chest pain, breathlessness out of proportion to the effort, dizziness or a racing, irregular heartbeat — emergency care, no waiting.
If you're over 40, or have high blood pressure, diabetes or a family history of heart disease, get cleared before adding maximal sprints.
Joint pain (knee, ankle) lasting more than two weeks or accompanied by swelling.
Tingling, numbness or weakness down the leg — that isn't a muscle problem.

The short version

Train speed fresh: 150–300 metres of maximal work per session, no more.
Rest 1–2 minutes per 10 metres sprinted; 30 metres means 3–5 minutes off.
Warm up for 15–20 minutes with progressive build-ups, or you're gambling with your hamstrings.
Two strength sessions a week: squat 4×3–5, Romanian deadlift, Nordic curl 3×4–6.
When a rep drops more than 3% below your best of the day, the session is done.