How can you become a better sprinter? What are Tim Ferriss’s tips for becoming a great sprinter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In The 4-Hour Body<\/em>, author Tim Ferriss trained with top athletes and coaches to understand performance science<\/a> applied to his body. He learned some tips for sprinting during one of his endeavors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read on for some tips for sprinting Tim Ferriss learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Now that we understand the value of strength training for athletes<\/a>, it\u2019s time to look at training for specific sports. First, we\u2019ll look at tips for sprinting. The author spoke with two different experts about how to increase sprinting prowess: Barry Ross, who coaches track athletes, and Joe DeFranco, who teaches football players how to ace the physical tests in the NFL Combine, part of the tryout and drafting process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barry Ross is the expert coach who trained Olympian Allyson Felix. He spends a lot of time developing his athletes’ strength\u2014most of his trainees can lift more than double their body weight, and they achieved these results in fewer than 15 minutes of lifting time a week. Among the tips for sprinting, strength is important because athletes slow down when their muscle fibers aren\u2019t strong enough to maintain tension during impact<\/strong>, such as when a runner\u2019s foot hits the ground. (Previously, coaches believed that athletes slowed down because muscles ran out of fuel.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ross uses a three-step process to train his athletes, and you can use the process too:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You need to be able to run a 100-meter dash in less than 23.8 seconds before you can start training to compete. To get to this baseline, walk 7.5 minutes in one direction and then walk back to your starting point in another 7.5 minutes.<\/strong> Walk as fast as you can\u2014it should feel inefficient and you should want to switch to jogging (but don\u2019t). Do this three times a week, and each time, walk farther. It will take about four weeks to get in shape and be capable of running the 100-meter in the required time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019re in shape, to build strength, follow this program three times a week (an earlier version of which Allyson Felix used):<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exercise #1: 6-7 reps of over-under dynamic stretching.<\/strong> Using two power racks, set one bar at waist height and the other at 30-32 inches off the ground. Squat and step sideways under the lower bar<\/a> and then step over the second one<\/a>. If you don\u2019t have access to a power rack, use benches or ropes. This exercise should take less than five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exercise #2: Do either 10-12 push-ups OR the following bench press sequence<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exercise #3: Deadlifts sequence.<\/strong> To deadlift, use a sumo stance. Keep your back straight and keep your shoulders in the locked position. After lifting to knee height, drop the weight instead of lowering it to avoid hamstring injuries<\/strong> (if you\u2019re not also training sprinting, which involves a lot of hamstrings, it\u2019s fine to lower the weight). You shouldn\u2019t spend more than 10 seconds under tension\u2014spending any longer leads to lactic acid production, which creates muscle soreness. Do the following sequence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exercise #4: 3 sets of 3 reps of the torture twist.<\/strong> Sit on a bench and tuck your feet under a bar or another bench. Keep your body parallel to the ground. Turn to your left and stay there for three seconds. Then turn to your right and stay there for three seconds. That\u2019s one rep. After each set, sit up and take a 30-second rest. As you improve, you can increase to 5 reps and increase your holding time to 15 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can lift and then go directly to running practice, but don\u2019t run and then lift\u2014you might injure yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tips for sprinting speed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a departure from conventional sprint training, which usually suggests you run the distance you\u2019ll be racing multiple times at different percentages of your maximum speed. This technique isn\u2019t effective because no one knows the exact percentage of effort or speed they\u2019re using. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Conventional running training also recommends running longer than you\u2019ll have to in a race to improve your endurance, but Ross doesn\u2019t recommend this. None of his athletes who compete at 400m or less ever run a training distance of more than 70 meters, and this doesn\u2019t hurt their performance at all\u2014his athletes do very well. For example, using the training, one of his 100-meter sprinters reduced her time from 13.35 seconds to 12.75 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Ross, DeFranco has his athletes run shorter distances than they\u2019ll ultimately need to run. In football, as part of NFL tryouts, hopefuls have to sprint a 40-yard dash. Joe DeFranco has his athletes spend 80% of their training time on 10-yard dashes. In addition to Ross\u2019s reasons, DeFranco finds that practicing shorter distances is effective because it gives athletes more opportunity to practice their starting stance and experiment with posture and stride.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n DeFranco\u2019s method is effective\u2014for example, Dallas Cowboys\u2019 Miles Austin ran a time of 4.67 seconds in the 40-yard dash even though he\u2019d only practiced that distance three times, and had practiced the 10-yard distance over 100 times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the help of DeFranco, the author improved his 40-yard speed from 5.94 seconds to 5.61 seconds using the following tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Wear cleats.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Warm up properly<\/strong>, using exercises that include the same postures and techniques required for a sprint:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Use an effective starting position. <\/strong>If you\u2019re right-handed, set up behind the line with your left foot a foot behind the line, and your right foot right behind your left heel. Your feet should be hip-width apart. Put the thumb, index, and middle finger of your right hand on the line. Put your weight on your right arm so that your shoulder is forward of your hand. Bend your left elbow at a 90-degree angle. Look at a spot on the ground three feet in front of your left foot and keep your head down. (If you\u2019re left-handed, do everything opposite.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Start with good technique.<\/strong> Your right arm shoots backward. Your first step is with your left leg and it should land on the spot you focused your gaze on in the previous step. Your knee should be forward of your toes when you land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Maintain good form as you sprint.<\/strong> As you run, your upper body should always be forward of your lower body and your chin should be down (if it\u2019s up, your feet hit the ground heel-first, which can injure the hamstrings). Use as few steps as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hamstring injuries are common in sprinting. There are some prehab<\/a> exercises you can do to reduce your chance of injury:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your hamstrings start to feel tight while training, they\u2019re close to tearing, so stop your workout and rest. Don\u2019t stretch (the muscle is already overstretched). Instead, ice the muscle and apply arnica montana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How can you become a better sprinter? What are Tim Ferriss’s tips for becoming a great sprinter? In The 4-Hour Body, author Tim Ferriss trained with top athletes and coaches to understand performance science applied to his body. He learned some tips for sprinting during one of his endeavors. Read on for some tips for sprinting Tim Ferriss learned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,48],"tags":[159],"class_list":["post-19151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-self-improvement","category-sports","tag-the-4-hour-body","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nTraining Tips for Sprinting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Barry Ross and Track and Field<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step #1: Get in Shape<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Step #2: Get Stronger<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Step #3: Get Faster<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Joe DeFranco and the 40-Yard Dash<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Tips for Sprinting Without Hamstring Tears<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n