What is Sprinting?

It may surprise you, but even in a 100m race it is not possible to sprint 100% flat out the whole way, you would tire and slow towards the end. This is even more of a factor in a 200m race.

So, we are looking to train for pure speed and also for speed endurance (which is the maintenance of speed up to the point at which high levels of lactic acid start restricting speed).

Put in its simplest form, running fast is a combination of how many strides you can do (cadence) and how long each stride is (stride length). Both of these can be improved, but generally more can be done to improve an athlete's stride length, cadence is more down to genetics.

Here's an example of the sorts of videos that we have throughout this session to help you with your sprinting.

Learn about the Components of Sprint Training

Over the next few pages we explain speed, speed endurance and weights training, power exercises, mobility, recovery and race specific training for sprinters to help you achieve the best possible results in the 100m and 200m.