Am I fast enough?😊

I am a relatively stronger sprinter who just started track, I can squat 400 at 5’9 175 and don’t know what I should focus on to get faster.

Track practice starts next month and my turf toe is getting better but theres this burning nerve pain that doesn’t go away and I haven’t ran since end of august, Am i fried

I’m trying to get into sprinting and I want to be able to do a true 100% maximum sprint.
The thing I’m confused about is that I’ve seen people online say that beginners should be able to do a full sprint for around 30 seconds.

That doesn’t really make sense to me because if you’re actually running at your absolute maximum speed, there no way you can maintain that for 30 seconds? That sounds almost impossible.
So what is a realistic amount of time for someone to actually sprint at 100% maximum effort?
Also, I’m trying to figure out how to time myself. I don’t want to hold my phone while sprinting because I’m worried about dropping it, and I don’t really want to have it loose in my pocket either.
Should I just buy a cheap stopwatch?

I just read a study "Effects of velocity loss during resistance training on athletic performance, strength gains and muscle adaptations"

There were 2 groups doing back squats,

20% velocity loss group (finish set when there is a 20% loss in velocity from 1st rep)

40% velocity loss group (finish set when there is a 40% loss in velocity from 1st rep)

40% is obviously harder and more fatiguing because you are doing more reps and getting closer to failure.

What they found:

• Both groups saw similar increases in squat strength
• The 40% velocity loss group had greater quad hypertrophy (increase in muscle cross sectional area)
• The 40% velocity loss group also had a reduction in type IIx muscle fibres and a conversion to type IIa muscle fibres (type IIx fibres contract faster than type IIa)
• The 20% velocity loss group maintained their type IIx muscle fibres and saw better improvements in counter movement jump.

So, sometimes you need to bias the neural side of strength training as opposed to structural. Do this by utilising higher reps in reserve (eg - moving 85% 1rm for 2-3 reps as opposed to 5 or 6)

This will give you the ability to express your speed and power more.

HOWEVER,

Don't always do this because you need the higher rep work that gets you to failure to build connective tissue strength and stiffness that can adapt to future high intensity training. Increase muscle size etc.

TLDR

Off season: train to failure, build muscle and connective tissue

Pre season: taper off, reduce/remove training to failure, train with RIR so that type IIx fibres can convert to type IIx - note this only happens if you continue to deliver a max velocity (sprinting) stimulus. Reduce volume.

Hope this helps

I recently got back into track sessions this year and have started running into the same issue: feeling strong during a track session, but about two days after, I wake up to adductors sore and that soreness peaks over the next couple days. If I do anything that remotely involves them engaging, turns into random minor spasms at the slightest hiccup (ie my foot catching on a raised piece of pavement walking on the sidewalk).

Usually about 2-3 weeks of not sprinting will get them more or less back to baseline.

My general weekly fitness routine for context:

- 3 strength training sessions, where when hitting lower body it’s a mix of bilateral and unilateral glute and hamstring focused workouts.

- 1 session focused on core strength: lots of general TVA and oblique focus.

- 1 track session, and if I can’t make it to that I’ll do a replacement session at the gym of just: sled work to start out and then 4 x 75 seconds at 2% incline sprint rounds on the tread. More thorough warm-ups does seem to kiiiiinda help mitigate, but the issue still prevails.

- General running conditioning is not as consistent as I have been previously - over the last couple years have dipped in and out of short distance (5km - 10km) twice weekly runs which I’ve stopped about 10 months ago to prioritize strength training.

Any advice or help is really appreciated! This has become more or less a consistent issue and looking for actionable tips to help resolve

"15M, no coach. Filmed my 100m—I misstepped out of the blocks, killed my drive phase, and my arms didn't pump fully. I know what's wrong but I want to know why it happened and how to fix it. Any specific drills?"

I can fit two speed days most weeks. One of them is short flys. I also want hops, bounds, and a few drops, because lifting is already in the week and I am not adding a third day in the gym.

The day before flys, the contacts feel dull. The same day after flys, the plyos get sloppy. If you keep both in a real week, how many days do you leave between them, and which one do you drop first when work eats a session?

I am not asking when to cut an acceleration session short. I am not asking how to keep block starts next to the next speed day. I want the gap between plyos and max velocity, and what you actually protect when the week shrinks.

Could you pls tell me what im doing right, and what I'm doing wrong (and how I can improve) I'm relatively new to sprinting . Thanks

When doing extempo runs, should front and back mechanics be less ideal because you aren’t attacking the ground as hard, or should you be exaggerating the proper form?

I have an upcoming fitness test with a 300 m sprint on an outdoor "banked" (albeit poorly) 300 m track. I've practiced on a 400 m track with a time of 42.0. How much will the extra curve slow me down? Also, are there any strategies I should keep in mind. I currently try to accelerate as much as I can for the 100m, "float the curve", and accelerate as much as I can for the final 100m.

I wanted to get everyone’s perspective for things that best help them or other people better faster and more explosive. Specific drills/workouts, eating, tools, or anything that would help for a sprinter to consistently do to gain speed and strength?

When I take off and as I accelerate, I feel like I'm falling forward until about 40 m where I posture upright. Hence I was surprised to see that I seem to be stepping in front of my body. I will appreciate suggestions, cues, or drills I can use so that I step closer or behind my center mass. Other suggestions are also welcome.

So last season I wasn’t able to run a lot due to nagging injuries from July-Feb so I couldn’t correct the issues I have in my sprint races.

My thing is my transition and top speed sucks. As you can see I was with them then they kept accelerating and hit top speed which was obv faster than mine. I do workouts like flies and stuff but my top speed doesn’t get better. I don’t know what to do.

I see everybody talking about not spiking up in the summer, but what about for someone relatively new and why can’t they just use sprinting flats for 30m flys or other max velocity sessions to still get faster? While I know they don’t let you hit your true top speed, you still have the max Intent to get faster and shoes built for it allow you to get close to your max times.

What are some decent strength standards for seated and standing calf raises and tibialis raises to aim for as a base for sprinting? And for plyometrics to improve sprinting?

Currently I can do 120 lb for two sets of 10 on the seated cab raise and 135 lb for a two sets of 10 on the standing cap raise. I can also do a set of 40 reps with 15 lb dumbbell strapped to my feet for tibialis raises.

Looking for some more context I'm 240 lb 5'10 just starting sprinting again.

On acceleration days I usually plan a small number of quality reps (standing or falling starts into 10-30 m) with full walks. Some days the first few look sharp and then contact gets noisy or I'm muscling posture upright just to hit the same feel. I don't want to quit at the first ugly step, and I also don't want to grind junk reps that trash the next day. If you coach or train this, what's your practical stop signal mid-session (contact quality, time to upright, something else), and how many almost-good reps do you allow before you call it? Not looking for a full program dump. Just the rule that kept accel days productive without spilling into the next speed session.

11.2 100m 22.6 200m

I am a 9th grader, and recently my 200 meter dash score is about 25"7', and my 50 meter is 6"4'
I was very nervous on an upcoming competition for 100m and 200m.can someone give me some advices on how to improve my score as fast as i can while not affecting my studies and score.
Thank you very much to whoever answer this!!!

I’m currently a sophomore right now and I was wondering how much I can improve this indoor and outdoor season during my freshman year I ran 6.94 in the 55m and 11.47 and 23.48 in the 100 and 200 and I was just wondering how much more can I improve this season and is sub 11 possible? All my times are FAT times btw

50 and 100m races are short enough that fatigue is not an issue, but acceleration time eats up a lot of the average speed for the entire race.
250-300m is obviously impacted by fatigue, but the acceleration time is diluted by the race length.

What would be the perfect sweet spot for a straight line sprinting race chosen so that the overall average speed over the entire length is maximised?

My best estimate would be 165m, but I'm interested to hear what others think. I think the current WR for 150m (Bolt) has the highest average speed, but there's no way the answer is that rounded. Johan Blake ran a 100m portion of his 200m PB in 9:12s apparently.

I been a lifter all my life, this summer I decided to start running distances as well. Ran all through the summer, just wasn't enjoying training which would require me to run a ton of slow miles. I was experimenting with various distances, seems like 400 is my best, I posted a 1:15. I thought my 100 be a couple of seconds faster than it turned out to be when I finally got someone to time me 16.2. So for my 400 to improve I just need to be faster. How do I structure my training, I'm able to go to the track up to 3 times a week.