4) resistance training for short sprints and maximun-speed sprints

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April 2001 Strength and Conditioning Journal 7

© National Strength & Conditioning Association Volume 23, Number 2, pages 7–13

Resistance Training for Short Sprints andMaximum-speed Sprints

Warren Young, PhD, Dean Benton, BAppSci, andGrant Duthie, BAppSciSchool of Human Movement and Sport SciencesUniversity of Ballarat Victoria, Australia

John Pryor, MHSciSchool of Human Movement and Sport SciencesUniversity of Ballarat Victoria, Australia Human Performance LaboratorySydney Academy of SportSydney, Australia

Keywords:sprinting; maximum speed; short sprints; specificity;resistance training.

SPRINTING AT MAXIMUM OR near maximum effort over variousdistances is important for many sports. Therefore, strength and

conditioning professionals havegiven considerable attention to theuse of interval training and resis-tance-training exercises in order to enhance sprint performance.

Track coaches have believed andresearch has supported the con-cept that the performance in short sprints (e.g., 10 m) and longer sprints allowing the attainment of maximum or near-maximumspeed (e.g., 50 m) are separate andspecific qualities (6, 9). This

means that an athlete may excelin short sprints but not in maxi-mum-speed sprints, or vice versa.

Therefore, it is important to know the relative importance of varioussprint qualities in sports to deter-mine the training emphasis that should be given to each. The pur-pose of this article is to present an

analysis of the sprint qualities that are important in sports, highlight the differences between short sprints (e.g., 10 m) and maximum-

speed sprinting, and to indicatethe implications for the selectionof resistance-training exercises todevelop sprinting performance.

Needs Analysis of Speed

Requirements in Sports

Based on data from 22 male 100-m sprint finalists and semifinalistsat the 1988 Olympic Games (4),maximum speed (mean = 11.49m/s) was attained between 50 and60 m. The percentages of maxi-

mum speed after 10, 20, 30, and40 m were 45%, 84%, 93%, and97%, respectively. These resultsindicate that after 10 m of rapidly accelerating from a stationary po-sition, a relatively small portion of maximum speed is developed.However, by 20 m more than 80%of maximum speed is achieved as

running posture becomes moreupright. Since sprint performanceover 10 m is not related to maxi-mum-speed performance (6), ath

letes in sports such as tennis orsquash who are restricted to shortsprints do not need to be con-cerned with training for maximumspeed. Although this seems ratherobvious, many team sports suchas the various football codes require some combination of short(e.g., 5–10 m) and more sustainedsprints (e.g., 20–40 m).

The analysis of sprintingneeds becomes more difficult

when it is understood that in a

team sport such as soccer, a 10-msprint may be initiated from a jog-ging start, rather than a standingstart. This means that a relativelyhigh percentage of maximumspeed could be reached whenshort sprints are initiated from amoving start. Therefore, carefuconsideration should be given to




the leg muscles is generally wellaccepted, much less is knownabout the relative importance of other muscles, such as those that stabilize the pelvis, or the musclesthat drive the arms. Evidence fromEMG recordings has shownupper-body muscles to be activat-ed to 60% of maximum when run-ning at submaximum speeds (11).

Although the forward motion of 1arm is countered by the backwardmovement of the other, the armaction contributes about 5–10% of the total vertical propulsion, or lift,during running, which is an ad-

vantage because it allows the legdrive to be directed more horizon-tally (12). A significant correlation

between bench press power and36.6-m sprint performance alsosupports the importance of theupper-body muscles (17).

When the body has a pro-nounced forward lean, such asduring a short sprint, the upwardlift generated by the arms has a forward component, which can di-rectly contribute to horizontalpropulsion (12). This would sug-gest that the muscles that drivethe arms may be relatively more

important for short sprints (Figure2). In relation to pelvic and trunk stability, many muscles in this re-gion must be strong enough toallow the large propulsive forces of the legs to be transmitted to the

whole body effectively and to pre- vent excessive spinal/pelvic move-ments that could cause injury, but the amount of strength required isnot known. The relative impor-tance of various muscle groups tosprint performance is summarizedin Table 2.

Strength Qualities

Strength qualities are any qualitiesthat contain a significant strengthcomponent and include maximumstrength, speed strength, andstrength endurance (30). Maxi-mum strength refers to the capac-ity to exert force with no consid-eration for the rate of force

production or the ability to sus-tain it. Speed strength has beendefined many ways but is general-ly any quality possessing signifi-cant force and speed components.

This explosive force productionmay be produced in concentricmuscle actions (where the muscleshortens), or under eccentric-con-

centric actions known as astretch-shortening cycle (SSC)

The ability to quickly switch froman eccentric to a concentric mus-cle action in an SSC has been de-scribed as reactive strength (2526) and is believed to be a relative-ly specific quality (33).

In a short sprint when forwardlean is significant, the support legdrives backward in a “pushing”action. The leg extensors (glutealsquadriceps, hamstrings, andcalves) produce concentric actionsas the body is propelled forwardand upward. Although these ac-tions are preceded by musclestretching (eccentric actions), theeccentric loading is relatively low

When sprinting at top speedstride length is greater, and there-fore an increased load may be ex-pected on ground contact (16). Infact, it has been shown that eccen-

tric forces increase with increasingrunning speeds (19). Furthermaximum speed correlates signif-icantly with performance in a drop

jump test, which is considered to be a measure of reactive strength(22, 31), and the correlation in-creases with longer sprints (31)

Therefore, reactive strength would

Figure 2. The vertical “lift” pro-duced by the arm drivehas a horizontal propulsivecomponent when the bodyhas a significant forwardlean. Solid arrow indicates“lift” from arm drive; dot-ted arrow indicates hori-zontal component of thearm drive.

Table 2Proposed Relative Importance of Muscle Groups to

Sprint Performance

Short sprint Maximum

(e.g., 10 m) speedQuadriceps **** **Gluteals **** ***Hamstrings ** ****Calves *** ***Hip flexors **? ***?Upper body ***? **?Postural/stabilizing muscles **? **?

**** = Very important; *** = quite important; ** = important; * = minor importance; ? = unclear.



strength appears to be more impor-tant in maximum-speed sprints,plyometric training can be expect-ed to be more beneficial for thistype of sprinting. The only re-search to investigate this (6) didnot demonstrate significant gainsin maximum speed from plyomet-ric training. It is difficult to explainthis, but it could be related tomany program variables, such as

volume and intensity, rather thanthe ineffectiveness of the plyomet-

ric mode of training.One plyometric exercise that

was not used in this research but that may be potentially useful for sprinting is speed bounding. Thisexercise requires the athlete to

bound for both distance and speedand is relatively specific to the me-chanics of maximum-speed sprint-ing (20, 29). Mero and Komi (20)conducted a biomechanical analy-sis on sprinting, speed bounding,

bounding for distance, and hop-

ping for distance. It was foundthat in speed bounding, the na-ture of the foot contact, groundcontact times, horizontal velocity,stride length, and rate and power production were more similar tomaximum sprinting than theother training exercises. There-fore, speed bounding is recom-

mended as a specific exercise for maximum-speed sprinting.

Another exercise that wouldappear to be potentially effectivefor the development of reactivestrength specific to maximum-

speed running is sprinting with a weighted vest or belt. By adding a small amount of weight to the

body, an increased eccentric load-ing can be expected immediately after ground contact, thereby over-loading the muscles that are re-quired to quickly reverse thedownward motion of the body. A potential training effect is a re-duced ground contact time, which

would decrease stride time and in-crease stride frequency. Other popular training methods using a sled, parachute, or ropes to resist sprinting all oppose the horizontal component of the leg drive, rather than resisting the vertical move-ment. Therefore, these may be ex-cellent for training general legpower, but a weighted vest/belt isrecommended to specifically target reactive strength development for maximum-speed sprinting. Coach-es should experiment with the

amount of resistance used with allof these methods, but it should not be excessive (13) because muscleactivation patterns have beenfound to differ more from sprintingas the load increases (14).

Specificity of Training

The training principle of specificityis well accepted and suggests thatfor training to be effective, itshould be similar to the demands

of the sport. Generally, the morespecific the training, the better thetransfer to sports performance(33). However, in a periodized pro-gram, general or nonspecific training is also required to provide a

base from which to attain higherlevels of the most important quali-ties and for injury prevention, andthe level of specificity of trainingshould generally increase as thecompetitive peak approaches(Table 4). Based on the above, Ta-

bles 5, 6, and 7 indicate some suggested exercises for training forshort sprints and maximum speedaccording to exercise specificity

These are only examples that are based on the demands of sprint-ing. Coaches are advised to continually develop their repertoire ofrelevant exercises to use in thephysical preparation for sprinting

Conclusions

Differences in running mechanicsand muscle involvement betweenshort sprints and maximum-speed sprints have been identified

Although the quadriceps musclegroup and relative strength appear


Table 5Nonspecific (General)

Exercises for Both Shortand Maximum-speed

Sprinting

Short sprint Maximum(e.g., 10 m) speed

Parallel squatsDeadlifts

Machine hip extension/flexionBench press

Trunk stability exercises

Table 6Medium Specificity Exercises for Sprinting

Short sprint (e.g., 10 m) Maximum speedHalf squats Quarter squatsSingle-leg squats/lunges High-speed hip flexion machinePower clean/snatch from floor Romanian deadlift Push press Single-leg squats/lungesBench press throws Power clean/snatch from blocks

Drop jumps/hurdle jumps (double leg)Bounding/hopping for distanceBench press throws



12 Strength and Conditioning Journal April 2001

to be important for short sprintsfrom a stationary start, the ham-string muscles and reactivestrength are relatively more im-portant for maximum-speed

sprinting. This means that certainexercises and training methodscan be selectively prescribed toimprove sprinting performance,depending on the sprinting needsof the athlete.

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Table 7High and Very High Specificity Exercises for Sprinting

Short sprint (e.g., 10 m) Maximum speed

Sled sprints Sled sprints(standing start with medium load) (jog start with low load)

Inclined sprints Inclined sprints(standing start with medium incline) (jog start with low incline)

Speed bounding Weighted vest sprinting



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Warren Young, PhD, is SeniorLecturer with the School oHuman Movement and Sport Sci-ences at the University of Ballaratin Victoria, Australia.

Dean Benton, BAppSci, is with

the School of Human Movementand Sport Sciences at the Univer-sity of Ballarat in Victoria, Aus-tralia.

Grant Duthie, BAppSci, is withthe School of Human Movementand Sport Sciences at the Univer-sity of Ballarat in Victoria, Aus-tralia.

John Pryor, MHSci, is with theSchool of Human Movement and

Sport Sciences at the University oBallarat in Victoria, Australia; andthe Human Performance Labora-tory at the Sydney Academy oSport in Sydney, Australia.


Young Benton

Duthie Pryor

4) resistance training for short sprints and maximun-speed sprints

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