Fastest way to increase speed?

Question

I am going to play Defensive end for my school next year but i only run a 5.9 40 yard dash.

What would be some good exercises to do over the summer to increase my speed as fast as possible with the best results?

Answer 1

stretching, practice 20 yards  takeoffs , and run down hills,

running  down  hill will increase  your  stride and  make  you  have a  quicker  turn over  and get  you  use  to  running   faster

Answer 2

Stretch, a lot.  Do a lot of leg stretches to loosen up your muscles.  Work out and lift weights.  It helps a lot to do squats and hang cleans, to increase your legs.  Just run, work on your 100 meter speed.

Answer 3

400s and 400s and 400s

it takes time but it helps

Answer 4

First, you are going to hear a lot of advice. Run faster, hit the weight room, etc. You will gain a training effect from almost any program. For example, you show up at the beginning of the season having done nothing. You go through a program and you will improve by the end of the season. Most of the time you will improve -- it is called "training effect".

For serious athletes, there are 2 ways to get faster. One is to make your movements more efficient (think of a distance runner who tend to "bounce" when they run and arms sometimes are out of sync). The other is to put more power into the ground (Coach Isaac Newton said for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction).

Efficiency of movement - out of your stance. You are going to explode out of your stance at approximately 45 degrees. In order to do this you are going to have to ensure that you are strong enough. Some exercises that you can do is to lean against a wall at a 45 degree angle . Bring up one of your knees and that ensure that your legs are parallel. This is the position that you will be in out of the blocks. Over the next few steps you will go from 45 degrees to a slight lean forward as you move from accelleration to a max velocity run. Your striking foot in front of you should land approximately 6 inches in front of your body. Many people strike in front of this because they point their toes. You want your feet to be dorsiflexed (i.e. picture an ankle with a good taping). This will ensure that you are "pushing" yourself forward using your glutes, rather than pulling yourself forward using your quads. Remember what Coach Newton said!

Power: explosive power. Full body movements are key. Think of cleans or snatches. Even plyometric jumps are goods. You want to focus on higher weight and lower repetition. You are not going to be doing 10 reps, but rather more like 4-6. Focus on getting your hips and glutes involved (the explosiveness of your hips moving forward is what brings the weight up). This will help with getting your hamstrings involved too. Think about the pelvic tilt of a world class sprinter. They look like the strut everywhere they walk. It is actually because they have strengthened those muscles so much it has tilted their hips.

It is difficult to judge how much faster you get without seeing you in action. I know that typically when I work with clients on their 40 times I am looking to take .2 of a sec off in 6-8 weeks. Some get much more than this, and some have such poor form that even a step back is progress. I listed efficiency before power, because if your form is wrong you can do a lot of damage by putting more power into the ground.

Also, a defensive end is not just linear speed.  You will also use the same ideas for lateral speed too.  You will use the edges of your feet in order to push yourself into the direction that you want to.  Try not to "plant and go" because this will decelerate you too much.  Try instead to use the edges of your feet and slow down a little (imaging a baseball player rounding the bases - he is not planting at each base, but rounding the edges - works for all sports).

Hope this helps!