Improving my first step to my last on the 100m and the 200m?

Question

All experienced FAST RUNNERS please advise and enlighten me with your breathtaking knowledge in detailed explanations on how to run faster..

Right now my 100m time is 12 flat and my 200m is 24 flat.

I am 17 years old. What to do to improve and how low can i get by next year?

Answer 1

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 the blocks.  You are going to explode out of the blocks 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.  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.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

ok i can definitely help you out in sprints, long distance requires a lot of stamina really, so do a 6 week training programme, start off doing 20 minutes, 3 times a week and gradually build up how fast and long you run.

now sprinting, it needs you to be pretty strong, have good technique and a bit of flexibility

starting from the head, dont move it, just look straight ahead, always look up to in a sprint or long distance cause if you look down then less oxygen gets through. keep your shoulders down and body facing straight. your arms should be at 90 degrees from the elbow so it looks like the letter "L", your hands move from your hip to about your mouth, keep your hands flat open or relaxed(if you hold it in a fist then your arms and shoulders tensin up so you lose energy. now to your legs, lift your knees high up and drive them into the ground as hard as you can, the more force you put into the ground then the more it will give back to propel your futher! run on the balls of your feet, not toes, not flat, i wont explain why, its too scientific but its to do with how your foot lands and stuff. ok if you look at the olympics you see them get faster and they are at their fastest at the very end, right? well at the start of the race, you take longer strides which takes strength and flexibility in your legs and as you get nearer to the end you take shorter but more steps. also they start from a block in a sprint start position dont they? reason? its like a car, you go from gear 1 , 2 , 3 ,4 ,5 . not 1 straight to 5! so what you do is NOT get up straight away from the low position but gradually run taller and straighter, have a look at videos of sprinters and you will know what i mean. sprinting takes strength-weight or circuit training, flexibility-stretches and technique-practice the movement with out running first.

Answer 3

when you get out of the block make sure your technique is perfect.  

do not stand straight right of the block.

dig into the ground with your spikes

maintain the proper stance towards the end of the race

Also try to give yourself an anabolic workout to the muscles you use.  Build the muscles by weightlifting.

Answer 4

I would recommend hitting the weights and build up a lot of quick twitch muscles, do a lot of resistance training and some power lifting.  Do lots of box jumps, squats/leg press, and power cleans.

Also, this may sound weird but it helped me bring my 400m time from the low 49s to the high 47s in under a year...yoga...yeah lots of yoga, it will help with your flexibility a lot and help prevent injury, it will help you get faster trust me.

The main thing to work on for improving 100/200m times is getting out of the blocks as explosive as possible.  Keep your head down as long as you can and concentrate on your form!! good luck!

Answer 5

pump your arms hard

start off strong and always dig on the 100m

if you start out good youll do good

but if you start off bad

chances are you're gonna be slow

Answer 6

im 13

100m in 13 secs

dont do long jogs etc as this trains your legs to work slower.

set yourself a target for you to work at (it actually helps!)

Reaction time needs to be up for the start (thats what slows me down a bit)

I will add more when know

Hope it helps

(plus i want to get faster lol)