Question about speed

[RatedGNR]

Long story short, I lost 6 stone in the past year and have recently started playing football again. It's going pretty well, fitness it coming along and feeling comfortable with the ball again. 

However... one issue i'm having is being soooo slow! a full on sprint for me is a relaxed run for the rest of the lads and it's hard to keep up.

Does anyone have any tips on how i can improve my sprint speed? 

[bigm141414]

High intensity interval training. Look into Tabata sprints. (20 seconds max effort, 10 sec rest, repeat 8 times). Other variations of interval running, say max effort 100m jog 50m repeat.  

 

Heavy squats and deadlifts for lower leg strength. Can't run fast without muscles to move you. 

[jfreaksho]

Squats and deadlifts to build muscles in your legs.

A little bit of coaching to ensure efficient form.  (Are you using your glutes and hamstrings? Do your arms move forward and back, or to the side/across your body?  Do your toes point straight ahead?)

 

Then more sprints to build up endurance.

[Waldo]

Leg strength!

 

Do the basics of squatting plus posterior chain work, and gives the glutes some extra attention, especially in hyperextension.

 

Nothing will affect your sprinting speed to the degree that leg strength will.  A winter spent doing nothing but pistol squats and glute ham raises shaved almost 1 sec off my 100m.  I'm more than 2 seconds faster than I was last year at this time.  Hill sprints are added to my leg muscle rotation during the sprint-summer-fall.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Like these guys said, work on leg strength. I've read in multiple places that most olympic sprinters are squatting well over 500 lb. Most NFL receivers and running backs are well over 400. Bigger motors make things move faster. You'll get bigger motors by doing heavy squats, power cleans, and dead lifts (I'd prioritize in that order). In addition, if you want to sprint faster, sprint more. There is no leg workout that requires greater power output than a max effort sprint. Don't half ass them, sprint as hard as your can.

[I-Jo]

who half ass sprints for personal work?

 

 

O_o

[Mordechaj]

People that don't know better.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

who half ass sprints for personal work?

 

 

O_o

 

People that don't know better.

 

I used to have a problem with doing what I thought were sprints then one day found another gear I never knew was there.  What I once considered sprints were definitely not sprints. I wasn't continually pushing hard through the whole thing, backing off once I was past the initial acceleration instead of making every step a max effort push. Any time I think about sprints now I wanna add that disclaimer.

[I-Jo]

huh- who knew.

I know people who half ass sprints when being TOLD to do them- but usually if you are doing them for your own work- you ARE pushing as hard as you can.

 

harder stronger faster... these are the things that make me want to work LOL

[marionette]

Leg strength, like everyone said. Though I would like to add in flexibility work! Strong muscles are great, but being limber will help you go from 0 to 60 that much easier.

[bigm141414]

I now have an urge to get in a sprint race with Corey

[Waldo]

 

I used to have a problem with doing what I thought were sprints then one day found another gear I never knew was there.  What I once considered sprints were definitely not sprints. I wasn't continually pushing hard through the whole thing, backing off once I was past the initial acceleration instead of making every step a max effort push. Any time I think about sprints now I wanna add that disclaimer.

Have you found the gear that comes with an adrenaline surge and the shaky shakes, where you're absolutely in a zone?

If not, there is another gear above the one you describe.

Like these guys said, work on leg strength. I've read in multiple places that most olympic sprinters are squatting well over 500 lb. Most NFL receivers and running backs are well over 400. Bigger motors make things move faster. You'll get bigger motors by doing heavy squats, power cleans, and dead lifts (I'd prioritize in that order).

The fastest of the fast in general have squats approaching or exceeding 3x BW.

Though I would disagree on the order. A lot of your speed comes from your glutes just before toe off. This is why sprinting drills typically include exaggerated high kicks on the backswing, and why hip hyperextension glute work is so effective at making you faster. The other components are important too though. However lower abs/flexors are neglected. You get faster by widening your stride without changing your turnover speed (long striding = sprinters speed), the two componets of that are strengthening the glutes in hyperextension (for toe off power) and strengthening the flexors (for turnover speed, as you widen your stride the front stroke has to speed up, to keep a constant turnover speed). It is no coincidence that Usain Bolt is both the fastest man in the world and the guy that takes the fewest steps from the blocks to the finish line.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I now have an urge to get in a sprint race with Corey

 

I was the slowest guy on the football team, beating me isn't impressive.

[Relic]

who half ass sprints for personal work?

O_o

I do. (sort of)

My brother tells me that I don't "sprint", I just run fast. Apparently there is a difference.

Quote from my brother : "To sprint, you run as fast as you can, and then you go faster."

The way it was explaned to me is that there is a flick at the end of the stride that isn't there with steady state running. If you watch elite sprinters you will notice that they almost kick their butt at the end of thier stride.

as for the original question, I think you will be well served to do some 400m training as well. Football (American soccer) involves many bouts of fast running with active rest between. Essentially, a game full of interval running. Your stamina will be your best friend here. Sprinting and raw leg power will help you get there but if you don't work your stamina (think 300-800m) you will have a hard time finishing a game.

[RatedGNR]

Thanks for all the advice guys, i'll start working on those leg muscles