Best way to improve running speed?

Would you say that the best way to improve sprinting speed is to wear spikes and sprint as fast as possible on the track, with full recovery in between reps? Basically practice the very movement you are trying to get better at, similar to how if a lifter wants to improve his bench press, he will just bench press instead of doing a ton of assistance exercises.

Welcome jquick.

I see you are quick to have all the answers to unlock speed on the track. That’s cool.

Are you a sprinter?

What is your back ground or experience?

Your questions are great. For everyone to make their best contribution it might be helpful for us to understand a bit more about you.

There are so many ways to improve a persons sprinting but one of the most important aspects to think about is how is your general fitness to start off with? If you ran as fast as possible what distance would you choose? Full recovery to develop your speed is a must. How much rest is full recovery according to what you have already learned? A less experienced person might not be helped by performing repeat 100 meter runs but maybe starting off with 10 meter runs could be a good starting point.

Thanks for the welcome Angela.

I’m not a competitive sprinter, I played basketball in high school and was fairly obsessed with improving my vertical leap. I’m in my late 20s now and I’ve taken an interest in sprinting and would like to get faster just for the sake of it, even if it means I won’t compete in any track meets.

Coming from a basketball background I’m assuming your strength levels are low?

I think my strength levels are average, but low if compared to competitive power lifters. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how weights are just supplementary to speed and you shouldn’t go crazy with them. How many days of hard sprinting would you recommend per week? Thanks

You are correct that weights are just one of many supplemental means of supporting speed advancement by way of resistance training. As you are new to sprint work you would be wise to develop an understanding of general and special physical preparation as they relate to sprinting. Two or no more than three days of high intensity sprinting is achievable (given a seven day calendar week) in a high/low split in which you perform high intensity work every other day (M/W/F or T/Th/Sa…) or every fourth day (M/Th or T/F or W/Sa…)

I’d encourage you to purchase Charlie’s GPP video as that will provide you with a great reference in terms of kicking off a sprint season (even though you do not expect to compete in track).

Thank you for the response. I bought the GPP video and it definitely was money worth spending and much more in depth than other sprint training videos out there.