I’ve heard said that at around age 21, for a male, one is as fast as they will ever be naturally. That is not to say of course that one can’t train for more speed. I have searched the forums and I can’t seem to find any direct info on this, and I do feel as though I am in breach of guideline#7 of the Website Usage Guidelines :rolleyes:
I ask for this reason, I’m 23 and I just finished my first full season without a season ending injury, and I’ve had two. At the beginning of the year, I was put on a stretching/core strengthening program for the purpose of gaining a greater ROM in my major joints to prevent injury. I.e. I’ve found my injuries are from poor mobility in the antagonist
>the hamstring overworks because of the quad’s poor ROM.
The problem:
I use to be fast(er) when I was 19 with really bad technique, crappy flexibility and very poor hip mobility. Now I’ve a greater ROM and a stronger core but I’ve certainly lost pure speed. How much is my age an inhibitor to regaining the speed, and basically what should I be focusing on?
This is a lot to ask, but could someone point me in the right direction?
hammy,speed can always be improved.my advice is simple…follow the CFTS and you will get faster
te current trends tend to favour the more aged athletes.ie carl lewis tokyo 31 christie 24(i think) barcelona and so on.they were training for along time/period/duaration throughout their careers but it goes to show you that speed can always be improved
It´s never late to dream !!
I´m 27 and my times droped from 15s to 12 in about 1.5year, now i´m running around 11s but i´m focused more on 200m where i have more to give.
LOL. Only a 23 year old would be worried about getting “too old”! Don’t worry, you are nowhere near your peak yet, if you keep training. I am a swimmer. I turn 31 next month and I just swam the fastest 50 yard butterfly of my life.
60m 7.04 pb at 19
100m 11.01 pb at 18
400m 48.72 pb at 23
My fastest 200m this year was 22.31, and I’ve run sub 21.98 when I was 18.
I’m now training for the 400m, and I ran a 48.72 a few weeks ago, but it feels like all areobic, and I am in great shape. In a 400m, it just feels to me as though if I had a greater speed reserve, I would be way under 48secs.
I don’t think you’re too old! I would look at your training and see what the focus is on…is it speed? Knowing a little about you, I don’t think it has been a primary focus of your training. Given your injury history, a greater focus on speed reserve was probably done; I think you are finally healthy and have had one good year of training and competing. Use this year as a springboard for next year where everything is put together in your training and your overall health. Good luck!
Age is a funny thing. You think you’re getting older and older with each birthday and then 5 years down the road you look back and realize that you were a spring chicken. I think reaction time peaks at 24 and strength at 30 or something. At whatever age you’re at, there’s always room for an improved understanding of training and this is the basis for improvement. There is a balance between the level of training knowledge and your physical ability at any point in time. So at what point in time does a decrease in physical ability(age-wise) give way to any improvements in training? This question is tough to answer.
Have a look at any professional athlete that’s been around for a good 15-20 years. They probably don’t have the physical ability that would be optimal but their understanding of training for their sport compensates to give them the ability to compete.