7 track exercises to make you stronger and faster

7 track exercises to make you stronger and faster

The speed 7

There is a way to accustom your body, to strengthen it so that speedwork is more negotiable.  There are exercises that can be done to practice the movements you need for running speedwork on the track.  Here are seven that I have used.

Note:  since these are actions most likely fairly foreign to your body if you haven’t been doing any hard training or core work.  BE CAREFUL.  Take it slowly.  Warm up and stretch first.  You can also do the more explosive, hopping-type exercises on the grass in the infield.

1. Skipping.  Yes – skipping.  It’s time to release your inner 5 year-old girl.  Bring the knee of the leading leg as high as you can and hop as high as you can on your skip.  Focus on getting a good vertical drive and hop.  This is a great simulator of fast twitch and leg extension required for speedwork.  Do a few sets of 100 meters before, during or after your speedwork.
2. Backwards running.  Maybe you’ll look dorky but backwards running can strengthen your knees, hamstrings and hips.  It takes a couple tries to get the form down but once you do it’s easy.  I used to finish every base run with a 100M of backwards.  Give it a try. There’s a whole organization that runs backwards races– you can do a couple hundred meters.  Don’t forget to look behind you.
3. Sideways running.  Yes in both directions. Sideways running strengthens the hips, core and all the lateral muscles and connective tissue in the legs.  It’s a tricky motion.  I don’t mean shuffling one foot into the other.  You need to actually cross one foot over the other and swing your arms for balance.  Once you get used to it, it’s easy and fun.  Do a couple hundred meters.
4. Two-Footed Hop.  Careful with this exercise in particular because it can be tough on your back.  With your feet together, bend down and hop forward on both feet as high and as far as you can.  This works your fast twitch muscles in the legs.  Do a couple sets of 10 hops.
5. Bounding.  Bounding is when you over-exaggerate your stride height and bound from foot to foot.  Have you ever seen videos of the astronauts running on the moon?  That’s the motion we’re going for. Really power off each leg and get good height.  One great variant to build power into your stride is UPHILL bounding.  Use the same exaggerated action to drive yourself up a hill. This is a great way to build leg strength.
6. Butt-Kicks.  This exercise simulates the motion of sprinting and especially the motion of bringing your heels up behind you when you run.  You will run on your forefoot and after each landing complete the stroke by bringing your heel all the way up and kicking your own butt with it if you can.  Do a couple hundred meters.
7. Strides  Now that you are all loosened up you can work those muscles.  A stride is a slightly exaggerated form of you normal mechanics.  Somewhere between speedwork and a full sprint.  This is where you let your dogs off leash for 20 – 40 paces.  Put some juice into your effort and bring your heart rate up.  Strides are what you see the elite runners doing before races to shake out their legs and get warmed up. Do a few sets of these.  Even better do a few sets of these barefoot in the grass.

Track athletes have been doing these types of exercises as part of their workouts forever.  Now you can work them in to yours.  Maybe they will help your strength and range of motion.  Maybe they will just give you something new to try, something new to learn.  At the very least they can insert some variety and fun into your workouts.