Developing your legs for track requires consistent speed and strength work. Resistance training, interval training and running hills combine to give you speed, power and explosiveness. By running three days a week, you can develop your speed and conditioning. Performing special exercises on the days between your running workouts gives you additional strength and power. Use the weekend to rest and recover. Consult a health care practitioner before you begin any athletic training program.
Speed Work
Step 1
Run three days a week. Train on nonconsecutive days. Your first workout builds speed, your second power and your third builds endurance.
Step 2
Run your race or goal distance during your first workout. Perform one run at your max speed. Perform three to five runs at 95 percent of this pace. Track your best time.
Step 3
Run up hills. Each run should be no more than 50 percent of your goal distance. Walk back down. Interval training builds power and burns fat. Running hills also improves your ability to strike the ground with the balls of your feet, which allows you to generate more power from your calves.
Step 4
Run 110 to 120 percent of your goal distance. Run this distance the same number of times you ran your goal distance. Run it using at least 80 percent of your best time at your goal distance.
Special Exercises
Step 1
Squat heavy with good form during your first workout. Squat as deeply as possible to build power. There is a direct correlation between squat strength and sprint speed, according to a 2004 study published in the "British Journal of Sports Medicine." When you squat, hold the bar firmly on your back and never allow your back to round. Select a weight that you can safely complete five to eight repetitions with, and perform three to five sets.
Step 2
Perform good mornings to strengthen your hamstrings and protect your knee joints during your first workout. Set up in the same manner as your squat, but lean forward until your torso is nearly parallel to the ground. Keep your knees slightly bent and your back arched. Perform three to five sets of eight to 12 repetitions.
Step 3
Squat explosively during your second workout. Train using a lighter weight, no more than 70 percent of your previous working weight. When you stand up from the bottom of your squat, drive the bar up quickly. Perform five to eight sets of three to five repetitions per set. Your goal during this workout is to develop power, so you will never train to muscular failure. Short sets keep the bar moving quickly. If the bar begins to slow down, reduce the weight.
Step 4
Perform split squats during your second workout. Hold the bar on your back and stand with one foot in front of you and one in back of you, shoulder width apart. Bend both knees until the knee of your back leg nearly touches the ground, then straighten up. Perform three to five sets of five to eight repetitions per leg.
Tips and Warnings
- Ensure that your first workout you are training heavy. While you should work to complete all of your repetitions, do not hurt yourself. Your goal is to get faster and stronger. The focus of squatting during your second workout is speed.
- Never lift without a spotter. Never squat outside of a squat rack.
Things You'll Need
- Barbell
- Squat rack
- Good running shoes
References
- "British Journal of Sports Medicine"; Strong Correlation of Maximal Squat Strength with Sprint Performance and Vertical Jump Height in Elite Soccer Players; U Wisloff, et al.; June 2004
- "USA Track & Field Coaching Manual"; USA Track & Field; 1999
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