National Strength & Conditioning Association

Volume 23, Number 2, pages 713

Resistance Training for Short Sprints and

Maximum-speed Sprints
Warren Young, PhD, Dean Benton, BAppSci, and
Grant Duthie, BAppSci
School of Human Movement and Sport Sciences
University of Ballarat
Victoria, Australia
John Pryor, MHSci
School of Human Movement and Sport Sciences
University of Ballarat
Victoria, Australia
Human Performance Laboratory
Sydney Academy of Sport
Sydney, Australia
Keywords: sprinting; maximum speed; short sprints; specificity;
resistance training.

SPRINTING AT MAXIMUM OR
near maximum effort over various
distances is important for many
sports. Therefore, strength and
conditioning professionals have
given considerable attention to the
use of interval training and resistance-training exercises in order
to enhance sprint performance.
Track coaches have believed and
research has supported the concept that the performance in short
sprints (e.g., 10 m) and longer
sprints allowing the attainment of
maximum or near-maximum
speed (e.g., 50 m) are separate and
specific qualities (6, 9). This
means that an athlete may excel
in short sprints but not in maximum-speed sprints, or vice versa.
Therefore, it is important to know
the relative importance of various
sprint qualities in sports to determine the training emphasis that
should be given to each. The purpose of this article is to present an
April 2001

analysis of the sprint qualities that

are important in sports, highlight
the differences between short
sprints (e.g., 10 m) and maximumspeed sprinting, and to indicate
the implications for the selection
of resistance-training exercises to
develop sprinting performance.

Needs Analysis of Speed

Requirements in Sports
Based on data from 22 male 100m sprint finalists and semifinalists
at the 1988 Olympic Games (4),
maximum speed (mean = 11.49
m/s) was attained between 50 and
60 m. The percentages of maximum speed after 10, 20, 30, and
40 m were 45%, 84%, 93%, and
97%, respectively. These results
indicate that after 10 m of rapidly
accelerating from a stationary position, a relatively small portion of
maximum speed is developed.
However, by 20 m more than 80%
of maximum speed is achieved as
Strength and Conditioning Journal

running posture becomes more

upright. Since sprint performance
over 10 m is not related to maximum-speed performance (6), athletes in sports such as tennis or
squash who are restricted to short
sprints do not need to be concerned with training for maximum
speed. Although this seems rather
obvious, many team sports such
as the various football codes require some combination of short
(e.g., 510 m) and more sustained
sprints (e.g., 2040 m).
The analysis of sprinting
needs becomes more difficult
when it is understood that in a
team sport such as soccer, a 10-m
sprint may be initiated from a jogging start, rather than a standing
start. This means that a relatively
high percentage of maximum
speed could be reached when
short sprints are initiated from a
moving start. Therefore, careful
consideration should be given to
7

Table 1
Comparison of Short and Maximum-speed Sprints in Relation to
General Biomechanical Characteristics

Running posture
Stride length
Stride frequency
Minimum knee angle near midsupport
Hyperextension at hip
Ground contact time

the speed requirements of each

sport (e.g., by using videotape
analysis of games). In many cases
it is likely that some attention will
need to be given to the development of both short sprints requiring acceleration and maximumspeed sprinting. However, the
focus of this article is on the differences between and requirements of short sprints from a stationary start and maximum-speed
running.

Short sprint
(e.g., 10 m)

Maximum
speed

Forward lean
Shorter
Submaximum
Smaller
Smaller
Longer

Upright
Longer
Maximum
Larger
Larger
Shorter

Maximum speed can be improved

by increasing either stride length
or the number of strides performed in a second (stride frequency), and both of these factors
increase as running speed increases (16, 17, 19). Although top
speed running mechanics have
been well researched, relatively little analysis has been conducted
on short sprints. Nevertheless,
Table 1 and Figure 1 indicate
some general biomechanical characteristics of the 2 sprint phases.
These differences have implications for the muscle groups and
strength qualities that are important for performance in each
phase.

Muscle Groups
One way to identify the important
muscle groups for sprinting is to
examine research that used electromyographic (EMG) recordings
of muscle activity during sprinting. One study (8) found that knee
extensor activity was very high in
the first 5 m but diminished as
the sprint progressed to 30 m. The
hip extensors (gluteals and hamstrings) were also active at the
start, and their contribution increased slightly as running speed
increased. These findings suggest
that the quadriceps are relatively
more important for short sprints
and the hip extensors are relatively more important for faster
sprints. This may partly be because of the relatively greater
range of motion at the knee in
short sprints and greater hyperextension at the hip in maximumspeed sprinting. Vonstein (27)
suggested that of the hip extensors, the hamstrings are more important than the gluteal muscle
group for horizontal propulsion at
maximum speed.
The plantar flexors of the
ankle (calf muscles) are very active
in both types of sprints (8, 24).
Another lower-body muscle group
important for sprinting is the hip
flexors. This muscle group assists

Strength and Conditioning Journal

Biomechanical Differences
Between Short and Maximum
Speed Sprints

Figure 1.

Body positions indicating

one leg at the instants of
touchdown and takeoff.

in pulling the leg forward in

preparation for the next stride. A
faster flexion at the hip and leg recovery is an advantage for maximum-speed running because it
allows for a shorter stride time
and, in turn, a higher stride frequency. Therefore, it is possible
that powerful hip flexors are especially important for maximumspeed sprints.
Another way to determine the
relative importance of various
muscle groups is by examining
correlations (relationships) between muscle strength/power
as determined by single-joint
strength testswith sprint performance. Although some studies
have reported significant correlations between lower-body muscle
strength measures with sprint
performance (1, 23), others have
not (1, 15). This conflict of results
might be because sprinting involves multiple-joint motions with
a precise coordination between
various muscle groups, which is
not assessed by single-joint tests
that isolate muscles. Therefore,
the relative importance of various
lower-body muscle groups to
sprinting performance is not totally clear, especially when short and
maximum-speed sprints are considered separately.
Although the importance of
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Table 2
Proposed Relative Importance of Muscle Groups to
Sprint Performance

Figure 2.

The vertical lift produced by the arm drive

has a horizontal propulsive
component when the body
has a significant forward
lean. Solid arrow indicates
lift from arm drive; dotted arrow indicates horizontal component of the
arm drive.

the leg muscles is generally well

accepted, much less is known
about the relative importance of
other muscles, such as those that
stabilize the pelvis, or the muscles
that drive the arms. Evidence from
EMG recordings has shown
upper-body muscles to be activated to 60% of maximum when running at submaximum speeds (11).
Although the forward motion of 1
arm is countered by the backward
movement of the other, the arm
action contributes about 510% of
the total vertical propulsion, or lift,
during running, which is an advantage because it allows the leg
drive to be directed more horizontally (12). A significant correlation
between bench press power and
36.6-m sprint performance also
supports the importance of the
upper-body muscles (17).
When the body has a pronounced forward lean, such as
during a short sprint, the upward
lift generated by the arms has a
forward component, which can directly contribute to horizontal
propulsion (12). This would suggest that the muscles that drive
the arms may be relatively more
April 2001

Quadriceps
Gluteals
Hamstrings
Calves
Hip flexors
Upper body
Postural/stabilizing muscles

Short sprint
(e.g., 10 m)

Maximum
speed

****
****
**
***
**?
***?
**?

**
***
****
***
***?
**?
**?

**** = Very important; *** = quite important; ** = important; * = minor

importance; ? = unclear.

important for short sprints (Figure

2). In relation to pelvic and trunk
stability, many muscles in this region must be strong enough to
allow the large propulsive forces of
the legs to be transmitted to the
whole body effectively and to prevent excessive spinal/pelvic movements that could cause injury, but
the amount of strength required is
not known. The relative importance of various muscle groups to
sprint performance is summarized
in Table 2.

Strength Qualities
Strength qualities are any qualities
that contain a significant strength
component and include maximum
strength, speed strength, and
strength endurance (30). Maximum strength refers to the capacity to exert force with no consideration for the rate of force
production or the ability to sustain it. Speed strength has been
defined many ways but is generally any quality possessing significant force and speed components.
This explosive force production
may be produced in concentric
muscle actions (where the muscle
shortens), or under eccentric-conStrength and Conditioning Journal

centric actions known as a

stretch-shortening cycle (SSC).
The ability to quickly switch from
an eccentric to a concentric muscle action in an SSC has been described as reactive strength (25,
26) and is believed to be a relatively specific quality (33).
In a short sprint when forward
lean is significant, the support leg
drives backward in a pushing
action. The leg extensors (gluteals,
quadriceps, hamstrings, and
calves) produce concentric actions
as the body is propelled forward
and upward. Although these actions are preceded by muscle
stretching (eccentric actions), the
eccentric loading is relatively low.
When sprinting at top speed,
stride length is greater, and therefore an increased load may be expected on ground contact (16). In
fact, it has been shown that eccentric forces increase with increasing
running speeds (19). Further,
maximum speed correlates significantly with performance in a drop
jump test, which is considered to
be a measure of reactive strength
(22, 31), and the correlation increases with longer sprints (31).
Therefore, reactive strength would
9

Table 3
Proposed Relative Importance of Maximum Leg Strength and
Speed Strength Qualities for Sprint Performance
Short sprint
(e.g., 10 m)

Maximum
speed

*
**
****
*

**
*
****
***

Maximum strength
Absolute
Relative
General speed strength
Reactive strength

**** = Very important; *** = quite important; ** = important; * = minor

importance.

seem to be relatively more important for maximum-speed sprinting

than for short sprints.
Generally explosive force qualities are important for all type of
sprints, but it has been found that
various tests of power correlate
higher with longer sprints or maximum speed than with short
sprints (2, 15, 32). Perhaps this is
because contact times are shorter
(and therefore contraction speeds
are faster) in maximum-speed
sprints.
The same reasoning may suggest that maximum strength is
relatively more important in short
sprints, although this has not
been found (2, 32). Absolute maximum strength has been found to

correlate more with maximum

speed than short sprinting speed
(32), whereas maximum strength
relative to body weight correlated
more highly with sprint time to 2.5
m than absolute maximum
strength (21). This seems logical
since the first few strides in a
sprint from a stationary position
requires the need to overcome the
inertia of the body, which demands higher levels of relative
strength (strength divided by body
weight). Once the need to accelerate diminishes, absolute strength
may be more important. Despite
some exceptions (5, 9), research
generally supports a significant relationship between some measure
of maximum leg strength and

sprinting speed (2, 7, 18, 22). Although the relationships between

strength qualities and performance are not totally clear, Table
3 is an attempt to indicate the
relative importance of maximum
leg strength and speed strength
for short and maximum speed
sprints.

Implications for Selection of

Resistance-training Exercises
The above needs analysis indicates that short sprints and maximum speed sprints have somewhat different requirements,
which should be reflected in exercise selection. An exercise that is
highly specific to short sprints
may not be as specific for maximum-speed sprinting. For example, exercises that target the
quadriceps more than the hip extensors (e.g., back squat to a 90
knee angle) would be more specific to short sprints than maximumspeed sprints. Conversely, exercises that strongly activate the
gluteal and hamstring muscle
groups (e.g., Romanian deadlift)
would be more specific to maximum-speed sprinting.
In relation to the development
of strength qualities, plyometrics
are particularly effective for the
development of reactive strength
(3, 10, 28, 33). Since reactive

Table 4
Use of Specificity of Training During a Periodized Program

Training phase

10

Level of specificity
emphasized

General preparation
Specific preparation

Low (general)
Medium

Precompetition
Competition

High
Very high

Transition

Low

Major objective of resistance training

Neuromuscular capacity, injury prevention
Neuromuscular capacity, develop base qualities (e.g., maximum
strength)
Convert base qualities to most important qualities (e.g., power)
Refine and maintain most important qualities (e.g., simulate sprinting
motion)
Recovery, rehabilitation

Strength and Conditioning Journal

April 2001

Table 5
Nonspecific (General)
Exercises for Both Short
and Maximum-speed
Sprinting
Short sprint
(e.g., 10 m)

Maximum
speed

Parallel squats
Deadlifts
Machine hip extension/flexion
Bench press
Trunk stability exercises

strength appears to be more important in maximum-speed sprints,

plyometric training can be expected to be more beneficial for this
type of sprinting. The only research to investigate this (6) did
not demonstrate significant gains
in maximum speed from plyometric training. It is difficult to explain
this, but it could be related to
many program variables, such as
volume and intensity, rather than
the ineffectiveness of the plyometric mode of training.
One plyometric exercise that
was not used in this research but
that may be potentially useful for
sprinting is speed bounding. This
exercise requires the athlete to
bound for both distance and speed
and is relatively specific to the mechanics of maximum-speed sprinting (20, 29). Mero and Komi (20)
conducted a biomechanical analysis on sprinting, speed bounding,
bounding for distance, and hopping for distance. It was found
that in speed bounding, the nature of the foot contact, ground
contact times, horizontal velocity,
stride length, and rate and power
production were more similar to
maximum sprinting than the
other training exercises. Therefore, speed bounding is recomApril 2001

mended as a specific exercise for

maximum-speed sprinting.
Another exercise that would
appear to be potentially effective
for the development of reactive
strength specific to maximumspeed running is sprinting with a
weighted vest or belt. By adding a
small amount of weight to the
body, an increased eccentric loading can be expected immediately
after ground contact, thereby overloading the muscles that are required to quickly reverse the
downward motion of the body. A
potential training effect is a reduced ground contact time, which
would decrease stride time and increase stride frequency. Other
popular training methods using a
sled, parachute, or ropes to resist
sprinting all oppose the horizontal
component of the leg drive, rather
than resisting the vertical movement. Therefore, these may be excellent for training general leg
power, but a weighted vest/belt is
recommended to specifically target
reactive strength development for
maximum-speed sprinting. Coaches should experiment with the
amount of resistance used with all
of these methods, but it should not
be excessive (13) because muscle
activation patterns have been
found to differ more from sprinting
as the load increases (14).

Specificity of Training
The training principle of specificity
is well accepted and suggests that
for training to be effective, it
should be similar to the demands
of the sport. Generally, the more
specific the training, the better the
transfer to sports performance
(33). However, in a periodized program, general or nonspecific training is also required to provide a
base from which to attain higher
levels of the most important qualities and for injury prevention, and
the level of specificity of training
should generally increase as the
competitive peak approaches
(Table 4). Based on the above, Tables 5, 6, and 7 indicate some suggested exercises for training for
short sprints and maximum speed
according to exercise specificity.
These are only examples that are
based on the demands of sprinting. Coaches are advised to continually develop their repertoire of
relevant exercises to use in the
physical preparation for sprinting.

Conclusions
Differences in running mechanics
and muscle involvement between
short sprints and maximumspeed sprints have been identified.
Although the quadriceps muscle
group and relative strength appear

Table 6
Medium Specificity Exercises for Sprinting
Short sprint (e.g., 10 m)
Half squats
Single-leg squats/lunges
Power clean/snatch from floor
Push press
Bench press throws

Strength and Conditioning Journal

Maximum speed
Quarter squats
High-speed hip flexion machine
Romanian deadlift
Single-leg squats/lunges
Power clean/snatch from blocks
Drop jumps/hurdle jumps (double leg)
Bounding/hopping for distance
Bench press throws

11

Table 7
High and Very High Specificity Exercises for Sprinting
Short sprint (e.g., 10 m)
Sled sprints
(standing start with medium load)
Inclined sprints
(standing start with medium incline)

to be important for short sprints

from a stationary start, the hamstring muscles and reactive
strength are relatively more important
for
maximum-speed
sprinting. This means that certain
exercises and training methods
can be selectively prescribed to
improve sprinting performance,
depending on the sprinting needs
of the athlete.

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Strength and Conditioning Journal

Young

Benton

Duthie

Pryor

Warren Young, PhD, is Senior

Lecturer with the School of
Human Movement and Sport Sciences at the University of Ballarat
in Victoria, Australia.
Dean Benton, BAppSci, is with
the School of Human Movement
and Sport Sciences at the University of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia.
Grant Duthie, BAppSci, is with
the School of Human Movement
and Sport Sciences at the University of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia.
John Pryor, MHSci, is with the
School of Human Movement and
Sport Sciences at the University of
Ballarat in Victoria, Australia; and
the Human Performance Laboratory at the Sydney Academy of
Sport in Sydney, Australia.

13