The sprint training aspect of your acceleration training program can make or break your ability to sprint fast and ultimately improve to your maximal potential. The best way to get better at something is to do it - so if you want to sprint faster, you need to sprint regularly and aim for optimal technique. There are a variety of adaptations which occur when you perform sprint training, and for the sake of this tutorial we will discuss those related to your acceleration training program. When you sprint fast in your training, you a variety of changes:

• Structural changes - Muscle/Tendon/Fascial adaptations
• Neurological changes - Rate coding and Motor Unit Recruitment
• Technical changes - Improvement in how force is applied, which is the primary determinant of sprinting capability
• Energy System changes - Stress and eventually enhance the capacity for ATP-CP and Glycolytic energy systems

Optimal sprint training in your acceleration training program will allow you to improve your acceleration and prevent injury, promoting better sports performance and allowing you to spend more time perfecting the skills specific to your sport. The structural changes which occur in through sprint training are similar to those of drop jumps and plyometric activities. Generally, changes in muscle & tendon architecture are seen, including changes in the stiffness of tendons, muscle fascicle length, and inhibition of golgi tendon organs.

Neurologically, sprint training will enhance your ability to accelerate by improving the ability of your nervous system to coordinate movement and produce force. Rate coding increases occur with sprinting, which is essentially the frequency at which you can send individual nerve impulses. Additionally, neurological changes related to the coordination of movements at high speeds are very impactful, such as the ability for individual muscle fibers to coordinate contraction relative to one another. Lastly, sprint training helps improve your motor unit recruitment, which a shift toward higher threshold motor units being activated with a higher rate of force development. Sled training is a particularly effective sprint training modality for increasing rate of force development.

To incorporate sprinting into your acceleration training program, you need to play around with a variety of distances and starting positions, with every repetition emphasizing optimal sprint technique. These are some basic guidelines for acceleration sprints:

• 5m to 40m in distance
• 95% or greater intensity
• No more than 300m in total session volume

You can use a number of starting positions. Some commonly used sprint starts include:

• Drop-in or Skip-in start
• 2 point stance
• 3 point stance
• 4 point stance
• Block starts

Some common coaching cues and points of focus for acceleration sprint training:

• Knee brings the leg forward, foot brings the leg back
• Strike back into the ground
• Push the ground away behind you
• Be big with your elbow and knee drive
• Minimize/eliminate forward foot swing during early acceleration
• Aim for longer, bigger pushes which get quicker after 10 to 20 meters.

Example Sprint Training for an Acceleration Training Program

• Example A
  • Warm-Up
  • 2-4 easy strides
  • 2-3 drop in 20m accelerations
  • 2x 2 point stance accelerations
  • 4x 20m block starts
• Example B
  • Warm-Up
  • 2-4 build-up accelerations
  • 4x acceleration complex
    • 10m Sled Pull
    • 20m drop-in acceleration
    • 30m block start

Recommended footwear for acceleration sprints:

• Training Shoes
  • Adidas Adizero Tempo 8
  • Adidas Adizero Boston Boost 6
• Spikes
  • Nike Zoom Ja Fly 2
  • Adidas Adizero Prime SP

Recommended training equipment for your acceleration sprints:

• Title Boxing Power Sled (Best sled for the money)
• Disc Cones

The plyometric and power training aspect of your acceleration training program can be a powerful tool for increasing your ability to produce explosive power. Athletes who launch out of their start and run fast times have likely performed some amount of power development work and plyometric exercises. Similar to sprint training, these exercises have a number of effects:

• Plyometrics improve sprint performance in athletes
• Force vector specific improvements in sprinting

Optimal plyometric training in your acceleration training program will train your body and brain to be more explosive and more resilient overall. Depending on your current physical state and training age, a variety of plyometric options exist for you to include in your acceleration training program. Some types of jumps include:

• Lower Intensity
  • Rudiment hops
  • In-place jumps
• Moderate Intensity
  • Jumps for height & distance
  • Skips for height and distance
  • Bounds and Speed Bounds
  • Countermovement jump
• Most Intense
  • Drop Jumps
  • Repeated jumps for max height or distance

Beyond plyometric exercises, a number of exercises exist that could fit well in an acceleration training program. These exercises include:

• Olympic lift derivatives
  • Clean grip high pull
  • Snatch grip high pull
  • Mid-thigh high pull
  • Power Clean
  • Power Snatch
• Weighted Jumps
  • Hex Bar Jump Squats
  • Barbell Jump Squats
• Heavy Sled Pulls (30% to 80% body weight)
• Push-Press
• Many more

Implementing Power Development and Plyometric Exercises into you Acceleration Training Program

Generally, you want to incorporate exercises which have a horizontal force vector component, are relatively high velocity, and are done with optimal form and quality. Because acceleration performance is dependent upon horizontal force and an optimal ratio of force, using exercises which train these qualities is imperative. Generally, you want to either perform these exercises directly after your sprint session, or on a completely separate day depending upon your specific acceleration training program.

Example power development and plyometric program:

• Example A
  • 10x Jumps for Distance
  • 6x10m Heavy sled pull
  • 4x3 Mid-Thigh High Pull
• Example B
  • 8x SL Drop Jump for Distance
  • 6x DL Drop Jump for Distance
  • 4x3 Hang Snatch
  • 10x Med Ball Toss for Distance

You can apply many variations to these programs, but the key factor to keep in mind is that you do work which is appropriate to your current state. If you can't run a 10.9 in the 100m, I doubt you will be best served doing high volumes of drop jumps. On the flip side, someone who runs a 4.3 40yd dash probably will elicit minimal benefit from some in place hops, and need to be more strategic with their implementation of plyometrics and power development in their acceleration program.

References

1. Technical ability of force application as a determinant factor of sprint performance. (n.d.). Retrieved January 04, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21364480
2. Martínez-Valencia, M. A., Romero-Arenas, S., Elvira, J. L., González-Ravé, J. M., Navarro-Valdivielso, F., & Alcaraz, P. E. (2015, June 27). Effects of Sled Towing on Peak Force, the Rate of Force Development and Sprint Performance During the Acceleration Phase. Retrieved January 04, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4519204/
3. Energy conversion rates during sprinting with an emphasis on the performance of female athletes. (n.d.). Retrieved January 04, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11055819
4. Effects of sprint and plyometrics training on field sport acceleration technique. (n.d.). Retrieved January 04, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24149762
5. Duchateau, J., & Baudry, S. (2014). Maximal discharge rate of motor units determines the maximal rate of force development during ballistic contractions in human. Retrieved January 04, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4001023/
6. Bohm, S., Mersmann, F., & Arampatzis, A. (2015, December). Human tendon adaptation in response to mechanical loading: a systematic review and meta-analysis of exercise intervention studies on healthy adults. Retrieved January 04, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4532714/
7. The Relationship between Lower Body Power and Sprinting Ability in Recreationally Trained College Men. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1123&context=etd