Exercises to Improve Speed

Speed has a reputation for being something you are simply born with. Some people are fast, the story goes, and everyone else just is not. That is only partly true. Genetics set a ceiling, but almost nobody trains close to it, which means there is real room to get faster with the right work. That is good news for a wide range of clients, not only track athletes. A weekend soccer player, a client chasing a first 5K, an older adult who wants to react quickly enough to catch themselves on a stumble, all of them benefit from moving faster and more efficiently.

Getting faster is not about running more miles. It is about training specific qualities, sprinting with intent, producing force quickly, and cleaning up your mechanics so none of that effort leaks away. This guide walks through the components of speed, the drills and exercises that build each one, and a sample week you can adapt for almost any client.

The Components of Speed

Before you pick exercises, it helps to understand what you are actually training. Speed is not one single quality. It is a few different things working together.

Acceleration

Acceleration is how quickly you can increase your velocity from a standstill or a slow start. In most sports, and in most of daily life, this matters more than pure top speed, because almost every sprint is short and starts from zero. Acceleration relies on producing a lot of force into the ground with each step while your body is angled forward, driving your knees and pumping your arms.

Top Speed

Top speed, sometimes called maximum velocity, is the fastest you can move once you are already up to speed and running tall. Reaching it takes a longer runway, usually more than 30 to 40 yards for a trained athlete. Top speed is governed by how much force you can put into the ground in the very short time your foot is in contact with it, not by how hard you swing your legs forward.

Mechanics and Movement Efficiency

You can be strong and powerful and still be slow if your mechanics are messy. Efficient sprinting means a tall posture, a powerful arm swing, a strong knee drive, and a foot that strikes underneath your body rather than out in front of it. Cleaning up mechanics often produces quick wins, because many clients are simply wasting the power they already have.

Sprint Drills to Build Speed

Sprinting is the most specific speed exercise there is. You get faster by practicing running fast, with full recovery so every rep is high quality. The drills below teach mechanics and build the two big qualities, acceleration and top speed.

• Wall drills. Lean into a wall with your arms extended and your body at a forward angle, then drive one knee up and down as fast as possible for a few seconds before switching. This teaches the forward lean and knee drive of acceleration without the complexity of a full sprint. Start with three-second bursts.
• A-skips and A-marches. These teach knee drive, a tall posture, and the timing of your foot striking under your body. Marches come first, then progress to skips as coordination improves.
• Acceleration sprints (build-ups). Start from a two-point or three-point stance and drive out for 10 to 20 yards, focusing on a hard forward lean and powerful first steps. These are the bread and butter of acceleration work.
• Flying sprints. Use a gradual 15 to 20 yard build-up, then hit top speed for a 10 to 20 yard "fly zone" where you run tall and relaxed. This trains maximum velocity specifically.
• Interval and repeat sprints. Run hard for a set distance, recover, and repeat. A simple ladder is 50 meters hard, then jog or walk 50 meters to recover, building up through 100, 150, and 200 meters. This develops the ability to repeat speed, which most sports demand.

A key coaching point: real speed work requires real rest. For pure acceleration and top-speed development, give near-full recovery between reps, often two to four minutes, so fatigue does not turn a speed session into a conditioning session.

Use these rest guidelines to match recovery to the training goal:

• Short acceleration (10 to 20 m): rest 2 to 3 minutes between reps.
• Longer acceleration (20 to 40 m): rest 3 to 5 minutes or more between reps.
• Max velocity (flying 10 to 30 m): rest 4 to 8 minutes or more between reps.
• Sprint-specific endurance (about 7 to 15 seconds maximal effort): rest 1 to 2 minutes per second sprinted.
• Repeated sprint ability (10 to 30 m): rest 20 to 60 seconds between reps.
• Conditioning with sprinting (short repeated sprints): rest up to 30 seconds, commonly used.

Plyometrics for Power and Speed

Plyometrics train your muscles and tendons to produce a lot of force in a very short window, which is exactly what fast running demands. They bridge the gap between the strength you build in the weight room and the explosive, quick-contact nature of sprinting.

• Pogo hops. Small, stiff, rapid hops off the balls of your feet with minimal ground contact time. These build the springy ankle stiffness that fast runners rely on.
• Broad jumps. A maximal horizontal jump for distance, which trains the forward force production that drives acceleration.
• Bounding. Exaggerated, powerful running strides that emphasize air time and drive. Bounding closely mirrors the mechanics of sprinting.
• Box jumps. Jumping onto a raised platform to train vertical force production and landing mechanics. Step down between reps to protect the joints.
• Depth jumps. An advanced drill where you step off a low box, land, and immediately jump. These build reactive strength but should be reserved for clients with a solid strength base. The older guideline that an athlete should be able to back squat 1.5 times body weight before high-intensity lower-body plyometrics is still commonly cited, but it is not a research-established prerequisite; the NSCA notes it is not supported as a universal requirement. More useful readiness markers include established lower-body strength from consistent resistance training, excellent squat, jump, and landing mechanics, the ability to land quietly with good hip, knee, and ankle control, repeated countermovement jumps and lower-intensity plyometrics without loss of alignment, progression through landing drills, jumps, hops, and drop landings before attempting a true depth jump, and enough eccentric strength to tolerate the rapid braking forces involved.

Start with low-intensity plyometrics like pogo hops and broad jumps, keep the volume low, and prioritize quality of each contact over the total number of reps. Give full recovery, because plyometrics are a power exercise, not a conditioning drill.

Resisted and Assisted Speed Work

Two specialized methods let you overload speed directly. They are useful tools once a client has the basics down.

Resisted Sprints

Resisted work adds external load so the athlete has to produce more force, which tends to carry over strongly to acceleration.

• Sled pushes and sled drags. Pushing or towing a weighted sled forces powerful, driving strides. Keep the load moderate so mechanics stay clean, since a sled that is too heavy turns the sprint into a grind.
• Hill sprints. Running uphill naturally puts you into an acceleration posture and increases force demand, with the added benefit of being gentler on the hamstrings than flat-ground max sprints. Short, steep hills are excellent for acceleration.
• Resistance band sprints. A partner or an anchored band provides resistance for the first several strides, reinforcing a forward lean and hard knee drive.

Assisted Sprints

Assisted, or overspeed, training helps an athlete move slightly faster than they can on their own so the nervous system gets used to a higher turnover.

• Downhill sprints. A very gentle slope lets you run a touch faster than flat ground. Keep the grade shallow, around 3 percent at most, so mechanics do not fall apart.
• Band-assisted sprints. A partner pulls a band from ahead, gently towing the athlete to a higher speed for a short stretch.

Assisted work is an advanced tool. Introduce it only after a client has solid mechanics and a base of regular sprint training, and keep the volume low.

The Strength Foundation

Speed is force applied quickly, and you cannot apply force you have not built. A strength base makes every other method more effective, because a stronger athlete can put more force into the ground in the split second the foot is down.

• Squats and their variations. Back squats, front squats, and split squats build the quad, glute, and overall lower-body strength that underpins acceleration.
• Deadlifts and hip hinges. Deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts develop the posterior chain, the hamstrings and glutes that drive you forward and protect against strains at high speed.
• Glute-focused work. Hip thrusts and glute bridges strengthen the muscles most responsible for forward propulsion. The glutes are a primary speed engine.
• Single-leg exercises. Lunges, step-ups, and single-leg RDLs build the unilateral strength and stability that running actually demands, since sprinting happens one leg at a time.
• Olympic lift variations. Power cleans and their variations train the whole body to produce force explosively. These require coaching, so reserve them for clients ready to learn the technique.

For building maximal strength that transfers to speed, work in lower rep ranges with heavier loads and full recovery. The goal is force production, not muscular fatigue.

Putting It Together: A Sample Weekly Plan

Here is a simple template for a client with speed as a priority who also strength trains. Adjust the volume for the individual, and always warm up thoroughly before any sprint or plyometric work.

• Day 1, Speed and Power. Dynamic warm-up, wall drills and A-skips, acceleration sprints (6 to 8 reps of 10 to 20 yards, full recovery), low-volume plyometrics (broad jumps and pogo hops), then lower-body strength (squats, single-leg work).
• Day 2, Recovery or Easy Aerobic. Light movement, mobility, or an easy aerobic session. No hard speed work.
• Day 3, Top Speed and Strength. Dynamic warm-up, flying sprints or short hill sprints, a resisted sprint variation like sled pushes, then posterior-chain strength (deadlifts or RDLs, hip thrusts).
• Day 4, Rest. Full recovery.
• Day 5, Repeat Speed or Sport. Interval or repeat sprints, agility drills if relevant to the sport, and optional accessory strength work.
• Weekend, Active Recovery. Easy movement and mobility.

For a beginner, start with one or two focused speed sessions per week and build from there. Speed work is demanding on the nervous system, so more is not always better. Consistent, high-quality sessions with real recovery beat a pile of tired, sloppy reps every time.

A Note on Warming Up and Progression

Sprinting and jumping at full effort with cold muscles is a fast track to a pulled hamstring. Always precede speed work with a thorough dynamic warm-up: light aerobic work, mobility, and a few progressively faster build-up runs. Progress gradually, add intensity before volume, and back off if a client is carrying fatigue or soreness. For any client with a current injury or a history of muscle strains, clear them with a qualified professional before adding maximal sprint or plyometric work.

Master these methods and you can help almost anyone get measurably faster. If you want to build the deep, science-backed knowledge to program speed, power, and performance for athletes and everyday clients alike, the ISSA Strength and Conditioning certification gives you the tools to coach it with confidence.