Speed 101: Anyone Can Increase Their Basic Speed

Three components affect your maximal speed: Stride Frequency, Stride Length, and Anaerobic Endurance. Here’s a quick look at all three and how they work together.

How Speed Is Created

Have you ever watched a foot race and asked yourself why one person beat the others? Your answer was probably, because he or she is faster. If the winner won by a significant distance, you were probably right. However, if the finish was close, you may have been wrong.

It is true that some people are just naturally faster than others because of their genetic or physiological makeup. However, take two people who have the exact same genetic makeup, and have them race. Will one win and one will lose? Yes, even if it is by the narrowest of margins, but why?

The answer is biomechanics or, in laymen terms, technique. When watching a race you probably have noticed that each person looks like they run differently. These differences are biomechanical in nature.

Everyone can improve his or her basic speed. There are three factors (other than genetic) that determine how fast a person runs:

• Stride Frequency – This is the number of strides a person takes in a set amount of time.
• Stride Length – This is the measured distance of each stride taken.
• Anaerobic Endurance – This is your body’s ability to sustain maximum effort for an extended time frame.

All three of these factors are dependent on each other for the creation of speed. In other words, a person cannot become faster without improving all three components. For example, the number of strides a person takes in ten seconds will only make them faster if the length of each stride is greater than another’s. This is exactly what I will address.

Stride Frequency

Stride frequency is one of the max speed factors. This will explain the definition and practical influence of stride frequency and how it affects maximal speed.

Stride frequency is defined as the number of times a foot touches the ground in a given amount of time (usually seconds). This determining factor of maximal speed is the most difficult to change, and thus, has the smallest affect on speed production.

However, because the movement of the lower leg with each stride affects it, it is important. More specifically, where the foot touches down with relation to the rest of the body can affect stride length, which in turn, affects stride frequency.

Basically, if the foot touches down behind the body the stride has been shortened. A shortened stride causes a slightly greater frequency rate.

Conversely, when the foot touches down in front of the body the stride has been lengthened. Stride lengthening slows the frequency rate of your stride. This is typically called over-striding in speed training. Over-striding is the most common mistake made by sprinters in relation to stride frequency.

When the foot strikes directly under the body and the lower leg is 90 degrees (or perpendicular to the ground), stride length is optimal. This allows the athlete to reach his or her optimal frequency, which allows the sprinter to maintain maximal speed.

Stride Length

Stride frequency is one of the max speed factors. This will explain the definition and practical influence of stride frequency and how it affects maximal speed.

Stride length is defined as the distance between touchdown of the toe of one foot and the touchdown of the toe of the other foot.

This factor varies greatly from sprinter to sprinter. Stride length can even change for an individual depending on whether he or she is racing at longer or shorter distances.

However, we’re not going to get into all of that. Instead, we will focus on how, either by shortening or lengthening your stride, you can better obtain your maximal speed potential.

First of all, the length of each stride can vary due to several factors including but not limited to:

• Strength
• Flexibility
• Injury
• Leg length
• Endurance
• Biomechanical technique.

It is relatively easy to determine a person’s optimal stride length. All you need to do is watch where the foot is with relation to the upper-body when it touches the ground.

Optimal position of touchdown should be somewhere between six and twelve inches in front of the sprinters center of gravity. Touchdown any closer to the body’s center of gravity (or behind it) will cause a decrease in force applied to the ground.

The greater the force applied to the ground, the greater the speed.

Conversely, touchdown any farther away from the center of gravity and the foot will act like a brake. This over-lengthened stride decreases the amount of force applied to the ground. This, in turn, will slow the sprinters maximal speed.

So, generally speaking, in relation to the sprinters center of gravity, if the foot strike is behind the center, the stride is too short. If the foot strike is too far in front of the body’s center, the stride is too long.

Last words

Of the three max speed factors, two of them, stride frequency and stride length, can be improved by executing a few simple drills while training.

There are two drills that can help anyone become faster, if practiced and perfected. They are the “A” and “B” drills. The “A” drill precedes the “B” drill, and both are to be learned in a progression from marching or walking, to skipping and finally running.