How to improve your 100m sprint time
Being able to sprint fast can be very helpful in life and especially so in sports. Imagine being able to wipe the floor with your opponents in a typical 100m race, being the first to get to the football in a match or pulling of the most impossible of shots in tennis. It can also help in everyday life for example chasing after a bus or if you are a police officer getting that most wanted criminal in handcuffs. This article will explain how you can sprint faster and knock seconds off your 100m sprint time.
Basic physiology behind sprinting
In order to sprint faster you need to improve the number of fast twitch fibres in your body. These muscle fibres on average contract three times more than slow twitch fibres which are there counterpart. There are two main types of fast twitch fibres. Type IIa and TypeIIb. When participating in a 100m sprint typeIIb muscle fibres are primarily used as these are the explosive muscle fibres whereas typeIIa are intermediate fast fibres.
Fast twitch muscle fibres are thicker than slow twitch muscle fibres and react when placed under pressure to grow even large. (This is the main reason why 100m sprinters are very muscular). Larger fast twitch muscles means improved power strength and power all key aspects for improving your 100m sprint time. It has been noted that 100m sprinters have roughly 80% fast twitch muscle fibres.
Sprinting muscles cannot receive oxygen quickly enough and so rely on anaerobic (non-oxygen) that produce ATP rapidly. During the first few seconds of sprinting all the ATP that is present in muscle cells is used up. Then for the next 20 seconds roughly creatine phosphate donates its phosphate group to any nearby ADP thus producing about four times as much ATP as was initially present. After this initial period a build up of lactic acid occurs. Lactic acid limits the efficiency of this system.
Mental strength
Mental strength is an important aspect in 100m sprinting. You need to visualise yourself running at 50mph and breaking the world record set by Asafa Powell. What do you think all the sprinters before a race are doing when they are standing around quietly concentrating on the finishing line. The key benefit of this is that it gets all those hormones flowing through your muscles and brain and it pumps you up before the race.
GL Training regime
Start lifting weights
- Train each body part once a week only give it plenty of rest
- Do 8-12 reps for about 3 sets (In this rep range muscle hypertrophy occurs)
- Take in carbohydrates before the workout (this produces a greater pump and helps you to lift more)
- Take in fast digesting carbohydrates and protein after your workout (This helps produce an insulin spike which will help transport that much needed protein to your muscles quicker.
- This article can provide you with more details regardingprinciples behind lifting weights
Sprint 4 times a week
- Get yourself to a track and sprint 100m as fast you can
- Take a few minutes rest in between each run walk around to get that lactic acid out of your muscles
- When your muscles start to ache, finish your training session. This should be after roughly 10-20 minutes.
- never train longer than 45 minutes at a time.
- Nutrition is key when sprinting pre workout nutrition should consist of carbohydrates, either pasta banana or some oatmeal. This should be taken roughly 2 hours before your training session.
Breathing
Once you have completed a sprint, start talking deep breaths to help restore ATP levels (this is done through aerobic respiration). During the race many 100m sprinters do not breath much because the anaerobic (not using oxygen) system is working at full throttle
Supplements
- Whey protein is a good supplement as it allows you to meet your daily protein requirements ( roughly 1.5 grams per pound of body weight). This will also help to increase muscle mass and develop those fast twitch muscles
- Creatine phosphate: As you have seen above ATP is a vital factor in sprinting by taking in more creatine phosphate this allows more ATP to be readily available during sprinting and thus allows you to achieve better times.
Conclusion
Although this is quite an extensive article the take home message should be PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. If you cannot stick to the nutrition or lifting weights just practice running at the track and you will improve. Nobody ever became good by sitting around doing nothing.
Technorati Tags: 100m sprint, run fast, muscle, sprint time, runnner
awesome i put fake information but this guide is just awesome