How to Run Faster Properly

In the running world, a second can be the difference between gold medals and bronze medals. As such, many sprinters always think of how to sprint faster.

Running is a science, like all scientific practices, it has its own language. Mastering the alphabets of the sprinting language can be the deciding factor in improving sprinting speed.

Science behind Running

The body is a complex machine of complex systems. In fact, just one of the systems (muscular system) is so complex, doctors and surgeons take years, of research and experience, to successfully do surgeries on these muscle groups.

Fortunately, for sprinters, they don’t need to master all these complex stuff. They just need to isolate the muscle groups used in sprinting.

Muscle groups used in Running

In a sense, sprinting is a team sport. Your muscle groups must be in harmony for you to have a faster sprint. This is why sprinters’ lap times vary. They might be in harmony in a certain race, then lose focus in another.

Muscles used in Running.

To the layman, only the legs are used in sprinting, but to the scientist, this is further than the truth. With the leg muscles, these other muscles are used:

1. Heart (most important, without it you will die).
2. Diagram (it affects the amount of oxygen you can take in).
3. Obliques muscles (important in further stages of the race).
4. Abdominal muscles (important at the beginning stages of the race).
5. Back muscles, responsible for inertia.
6. Leg muscles, used for

How to Run faster?

Doing the following things will help eventually make you faster in running.

1. Squatting properly and regularly.

Squats develop your leg muscles. Without leg muscles, your body cannot generate the tremendous amounts of forces, required by top sprint athletes. As such, you need to focus most of your exercise regimen on increasing leg muscle mass, by squatting regularly.

Another benefit of squatting regularly is that you are at a lesser risk of acquiring leg injuries.

2. Sucking in your stomach, at the beginning stages of the race.

Usain bolt, set world records but he had the worst reaction time during the early stages of his sprint in history.

Sucking in the stomach, during the initial stages of the sprint, is akin to stretching a rubber band.

When released the rubber band, flies off, in the same way, a person, who sucks in (tightens) the belly, can also fly off.

3. Using your oblique muscles after getting the best start.

Lionel Messi is quicker than Cristiano Ronaldo, but Ronaldo is faster than Lionel Messi. But why is this?

The answer is simple, quickness (reaction time), is generated from abdominal muscles, whereas speed (sprint speed), is generated from the oblique muscles.

4. Standing on your Big toe, like a ballet dancer

Sucking in your stomach can improve your reaction time, but without balance, you might not be able to tap into that

Standing on your to big toe allows your body, to adapt its center of gravity, which will help in improving your quickness (reaction time), during races.

All speed wizards in sports (Lionel Messi, Muhammed Ali, Ronaldo Delima, Maradonna) each had an unusually large toe, that gave then an unfair balance.

They used this to devastating effects and tormented their opponents for years.

If you are grown, the effects you will see from this might be abysmal, but pruning growing children, with these techniques, help their bodies, adapt, to use this center of gravity to devastating effects.

Proper technique for Running.

1. Take long deep breaths as you prepare to be on your mark.
2. As you are set to start the race. Suck in your belly, taking short fast breaths, as you wait for the gun or whistle to go off.
3. If you did the first two steps properly, you should be among the first sprinters, in the race.
4. Straighten your body, and switch from sucking in your stomach (engaging abdominal muscles), and start using your oblique muscles, to get larger strides.
5. Now take in huge breaths, and don’t look at anybody, but the finish line. Make sure to give it your all.
6. Make sure you are pounding and shoving away your feet from the ground, with all the strength in your legs.
7. If you did, exactly, as I stated, then you should be among the first 5 runners.
8. If you were not among the top 5 runners, then it means, you didn’t train your leg muscles properly, or you didn’t execute this technic properly.
9. Start training more in by squatting more, and swimming to give you a more flexible muscle.
10. If all is done properly, your runs start becoming sprints.