⚡️SSL #021: 4 Simple Ways Others Are Getting Faster

Dec 25, 2022

In today’s issue of the Saturday Sprint Letter, we’re going to switch things up a bit.

Rather than just giving you information…

I will share exactly what’s working for other athletes and explain why.

Let’s begin.

#1 How Aiden Went From 11.86 to 11.61 in 4 Weeks

Aiden is an athlete from the Bognor Football Club and he told me the 2 biggest things he’s learned from me are to increase your power and apply more force.

From what I’ve seen with younger athletes is that they often try to increase their speed by cycling their legs faster.

Rather than increasing their speed, they tap the ground quickly and barely get anywhere.

Inside Sprint Cheat Codes I call this being a “toe-tapper”.

This occurs because they aren’t putting enough force down and their stride length is almost non-existent.

If you know your stuff, you already know that more power into the ground equals more speed.

#2 How George Went From 11.50 to 11.01 in 3 months

George is a dedicated sprinter from Greece who has been crushing it recently.

He told me the biggest thing he learned from me was to become more relaxed while sprinting.

Tightening up, especially towards the end of the 100m sprint, usually holds many athletes from reaching the intermediate level.

The reason why this is so important is simple, a relaxed muscle can move faster than a tense muscle.

An easy to work on this is to relax your jaw and hands.

Don’t get me wrong, your hands shouldn’t flop everywhere like you’re playing pattycake in the schoolyard.

They should be firm.

But if you relax the jaw and hands, the rest of the body tends to follow.

#3 How Geoff Won 3 Gold Medals In 1 Day

I got this email a while back from Geoff who is a master athlete in the 55-59 age group.

At his age, still pushing it hard, hitting the gas with no brakes.

Won the 3 Gold Medals 1 day in the senior games.

You’d think he’d give credit to some scientific sprint exercises or a special plyometrics workout.

Nope.

Told me one of the biggest impacts on his performance was the dynamic stretching techniques I teach.

It goes to show how the fundamentals go a long way if you push hard and don’t take your foot off the gas.

#4 How Raphael got a 4.64 40-yard dash

Raphael started at a 5-something in the 40-yard dash, then dropped down to a 4.65 (hand-timed) in a matter of months.

When I analyzed his footage the biggest thing I saw in his technique was how great he was at controlling his limbs in the air.

Specifically, on the way, he attacked the ground.

Especially in shorter sprinters like the 40, you cannot afford to waste time.

In the air, your body must be 100% under your control and prepare to strike the ground as effectively as possible.

Some call this foot retraction, others call this negative foot speed, and I call it stabbing the ground.

Your foot should attack the ground, not drop to the ground.

Hopefully, you got some inspiration and ideas you implement immediately from these stories.

Sometimes rather than finding the “perfect-sciencebased-optimized” workout, we just need to need to get to work.

On that note, I wish you happy holidays to you and your family.

TL;DR

more power into the ground equals more speed.
younger athletes often try to increase their speed by cycling their legs faster. Rather than increasing their speed, what happens is they tap the ground quickly and barely get anywhere.
Tightenting up, especailly towards the end of 100m sprint is usually what I see holds back many athletes from reaching the intermediate level.
relax your jaw and hands
dynamic stretching techniques helped get 3 gold medals in 1 day
Your foot should attack the ground, not drop to the ground.

Stay Fast,

Cesar

Join 17,088+ athletes inside the Saturday Sprint Letter.

Every Saturday Morning, you'll get 1 actionable tip on how to run faster sent to your email.

I will never sell your information, for any reason.