Develop Your Acceleration Phase like A Pro
The acceleration phase is key part in any sprinting and jumping event. Per Newton's First Law of Motion, an object in motion stays in motion. In order to run a fast race, an athlete must start their race with sufficient acceleration to carry them through the entire race, or in other words, as one of my coaches used to say, "get out the back."
During the acceleration, the athlete gradually comes out of their inert starting state and brings themselves to their maximum velocity.
General features of good acceleration include projecting outwards with great power, minimizing cycling, looking down (not overexaggerated though!), and limiting hinging at the waist.
The actual distance that acceleration occurs over varies per event. For the 100/200m, this is typically the first 30-50m. In the 400m, acceleration may be extended to 40-70m depending on athletes strategy. For triple, long, and high jumpers, as well as pole vaulters, the take-off is essentially an acceleration phase.
To develop your acceleration phase through track sessions, an athlete must repeatedly sprint over short distances that emphasize accelerating. These workouts must be done at 95-100% effort to have meaningful results.
An athlete’s acceleration phase will also see gains as they work on weight training, weighted ball throws, Olympic lifting, and explosive plyometrics.
Below are Several Track Workouts to Develop Your Acceleration Phase.
As for all workouts, make sure to warmup for about 30-45 minutes with dynamic drills and static stretching. Following your workout, cool down appropriately as well.
Sprint Ladders
Sprint ladders help develop rhythm, stride frequency, and proper sprinting posture. When doing these drills correctly, you will feel your body naturally come up as the sprint distances get longer. These drills can be done with cones spaced apart to help match an athlete's stride length.
6-8 x 10-20-30m sprint ladder
1 min recovery after the 10m; 2 min recovery after the 20m; 3 min recovery after the 30m
6 min recovery between each ladder
3 - 4 x 20-30-40m sprint ladder
2 min recovery after the 20m; 3 min recovery after the 30m; 4 min recovery after the 40m
10 min recovery between each ladder
Repeated Sprints
These sprints will help develop the familiarity of the acceleration phase. Like all acceleration workouts, it is essential that these are performed at 95% effort or more. The rest interval for each run should be taken in full. If adjusting rests, one can make the longer, but rarely reduce them. It is important for your body to get a full recovery, so that on the next sprint you can produce enough power and force needed for proper acceleration.
6-8 x 20m sprints
2 min recovery between each run
2-4 x [3x30m sprints]
3 min recovery between each run
12 min recovery between each rep
Resisted Sprints
Resisted Sprints are great at targeting aspects of acceleration that athletes tend to have difficulty with, especially posture when slowly straightening. Hill sprints help an athlete feel the gradual rising of the body and the foot placement that accompanies this movement. Combining resisted and un-resisted sprints can help an athlete emphasize the posture and drive required of a resisted run in their typical sprint routine.
When doing a sled sprint, the sled should often be no more than 10-15% of the athletes body weight. If the sled is too heavy, the athlete will execute poor posture.
3 x [3 x 30m uphill sprints]
4 min recovery between runs
10 min recovery between reps
3 x [3 x 30m sled/parachute sprints]
4 min recovery between runs
12 min recovery between reps
4 x [1 x 20m sled; 2 x 20m un-resisted]
3 min recovery after resisted; 2 min recovery after un-resisted
4 min recovery between reps
