Want to run faster and leave your competition in the dust? Is it even possible to learn how to run faster? After all, speed is one of the most sought-after attributes for athletes in just about every sport. Are the fastest players just born with it, or have they just worked harder than you? We've got some speed training that will help you reach your maximum speed potential!

Speed training workouts aren't just about sprinting drills. There are a number of components that have to come together. Working on improving some of the muscles most athletes ignore can really improve your speed.

Learning proper sprinting technique is also important to get the most out of your speed drills, but that can be fine-tuned after you put in a lot of hard work.

See the workout notes for exact exercise details!

Workouts to Gain Speed

Everyone always wants to work on quads and hamstrings to run faster, but there is quite a bit more involved than just these muscles! A commonly ignored facet of learning how to run faster is the importance of leg lift. Your entire anterior chain of muscles is involved in getting you moving, so why not work the entire chain?

The best speed workouts will focus on improving the smaller muscles in addition to the major muscle groups.

Speed Exercises

Are sprint workouts for speed the only way to go? There's more to it than just getting out and running, since you probably won't be running your fastest for very long! Leg workouts for speed can go a long way in the realm of speed training.

A few of the exercises in this speed workout routine might seem odd, especially the heel walks, but each exercise focuses on an important part of your anterior muscle chain and targets muscles involved in generating the leg lifting power necessary for maximum running speed.

The heel walk will leave the front of your legs burning, and you will notice the increase in strength after just a few of these workouts. Backward sprints with proper form target the lower portion of your quads, just above the knee. The internal and external rotations of the roundhouse kicks really work on both your glutes and your hip flexors.

The scissor kicks should be kept low to focus more on your hip flexors than abs and core. The workout finishes with decline push-ups and sit-ups to cover the rest of your anterior chain. Overall, this might seem like a quick workout, but it is deceivingly long, and you may not even be able to complete it for the first week or two!

This workout calls for 4 days per week. We recommend working Monday and Tuesday, then taking a break on Wednesday so you're ready to go again on Thursday and Friday. This leaves weekends free for recovery. You may want to only do 3 days per week when you first start.

Sport-specific Speed Training

This speed increasing workout is not just a track speed workout! Athletes of all kinds can improve their speed with this speed training technique. Soccer speed workouts are not going to be that much different than football speed training workouts. The end goal is getting you where you need to be before your opponent gets there.

Fine tuning your sport-specific speed will come from getting as much time in games as possible, against the highest levels of competition as possible. You're going to have to move fast to keep up with the best!

What makes the best speed workouts?

How can you make sure you're getting the best speed workout possible? By putting giving it everything you've got throughout the whole workout! You can't improve your speed by being lazy. Speed training for any sport is going to require all of your effort if you want to see any improvement.

Your first few workouts in this speed workout plan are going to be tough, and you're going to be sore for a while! But don't give up! Just shaving a few tenths of a second of your 40 yard dash time could be the difference between a scholarship and a spot on the bench. Get started today, and ramp up your acceleration no matter what your sport is!