If you were limited to one strength exercise to increase running speed what would it be? Whenever I ask this question I get a variety of answers. Most responses relate to exercises to strengthen the posterior chain as for example, the dead lift and glute-ham- gastroc raise. A few answers relate to doing the squat and plyometric exercises such as the depth jump.
Very few answers had the knee (thigh) drive as the best exercise. In this exercise the thigh is driven forward from a position well behind the body. This is the position seen after the pushoff in sprinting. Do not confuse this exercise with the knee (thigh) raise. In this exercise you raise the thigh directly upward from a position directly under the body. This exercise does not increase running speed.
In my opinion the knee drive with Active Cords is the best exercise that you can do to improve running speed. It is far superior to any other single exercise in relation to the effects produced. The reasons for this are many since there are many benefits from doing this exercise. For example:
- It creates greater forward momentum during the pushoff. This is a very powerful action and becomes even greater with greater muscular mass of the thigh.
- It increases stride length as it brings the thigh as far forward as possible and gives the shin momentum to swing out in preparation for a powerful pawback.
- It increases stride frequency because it cuts down on the time it takes for the leg to go through its airborne actions.
- It is the key action involved in faster acceleration
- Development of adequate strength and muscular endurance prevents the onset of fatigue and thus allows you to maintain stride length throughout the entire run.
- The exercise execution can be adjusted for development of varying degrees of strength, muscular endurance and explosive power.
- The knee drive exercise can be used as an overspeed exercise.
- The knee drive and pawback exercises use 80% of all the energy used in the pushoff.
- Ankle joint extension uses 20% of the total energy expended. It is an excellent complementary exercise to the knee drive.
I don’t think any other exercise comes close to producing these benefits in relation to greater speed. In fact some of the other exercises believed to improve speed can be a negative in relation to speed.
For example, posterior chain exercises are not used in the pushoff. If you concentrate on contraction of these muscles in the pushoff he can make you slower! This concept of posterior chain involvement is a common misconception that seems to be constantly perpetuated.
For more information see other blogs and articles that have addressed this topic. Also see Explosive Running for more details.