So somewhere in this grouping of athletes, I am sure one of you can provide hints/tips to help me out.
I have been playing Ultimate Frisbee for years, something I enjoy. It seems though the people I play with are getting younger and faster. While my build will never allow me to slim down to be a speed demon, I need to do something help increase both my speed so I can track those little buggers down or blow them away when needed.
If anyone can offer some exercises I can do that might help me increase my speed it would be great. Even endurance. I mean I can run 6 miles without stopping, but the 40 yard sprint kills me. Anything would help. Even better feel free to explain it as if I was a complete idiot... Thanks.
We did some speed and agility work for crossfit...
Try:
- Hopping in one place for about 20 seconds, not big jumps but just use the front of your feet to push yourself into the air - Next, lean forward a little, you should see yourself start to hop in the direction you're leaning. When you sprint, lean forward to keep your momentum going forward. - Next exercise is to pump your arms in place. Your elbows should be making 90º angles when they get behind you as you're ripping them through to pull yourself through the air...sounds silly but it helps. Keep your arms close to your body as you do this.
This link shows a crossfit trainer explaining the "wheel analogy" and at the end he gets to the part about "leaning forward" to go anywhere.
Disclaimer: This is what has worked for me. I'm much faster than I was before we started doing sprint training at CF.
BQ, find a football field that isn't in use and ... hold on let me find our old workout.
6 x 100M sprint with 60 seconds rest between sprint
Rest 2 minutes
4 x 50 M sprint with 30 s rest
Rest 1 minute
2 x 25 M sprint with 15 s rest
Rest 1 minute
2x 30M shuttles @10M marks, rest 20 s
The point of the shuttles at the end is to get you to plant on the back foot, turn and push off low just like you would from a standstill if you were to go into a sprint.
With chalk draw 5 circles (two in the front, one in the middle, and two behind you). Start from the middle circle and each time you jump to the back left or the fron right etc. you jump back to the middle circle. Also try sprinting in the sand for about 20 yards or so.
Many thanks. One question about the circle jumping. Should it be done quickly, slowly, well paced?
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I think what he's suggesting is something similar to what we did in football called the "Dot Drill."
You make the 5 circles look like the "5" on dice. You can do two feet on each in a "Z" pattern sorta, two feet spread, together on the dot in the middle, then spread again.
And yes, you do it quickly. Work on speed and agility in your feet.
Doing dynamic warm ups helps too...butt kickers, high knees, power skips, russian march...
I think the best thing to do to increase sprint speed would actually be to sprint. I would recommend doing high intensity interval running, where you warm up, then sprint all out for a minute, then do 1-2 minutes of light job, and repeat this about 8 times, or as much as you can take it