Speed is one of the basic requirements in most sport activities. There are individuals who want to improve their current speed to be much faster and more agile. This is the reason why there are many individuals participating in different speed trainings. Speed training allows a person to increase and improve their running performance without putting out too much effort.
Speed can be considered as one of the goals of those people who are starting speed training also known as speed training for beginners. Speed training for beginners is highly designed for people just starting to develop their speed whether it is for running or other sports activities.
For those people who are starting out, here are some guidelines in speed training for beginners that are very helpful in achieving one’s goal, which is improving one’s speed.
1. The first thing to do is to come up with a plan or training goals. Different questions such as "Is there a specific reason why it is important to improve speed?" or “What is your long term target to run and finish 5-10K?", are questions that can be associated with your plan or goals to keep you motivated at all times.
2. Find various basic speed training exercises or drills that can be utilized during practices. Speed training for beginners requires a longer period of time with approximately 8-10 weeks to get acquainted on the basic speed mechanics before going into more advanced speed training.
3. The next step is to create a weekly plan for your training program that can incorporate with different basic speed training programs such as tempo run, long run, hill workouts, and interval runs as well. Every week, choose two basic speed training programs to perform. This enables you to avoid the chance of losing interest in the repeated program.
4. Always remember not to forget to conduct warm-up before training. Warming-up before speed training also permits the stretching of muscles, bones and the ligaments to get ready for any form of training perfectly. This avoids the risk of injury.
5. For beginners, it is very important to get knowledgeable about run intervals. This type of running is a great way to enhance the speed and intensity of a workout. Start with two sets of 200m and during the second set, aim to complete the 200m in an even faster speed. In addition, insert jogging of 300-400m in between the interval of running to recovery while continuously conditioning the body before running even faster in the second set.
6. Concentrate in developing speed endurance and decreasing the chances to get fatigue by incorporating 5k sprint into your weekly plan. Execute the 5k by dividing into three sets of each one mile run at a controlled pace or slow pace. Then, introduce fast-paced running on the remaining miles left.
7. Take note to finish a run once a week. Change the pace within one to two seconds faster than your regular 5k pace for a three to four mile sprint.
8. Do not forget to take time and rest. The body needs to recover as you gradually increase the intervals of the run. Beginners ought to rest more compared to advanced runners. It is not shameful to rest in between intervals ranging between 30 seconds to two minutes based on the difficulty of the training level and experience.
So, if you are a person who is interested in participating in speed trainings simply to improve your speed level then the following guidelines can be used as a great tool for all the beginners thinking of trying speed training. Always keep in mind to start slowly and understand that results will not appear overnight.