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However, running flat-out should be undertaken only after a thorough warm-up, regardless of your fitness level, as it can cause muscle pulls and strains as well as major injuries, like Achilles tears. If you have any concerns about injuries or health issues, talk with your doctor first.
If you have a larger body and are concerned about stress on your joints or bones, Sanderson recommends starting with lower-impact exercises such as sled pushes to build up strength and develop conditioning before trying to sprint.
“Spend some time preparing your tissues,” he said. “Jumping rope, even jumping or bouncing in a swimming pool.”
Lastly, remember that “top speed” is a relative term. If you ran a 12-second 100-metre race several decades ago, adjust your expectations. Every athlete is different, but here are a few general tips for sprinting safely.
Start slow
Even though the goal is to go fast, it’s important to start slow. Running 100 metres right away is probably a bad idea.
“If you haven’t sprinted recently, maybe go and run slightly faster than you’re used to,” Lundstrom says. Then “a little bit harder, and gradually getting up to a full sprint.”
Roll up the intensity
Experts also suggest “rolling sprints” during a standard jog to work into running at top speed. As you jog, pick a point to begin increasing the intensity of your running every 10 metres or so until you reach an effort where speaking would be hard. From there, decrease every 10 metres until you’re back to your regular jogging pace.
If you are not a jogger, you can do rolling sprints as a stand-alone workout, repeating each sprint a handful of times.
Set a baseline
Once you start sprinting, the first thing you should do is set a benchmark time over a certain distance. This is less about bragging rights and more about having a tool to structure later workouts.
Start with a distance between 40 and 60 metres long. Simply work into a sprint and note your best time.
Use your threshold
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Once you have a benchmark time, use it to plan your workouts. One easy routine, Sanderson says, is to run repeated sprints at your chosen distance, trying to keep your efforts within a certain range of your benchmark time. He calls that range a “percentage threshold”.
Thresholds vary for each athlete, but for someone with a high fitness level, five per cent is good. Others may aim for 10 per cent.
At first, the number of sprints that you can run may be low. But as you gain strength and speed, you’ll find that your ability to maintain speed will grow.
The New York Times
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