The Secret Equation You've Been Seeking For Speed
When it comes to speed there are a lot of factors that play into it. Several include, stride frequency, stride length, muscle explosion, turn over ratio, fast twitch muscle fibers, and muscle recovery.
Stride frequency will be the first subject I will elaborate on in this first article. Whether an elite sprinter, football player, basketball player, or soccer player all high level athletes rely on speed to perform at an elite level. Stride frequency is a major factor in elite level speed.
Stride frequency is the rate at which an athlete can move their legs during a run. Stride frequency is measured by the number of strides you can take with your legs in a “specific amount of time”. It can be measured as strides per minute, strides per hour, etc.
Since we are shooting for speed it is important we "pick em up and put them down" (our feet when running or "drive") . That said, we aren't only seeking fast turnover as a world class sprinter...the more powerful the stride, the faster the athlete. If you notice, world class sprinters have long powerful strides to cover more ground in a short period of time.
A sprinter's velocity is determined by stride length and stride frequency. A sprinter can increase velocity by increasing their stride length, increasing their stride frequency, or both. The relationship among these three performance metrics can be expressed by the equation:
Equation 1: V(elocity) = SL(stride length) * SF (stride frequency)
This equation can be rewritten as:
Equation 2: SL = V / SF
&
Equation 3: SF = V / SL
The point is...focus on enhancing your stride length and stride frequency and you will get faster....period.
Here is a short video to help you train your stride frequency and stride length.
Here are some exercises to help you build your stride power.