Sport-specific
Mechanics of Speed and Power Development
athletics · all levels · speed, power, explosiveness
Updated
How this document is used
This is one of the 44 documents the phase.fitness generator reads before writing a phase. It receives the principles below as context, and the numbers in it become the bands a generated program has to respect. The references at the end are stripped from the prompt — the model is not allowed to cite studies — and kept here, for you to check.
Speed and power underpin performance in sprinting, jumping, and throwing, and transfer across all sports.
Key Principles
1. Speed Is About Force, Not Frequency
Faster runners apply greater ground reaction forces; they do not move their legs faster. Train force production through strength, plyometrics, and sprinting — not through cadence drills.
2. The Shock Method (Depth Jumps)
Depth jumps exploit the stretch-shortening cycle: drop, then immediate maximal jump, with ground contact under 0.2 seconds. Longer contact means the elastic contribution has been lost and the exercise has become a squat jump.
3. Force-Velocity Continuum
- High Force/Low Velocity: Heavy squats, deadlifts (>85% 1RM).
- Moderate Force/Moderate Velocity: Power cleans (30–70% 1RM).
- Low Force/High Velocity: Plyometrics, sprints.
4. Specificity of speed: sprint when fresh, or don't sprint
Maximum-velocity sprinting is the most specific stimulus the sport has, and also the most fragile. Performed tired, it trains a slower movement pattern and loads the hamstrings in exactly the state where they fail.
The practical rule is that sprint quality is measured, not assumed. When times drop by more than about 3% from the session's best, the session's speed work is finished — regardless of what remains on the plan.
5. Volume is counted in ground contacts, not in sets
Plyometric load is not well described by sets and repetitions, because the stress is per landing. Counting contacts per session — and per week — is what keeps the progression honest, and it is why the table below prescribes contacts rather than sets.
The prerequisite matters as much as the count: an athlete who cannot control a landing does not need more of them.
6. The training year has a shape, and speed sits at the end of it
General strength and work capacity are built first; power and reactive qualities are layered on a base of strength; and maximal-velocity work is sharpened last, closest to competition, because it is the quality that peaks fastest and fades fastest.
Attempting to peak speed in a general-preparation block produces neither.
Guidelines & Recommendations
Sprint Training
| Phase | Distance | Intensity | Volume | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acceleration | 10–30m | 95–100% | 6–10 reps | 2–4 min |
| Max Velocity | Flying 20–40m | 100% | 4–6 reps | 4–6 min |
| Speed Endurance | 80–150m | 90–95% | 3–5 reps | 8–12 min |
| Tempo | 100–200m | 65–75% | 10–16 reps | 45–90 sec |
Plyometrics
| Level | Examples | Contacts/Session | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Line hops, skipping | 80–120 | 3×/week |
| Moderate | Box jumps, bounding | 60–100 | 2–3×/week |
| High (Shock) | Depth jumps | 25–40 | 1–2×/week |
Prerequisite: squat ≥1.5× BW before high-intensity plyometrics.
Strength Training
- Back Squat: 3–5 × 2–5 @ 85–95% 1RM.
- Deadlift: 3–5 × 2–5.
- Olympic Lifts (Clean, Snatch): 3–5 × 2–3 @ 75–85%.
- Hip Thrust: 3–4 × 5–8 (horizontal force for acceleration).
Weekly structure, competitive phase
| Day | Session |
|---|---|
| 1 | Acceleration + heavy strength (posterior chain emphasis) |
| 2 | Tempo running, low intensity. Mobility. |
| 3 | Maximum velocity + plyometrics + Olympic lift variations |
| 4 | Rest or easy tempo |
| 5 | Speed endurance + moderate strength |
| 6 | Tempo or rest |
| 7 | Rest |
Two principles govern the layout: high-quality speed work never follows a hard day, and the two highest-intensity nervous-system sessions of the week are separated by at least 48 hours.
Injury Prevention
- Hamstring strains: the sport's characteristic injury, occurring at or near maximal velocity. Eccentric hamstring work (Nordic curls and progressions) year-round, and a hamstring-to- quadriceps strength ratio at or above 0.6. Crucially, exposure to high-speed running is itself protective: tissue is prepared for sprinting only by sprinting.
- Achilles and calf: progressive plyometric loading with contacts counted, plus eccentric calf work. The Achilles tolerates high loads but adapts slowly, and plyometric volume that rises faster than tissue capacity is the usual mechanism.
- Lower back: trunk stiffness and hip mobility, particularly in athletes performing Olympic lift variations at speed.
Common programming errors
- Sprinting at the end of a session, when the athlete is fatigued and the pattern degrades.
- Cadence and turnover drills in place of force production work.
- Depth jumps without the strength prerequisite, where the athlete cannot absorb the landing.
- Counting plyometric sets instead of ground contacts, and progressing volume blindly.
- Removing sprinting during heavy strength blocks, then reintroducing it at full intensity.
Key Takeaways
- Speed comes from ground reaction force, not from faster leg turnover.
- Ground contact <0.1 sec at max velocity — train reactive strength.
- Full force-velocity continuum: heavy lifts → power cleans → plyometrics/sprints.
- Sprint fresh. Full recovery between efforts.
- Hamstring health is non-negotiable. Nordic curls.
References
- Weyand, P. G., et al. (2000). Journal of Applied Physiology, 89(5), 1991–1999.
- Verkhoshansky, Y., & Siff, M. C. (2009). Supertraining (6th ed.). Verkhoshansky SSTM.
- Bompa, T. O., & Buzzichelli, C. (2019). Periodization (6th ed.). Human Kinetics.
Source note: Weyand et al. (2000), Verkhoshansky (2009), Bompa & Buzzichelli (2019)
