The 10 Best Speed Exercises to Improve Your Performance

Performing a proper training routine with speed exercises is key to reaching our peak performance. Learn the best options here.

Gaining speed is key to breaking barriers and meeting goals in the shortest time possible. We often wonder what we can do to run faster. Therefore, we’re going to propose 10 speed exercises to improve your performance without the need to go to the gym.

Speed is the measurement between the space a body runs and the time it takes to run it. In other words, it’s the velocity of movement.

With a proper training routine and a good diet, we won’t only gain lightness, but we can strengthen and tone our muscles, lose weight, get a better figure, and reduce the risk of injury and disease.

Know the best speed exercises to improve your performance

Speed training is very important for the exercise to be productive. Speed as such does not exist in a vaccuum, but is in reality a set of different physical qualities.

That’s why we must work different aspects to strengthen muscles, achieve greater endurance and get the necessary explosion to improve our times. Let’s take a look at 10 great speed exercises.

1. Speed exercises: Jogging

Jogging is one of the most common activities and brings countless benefits. It’s just a matter of taking one’s time and choosing the right place to do it.

Sustained jogging allows us to improve our aerobic capacity and achieve greater endurance. In addition, it’s one of the most recommended activities for cardiovascular health and weight loss.

2. Accelerate and maintain your speed

This exercise begins with a sustained jog (warm-up) for 10 minutes. Once we get into a rhythm, we increase the speed for a few meters.

Then we reduce it again. Finally, we walk for 1 minute to recover and repeat the exercise. The challenge is to improve speed and endurance times as we feel stronger.

3. Speed exercises: Zigzag run

This is an agility and coordination exercise. It consists of moving in different directions, generally from one side to the other between cones.

We can also use stones or even clothes and improvise routes. It’s a good idea to record the time it takes to complete the exercise and aim to improve it little by little.

4. Running up and down stairs

Climbing stairs at maximum speed is one of the best aerobic exercises. We strengthen our legs and buttocks and achieve greater resistance this way. In this case, the descent will be faster than the ascent, which will help us to achieve greater agility.

5. Speed exercises: Running in the sand

This is an ideal activity for the summer if we choose a vacation destination with beaches. To do this, we should perform short races in which we start with jogging and increase the speed until we reach the maximum possible.

We will have to improve our times day by day. Running on sand is more difficult and requires more strength. Once the stage is over, when we resume training on another type of surface, we will feel more agile and faster.

6. Running with weight

The idea is to add weight to the body to make the run more intense. This will force us to make a much greater effort.

There are different options to do this. We can use a rope and add weight to the waist; another possibility is to carry a bar with discs on the shoulders.

In case of not having material or equipment, we can resort to the help of a person who grabs us from behind and we have to run while pulling them. When running again without obstacles, we will feel much lighter and faster!

7. Speed exercises: Jump rope

Coordination, stability, and endurance are key to improving speed. Jumping rope is a good exercise to work on all of these aspects.

About 10 minutes is an adequate time for the first few times. Then, we can increase it progressively and try to do it faster and faster. The jumps can be performed with one leg or with both legs.

8. Frog jumps

Frog jumps are performed in a squatting position, with the legs slightly more than shoulder-width apart, the hands resting on the floor, and the torso straight. You just have to jump forward and upward repeatedly.

Another option is to do a forward jump and a backward jump in an intercalated way. This is an activity that helps us to increase muscle mass and strengthen the legs.

9. Crunches

Crunches in all their variations are important to strengthen the muscles, which gives us greater resistance. In addition, keeping the abdominal area toned gives stability to the body.

They’re essential to improve training in different terrains and achieve better speed times. Here are some exercises that will help you strengthen your abdomen:

• Isometric planks
• Crunches
• Burpees
• Leg lifts
• Wheel crunches
• Oblique bicycle crunches

10. Squats

Squats help us to achieve power and speed. To do them, we must position ourselves with our feet apart and our torso straight. We must take the hips backwards and bend our knees as if we were going to sit down.

The posture is maintained for a few seconds, and then we return to the initial position in a controlled manner. Repeat the action until the set is complete.

The benefits of doing speed exercises

Speed training has many health benefits. For example, several studies have shown that performing short, high-intensity sessions helps prevent cardiovascular disease.

In general, 75 to 150 minutes of intense training each week is recommended. Here are some of the benefits of speed work:

• It promotes fat burning and weight loss
• It strengthens the heart
• Speed training helps control cholesterol and diabetes
• It increases lung capacity
• It combats stress and anxiety
• Speed training promotes better rest

Test yourself and reach your top speed

The best way to reach peak performance is to do proper training to gain speed. You don’t necessarily have to become an athlete, but improving fitness also helps shape the body and brings many benefits that have a good impact on our daily lives. Plus, these are simple exercises that you can do at home or outdoors.

So, are you ready? How fast can you get?