The fastest human on record is Usain Bolt. In 2009 he hit over 27 MPH in the 100 meter sprint.

The average person is much slower. I don't want to be average. I want to be fast.

Who doesn't?

Speed is strength and explosiveness, health and vigor.

Sprinters are lean and muscular. A perfect balance of weight vs power is needed to quickly accelerate and carry the body to top speeds.

Gaining speed is a goal of my training. A few of the real world benefits of training for speed are:

Great conditioning
Promotes fat loss
Better agility and lighter on the feet
Translates well to sports where speed matters (basically every sport)

Last year I focused on the 400. These are brutal and build phenomenal conditioning. This year my focus is purely speed. The following are my principles for speed and sprintwork.

Track work twice a week with speed focused exercises and sprints
Hill Sprints once a week post workout
Build up volume over 4 to 5 weeks and than have a de-load week
Always use dynamic warmups
Don't train at 100% - this greatly reduces the chance of injury
Trade volume and intensity. High volume=lower intensity, high intensity=low volume
Train whole body for explosive power
Move the arms, fast

Speed Regimen

Dynamic warmup
Skips for distance - 2 sets, 30 yards each
Skips for height - 2 sets, 30 yards each
Jump lunges - 2 sets of 10
High squat jumps - 2 sets of 10
Smash ball throws. 2 sets of 10 forward throws and 2 sets of backward throws
50 yard sprints, 3 sets
100 yard sprints, 3 sets

Since I am training for speed and not just conditioning, I am going to rest 3-5 minutes between each set of sprints. This will help me keep my form crisp. If I feel I need to boost my conditioning, I will cut out the longer rest periods between sprints. The only rest I will get will be the walk back to the starting line.

To benchmark my progress I will time my efforts every few weeks.

Take action, get outside and get fast!