Sprinting

Movement

Three phases of a sprint

A review of elite sprint training splits the 100-m sprint into acceleration, top speed and slowing down¹. Athletes can hold their top speed for only about 10 to 30 m, depending on their level and training¹.

Athletes can hold their top speed for only about 10 to 30 m, depending on their level and training.

In 12 male sprinters filmed over 60 m, two transitions divided acceleration into three sections⁹. At the first, the foot began landing ahead of the body’s centre of gravity, and step frequency stopped rising⁹.

What studies found at the ground

A 2021 review describes maximal sprinting as producing forces above twice body weight, in contacts of about 0.08 to 0.2 s⁵. Three studies looked at which forces go with faster sprinting^10,11,12:

Who was studied	What went with faster sprinting
33 people of different ability, at top speed	More downward force on the ground; the time to swing the leg forward did not differ10
13 people, up to a world-class sprinter	Aiming the force more forward while accelerating, and shorter contacts; not the size of the total force11
18 male athletes, every step of a 60-m sprint	A large forward push while accelerating, less braking near top speed, and a large vertical force at top speed12

What it loads

The hip does more as speed rises

A clinical commentary concludes that going from jogging to sprinting depends mostly on the ankle and hip muscles². Toward sprinting speeds, it says, the demand shifts to the hip². That loads the hamstrings and gluteus maximus, and the rectus femoris and iliopsoas, two hip flexors².

A modelling study, which estimates forces inside the body rather than measuring them, followed nine people from slow running to sprinting¹³. Up to 7 m/s, the soleus and gastrocnemius gave most of the upward support, and so most of the gain in stride length¹³. Above 7 m/s, they went faster by taking more steps, driven mainly by the iliopsoas, gluteus maximus and hamstrings¹³. In another model, predicted top speed was more sensitive to iliopsoas strength than to any other single muscle’s¹⁴.

Who does what while accelerating

One modelling study simulated most of the acceleration phase of an all-out sprint¹⁵. It found a main job for each muscle group¹⁵:

• Soleus: mainly held the body up, giving much of the upward impulse (force added up over time) at each step¹⁵.
• Gastrocnemius: added to both the forward and the upward impulse¹⁵.
• Vasti (three of the quadriceps muscles): mainly pushed the body up, but also braked its forward motion¹⁵.
• Hamstrings and gluteus medius: mainly drove the body forward¹⁵.
• Gluteus maximus: mainly slowed the swinging leg before the next contact¹⁵.

A narrative review of sprinters concluded that the ankle and its plantar flexors (muscles that point the foot down) appear most critical during acceleration¹⁶. A narrative review sums up research without a set, checkable search. In direct measurements during running, force in the Achilles tendon built up faster early in each ground contact as speed rose¹⁷. In 22 male adolescent soccer players, forces in two hip adductors peaked late in the first contact of a sprint start¹⁸.

The hamstrings

A meta-analysis of 96 studies in healthy adults concluded that hamstring activity and load rise with running speed¹⁹. In a model of seven people sprinting, each hamstring’s muscle and tendon peaked in stretch and force late in swing (foot off the ground)²⁰.

In 13 male sprinters accelerating, the biceps femoris long head (the outer hamstring) was relatively more active than the semitendinosus early in stance (foot down)²¹. At top speed, the semitendinosus (an inner hamstring) was the more active in late stance and the middle of the swing²¹. A model of 21 male semi-professional soccer players over a 40-m sprint found the long head stretched the most of the three at every step²².

In 20 active adults, modelled long-head force did not differ significantly between top-speed sprinting and the Nordic hamstring curl²³.

How the body adapts

How sprinters differ from other people

Two studies compared sprinters’ muscles and bones with other people’s^24,25:

• 15 male sprinters against 12 untrained men. The sprinters had larger hip flexor and hip extensor thigh muscles and psoas, while the single-joint knee muscles were similar in size²⁴.
• Master athletes aged 35 to 94. Sprinters had the most bone mineral and the highest bending resistance in the tibia shaft, ahead of distance runners, race-walkers and inactive people²⁵.

What sprint programmes changed

One study split 32 soccer players into three matched groups for six preseason weeks³. Players were assigned at random to groups within each team³. One group added sprints, heavy sled sprints (sprints against a loaded sled) and flying sprints (sprints from a running start) to soccer³. Another added the Nordic hamstring exercise, and the third did soccer alone³.

Fascicle length in the biceps femoris long head rose moderately in the sprint group, less in the Nordic group and trivially with soccer alone³. The sprint group also improved sprint performance by small to large amounts, except top speed³. The other two groups showed trivial to small declines³. The researcher reading the ultrasound images was blinded to each player’s group³. The authors received no specific funding, and training and match exposure were not recorded³.

A meta-analysis of randomised trials in adult athletes found that hamstring fascicles lengthened with sprint training and with eccentric training (done as the muscle lengthens)²⁶. One trial randomly split 28 adolescents between four weeks of sprint training and Nordic training²⁷. Both groups gained eccentric hamstring strength, with effect sizes (how big a change is) of 0.29 for sprint and 0.39 for Nordic²⁷. Only the sprint group moderately improved top speed, with an effect size of 0.83²⁷. The trial had no group that did neither, and its abstract reports neither blinding nor funding²⁷.

Two reviews disagree on sprint training

• A 2016 review of 48 studies, 1,485 people. Specific sprint training (free, resisted or assisted sprinting) had a moderate effect on sprint performance⁴. The review concluded that specific methods seem the most beneficial over the distances studied, while strength and power training could also help⁴.
• A 2021 meta-analysis of 121 studies, 3,419 football code athletes (soccer, rugby and similar sports). Groups doing only sprint-pattern training, such as drills and sprints, showed no significant change over 0 to 20 m⁵. Combined, resisted or assisted, and strength or power training brought small to large gains, with no single best method⁵.

The 2021 authors suggest earlier reviews may have misclassified training by not counting athletes’ usual extra training, such as resistance training⁵.

Progressive overload

The progressive overload page covers the principle. In the soccer study above, the sprint group trained twice a week, at least 72 hours apart³. Over six weeks, free sprints went from 5 × 30 m to 3 × 30 m³. Heavy sled sprints rose from 1 × 10 m to 3 × 10 m³. Each week also held 4 × 20 m flying sprints, and a second session of calf exercises, plyometrics (jumping and hopping exercises) and drills³.

Intensity and volume in elite sprint training

A review of elite sprint training describes two coaching models¹:

• A 1970s model. Repeated 60 to 80 m sprints began at 90% of top speed and rose to 95%¹. Volume grew through preparation, then fell as intensity rose to all-out near competition¹.
• A short-to-long model. Training moves from short sprints to top speed, then to sprint endurance¹. Sprints stay at or above 95% or below 70% of top speed; it is assumed that the middle range helps neither¹.

The same review states that research has not established the lowest sprint intensity that drives adaptation¹. It adds that studies of team-sport athletes indicate that sprinting at about 90 to 95% of top speed improves top speed more than acceleration¹.

A 2024 narrative review of sprint training in soccer, drawing on the literature and its authors’ experience, also takes up the question of dose²⁸. It states that how to train the sprint, where to place it in the week and how much is needed are still in doubt²⁸. No weekly number of sprints suits every player, it adds²⁸. The review was funded by a Fundación Séneca grant, and its authors declared no conflicts of interest²⁸.

Distance and rest

The review of elite sprint training, citing UK Athletics, states that full recovery is needed so each sprint shows no drop-off¹. It gives two typical acceleration sessions¹:

Athlete	Sprint	Rest between sprints
Young, relatively untrained	20 m from a crouched start	2 minutes1
Elite sprinter	40 m from blocks	7 minutes1

In 58 professional male footballers, weeks with 7 to 8 sprints above 90% of top speed went with a significant drop in eccentric hamstring strength²⁹. Sprints above 95% showed no link with it²⁹.

Sprinting and hamstring injury

The hamstring strain page covers the injury, and muscle strain covers muscle tears in general. In male professional footballers, running or sprinting was the most common way hamstring injuries happened³⁰. A meta-analysis of 342 hamstring injuries on football match video found sprint-type injuries more often than mixed-type ones³¹. Its authors state that such video cannot directly show whether training strategies reduce injuries³¹.

A 2019 narrative review found that direct evidence on when in the stride injury happens is still lacking³². Most of the literature suggests late swing, while others argue for early stance³².

Studies of fast running and injury point both ways

Five studies followed players’ running loads and their injuries^6,7,8,33,34. An odds ratio is how many times higher the odds of an outcome are in one group than in another:

• One Australian Football League team, two seasons. More high-speed running than a player’s usual average in the week before went with higher odds of hamstring strain (odds ratio 6.44)³³.
• 299 elite Australian football players. Weekly high-speed running distance and its weekly change differed between injured and uninjured players⁶. Running load, hamstring strength and muscle architecture (fibre arrangement) together explained 20% of the variation in risk⁶.
• 37 elite Gaelic footballers, one season. Players who reached over 95% of top speed in training had lower odds of lower-limb injury than those reaching only 85%³⁴. Too little and too much top-speed running both went with higher risk³⁴.
• 67 elite Japanese soccer players. More preseason sprint distance and more sprints went with lower odds of hamstring strain in season⁷.
• 25 injured senior professional male footballers, four seasons. Loads in the weeks before injury varied widely and showed no consistent group difference from matched control periods⁸.

In competitive sprinters, a review cites a study in which two-thirds of hamstring injuries came between preparation and the competition season¹. The same review states that pooled data on whether a big gap between training and race speed raises injury risk are lacking¹.

Connections

Steady distance running is on the running page. One model cited there had people run at their preferred speed, with a step rate 10% above their usual one. Peak hamstring force and negative work (work done while the muscle lengthens) stayed under 60% of those in sprinting³⁵.

Over nine years in elite track and field, four complete tears of the rectus femoris tendon were recorded, all in women and all while sprinting³⁶. The hip flexor strain page covers that injury.

Sources

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Every source the library cites

Changes

• October 15, 2026 First published.