You’ve heard it before. In order to run faster, you need to run faster! Use these 3 running exercises to get faster without it even feeling like work!

Running Exercises To Get Faster: Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

The toughest part about running faster is that it HURTS… at least initially.

The intensity of a quicker pace mixed with the panic of trying to hold onto your breathing can be a lot to handle.

So how do you adjust, in order to accept and even embrace this type of intensity?

Here’s something that worked for us:

We’re going to give you a little workout…an “intro to intense” if you will.

You’ll be combining burpees with squat jumps.

But wait! Before you roll your eyes at us… the misery is only going to last for 4 minutes!

The Workout:

You’re going to do as many QUALITY burpees as you can in 20 seconds.

Then rest for 10 seconds.

Then you’ll do as many QUALITY squat jumps as you can in 20 seconds.

Rest for 10 seconds.

CONTINUE for 4 minutes total.

The Burpee looks like this:

1) Start with two feet under your hips, standing tall, toes straight ahead.

2) Sit your hips back to place your hands on the ground in front of your feet.

3) Now either step or jump your feet back to a straight arm plank.

4) From here, do a “controlled crash” to the ground – chest and hips laid flat on the ground.

5) Now snake your chest up, leaving the knees on the ground.

6) Once the chest is off the ground, snap the hips to reverse the arch and bring the feet back into your hands, just under your hips.

7) Now stand up.

8) Now raise your arms overhead and hop.

9) That’s 1 burpee.

10) *If that is not sustainable for more than a few reps, ditch the “fake push-up”. Simply step or jump out to the plank and immediately bring feet back in to stand.

The Squat Jump looks like this:

1) Stand tall, feet slightly wider than hip stance.

2) With toes pointing straight ahead, sit the hips back and bend the knees.

3) Knees should press out laterally too.

4) As you sit into the squat, bring your arms in front of you.

5) Once your hips are as parallel to the ground as they can be, squeeze the butt and press into your heels.

6) From the depth of your squat, you’re going to throw your arms back behind you.

7) At the same time, the hips will press forward into full extension as the legs straighten.

8) Instead of coming back to standing, the momentum from the arms will help elevate you into a slight hop out of the standing position.

9) Out of the jump, roll through the toes than the heels to find your standing position again.

10) Immediately from the landing, you’ll find your next squat position with the arms back in front.

11) That’s 1 squat jump.

Throw this into your training twice a week for awesome results!

Running Exercises To Get Faster: Increase Your Hip Power

Our hips are the gas pedal for our running.

The more we use them, the more power (and speed!) we can generate.

In order to use them more, we’ve got to make them stronger and more dynamic.

We’ve got JUST the thing!

The Box Jump:

Essentially a squat jump up to a higher surface.

1) Start standing tall.

2) Drop into the squat the same way you do for the squat jumps, EXCEPT arms will swing behind you.

3) You’ll START to come out of the bottom the same way, EXCEPT arms will now come forward.

4) As your feet are about to leave the ground for the jump, you’ll squeeze the core and tuck the knees up to the chest.

5) Legs will bend up in front of you, feet will flex.

6) This is your leverage for getting up to a higher surface. 

7) You’ll land on the next surface in your best attempt at the next squat.

8) Now press out of the heels, squeeze the butt and stand tall.

9) Safely step down to original surface by sitting hips back and letting one foot down at a time.

10) That’s 1 box jump.

A few things to be mindful of (especially if you’re brand new to these):

1) Start small.

2) Most gyms have multiple box heights. Don’t be afraid to build up.

3) If you’re outside and using a curb or other makeshift concrete raised surface, practice a few step ups first to ensure you’ll clear it.

4) Accuracy is key.

5) Be confident. The higher and stronger you bring your knees up, the more success you will have.

Here’s a drill you can mix into your training:

1) Perform 5-10 box jumps.

2) Now run 200-400 meters. It can be down the block, once around a track, something similar.

3) Back to 5-10 box jumps.

And another run.

Repeat for 3-5 rounds total.

This drill is awesome for increasing that hip strength and directly applying it to your running!

Try throwing it in once a week!

Running Exercises To Get Faster: Run Faster

The last of our running exercises to get faster!

Fartlek means “speed play”.

And the Fartlek technique for runners is nothing short of EFFECTIVE.

On your next run:

1) You will pick sections of your run to “push it” on.

2) You make the rules.

3) Pick something that you’ll encounter a number of times over your course: stairs, a telephone pole, a hill.

4) Each time you get to whatever you chose, you have to run faster for the entirety of that obstacle.

5) If you picked hills, you need to kick it into the next gear until you’re at the top of the hill.

6) You can then return to a slower pace until you hit the next hill.

This is an awesome way to make running faster fun! And interesting!

Like we said, you don’t need to do these exercises all the time, but mixing them into your training in some capacity will benefit your running and speed BIG TIME!

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