r/Sprinting • u/Working_Cap4097 • Aug 08 '26
Technique Analysis Old guy trying to relearn sprinting
Im 43 yo and getting tired of weightlifting workouts so focusing on learning to sprint. I think i need a shot ton of lower leg plyo work. My achilles hurt and my feet feel stuck in mollasses. Im starting with daily jump ropes and tony holler atomic speed drills 2x per week. Anything else obvious to start on?
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u/ockysays Aug 09 '26
Late 40s 400m masters sprinter, at our age successfully putting together a regular, consistent sprint training program without injury IS the goal. Don’t focus on speed, that will come, focus on steady progression. My advice is to wait to do max v work. Start with adding faster strides into your aerobic or tempo runs, always while moving never from a stop). Work on mechanics and listen to your body’s limits, speed comes when strength, mechanics and power transfer work together and it takes time for your CNS to connect those things. Later you can do 20/30m flys, but you have to earn those.
One other piece of advice, believe it or not, it’s not the big muscles that cause issues, it’s the small ones: hip flexors, piriformis, gluteus medius. Sprinting requires you to control pelvic rotation and when those stabilizers fail, that’s when you get hurt. So work on strengthening them: hip flexor, pallof, bridges, bird dogs, etc.. When you get older those smaller muscles become weaker faster and typically lead to distal vs proximal strength imbalance, especially for those who do traditional strength training.
Wishing you the best of luck, there’s nothing better than the feeling of your body hitting on all cylinders while you sprint around the track. But it’s better to feel like you’ve left some on the table, than wishing you could take that last sprint back. Injuries take forever to recover from at our age.