Will Resisted Sled Training Improve Your Sprint Performance
There are many tools for providing overload training for sprinting to improve acceleration and maximum speed performance. One of these is to use a weighted sled which is attached to the torso via a rope and harness.
However in developing training strategies, the coach has a number of factors which need to be considered. Sprinting has be defined as as an initial acceleration phase (0 to 10 m), a phase of maximum running speed (36 to 100 m) and a transition phase in between. Here are some points for you to consider when developing your training strategies for each of your clients.
Muscle fibres – what impact you get from muscle fibre adaptations (ref Sports Med, 1997 Sep;24(3):147-56) .
Neural responses – do muscle recruitment and firing pattern (Sports Med 2001;31(6):409-25) need to be considered?
Kinematics – will there be impacts on technique or biomechanics (ref Australian Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport 2002).
See Peter Maulder’s paper for a detailed discussion about the impact of sled training on the acceleration phase of sprinting.