What are some good exercises to help you run faster?

Running fast or sprinting?Sprinting is an explosive movement and requires the use of Type 2 muscle fibers in your body. Type 1 muscle fibers help you with endurance related activities where as type 2 helps you with explosive movements like sprinting and explosive compounded weight training movements.http://www.brianmac.co.uk/muscle.htm defines and characterises these muscle fibers as: Type I FibresThese fibres, also called slow twitch or slow oxidative fibres, contain large amounts of myoglobin, many mitochondria and many blood capillaries. Type I fibres are red, split ATP at a slow rate, have a slow contraction velocity, very resistant to fatigue and have a high capacity to generate ATP by oxidative metabolic processes. Such fibres are found in large numbers in the postural muscles of the neck.Type II A FibresThese fibres, also called fast twitch or fast oxidative fibres, contain very large amounts of myoglobin, very many mitochondria and very many blood capillaries. Type II A fibres are red, have a very high capacity for generating ATP by oxidative metabolic processes, split ATP at a very rapid rate, have a fast contraction velocity and are resistant to fatigue. Such fibres are infrequently found in humans.Type II B FibresThese fibres, also called fast twitch or fast glycolytic fibres, contain a low content of myoglobin, relatively few mitochondria, relatively few blood capillaries and large amounts glycogen. Type II B fibres are white, geared to generate http://www.brianmac.co.uk/energy.htm by anaerobic metabolic processes, not able to supply skeletal muscle fibres continuously with sufficient ATP, fatigue easily, split ATP at a fast rate and have a fast contraction velocity. Such fibres are found in large numbers in the muscles of the arms. These fast twitch muscles should be challenged and developed in order for one to be able to run faster. Exercises that focus on this goal are the ones that are best suited. Apart from explosive movements (http://www.brianmac.co.uk/plymo.htm) and olympic lifting, the best bet is sprinting itself if you ask me. http://www.brianmac.co.uk/muscle.htm goes on to advice trainer aspiring to develope type 2A and B muscles: You can develop your fast-twitch muscle fibre by conducting http://www.brianmac.co.uk/plymo.htm or http://www.brianmac.co.uk/complex.htm (combination ofhttp://www.brianmac.co.uk/plymo.htmand weights) to build the fast muscle (IIa) and performing http://www.brianmac.co.uk/sprints/index.htm types of training to build the super-fast (IIb) to the point where you can release exercise-induced growth hormone.The body itself produces the best form of growth hormone. If you want to accelerate muscle building then use large muscle group targeted http://www.brianmac.co.uk/weight.htm in combination with anaerobic sprinting-types of exercise to increase your body's natural muscle building steroids. The last sentence is more than enough to explain why sprinters look like this: Some movements I would recommend to any aspiring spirinter are: deadlift Front and back squats jump squats box jumps sled pulling Now once you get the muscle part of the equation done, there is more to sprinting - technique. Few things to take note of are: More steps - reduce the length of each step and do more steps instead. You will find yourself moving faster this way. This holds true for short distance spriting alone. Two more things am gonna quote from http://breakingmuscle.com/running/scientifically-proven-tips-for-faster-sprinting Torso angle was the next predictor of sprint success. Leaning forward just two degrees extra made the difference between the slowest and fastest sprints. Finally, the actual first step of the sprint was critical. Athletes who showed less knee lift in the first step turned in faster sprints. Less knee lift means a faster step, which means more steps. Nail all these. Am sorry I didn’t include any videos in the answer. Most of the movements I have mentioned are pretty basic and if you need to see a video, they are easy to find.

I am going to answer this question without knowing anything about what type of running you want to do. I do marathon running. Some of my friends do the 400M. Other people want to improve their 5K times.Most of these tips can help your running universally, though you will have to learn how to adapt them Warm-ups: do some form running, like “butt-kicks” and “high-knees” and dynamic stretching. See http://greatist.com/fitness/full-body-dynamic-warm-up for a guide. Intervals. The longer your race is, the longer (and slower) your intervals should be, in general. A 5K training plan might have intervals from 5x400m to 5x1 mile. A marathon plan usually wouldn’t do track intervals, but would focus more on fast finish runs. It really depends on what you’re aiming for, but if you find a good training plan, don’t skip the intervals. Fast finish runs. This is especially helpful for longer races (10+ miles). Start the run at a comfortable, conversational pace, and then do the last 5K at a minute per mile faster. It’s really hard, but it will help you with endurance and strength at the end of a long run. There are different ways to do this; plenty of resources online as well. Cross-training. I like to do biking as a cross-activity. Some people prefer upper-body workouts like weightlifting or chopping wood. I’d recommend doing this once a week, and not too intense. Strides. This is usually something to do the day before a race, or maybe at the end of a workout, just before a nice cool-down run. Find a 100–150m grassy spot to run. Start off gently running forward, leaning slightly forward, picking up speed until the 50m mark, at which point you should be at slightly faster than race pace. Run the rest of the way at this pace, focusing on form, paying attention to how your body moves. Do 4–8 of these. This is not a workout, just a reminder of how to run fast. You shouldn’t get too tired doing this. I like to do strides barefoot, in grass, as it feels wonderful to take your shoes off after a workout… Good luck.

You want to focus on strength training especially your lower body to build more power in calves and lower body such as squats, deadlifts, calf raises, etc. such as shown below:You also want to practice sled runs, hill sprints, box jumps, and power cleans (more power exercises) to help you build speed in your runs.Good luck!

To run faster, run more efficiently and get better results from " running" sport, there are few things you can do.First you must get stronger specifically stronger in your fast twitch type 2 muscle fibers, connective tissues of your joints and build strength functional muscle all over. While you are training this way, chances are you get leaner, you want to be very strong yet not bulked up, puffed up, you want to cut down to lower body fat, increase connective tissues, lean muscle mass, better neurological response.You also need to increase joints mobility, increase at heart andand lung capacity.All this relates to your nutrition, recovery and what sort of exercises you are doing to help with " running" faster, more efficiently and lower joint injuries.....so you can run more...sprint more...Consider these options...1. Clean up your nutrition from whatever it is to whole food, fresh water. Get rid of processed food and drinks..2. Sleep 8 to 10 hours every night3. As an assistant exercise not your main focus, engage with Olympic Weightlifting. Hire a coach to teach you the basics and train them on regular basis.You get significantly stronger, faster, increase your joint mobility, gain posterior strength, while adding more jumping and sprinting capacity , leg strength, core strength, increase cardiovascular conditioning, which all spills into your "running" capacity, which is your sport of choice.Too complicated?If Olympic weightlifting is too complicated, stay with basic compound exercises.l aim for strength building not bulking, no traditional cardio machines....your next best choice.Absolutely no bodybuilding type training. Look for ways to build lean functional musculature to create a superior runner....It takes time...How do I get leaner so I can run better?Train regularly using barbell complexes. They are sort of like super duper version of HITT exercises.Look at my other posts...Few months into the new program you will be a superior "runner"...I assume basic health . I also assume you are not obese. I assume you are an intermediate runner not a novice.Good luck

When you say run faster, do you mean as a sprinter or endurance runner. Assuming you talking about sprinting you will need train your fast twitch muscles Type IIA & IIB . I wish I had more time to write about this.

One thing that can help you run faster is to tighten up your form, bring in your arms so that you are not swinging them in long arcs. This will let you quicken your stride. At the same time try to keep your arms relaxed, don’t clench your fists. When I say “tighten”, I don’t mean tense. Every muscle you are tensing takes energy from your legs, tiring you more quickly, so try to keep your arms relaxed.