[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"public-library:en-GB:workout:running-flying-sprints":3},{"slug":4,"sport":5,"category":6,"level":7,"intensity_unit":8,"modified_at":9,"author":10,"head":11,"equipment":14,"sources":17,"content":21,"facts":195,"blocks":357,"related":372},"running-flying-sprints","running","sprint","intermediate","pace","2026-10-25","Pierre Halloo",{"title":12,"description":13},"Flying sprints: 6 × 6 s with full recovery","Flying sprints for runners: 6 sprints of about 6 seconds after a gradual build-up, with 4 minutes' walking between. For top-end speed, without the fatigue.",[15,16],"gps_watch","track",[18],{"citation":19,"url":20},"Haugen T., Seiler S., Sandbakk Ø., Tønnessen E., Sports Med Open 2019;5:44",null,{"h1":22,"summary":23,"purpose":34,"execution":70,"feel":92,"mistakes":99,"not_for":136,"faq":144,"evidence":186},"Flying sprints for runners (6 × 6 s)",{"type":24,"children":25},"root",[26],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":29,"children":30},"element","p",{},[31],{"type":32,"value":33},"text","Flying sprints: six sprints of about 6 seconds after a gradual build-up, with 4 minutes' walking between each. A 46-minute session to develop your top speed and your stride at high speed, without piling up fatigue.",{"adaptation":35,"for_whom":47,"when":63},{"type":24,"children":36},[37,42],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":38,"children":39},{},[40],{"type":32,"value":41},"Flying sprints train your top speed: the fastest your legs can go, and the quality of your stride when you're there. You don't start from standing: you build up gradually over twenty metres or so, then hold your top speed for about ten metres.",{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":43,"children":44},{},[45],{"type":32,"value":46},"The point isn't to tire you out. Every sprint should be as fast as the first, hence the 4 minutes' walking. A review combining research with the practice of sprint coaches recommends exactly this: short, flying sprints with near-complete recovery.",{"type":24,"children":48},[49],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":50,"children":51},{},[52,54,61],{"type":32,"value":53},"Healthy runners with a base of easy running, intermediate to advanced, including middle-distance runners who lack speed. If you've never run fast, start with ",{"type":27,"tag":55,"props":56,"children":58},"a",{"href":57},"\u002Fen-GB\u002Flibrary\u002Frunning\u002Fendurance\u002Frunning-easy-run-strides",[59],{"type":32,"value":60},"strides at the end of an easy run",{"type":32,"value":62},". A recent vVO₂max is used to set the warm-up.",{"type":24,"children":64},[65],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":66,"children":67},{},[68],{"type":32,"value":69},"One speed session a week is a common guideline. Do it on fresh legs: after an easy day or a rest day, never the day after a hard session or the day before a race. Start with 4 sprints, then go to 6.",[71,78,85],{"type":24,"children":72},[73],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":74,"children":75},{},[76],{"type":32,"value":77},"10 minutes of easy running at 60–65% of vVO₂max, then 5 minutes at 66–72%. Allow longer than usual: add drills, high knees and heel flicks, and three or four strides of increasing speed.",{"type":24,"children":79},[80],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":81,"children":82},{},[83],{"type":32,"value":84},"Six flying sprints of about 6 seconds. Build up gradually over twenty metres or so, hold your top speed for about ten metres, then ease off smoothly. Over the 6 seconds you'll cover 35 to 45 metres at 16 km\u002Fh: the 130–170% of vVO₂max range is a guide, don't cap it. Between sprints, 4 minutes' walking: stroll back to the start and wait until you feel fresh.",{"type":24,"children":86},[87],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":88,"children":89},{},[90],{"type":32,"value":91},"10 minutes of very easy running at 55–65% of vVO₂max. If your last sprints were clearly slower or less fluid, stop earlier next time: a watered-down sprint adds nothing.",{"type":24,"children":93},[94],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":95,"children":96},{},[97],{"type":32,"value":98},"Fast, but very little fatigue. You feel a springiness in your legs, a stride that lengthens and lands quickly. Between sprints, your legs recover completely. Guide: 8 out of 10 for speed, hardly any breathlessness.",[100,109,118,127],{"title":101,"body":102},"Starting from standing",{"type":24,"children":103},[104],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":105,"children":106},{},[107],{"type":32,"value":108},"A flying sprint begins with a gradual build-up. Going off as if from the blocks loads the hamstrings abruptly and trains something else: acceleration, not top speed.",{"title":110,"body":111},"Cutting the walk short",{"type":24,"children":112},[113],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":114,"children":115},{},[116],{"type":32,"value":117},"Four minutes for six seconds of sprinting seems long. But a sprint run tired is slower, and your top speed only improves if you actually reach it. If you still feel heavy, wait another minute.",{"title":119,"body":120},"Braking hard",{"type":24,"children":121},[122],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":123,"children":124},{},[125],{"type":32,"value":126},"Slowing down matters as much as speeding up for your hamstrings. Ease off gradually over twenty metres or so after the top-speed zone, rather than slamming on the brakes.",{"title":128,"body":129},"Carrying on through a niggle",{"type":24,"children":130},[131],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":132,"children":133},{},[134],{"type":32,"value":135},"At the slightest tightness in the back of the thigh, stop the session. The hamstrings are the most exposed muscles in sprinting, and a small niggle ignored quickly becomes a real injury.",{"prerequisites":137,"avoid_if":140},[138,139],"A base of regular easy running.","A few strides already run at the end of easy runs.",[141,142,143],"You have a niggle or recent injury in your hamstrings or calves.","You're tired, or you did a hard session the day before.","A race is planned for the next day.",[145,154,168,177],{"question":146,"answer":147},"How fast should a flying sprint be?",{"type":24,"children":148},[149],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":150,"children":151},{},[152],{"type":32,"value":153},"At your top speed, with no ceiling. As a rough guide over the 6 seconds: 130 to 170% of your vVO₂max, or 30 to 40 metres at 14 km\u002Fh, 35 to 45 metres at 16 km\u002Fh, 39 to 51 metres at 18 km\u002Fh. Top speed varies a lot with your profile: a distance runner will often be at the bottom of the range.",{"question":155,"answer":156},"Flying sprints or strides?",{"type":24,"children":157},[158],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":159,"children":160},{},[161,166],{"type":27,"tag":55,"props":162,"children":163},{"href":57},[164],{"type":32,"value":165},"Strides",{"type":32,"value":167}," are fast but relaxed accelerations, often at the end of an easy run, without reaching top speed. Flying sprints go all the way: a few metres flat out, with full recovery. Strides prepare you; flying sprints train top speed.",{"question":169,"answer":170},"Does a distance runner need top speed?",{"type":24,"children":171},[172],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":173,"children":174},{},[175],{"type":32,"value":176},"A little. Your top speed sets a ceiling: the higher it is, the easier your race pace feels by comparison, and the more efficient your stride stays when you pick it up. One short, low-fatigue session a week is enough to maintain it.",{"question":178,"answer":179},"Why programme it in seconds rather than metres?",{"type":24,"children":180},[181],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":182,"children":183},{},[184],{"type":32,"value":185},"Because a watch tracks time more reliably than distance over an effort of a few seconds. Coaching examples are given in metres: a 20-metre build-up, then 10 metres flying for a less-trained athlete. On a track, cones at those distances are still the most precise option.",{"level":187,"text":188},"limited",{"type":24,"children":189},[190],{"type":27,"tag":28,"props":191,"children":192},{},[193],{"type":32,"value":194},"Haugen, Seiler, Sandbakk and Tønnessen (Sports Med Open 2019;5:44), a review combining scientific literature with elite practice, recommend flying sprints for developing top speed, with near-complete recovery. Their examples range from a 20-metre build-up and 10 metres flying for a young, less-trained athlete, with about 4 minutes' recovery, to a 40-metre build-up and 30 metres flying for an elite sprinter. The conversion to time, about 6 seconds for those 30 metres, the 130–170% range, the number of sprints, the warm-up and the cool-down are Wattson choices. Bottom line: a narrative review and elite practice, few controlled 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