Want to learn to run like a GB athlete? Or just pick up a few pointers to increase your running PB? We caught up with pro athlete, Lucy Turner to hear her top sprint drills for improving speed.

Whether you run long distances and want to improve your time or sprinting power is a big part of your workouts, chances are a lot of your training will focus on your running technique. A better technique will make you a more efficient and likely faster runner, but as with anything, this will take practice- and that’s where drills come in. “Increasing your speed isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight,” Lucy says. “I’ve worked super hard on my technique and practicing sprint drills over and over again to make sure I’m in the correct positions.”

Before she shared her sprint drills, Lucy gave us some pointers to think about whilst performing them.

Lucy’s top tips for improving your speed

Keep Tall

You should try and keep tall and focus on the hips being high. We don’t want the hips moving from side to side or dipping down as you run. A good way to think about it is to imagine everything is zipped up, as if you have a jacket on. “Zip it up and keep the core engaged, pulling the hips high. We don’t want the shoulders tensed up though, so drop them back down.”
Keep a neutral loaded foot

The foot comes up, toes pulled up to the sky. That way, when the foot strikes the ground you can put more force through the floor.
Move forwards

You want to be leaning ever so slightly forwards, so all the work that you put through the floor can help you move forwards. If you’re leaning back the energy can be lost in different places.