How to Develop the Cycle Motion in Sprinting

Although the exact stride utilized during a sprint will vary from athlete to athlete, there are some general rules you should follow if you want to adopt proper form and propel yourself around the track faster. Developing a consistent cycle motion through training and drills will allow you to maximize your speed by increasing the efficiency of your stride. Lifting your knees higher allows you to cover more distance, while pushing off quickly and retracting your rear leg allows you to gain speed and enter your next stride without slowing your pace.

Instructions

    • 1

      Break your sprinting technique down into two distinct phases and plan your drills accordingly. The thrust phase occurs when you bring your front leg up, keeping your thigh parallel to the ground. The lift phase occurs when your front leg makes contact with the ground, replacing your rear leg and lifting up toward your buttocks to complete the cycle motion. Both phases occur simultaneously.

    • 2

      Perform knee raises to develop quick-twitch reflexes and to work on keeping your lead thigh parallel to the ground. If your lead thigh is too high, you're wasting energy. If it's too low, you're cheating yourself out of a longer and faster stride.

    • 3

      Do butt-kicking drills after you finish your knee raises. Butt kicks work on the follow-through motion in the sprinting cycle. Instead of prolonged and lazy contact with the ground, you want to ensure that your rear leg replaces your front leg as soon as possible by pushing off the ground and lifting your heel up toward your buttocks as quickly as possible.

    • 4

      Stand next to a wall or railing on one leg and practice the cycle motion with the other leg. Stand tall, balancing firm on the leg closest to the supporting structure with your foot dorsiflexed. Lift your other leg so your thigh is parallel to the ground, then sweep it down and under your body before pulling the heel up toward your buttocks and cycling through to the front. When cycling through, pull your toes up and repeat the motion.