Sport
Sprinting is the most explosive running there is. The 100 m is mostly anaerobic and the 400 m almost half aerobic, and every stride loads the hamstrings, calves and Achilles tendons. At international championships the sprints account for a bigger share of injuries than any other event group, and hamstring injuries are the commonest diagnosis: most male sprinters at one European Championships had had one. Hurdlers add falls, mostly in practice.
This guide covers what sprinting asks of your body, the common injuries and what has been tested to prevent them (less than most advice suggests), hurdle heights by age and hurdle safety, how training changes as competitions approach, and UK Athletics' rules for young sprinters. For speed sessions it links our guide to sprinting faster. There are two workouts with 3D demos: a 20-minute warm-up and a 50-minute strength and hamstring session. We're not connected with any athletics federation.
Measured on the track, the 100 m was about a fifth aerobic and the 400 m about two-fifths. Stronger legs go with faster sprints: across 15 studies, lower-body strength training made sprint times about 3% faster.
At 16 international championships, hamstring injuries were the commonest diagnosis, 17.1% of all injuries, and twice as common in men as in women. At the 2018 European Championships, 72% of the male sprinters who answered a survey had had one in their career.
Athletics' own injury prevention programme made no difference in an 840-athlete trial, but only 8.8% of the athletes followed up did it as asked. Nordic curls build hamstring strength, but whether they prevent injuries is uncertain when only properly randomised trials are pooled.
In US children treated in emergency departments, 79% of hurdle injuries came from trips, falls and landings at the hurdle, and 29.1% were fractures. Hurdles are lower for young athletes, and every hurdle is built to tip over when it's hit.
UK Athletics' 2026 rules limit under-14s to 4 events a day, one of them a relay if they do 4, and keep them out of 300 m and 400 m races. Coached sessions for young sprinters use short runs of about 20 m with full rest.
Sprinting is an all-out effort. With chest pain, a past faint or a heart condition, or if you're over 45 and not used to hard exercise, answer the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+) first. Call 999 for anyone who faints while exercising.
The 100 m, 200 m and 400 m, the relays, the 60 m indoors, and the hurdles: 110 m for men, 100 m for women and 400 m for both. Young athletes race shorter hurdle races over lower hurdles, set out in the hurdles section below.
Measured in race-like running on a track, the 100 m was about 21% aerobic in men and 25% in women, the 200 m about 28% and 33%, and the 400 m about 41% and 45%. A second method put the 100 m at 9% and 11%, so treat these as rough shares.
At every level, runners reached top speed between 50 and 100 m and then slowed. World-class runners ran a faster first half and slowed most, by about 23%, against about 14% at national and regional level, so pacing is part of the event.
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Elite sprinters hold their top speed for only about 10 to 30 m. Faster sprinters push harder into the ground rather than moving their legs faster, as our sprint guide explains.
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The hamstrings at high speed: at championships, the hamstrings' share of leg muscle injuries rose with each event's running speed. The calf and Achilles tendon: male former elite sprinters had about 15 times the odds of an Achilles tendon rupture of their matched controls. The bones of the foot, where sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers had more stress fractures than distance runners. In hurdlers, the ankle, knee and wrist in falls. In teenagers, the growth plates where big muscles attach, as our hip pointer guide explains.
The Compendium of Physical Activities lists hurdles, with the steeplechase, at 10.0 metabolic equivalents (METs), and running on a track at team practice at 10.0 METs. Both values are estimated rather than measured, and there's no value for sprinting itself.
Sprinting at full speed with full rest, heavy legs, hamstrings and calves that cope with fast lengthening, a trunk that holds your position, and, for hurdlers, hips that move through a big range under control.
Championship surveillance counts injuries over a few days of competition per 1,000 registered athletes; college and youth studies use other measures. The numbers below aren't comparable with each other.
The numbers, by group and measure:
At the 2018 European Championships, 71.7% of male and 45.6% of female sprinters who answered had had a hamstring injury in their career. In 44 competitive sprinters followed for a year, there were 0.87 hamstring injuries per 1,000 hours, and 58% came in the first 100 hours of the season. First-time strains in sprinters were mostly in the long head of the biceps femoris, and those reaching the tendon near the sitting bone took longer to come back from. At championships, hamstring injuries were commoner in 100 m finals than in heats. Our hamstring strain and high hamstring tendinopathy guides cover them.
Male former elite sprinters had about 15 times the odds of an Achilles tendon rupture of their matched controls. In 111 track and field athletes followed for a year, 21.1% had a stress fracture; sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers had more in the foot, and the navicular, a high-risk site, was the second commonest bone after the shin. At 24 international championships, bone stress injuries were split about evenly between explosive and endurance events. Our Achilles tendinopathy, Achilles rupture, calf pain and stress fracture guides cover these.
In 749 US children up to 18 treated in emergency departments for hurdle injuries over 10 years, fractures were 29.1% and sprains 25.5%. The ankle (18.7%), knee (16.0%) and wrist (9.2%) were the commonest sites, 79% came from trips, falls and landings at the hurdle, and 62.6% happened in practice. Children before high school had more fractures (34.1%) than high school athletes (21.5%). Our ankle sprain, broken ankle and broken wrist guides cover these.
A sudden pop at the front of the hip or at the sitting bone during a sprint or hurdle can be an avulsion fracture, where a tendon pulls off a piece of growing bone. Our hip pointer guide explains why it needs an X-ray the same day.
Associations, not proven causes:
Few prevention trials have been done in athletics: one exercise programme across all events, one small trial in young female athletes and one education trial in young athletes. The rest is borrowed from football or comes from associations, and each note says which.
In a trial in French clubs, 840 athletes aged 15 to 40 did the Athletics Injury Prevention Programme twice a week, unsupervised, or trained as usual, over a 39-week season (2017 to 2018). Its 8 exercises each had levels to work through:
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Counting only athletes who answered every week, the programme's effect grew after 5 to 6 weeks of use and was largest at about 10 weeks. This was a re-analysis after the event, so it's a lead rather than proof. If you start a programme, give it at least 6 weeks, twice a week (our reading).
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Across trials, Nordic curls raised the hamstrings' lowering (eccentric) strength within weeks, with low volumes working about as well as high ones, and took about 0.06 seconds off a 10 m sprint in team-sport players. Our sprint guide gives the dose.
Programmes that included Nordic curls went with about half as many hamstring injuries across 15 studies in several sports, and two large football trials found large falls. But only five of those studies randomised players to the Nordic curl itself, and pooled, their result was inconclusive; a 2026 analysis of 11 football trials found a modest reduction that wasn't statistically significant. None was in athletes on a track.
In 37 elite Gaelic footballers, those who reached more than 95% of their top speed in training had fewer leg injuries, and both too little and too much maximal running were riskier: an association, in another sport. In sprinters, hamstring injuries clustered early in the season and at the switch to competition. Sprint every week, and build back up over several sessions after time off (our reading, as in our sprint guide).
At the 2018 European Championships, athletes who did more core stability training had fewer hamstring injuries at the championship, but there were only 5 such injuries, so this is a weak lead.
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In 56 Swedish elite sprinters and jumpers, lengthening exercises (Askling's L-protocol) got them back to full training in 49 days, against 86 days with conventional exercises. Strains reaching the tendon near the sitting bone took longer. Our hamstring strain guide has the exercises.
Across 25 randomised trials in many sports, strength training cut sports injuries to under a third, while stretching programmes made no difference.
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In 22 young female track and field athletes, 6 preseason weeks of neuromuscular training (jumps, landings, running, strength, agility, balance and core) cut injuries from 17.9 to 6.6 per 1,000 hours, mostly shin splints. It's small and not specific to sprinters. Calf strengthening is also part of athletics' own programme.
Warmer feels-like temperatures went with fewer muscle injuries in the sprints and hurdles at championships, and the authors suggest adapting warm-ups and clothing to the forecast. UK competition safety guidance asks for supervised warm-ups, hurdle-only lanes and no headphones in the main arena.
Without good evidence for sprinters:
Across 48 studies, sprint training cut sprint times by about 3%, and gains in lower-body strength carried over to sprinting. Forward jumps helped, most in programmes under 10 weeks with more than 80 jumps a session, while added weight didn't. Sleds helped the first metres but not clearly more than plain sprints. Most of these trials were in team-sport players, not sprinters. Our sprint guide sets out the sessions.
A review of science and coaching practice describes three kinds of session, each with full recovery:
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Our sprint guide's "about 90% effort for the first 4 weeks" is a familiarisation rule for people new to sprinting. Trained sprinters work either at 95% or more of top speed or under 70%. Use the first rule until you've done a few weeks of sprinting, then the second (our reading).
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With about 41% to 45% of its energy aerobic, the 400 m needs speed, speed endurance and an aerobic base, and the best runners slow most in the second half, so pacing is trained too. We found no 400 m training trial. Our high-intensity interval training (HIIT) guide covers aerobic intervals for the preparation phase.
We found no training trial in hurdlers. Hurdling technique is coached; sprint speed, strength and hip mobility support it, and our mobility guide covers range you can control.
Heavy squats, split squats and Romanian deadlifts twice a week, stopping 2 or 3 reps short of failure, as our sprint guide gives them. Strength gains carried over to sprint times across 15 studies, and Nordic curls added a little speed over 10 m. Olympic lifts helped jumping more clearly than sprinting, as our power clean guide explains.
The review gives the guidance for strength and power sports: a taper of 2 to 3 weeks, cutting training volume by 40% to 60% while keeping intensity and frequency, and it says elite track coaches' tapers are generally consistent with the research. Extra exercises drop out and event-specific work stays. We found no taper trial in sprinters.
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Preparation: 2 speed sessions a week, 48 to 72 hours apart, as in our sprint guide; 2 strength sessions, such as our strength and hamstring workout; and 1 or 2 easy tempo or aerobic sessions.
Competition season: 1 or 2 speed sessions and 1 shorter strength session early in the week, no heavy legs or all-out sprints in the 48 hours before a race, and a 2- to 3-week taper before the main race.
Young sprinters: short runs with full rest, UK Athletics' event limits on competition days, and no more weekly training hours than their age in years, as our children's guide explains. Masters: the same plan with longer recoveries and a slower build-up, after the PAR-Q+.
World Athletics' Technical Rules (Book C, last modified 1 July 2026):
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UK Athletics' Rules for Competition 2026, each hurdle with a 2.7 kg toppling weight:
Most children's hurdle injuries came from trips and falls at the hurdle, nearly a third were fractures, and most happened in practice. No trial has tested foam or collapsible hurdles, hurdle drills or fall training. Learn with low or foam hurdles and short spacings, never above your age-group height, and drill over one hurdle before a flight (our suggestion).
UK competition safety guidance (2018) asks officials to check that hurdles are in good condition, set at the right height and toppling weight, and facing the right way, and to keep warm-ups supervised, with hurdle-only lanes and no headphones. Athletics Northern Ireland tells athletes to use hurdles suited to their age and ability, warm up in the outer lanes, and run through the finish line rather than diving across it.
Outside combined events, which rule out any other event that day:
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They sit outside UK Athletics' formal rules. England Athletics encourages multi-event run, jump and throw formats for them, with the emphasis on taking part rather than formal competition.
UK Athletics' examples for young, relatively untrained athletes, as a review quotes them: 20 m runs from a crouch with 2 minutes between; a 20 m build-up into 10 m fast, with about 4 minutes between; and 2 or 3 × 100 m with 10 minutes' rest for speed endurance. Our sprint guide gives up to 16 sprints of about 20 m twice a week for boys.
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Young Australian elite athletes who got injured had trained at higher intensity and done more hard sessions at 13 to 14, and 17.3% had retired injured before 18, in a survey that asked them to remember. In Swedish elite athletes, the top half of training loads went with 1.79 times the injury risk. In a trial, giving the parents and coaches of 12- to 15-year-old athletes a website on training, growth, recovery and injuries lowered the injury rate by about 38%, and the median time to a first injury doubled, from 8 to 16 weeks.
In one national database, only 9% of men and 13% of women in the senior top 20 had been in the top 20 at under-13. In the world's top 100, sprinters peaked at about 25 to 27. Judge young sprinters by how they're improving, not by their results (our reading).
Built on the site's warm-up guide and our sprint speed workout (editorial): no warm-up has been tested on sprinters' injuries. The rest between starts follows the review's example for young athletes, and the hurdle drills have no 3D demo yet.
Loading the 3D figure…
The movement on the figure: Acceleration wall drill
The hamstring, calf, strength and sprint-drill moves with 3D demos. The catalog has no block start or hurdle drill yet: the three-point start and the 90/90 switch are the nearest.
3D demoNordic curlAdvanced · An anchor point
3D demoBarbell back squatAdvanced · A barbell
3D demoRear-foot-elevated split squat (Bulgarian split squat)Intermediate · A bench or box
3D demoDumbbell Romanian deadliftIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoSingle-leg calf raise from a stepIntermediate · A step + A wall
3D demoThree-point sprint startBeginner · No equipment
3D demoAcceleration wall drillBeginner · A wall
3D demoFast skippingBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSkippingBeginner · No equipment
3D demoAlternate-leg boundingAdvanced · No equipment
3D demoStanding broad jump with stuck landingIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoSprint intervalsAdvanced · No equipment
3D demo90/90 switchIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoSide plankIntermediate · No equipmentThe first two are new: a strength and hamstring session built on athletics' own prevention programme, and a warm-up. The others add sprint sessions, hamstring and foot work, jumps, intervals for the 400 m, hips, the power clean and a cool-down.
A 50-minute sprint and hurdles session: athletics' injury prevention programme, from planks to Nordic curls, then squats, split squats and Romanian deadlifts.
50 minIntermediate18 movesCardio machine, A wallA 20-minute warm-up for sprinters and hurdlers: jogging, ankle circles, leg swings, hip mobility, skips, wall and arm drills, build-up runs and practice starts.
20 minBeginner12 movesCardio machine, A wallA 45-minute speed session: running drills, five short accelerations and three flying sprints with full rest, then Nordic curls and calf raises.
45 minIntermediate11 movesCardio machine, A wallThe Nordic hamstring and Copenhagen adduction programmes from the football trials: a 10-week build, three adductor levels, then once a week in season.
15 minIntermediate6 movesA wall, An anchor pointA 35-minute gym hamstring workout: Romanian deadlifts for the hip, seated leg curls for the knee, single-leg Romanian deadlifts, then Nordic curls when ready.
35 minIntermediate7 movesA dumbbell, Strength machineA 20-minute hop and bound session for runners: ankle bounces to pogo hops, one-leg hops and bounding, building foot contacts slowly over 10 weeks.
20 minIntermediate8 movesCardio machineAn advanced jump training session: pogo hops, box jumps, split squat jumps, broad jumps and depth jumps.
30 minAdvanced8 movesA bench or box, A stepA 15-minute barefoot routine for stronger toes, arches, calves and ankles, finishing with balance. You need only a towel, a wall and a resistance band.
15 minBeginner11 movesA wall, Other / check instructionsA 45-minute gym strength workout for runners: hops, heavy squats, Bulgarian split squats, calf raises and side planks, with sets, reps and rest.
45 minIntermediate13 movesA wall, A bench or boxA 25-minute interval session on a bike or rower: one-minute hard efforts with two minutes easy, building from 4 to 8 rounds.
25 minIntermediate1 movesCardio machineA 15-minute hip opener: 90/90 switches, windshield wipers, CARs, Cossack squats, frog and pigeon.
15 minIntermediate8 movesA wallA 40-minute technique session for the power clean: the rack and hang positions, the jump and the turnover, light hang power cleans, then cleans from the floor.
40 minIntermediate14 movesCardio machine, A wallA 10-minute cool-down for after a run, a class or a gym session: a few minutes of easy movement, stretches for the muscles you used, then slow breathing.
10 minBeginner9 movesCardio machine, A wallA strength plan builds the base; keep the speed sessions on other days.
A 12-week beginner barbell program: squat every session, alternate bench and row with press and deadlift, and add weight each time until it stalls.
3 training days50 minBeginner2 days a weekTwo full-body strength sessions a week: the minimum that meets health guidelines, with every set, rep and rest, and an 8-week progression.
2 training days45 minBeginner2 days a weekA 12-week strength plan for runners: two sessions a week of heavy lifts, single-leg work, calf raises and hops, fitted around your runs.
2 training days45 minBeginnerThe PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone) asks about a heart condition or high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or losing consciousness, other long-term conditions and their medicines, a bone or joint problem that activity could make worse, and being told to exercise only under supervision. If you answer yes to any, check with your doctor or a qualified exercise professional first. If you're over 45 and not used to all-out exercise, ask a qualified exercise professional before starting it. The NHS lists sprinting up hills and interval running among very vigorous activities.
Sprinting is an all-out effort. See a GP before you start, and stop and call 999 for chest pain or fainting during a sprint, as our sprint guide says.
Masters sprinters slow by about 5% to 7% a decade, as our sprint guide explains, and former sprinters had high odds of an Achilles rupture. Build calf and hamstring strength first, and keep to about 90% effort for the first 4 weeks.
An injury complaint in the 4 weeks before a championship went with more than twice the odds of an injury there, and most sprinters have had a hamstring injury. Finish your rehab first, including lengthening exercises, as our hamstring strain guide explains, and build sprint speed over several sessions.
It can be an avulsion fracture: our hip pointer guide explains why it needs an X-ray the same day.
Injured young elite athletes had trained harder at 13 to 14. Keep to UK Athletics' event limits, and see our children's guide on training hours and variety before specialising.
Stress fractures were common in track athletes, and in women, menstrual problems and lower bone density went with them. Low energy availability is common in sprinters and jumpers. See your GP; our stress fracture, women's and eating disorder guides explain more.
The NHS says not to do sports where there's a risk of falling or bumping your tummy. Hurdles carry that risk (our reading). Talk to your midwife, and see our pregnancy guide.
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No competition before day 21 under the UK guidelines. Our concussion guide explains the graduated return.
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The NHS says you may feel a sharp pain in the back of your leg, and with a severe injury a snapping sensation or a pop. Get help from NHS 111 if it's very painful or getting worse, there's a large amount of swelling or bruising, it hurts to walk or stand on the leg, or it isn't getting better after treating it yourself. A pop near the sitting bone with a big bruise high on the thigh needs checking the same day, as our hamstring strain guide explains.
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A sudden snap or pop at the back of the ankle, or not being able to stand on tiptoe, can mean a ruptured Achilles tendon. The NHS says to get help from NHS 111 if you think you've ruptured a tendon, and our Achilles rupture guide explains why it's urgent.
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Call 999 or go to A&E if you heard a crack, the injured part has changed shape or points at an odd angle, it's numb or tingling, or the skin has changed colour or is cold. Get help from NHS 111 if you can't put any weight on it or walk more than a few steps. For a wrist, go to A&E or call 999 if it's numb or tingling, a bone is sticking out, or it has changed colour or shape.
Call 999 if someone faints while exercising, or has sudden chest pain or discomfort that doesn't go away.
Pain on a bone that's worse when you run or jump and hurts when pressed can be a stress fracture. Stop and get it checked, as our stress fracture guide explains.
Stretching programmes made no difference to sports injuries, while strength training cut them. Elite athletes in fast events stretched their hamstrings more than others and still had more hamstring injuries.
Programmes that include them went with about half as many, but pooling only properly randomised trials left the effect uncertain, and none was in track athletes. They do build lowering strength.
Athletics' own programme made no difference when fewer than 1 in 10 athletes did it as asked, and any effect appeared only after weeks of regular use.
In 22 competitive sprinters, uneven strides weren't linked with injuries or with speed.
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Gains in squat strength carried over to sprint speed across 15 studies.
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Only 9% of men and 13% of women in one national database's senior top 20 had been in the top 20 at under-13.
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The 400 m was about 41% to 45% aerobic on the track, and the best runners slowed most in the second half: it needs an aerobic base and pacing as well as speed.
In children seen in US emergency departments, 29.1% of hurdle injuries were fractures, mostly from trips and falls at the hurdle.
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Sprinting at full effort with full rest, plus strength training and forward jumps: across 48 studies, sprint training cut sprint times by about 3%, and gains in leg strength carried over to speed. Elite sprinters train acceleration, top speed and speed endurance separately, with long recoveries. Our sprint guide sets out the sessions.
Build sprint speed gradually at the start of a season and after time off, sprint every week rather than now and then, and keep hamstring strength work such as Nordic curls in your week. No programme has been proven in track athletes: athletics' own programme made no difference in its trial, but few athletes did it as asked.
Slightly: across 17 studies they took about 0.06 seconds off a 10 m sprint, and they build lowering strength quickly. Whether they prevent hamstring injuries is less certain than often claimed.
Squats, split squats, Romanian deadlifts and calf raises twice a week, stopping 2 or 3 reps short of failure, as our sprint guide sets out. Gains in squat strength carried over to faster sprints across 15 studies. Olympic lifts help jumping more clearly than sprinting.
The 400 m was about 41% to 45% aerobic on the track, so it needs speed, speed endurance and an aerobic base. Elite practice uses runs of 7 to 15 seconds at near-maximal speed with 1 to 2 minutes' recovery for every second of sprinting. The best runners slow most in the second half, so pacing is trained too.
In the UK from April 2026: under-14 girls 0.685 m over 75 m, under-14 boys and under-16 girls 0.762 m over 80 m, and under-16 boys 0.838 m over 100 m. Under World Athletics rules, under-18 women race over 0.762 m, under-20 and senior women 0.838 m, under-18 men 0.914 m, under-20 men 0.991 m and senior men 1.067 m.
Most children's hurdle injuries came from trips and falls at the hurdle, and nearly a third were fractures. Learn over low or foam hurdles, never above your age group's height, with hurdles set to tip over easily and facing the right way. Drill over one hurdle before a flight.
Short, coached sprints with plenty of rest: 20 m runs with 2 minutes between are a typical session for young athletes. UK rules let under-14s enter up to four events a day and no 300 m or 400 m races.
The guidance elite coaches follow is 2 to 3 weeks, cutting training volume by 40% to 60% while keeping the intensity. Drop extra exercises and keep event-specific work.
Easy running, moving stretches, sprint drills, build-up runs and a few starts, about 20 minutes in all, with short static holds at most. In cold weather warm up for longer: warmer conditions went with fewer muscle injuries at championships.
Exercise education for people who play sport, not a personal prescription or a diagnosis, and clinical review of these pages is pending. Check with a GP or physiotherapist before hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or an injury that isn't settling, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
