You know, I’ve always been fascinated by the raw, explosive beauty of sprinting. It’s not just running fast; it’s a high-stakes technical discipline where a hundredth of a second is an eternity. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with coaches, physios, and even a few elite athletes. It reminds me of a casual remark from a renowned coach I once met, who said, “Of course, over the years we’ve met him a few times and have some informal conversations.” That’s often where the real gold is—not in the rigid textbooks, but in those informal exchanges where experience is shared. Mastering sprint sport is a similar blend of formal science and that hard-earned, informal wisdom. It’s about building a system. So, let’s break down my perspective on a practical 5-step guide to developing genuine speed and polished technique.

The journey absolutely begins where most people want to skip: the foundation. You cannot fire a cannon from a canoe. For sprinters, the cannon is your powerful glutes, hamstrings, and core, and the canoe is a body unprepared for the immense forces involved. I’m a huge advocate for spending at least 8-12 weeks in an off-season or introductory phase dedicated to strength training. We’re talking about compound movements—heavy squats (aim for a 1.5x bodyweight goal), deadlifts, and plyometrics like box jumps. I’ve seen too many talented runners sidelined by hamstring strains because they neglected this. My preference? Prioritize posterior chain development. It’s the engine room for sprinting. Without this base of strength and structural integrity, trying to run fast is just an invitation for injury. The force you apply into the ground, measured in newtons, is what propels you forward. One study I often cite, though I might be fuzzy on the exact journal, suggested elite sprinters can exert vertical forces of over 5 times their body weight on a single footstrike. That’s a staggering load your body must be built to handle.

Once the foundation is laid, we move to the most critical technical element: the start. The first 10-20 meters often decide the race. Here, technique is king. I’m dogmatic about this—a poor start is a debt you can never repay in a 100m or 200m race. It’s about angles and aggression. Your body should be in a position of falling forward, and you must explode out, not stand up. I like to tell athletes to imagine pushing the earth behind them. Arm action is crucial here; a weak, loose arm drive translates directly to weak, slow leg drive. I spend probably 30% of my technical coaching time just on start drills, block settings, and reaction training. The “set” position is a coiled spring. There’s an optimal knee angle for the front and back leg—often around 90 and 120 degrees respectively—but it requires individual tuning. Getting this wrong can cost you two or three tenths instantly, and in a world where the difference between gold and fourth place is 0.15 seconds, that’s an eternity.

Acceleration and transition form the heart of the race. This is where power meets rhythm. The acceleration phase, up to about 30-40 meters, is about continuing to drive forward with powerful, piston-like steps. You’re not trying to run tall yet. A common flaw I obsess over is athletes “reaching” with their front foot, which creates a braking force. The foot must strike under the body’s center of mass. As velocity increases, the body naturally rises into the upright sprinting posture. This transition must be smooth, not forced. A drill I’m particularly fond of is using wicket runs—small hurdles spaced at increasing distances to enforce proper step frequency and length rhythmically. It teaches the body to handle increasing speed without the technique breaking down. I recall a conversation with a veteran track coach who mentioned that most amateur runners lose nearly 4% of their potential speed right in this transition zone due to premature posturing. It’s a subtle but devastating leak.

Maximal velocity is the glamorous part—the part you see in slow-motion replays. Hitting top speed, usually between 50-70 meters in a 100m, is one thing; maintaining it is an art form. This is about mechanics and relaxation. The upright posture is critical: tall spine, head still, eyes focused down the track. The arms drive front-to-back, not across the body, with elbows at roughly 90 degrees. But here’s my personal, slightly contrarian take: while form is vital, the real secret is learning to relax the face, neck, and shoulders while the legs are firing at 4-5 steps per second. Tension is the enemy of speed. Usain Bolt was the master of this—he looked fluid at top speed when others were straining. Practicing this involves high-speed fly runs, say, a 30-meter buildup into a 30-meter float at 95% effort, focusing solely on feeling loose and smooth. It’s counterintuitive, but you have to learn to apply immense force while feeling, in a way, effortless.

Finally, we cannot ignore the often-overlooked fifth step: dedicated recovery and analysis. Sprinting is an alactic-aerobic activity, but the systemic stress is enormous. My rule is that for every second of all-out sprinting, you need a minute of recovery in a training session. So a 10-second 100m rep demands 10 minutes of rest. Skimp on this, and you’re just training fatigue and poor mechanics. Furthermore, I’m a proponent of using video analysis religiously. What you feel you’re doing and what you’re actually doing are frequently two different things. A quick phone video from the side and front can reveal flaws in arm carriage, leg recovery, or torso lean that are invisible to the runner. This feedback loop, combined with modalities like foam rolling, contrast baths, and most importantly, sleep—aiming for a solid 8.5 hours—is what allows consistent, injury-free progression. You’re not just training your body; you’re managing a high-performance system.

So, there you have it. Mastering sprint sport isn’t a mystery. It’s a sequential, disciplined application of strength, technique, and recovery. It’s about listening to the formal principles while valuing those informal bits of wisdom, much like the conversations my coach friend alluded to. From my experience, athletes who follow this structured yet nuanced approach—building the engine, honing the launch, mastering the shift, floating at top speed, and recovering with intent—are the ones who unlock their true potential. It’s a challenging path, demanding patience and precision, but the feeling of executing a perfect race, where power and technique fuse into pure speed, is absolutely worth every ounce of effort. That’s the art and science of sprinting, from where I stand.

LIGHTING, LIGHTING, AND MORE LIGHTING
People are typically drawn to bars solely based on their atmosphere. The best way to knock your next commercial bar design out of the park is using the perfect amount and type of lighting. Use standout light fixtures as their very own statement piece, track lighting for adjustable ambiance, hanging pendant lights over tables, and ambient backlighting to display the alcohol. Bartenders need to serve and customers need to order, so make sure it’s just functional as it is attractive. 

CHOOSING YOUR BARTOP
What may seem so obvious, is often so overlooked in commercial bar design- the material of your actual bartop itself. While we realize stone and marble are as classy and elegant-looking as can be, the reality is that they just aren’t your best option for a durable and long lasting bartop. They crack, have no grip, and break way too many glasses. Opt for a high-quality wood bar instead. Oaks, maples, mahoganies, and ashes are sturdy and provide your customers with a firm grip for their glasses. 

THEME 
In a sea of millions upon millions of bars, how can you make your commercial bar design stand apart from the rest? The answer is to pick a unique, centralized theme and run with it. Whether it’s your next sit-down restaurant bar design, or remodeling the small, locally-favorite gem, you have to find out what your clientele wants. Survey the neighborhood of your establishment and find out what the demographics are there. Maybe a gritty, western bar would be a hit. Or maybe a more modern, sleek design is what’s missing in the area. Whatever theme you decide upon, hit it out of the park with the perfect lighting, wall art, music, and furniture. It’s all in the details. 

THE GUIDE TO YOUR NEXT RESTOBAR 
You’ve got the food, you’ve got the restaurant, you’ve got the customers, now all you need is a beautifully designed bar to top it all off.  Small bar designs for restaurants have a tendency to be a little thrown together and incohesive with the rest of the establishment. Stay on brand- create consistency with tying in the same color scheme, furniture, art, and overall ambiance of the pre-existing restaurant. Make sure the placement of your bar makes sense as well, have it in a place where it’s visible and easy to navigate but not in the way of servers and other guests. If the bar is going to serve food, be sure to consider the location of the kitchen to not obstruct traffic flow. Consider all of these small tips as you work through your next restaurant bar design. 

SPACE CONSTRAINT 
It’s no secret that bars have the reputation of being a little cramped, and in some cases- way too cramped. Consider all of the space constraints while designing your next commercial bar design and we can change that bad rap that bars have been holding for far too long. First and foremost, be sure to measure your bar, barstool, cabinet, and equipment height. Generally, a bar is 42” in height while a stool is 30” in height. Also be sure to allow at least 3’ of space between the bar and the alcohol for the bartender’s functionality and efficiency. Consider multiple register and drink-making stations for bartenders as well. Allowing 2’ between patrons is going to give them enough space to eat and drink, and most importantly, simply be comfortable. All of these considerations are especially helpful if it is a restaurant bar design, where the space is even more valuable.