Acceleration Training Tip #8 - Use Resistance Wisely

Acceleration Training Tip #8: Use Resistance Wisely

Resistance training for speed has become one of the most popular tools in athletic development — and for good reason. Bands, sleds, and partner resistance can be incredibly effective for building acceleration power. But here's where many coaches and athletes get it wrong: resistance is only working for you if it's reinforcing the right mechanics. Load it incorrectly and you're training yourself to sprint worse.

The purpose of resistance in sprint training isn't simply to make running harder. That's the most common misconception. The real goal is to use resistance as a teaching tool — something that reinforces your forward lean, grooves your push mechanics, and strengthens the exact positions you've been building throughout this series. When applied correctly, the resistance actually makes it easier to feel and maintain proper acceleration posture because it demands that you lean in and drive the ground back to overcome it.

Here's where it goes wrong: too much weight on a sled, too much tension in a band, or too aggressive a partner pull changes the sprint pattern entirely. Your stride shortens, your mechanics break down, and instead of training acceleration you're training a slow, distorted version of it. You're essentially building a movement pattern that has nothing to do with what you need on the field or track. More resistance does not mean more benefit — it means more risk of ingraining the wrong habits.

The sweet spot is resistance that challenges your posture and push angle without compromising your natural stride mechanics. A good rule of thumb — if your sprint pattern looks dramatically different under resistance than it does without it, the load is too heavy.

The result? Resistance that builds real sprint strength — reinforcing posture, deepening your forward lean, and making your push mechanics more powerful without ever sacrificing the technical foundation you've worked so hard to develop.

Train smart with resistance and it becomes one of your most powerful speed development tools. Train recklessly with it and it works against everything you've built.

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