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Two key elements should encompass your training: Pure sprinting speed, and agility at switching directions. Make sure you warm up thoroughly before each session. Do these workouts 1-2 times a week.
Weights Session
An intense gym workout can improve your sprint speed, reveals UK Shyam, the Singapore national 100m record holder. Use a gym-sprint combo to amp your speed: Find out your one-rep max with squats, pyramid towards that in your workout. Shyam does 140, 150, 160 and 190 kilogram (around his one-rep max) squats and nips out for track sprints in between sets, so as to maintain muscle elasticity. If your gym doesn’t have a track, try a set of high knee-lift drills: standing on the balls of your feet, bring your right or left knee up so that your thigh becomes parallel to the ground. While your arms swing freely, in a rapid motion bring up your other leg, that’s one repetition. Keep alternating legs (it’s like stationary sprinting) and do thirty repetitions each set.
Sprint Power
To improve brute sprinting power, you simply need to run your behind off. A stadium track comes in handy for this. Do 50m and 100m, all-out sprint sets. Focus on lifting your knees high, and running on your forefoot. Exaggerate your arm swing as well, and focus on not slowing your pace during the entire distance. Walk for no more than two minutes, and repeat the workout for five sets. Agility Drill
Head to the 100m-sprint start line (on the lower left corner of the track, if you’re standing on the grandstand) and identify the lane markings 10m and 20m away from the start line. Now sprint from the start line, stop and touch the 10m marking, sprint back to the start line and touch it. After that, sprint to the 20m mark, touch it, sprint back to the start line and touch it again (you should touch the start line twice in each set). Now sprint back to and past the 20m marking. To make the exercise more agility-centric, shorten the sprint distance. But take note that the shuttle run is 10m long, so you should train for that.
Note The Details
Oftentimes, it’s the small details that can add a whole second or two to your timing. Warming up is absolutely crucial – find a spot to do short sprints as you wait your turn. Make sure your shoes aren’t worn out, and it’s best if you can choose thin-soled shoes, to make the sprinting and the switching of directions easier. Also, note how you plan your run – this comes with practise – you need to start the shuttle run lap with a high knee lift, but you also need to know when to tone it down so that you’ll be able to stop and turn quickly. On the last lap, run through with high knee lifts all the way.
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