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How to run a faster 40.

Speed Training System Is Designed To Get Immediate Results And Improved Times In 4 Weeks Or Less.

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Video analysis

Personalized training

Direct coach support

Improvements guaranteed

What It Takes To Run A Faster 40

When it comes to the 40 yard dash it is so short and specific that there is no time to waste from the starting line through to the finish. Most athletes that are looking to run a faster 40 yard dash, have pretty good top end speed but struggle at either getting to their top speed quickly, or have issues with their acceleration mechanics. If either of those sound familiar to you, then this program is perfect for you.

Our Speed Training Program Plans Each Step Of The 40

Specific coaching is the key separator.

In order to improve your 40 we are going to have to address specific errors in your mechanics. Many times these can be addressed simply such as front foot landing position or back leg height, where just seeing the error will help the athlete make the change. While sometimes the issue needs to be addressed through drills and exercise such as limited distance per step or difficulty maintaining top end speed.

Which is why we put such a big focus on the video component of our Faster 40 Speed Training System. The specific coaching by our speed coaches is the key separator that will not only make you faster and improve your 40 but will do it quickly. Many times the issues are pretty simple to identify such as something to change in the set up or three point stance or how to properly use the front leg for foot contact. Why our program and coaching leads to the best results is we pride ourselves on making it specific and correctable.

The art of speed coaching is not in finding errors in sprinting technique, that’s the easiest part. It is identifying the areas of your sprinting that are costing you the most amount of time and are the easiest to improve. That is where the value of our coaching is unmatched by any other program.

This is the same sprint-mechanics work built into our sport-specific programs — see it applied on the field in Football Training and Baseball Training.

Built into every sport program

Same measurement, same coaching, tuned to what your sport actually demands. Faster 40 is the sprint-mechanics engine underneath these programs.

Football Speed & Power Training

Straight-line speed, change of direction and explosiveness for skill positions and linemen alike, coached in person at Van Nuys.

See Football Training

Baseball Speed & Power Training

Out of the box, down the line, first to third — the eighteen drills that build the speed that shows up in the box score.

See Baseball Training

Athletes who changed their speed.

Published results and experiences from Performance Lab athletes.

Coming to the Performance Lab was critical for my development as a kid. I went from being the slowest kid on my Little League team to the second fastest in high school.

Alex Gibbons

Morey’s focus on timing and angles helped me tremendously to improve my running mechanics and 40 time.

Michael Wilson

With Coach Morey and Performance Lab I went from running a 7.04 to a 6.68.

Ryan Oh

Thank you Coach Morey for helping me with my 40 yard dash. I went from running 5.2 seconds down to 4.7. Look forward to continuing to improve.

Jay Saucillo

01 / Training emphasis

When you sign up for our personalized speed training program, you will be prescribed daily workouts, drills, diets, etc. This gives you the ability to improve not only your 40 yard dash but your overall athleticism and it will help you resist injuries as well. The two main things that I find athletes lack when training to run faster in the 40 yard dash are sprint workouts and foot strength/balance.

The thing is those two things are critical to running a faster 40. So we include sprint specific workouts to improve your first step, first 4 steps, 7 steps, 12 steps and overall speed endurance. Additionally, we add a lot of one leg balance, jumps, landing, plyometrics and range of motion exercises. In order to get a better 40 yard dash you will need to be able to generate maximal force into the ground. Most people know that and understand it, but what most people do not do is properly decelerate their body weight, especially in their first 3-5 steps. This makes their foot contact time long and while their ground force is high their 40 time is still not good.

Most likely this is because they are spending too much time on the ground per step. This is a huge point of emphasis in our coaching and speed training program.

Our 3 Step Process To Run A Faster 40 Yard Dash

Send the video, receive the breakdown and make the change.

01

Send In Video Of You Sprinting

This is easy we send you a video to explain what angles to send and how to upload onto our server quickly and easily. You will be able to upload right from your computer or smart device.

02

Receive Breakdown

We will get your video back within 24 hours. You will get a detailed video explanation and report of what needs to improve. As well as drills to guide you in the right direction.

03

Make The Change

Typically when working with a coach it takes months or even years to make improvements in your speed. With this program you will see improvements immediately, GUARANTEED!!

More About Our Speed Training Philosophy

Start phase. Drive phase. Top speed phase.

Start Phase

The fastest athletes often times have the quickest starts, you can see this when watching live coverage of the NFL combine/pro day. With that, the most important part of the start is the set up. When getting into the three point stance, it is critical the back foot does not start too far behind the starting line. There should be a nice forward lean into the front leg in order to shift most of the weight off of the rear foot.

The first movement should be a drop of the front knee while the hips roll forward and the back arm comes firing forward and through. The rolling of the hips is similar to a broad jump or power clean in order to maximize explosive horizontal force. While I do not love the queue to stay low during the start because the spine must rise to get the hips through, it is important to keep the chin tucked and eyes down to prevent yourself from popping up.

Drive Phase

The first 3 steps are the start phase and the above section should help you at least with the first step. The next phase is the drive or acceleration phase which is really when you are building top speed. I like to set goals for the 40 yard dash so I have specific landmarks to hit in order to give myself feedback on my performance.

This ends up being different depending on the height and size of the athlete but in general the goal is to get 4 steps in 5 yards, 7 steps in 10 and 12 steps in the first 20. From there if you can average 2 yards per step in the last 20 to run a complete 40 in 20 steps that is a pretty solid number for anyone 5’10”–6’1”.

This drive or acceleration phase happens between about 5-20 yards and it is critical in running a great 40 yard dash. The key here is to slowly transition the body into an upright position, if you rush the head and spine position it could mess up the entire 40 time. The important relationship here is between the knee angles and the spine position.

Top Speed Phase

The final phase for running a faster 40 yard dash and get you through the finish line is the top end phase. This is not always the fastest in terms of miles per hour but it refers to the position of the body and the full leg cycle.

At the end of the day in order to achieve elite level sprint times you should be able to get up to or at least close to 22mph. This may seem like a lot but when you go through the other two phases efficiently and patiently achieving high top speeds will be a natural biproduct.

The key with the final 20 yards of the 40 yard dash is to cover a significant amount of ground while maintaining a fast turnover rate. What I typically see happen in athletes who have not had much speed training is as they transitioning from the acceleration phase to top end speed phase they slow down the turnover rate of their legs as they begin to pick up more distance per step.

This is a critical error as it makes the athlete slow down at the most important part of their 40 yard dash. This is another focal point of our speed training program and something you will undoubtedly be able to understand fully after utilizing this program.

What you get when signing up:

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  • 1 on 1 coaching to improve sprinting mechanics via video breakdown, zoom and/or in person training.
  • Personalized workout program based on your training schedule and key areas to improve.
  • Drills and tutorial videos to address any and all errors during the 40 yard dash.
  • Diet plan that includes recommended meals, calories and specific cooking instructions.
  • 24/7 support. You will have direct contact to a Performance Lab Coach you can contact at any time for questions, scheduling or if there are any issues with anything above.

Common Mistakes When Training For The 40 Yard Dash

Five technical problems that cost critical tenths of a second.

Do not have a proper setup

In order to have success in the 40 yard dash you have to have the correct stance to accelerate effectively. There are many online charts that can predict 40 times based off of how the athletes accelerate in the first 10 yards In order to have great acceleration you have to properly set up to accelerate and I see so many people who have poor posture and body position when getting set up for the 40 yard dash and it is costing critical 10ths of a seconds.

Poor shin angle when accelerating

Acceleration Mechanics is probably the most important part of running a great 40 yard dash. The fastest athletes have great shin and knee angles while striking the ground and great rear foot positioning during toe off. To run a faster 40 yard dash you almost certainly need to achieve great top end speed which is built right here, during the drive phase.

Too much stiffness

We all know football players do too much bench press and not enough spine and shoulder mobility. This causes stiffness when running the 40 yard dash and less force into the ground when at top speed. An easy way to run a faster 40 is to open up the stride at top speed which comes from a significant amount of mobility through spine and shoulders.

Popping up too early

Go to any high school track practice and I can guarantee you will hear a coach screaming stay low or maintain a forward lean. This is because so many athletes immediately get into an upright position when sprinting that hinders top speed. Please do not make this mistake!

Too little ground force

I always tell athletes "the biggest difference between good sprint times and elite times is the amount of force into the ground". When you are not generating ground force greater than body weight into the ground then you simply cannot run a faster 40 yard dash. Learning the skill of generating maximal force during ground contact is critical to run a faster 40.

Results To Expect From Our Faster 40 Program:

Published athlete results from the Faster 40 program.

Athlete result / 01

Athlete result / 02

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Ready to run a faster 40?

Start with a coach who can identify the mechanical errors costing you the most time.

Get Started Now Call (818) 578-5013

Training for a specific sport? See how Faster 40 fits your Football or Baseball program.