How To Make 40 Yard Dash Faster In 3 Months?

Hello!
I am 270lbs have been trying to get my 40 time down from a 5.08 to 4.65 (my original) time. The last time I ran this fast was in high school and now it’s been ten years since. How can I get it back down to my original speed?
Thanks in advance

Lose 20-30 pounds of bodyfat. Your relative strength, speed, and power will increase if it’s done with a well-designed plan. The same way pull-ups get “easier” when people lose fat, same idea for running speed.

This approach is a start. What does your current training (weights and cardio) and nutrition look like? Also, for context, how tall are you?

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How tall are you? -unless like 6’5+ I would get your body weight right down by say 30lbs minimum.
Something like this Thib template below would be a good base program(could also ask him in his forum) and then get an a book/product by a combine prep guy like Joe Defranco for technical cues for the 40

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Run up hill.

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How long have you been “back” also…as others have said, you need to lose some poundage and evaluate your diet, but need to know what’s your current foundation. Also, how much time are you setting aside to do this, and how much sleep do you get. Plus do you have a time frame, and why is this your goal in order to help with motivation

Curious why dont you guys mention a jump rope. That little thing has so much to offer

Not for someone weighing 270 pounds it doesn’t. It’s too high impact, so the risk:reward isn’t worth it for fat loss. It also won’t do much, if anything, to help his sprinting speed.

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Understood

In addition, to what has been said about dropping body fat, adding powerwalking pulling a loaded sled to your programming will improve your sprinting ability.

Is there a specific reason you’re trying to improve your sprinting ability?

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Hmmm I reread this and thought why does 181 5 10” Treston DeCoud DB swear by it? I know it helped me. Is he really too heavy to use it and not have any benefits? I’ll shut the f up if need to…however, I’ve read several articles today and am a knowledge junkie. So school me :crazy_face:

Yea I generally disagree as well. Jump rope is pretty low impact if done correctly. Though, for someone 270 lb, if they aren’t already very efficient at jump roping (getting a few centimeters off the ground on each contact), then learning how to jump rope properly could be quite stressful for someone that weight. I mean it’s considerably less stressful than sprinting, assuming the form isn’t atrocious, in which case it could be for someone that heavy.

but ya, jump roping is very low impact if done correctly & even more so on soft surfaces (rubber flooring, turf, etc). It can build some serious shoulder power, reactiveness, coordination, and help lean you out pretty fast. If this person is efficient at jump roping (preferably with a speed rope) so that you can get high RPM with very low change in COM, then it could be a very useful tool in the toolbox.

peace!

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Couple of things at play here. First, does he swear by it while wearing a 90-pound weight vest? Probably not. Second, pro athletes “swearing by” methods is usually an ineffective way to “prove” those methods work because A - to arrive at that level, he’s already in the genetic elite, and B - odds are he’s actually doing a lot of different things (including plenty of basic sprinting/running drills) that could easily play a big role in his results.

Yes. Nobody who’s 270 pounds needs to be jumping rope, especially when their big picture goal is to sprint faster.

It’s not that it won’t have benefits. It’s that the benefits aren’t worth the joint stress because other options are still on the table. To reframe it, think of dieting. The guy could drop 1,500 calories from whatever he’s currently eating and it would lead to weight loss.

But doing something that intense right now is too extreme and unnecessary, it would bring a whole bunch of negative side effects, and he could still see good results with a more reasonable approach like cutting 500 calories to start. Make sense… or did I go on a random tangent that was more confusing?

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Nope makes total sense. Very appreciated. I just am a sponge right now. Thank you for your time! I’ve been schooled! Sending you an :apple: Apple

Ty

I think @Chris_Colucci likes :peach: more :laughing:

Nah I think he likes :brain: better cuz he likes to edit my posts :rofl:

I read somewhere that sprint time is closely related to pull-up strength and trap bar deadlift strength. So maybe train those movements, and I would also recommend losing a significant amount of body weight. Losing that extra weight will also make it a lot safer to train sprinting.

I agree with Colucci re: the skipping rope. I would think push/pulling the prowler instead may be more transferable to your goals.

tweet

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I have a long-standing theory that any chubby girl can have big boobs, but great glutes only come from training, so…
#BaggySweatPantsReeboksWithTheStraps

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I agree, great boobs are a dime a dozen but a great ass is as rare as fine wine.

I agree with Ardi about skipping rope. Rope skipping, you’re only going 1-2 inches off the ground and likely striking both feet at the same time. It’s about the lowest impact movement you can do. Way less impactful than running a 40y dash which is what OP is preparing for. If he can’t jump rope, even at 270, he’ll never be able to run a 40 even after dropping 40 pounds.

I agree though, the biggest impact he can make on his time will be from dropping some weight while, at least, maintaining his strength.

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Just a word of warning with skipping rope.

Always lean towards caution with this, shin splints and sore toes are a common injury for this that jump in with too much volume too soon.

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Edited for spelling mistakes.

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