With the 2012 Olympics coming up in London, I’m really only interested in two things: the Men’s USA Basketball team and watching Usain Bolt run. This guy is a freak of nature standing at 6′ 5″ and as fast as he is. I’m dying to find out what Usain Bolt’s workout routine is, but the thing is more secret than my Aunt Edna’s homemade chili recipe.

I did some preliminary looking on the internet and not a whole heck of a lot is out there. My buddies at Stack.com had an article on it (I’ve been contributing there for the last 8 months), but with all due respect to the author of the article I don’t believe for a minute that Usain Bolt’s workout consists of machine squats, machine chest press, and leg extensions.

The article did discuss some pointers for getting out of the blocks. Bolt tries to drive forward, extending the hips, and pushing with the arms a bit. He also tries to hold this drive phase for about 30 meters before transitioning to his upright sprinting stance. You don’t want to pop up too early because that will just slow your acceleration down and you’ll have to work that much harder to reach top speed.

Usain Bolt’s big secret to running fast is staying relaxed.

Most top sprinters stay relaxed and if you watch them run, their cheeks are flapping around. If you aren’t relaxed, your tense. If your body is tense then it will slow you down. It’s just harder to run fast when you are all tensed up. If you feel tensed up, one trick a world class sprinter told me was to rub your fingertips with your thumb (specifically your index and middle finger) as you are running. Eventually, you will get relaxed, but that will start the process.

One exercise that I know Usain Bolt does in his workout routine is hang cleans. Click here to watch a video of Bolt working out at some gym doing some cleans. Hang cleans (or any clean) is a great exercise to do for a sprinter. Cleans are a total body movement that needs to be fast to be performed correctly. It trains the muscles in a way that is needed for explosion. In fact, I would use a mixture of hang cleans and power cleans with a sprinter. If you were doing cleans from the floor, it kind of mimics the start position and the explosive type of movement you need out of the blocks.

Although I said I didn’t think Usain Bolt did machine squats, I do think, or would at least recommend, he does squats. The stronger your legs are the faster you can be. Combining these with cleans will develop the right type of strength and power you need to be fast. In fact, I would probably do single leg squats as well. Sprinting is basically just a series of single leg explosions. Developing the strength on one leg with single leg squats will help keep the legs balanced and better able to transition to sprinting.

Lastly for legs, I hope Bolt is doing something for the hamstrings. With his speed, his hamstrings need to be strong so they can maintain the ability to fire with his quads and glutes. Pulled hamstrings are so common with sprinters, so doing some glute ham raises or manual hamstring curls is a must. I’ve got a lot of posts on strengthening your hamstrings, but one post I have sums it up well. Click here to learn why you must strengthen your hamstrings to improve your speed. Then cap it off with good core work and some push/pull exercises for the upper body.

How is Usain Bolt’s running form?

A good question and glad you asked it. I listened to one track coach say that there are a few minor flaws in Bolt’s technique that he says and he’s sure his coach is aware of. If he corrects those, then watch out. Really the only thing I consistently see is kind of a swaying of his head and upper shoulders from side to side. Of course we are being picky here. The guy is fast.

His height and leg power give him a long leg stride. Other sprinters might have a faster leg turnover, but Bolt’s isn’t shabby. Combine that with his stride length and he can cover more ground quicker than his opponents. He’s really firing with his hamstrings as well. His heel almost kicks his butt with every stride he is making.

He has great L shapes for his arms. They stay pretty compact, pump hard, and have a great range of motion. Good arm swings is the key for your legs to run faster and he gets a lot of use out of them.

All that being said, Bolt has not had a great 12 months. He didn’t qualify for the 100M at the World Championships last year because of a disqualification and got second place in the 100M finals at the Jamaican Olympic Trials. Both times his fellow countryman, Yohan Blake, won. Can Bolt rally to repeat what he did last Olympics? That remains to be seen.

I certainly hope so. I want to see that lightning pose a couple more times. Track needs someone like him to remain on top. With that cool name, he’s perfect to be a sprinter. If he doesn’t repeat, then someone needs to direct him to my blog for some pointers. This guy is too good of a talent not to be competing consistently at a high level. Feel free to place your comments below.