Self-management: patient section. Training for speed.

Speed is typically considered an inherited trait. While runners are born not made, everyone can improve their speed. There are some basic tips and training exercises that can improve any athlete or "weekend warrior's" speed. To optimize a person's running ability a specific stimulus is needed. This entails re-programming the muscle firing patterns by creating a new movement engram on a subcortical basis. In the young athlete, the nervous system is most plastic, so if good habits are programmed early enough in the developmental training of a young athlete, they will provide a solid foundation for the future (Balyi et al., 2005; Bompa, 1995; Bouchard et al., 1997; Higgs et al., 2008).