When it comes to testing athleticism, you have your explosive lifts like clean and jerk and the snatch, but few benchmarks carry as much weight as the 40-yard dash. Whether you’re a football player aiming to impress scouts, a sprinter looking to sharpen your acceleration, or just an athlete who wants to move faster, improving your 40-yard dash can tell you a lot about your progress.

The key to lowering your 40 time isn’t just running more sprints. It’s about building explosive power, refining your technique, and training your nervous system to produce force quickly and efficiently. Below are five evidence-based drills that target the exact qualities you need to sprint faster.

To make the most of these drills, many athletes use structured programming tools—like Peak Strength—to balance their sprint work, strength development, and recovery. Having a smart training split and framework ensures these drills actually translate to better 40-yard dash performance.

Our team at Peak Strength is going to break it down.

8 Ways to Improve Your 40-Yard Dash

Let’s dive into the top ways to improve your 40-yard dash.

1. Wall Sprints (Reinforces posture and limb action)

Wall sprints are one of the best ways to engrain proper sprint posture and force application during the acceleration phase. By leaning into the wall and driving your knees aggressively, you practice pushing backward into the ground—an essential skill for launching out of your 3-point stance.

According to Stu McMillan of Altis, this exercise is best used as a primer, before full sprinting. It’s used to reinforce acceleration posture so athletes can transfer that feeling to full speed sprints.

How to do them:

• Face a wall with your hands at shoulder height, feet back so your body forms about a 45° angle.

• Drive one knee up powerfully while the opposite arm punches forward, then rapidly switch legs.

• Keep reps crisp and controlled, maintaining a braced core.

Programming tips: Do 3–5 sets of 10–15 seconds at full effort, 2–3 times per week, ideally near the start of your training sessions.

Why they help: The first 10 yards of the 40 are where most athletes either win or lose time. Wall sprints help you practice the exact body position and force direction needed to accelerate efficiently from the start.

Structured speed training plans like those built in Peak Strength often place wall sprints early in a session to prime your nervous system before heavy lifts or sprint work.

2. 15-Yard Sprints

Although the 40-yard dash is 40 yards long, the early acceleration phase (first 15 yards) largely determines your overall time. Training short sprints over this distance teaches you to generate massive horizontal force and build momentum quickly.

McMillan emphasizes short, maximal effort sprints as a staple of the ALTIS programming. The focus is on quality over quantity with a full recovery (sometimes up to 2-3 minutes) to ensure the athlete is training the correct neuromuscular patterns.

How to do them:

• Use a 3-point stance for each sprint.

• Drive explosively off the line, staying low for the first 5–10 yards.

• Focus on powerful arm drive and full leg extension.

• Rest 60–90 seconds between reps to maintain quality.

Programming tips: Complete 6–10 all-out reps of 15-yard sprints, 2–3 days per week.

Why they help: Practicing the first 15 yards repeatedly improves your reaction time, stride frequency, and drive phase power. It also helps you stay composed under combine-like pressure.

In many performance plans, this type of sprint work is paired with lower-body power lifts or plyometrics—something Peak Strength does automatically when building out sprint-focused training blocks.

3. Stumble Reflex “A” Skips

Even elite athletes can stumble on their first step. Stumble reflex “A” skips teach you to recover immediately while maintaining rhythm and drive. This drill reinforces knee lift, dorsiflexion, and arm swing—all key elements of efficient sprinting.

How to do them:

• Begin with a forward lean and fall into a sprint start.

• As you catch yourself, transition into an aggressive “A” skip pattern with high knees and opposite arm drive.

• Keep ground contact short and posture tall.

Coaching cues:

• Brace your core and avoid leaning back.

• Stay relaxed in the shoulders and neck.

• Hit the ground directly under your hips.

Why they help: This drill sharpens your coordination and timing, ensuring you can maintain acceleration even after an awkward first step. It grooves the smooth, elastic stride you need to hit top gear quickly.

Peak Strength-style programming often integrates A-skips and similar drills in warm-ups to prep the nervous system before maximal effort sprints.

4. Plate Snatch to Box (4–6 Sets of 2–3 Reps Per Side)

Speed is built in the weight room as much as on the track. The plate snatch to box is an explosive exercise that targets triple extension (hips, knees, and ankles) while challenging single-leg balance and stability—both crucial for sprinting.

How to do them:

• Hold a light bumper plate at your thighs.

• In one fluid motion, snatch the plate overhead while jumping onto a box, landing on one leg in a sprinting position.

• Pause briefly, regain balance, then step down.

Programming tips: Perform 4–6 sets of 2–3 reps on each side, focusing on speed and precision, not heavy weight.

Why they help: This movement closely mimics the forceful drive phase of sprinting. It teaches your body to produce force rapidly and control landing forces—key for faster, more stable acceleration.

Integrated training platforms like Peak Strength often schedule explosive lifts like this before heavy squats or deadlifts to maximize power development without fatiguing the nervous system.

5. Wicket Drills

Wicket drills use mini hurdles to enforce efficient sprint mechanics at top speed. They develop high heel recovery, upright posture, and quick ground contact—helping you maintain form as you approach maximum velocity.

Olympic track coach, Aaron Gadson, uses wicket drills not as a crutch, but as a diagnostic and corrective tool. The spacing is everything. The goal isn’t to stretch out and leap over the wickets, but to use them as a guide to promote the correct rhythm and force application for maximum velocity. 

How to do them:

• Set up mini hurdles spaced about 1.5–2 feet apart at the start, gradually widening to 5–6 feet.

• Sprint through while striking under your hips, staying tall and relaxed.

• Gradually increase spacing over time to match your stride length.

Why they help: Many athletes lose posture and form when approaching top-end speed, which wastes energy and slows them down. Wicket drills train your nervous system to stay efficient even when moving fast.

Speed development blocks in programs like Peak Strength often use wickets to bridge the gap between acceleration and max-velocity sprint work.

6. Flying 20’s

Flying 20s are one of the best tools for improving your 40-yard dash because they target the top-end speed portion of the sprint, which directly impacts overall time. In a 40-yard dash, the start and acceleration phase are crucial, but reaching and maintaining top speed in the middle of the sprint can be the difference between average and elite times. 

To do a flying 20: 

• Mark out at least 40–50 yards of space. You’ll need a 20-yard buildup zone and a 20-yard fly zone.

• Accelerate gradually. Not an all-out sprint. Focus on powerful but relaxed strides to build speed.

• Once you hit the “fly zone,” sprint at full speed, focusing on technique: tall posture, quick ground contact, and driving the knees.

• After the fly zone, decelerate safely over another 10–20 yards—never stop suddenly.

Take 2–3 minutes of rest between reps to ensure high-quality sprints. Do this for 4-5 sets during a speed or acceleration workout. 

Flying 20s let you practice hitting and holding that maximum velocity under controlled conditions, which builds efficiency, stride length, and turnover. They also train your nervous system to handle higher speeds, making your regular 40 feel smoother and faster.

7. Skips for Height & Skips for Distance

Skips for height develop vertical force production and powerful knee drive, both of which are key in the acceleration phase of the 40. By practicing explosive upward movement, athletes strengthen hip flexors, glutes, and calves while training the body to apply more force into the ground. This improves stride power and helps the athlete get out of the blocks faster.

Here’s how you can do skips for height:

• Stand tall with feet hip-width apart.

• Perform a skip by driving one knee up explosively while pushing off the opposite foot. Focus on height, not distance.

• Drive the arms aggressively to match the knee lift.

• Land softly and immediately spring into the next skip.

On the other hand, skips for distance train horizontal force production and extension through the hips, which is critical for acceleration and transitioning into max velocity. By driving forward with each skip, athletes practice projecting themselves horizontally, reinforcing longer, more powerful strides that carry speed down the track.

Here’s how you can do skips for distance: 

• Stand tall, ready to drive forward.

• Perform a skip by explosively pushing off one leg and covering as much ground as possible with each stride.

• Pump the arms forcefully in rhythm with the legs to help drive momentum.

• Emphasize forward projection, not height.

At Garage Strength, we like to use these as a warm-up for speed and sprinting workouts to establish the mind muscle connection for knee drive. If these are going to be more than just your warm-up, we recommend 4 sets of each for 15-20 yards. 

8. Improve Hamstring & Posterior Chain Strength

Strengthening the hamstrings and the posterior chain as a whole is one of the most effective ways to improve a 40-yard dash time because these muscles are the primary drivers of speed and explosiveness. 

The hamstrings are heavily involved in both hip extension and knee flexion, which are essential for producing powerful strides and rapid turnover. A strong posterior chain—which includes the hamstrings, glutes, lower back, and calves—creates the force needed to push explosively off the ground during acceleration while also stabilizing the body at top speed.

Peak Strength founder Dane Miller recently met up with Steven Cerenzio, a strength and conditioning coach who has worked with Olympic sprinters like Noah Lyles and Shaunae-Miller Uibo. They discussed prioritizing exercises like nordic hamstring curls to reduce the risk of hamstring strains, the ultimate setback for any athlete training for a 40.

Watch this video for the exercises we recommend: 6 Exercises for FAST and STRONG Hamstrings

Additional Tips to Maximize Your 40-Yard Dash

These seven drills are powerful tools, but they work best as part of a complete training plan. A few key strategies can help you get even more out of them:

• Build strength and power: Stronger glutes, hamstrings, and quads mean more force off the line.

• Work on mobility: Mobile hips and ankles let you achieve optimal sprint positions.

• Prioritize recovery: Quality sleep, good nutrition, and recovery days let your nervous system adapt to high-speed training.

• Dial in your start: Practice your 3-point stance and reaction time regularly.

• Track your times: Use timing gates or a stopwatch app to monitor progress.

A balanced approach that blends sprint mechanics, strength development, and structured recovery will always beat random workouts. Many athletes use training platforms like Peak Strength to handle that planning so they can focus entirely on effort and execution.

The Takeaway

Improving your 40-yard dash isn’t about simply running more—it’s about training smarter. By incorporating wall sprints, 15-yard sprints, stumble reflex “A” skips, plate snatch to box drills, and wicket drills into your weekly routine, you’ll target every phase of the sprint: the start, acceleration, and top-end mechanics.

Combine these drills with strength movements to make an elite speed training plan to drop serious time off your 40. Whether you build your own plan or use a platform like Peak Strength to structure it for you, the key is consistency.

With focused effort and the right system in place, you can transform your speed—and dominate your next 40-yard dash.