Today’s podcast guest is Håkan Andersson. Håkan is a veteran Swedish sprint coach with over 40 years of experience developing elite sprinters, jumpers, and team-sport athletes. Based in Sundsvall, Sweden, he has coached national record holders and Olympic finalists, and has played a key role in the evolution of Scandinavian sprint training.
For today’s podcast I join Håkan to explore the evolution of speed training, from early interval-based systems to modern high-velocity methods. We discuss the role of resisted and assisted sprinting, mechanized training tools, and how different athlete “types” respond to various workloads. Håkan shares insights on acceleration mechanics, overspeed training, and balancing intensity with long-term development. The conversation blends history, science, and practical coaching wisdom for building faster, more resilient athletes.
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Topics
0:00 – Introduction and Background
5:34 – Evolution of Sprint Training Methods
7:16 – Environmental Influences on Performance
11:12 – Shifts in Sprinting Training Philosophy
14:14 – The Rise of Modern Sprinting Techniques
17:11 – The Mechanics of Resisted Sprint Training
24:08 – The Impact of Training Machines
27:47 – Exploring Overspeed Training Techniques
29:52 – Practical Applications of Assisted Sprinting
32:47 – The Impulse Problem
36:08 – Understanding Sprinting Mechanics
39:04 – The Future of Sprint Training
43:57 – Thoughts on Sprinting Strategies
1:08:20 – Håkan’s Upcoming Plans
Håkan Andersson Quotes
“You try to do the best out of what you have, right? And if you focus too much on that [limitations of the environment], you’re never going to succeed anyway.”
“Remote coaching doesn’t really work, you know. …It’s what you do every day that counts.”
“I think your environment dictates how you train and your training program and so forth.”
“Resisted sprinting, it slows things down; it makes it a bit easier to work with technical details.”
“Resistive sprint, it can constrain the body into positions and timings that favors horizontal force acceleration. That is, of course, crucial for acceleration.”
“I really, really never liked heavy sleds, you know, because I found that it disturbed the rhythm of the athletes.”
“I find that below 10% decrement doesn’t really give you enough stimuli.”
“The goal is always to keep the mechanics intact, you know, not to overload this so much.”
“Don’t pull people to supersonic speed, but sometimes get exposed to almost competition speed. But never to go super maximum.”
About Håkan Andersson
Håkan Andersson is a veteran Swedish sprint coach with over 40 years of experience developing elite sprinters, jumpers, and team-sport athletes. Based in Sundsvall, Sweden, he has coached national record holders and Olympic finalists, and has played a key role in the evolution of Scandinavian sprint training. Known for his practical, data-informed approach, Håkan blends traditional methods with modern innovations in resisted and assisted sprinting to optimize acceleration and speed development.
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