Speed is a funny quality in sport. It looks simple, just move faster, but it is built from a stack of capabilities: raw force, rapid force production, elastic stiffness, technique, and the ability to repeat high outputs without your legs turning to cement.
The two papers you provided attack that problem from different angles. One is a direct training experiment comparing bodybuilding-style training and Olympic weightlifting-style training for sprint speed. The other is a large, athlete-focused review on speed endurance training, a specific type of very hard interval work performed above the intensity that elicits maximal oxygen uptake.
Put together, they sketch a practical message for training science: you can get measurably faster with strength-oriented training, and you can also improve speed endurance and performance across a wide range of event durations with surprisingly low volumes of brutally hard intervals, especially when you manage total training load well.
Study of the Effect of Bodybuilding and Weightlifting Training On Speed (Chopadiya & Upadhyay, 2025)
Main question: Does 12 weeks of bodybuilding training or weightlifting training improve sprint speed compared with a control group in young athletes?
Methods: Sixty athletes (about 18 to 25 years old) were randomly assigned to one of three groups for 12 weeks: a bodybuilding group, a weightlifting group (snatch and jerk focused), or a control group. Speed was tested with a 50-yard dash before and after the training period, and the groups were compared statistically.
Key results
- Both training groups improved 50-yard dash time compared with the control group after 12 weeks.
- The weightlifting group showed a slightly larger improvement than the bodybuilding group when compared to control, but the difference between the two training groups was not statistically significant.
- In practical terms, the training groups reduced sprint time by about six-tenths of a second on average, while the control group changed only slightly.
Authors' conclusions: A 12-week bodybuilding or weightlifting training program significantly improves speed, and neither approach was clearly superior to the other for improving 50-yard dash performance.
Speed Endurance Training to Improve Performance (Bangsbo, Kissow & Hostrup, 2025) - Review
Main question: In trained athletes, how effective is speed endurance training (very high-intensity intervals above the intensity associated with V̇O2-max) for improving performance across short, middle, longer, and repeated-intense efforts?
Methods: This is a narrative review of training interventions in trained subjects and athletes (the review focuses on participants above defined fitness thresholds). The authors summarize how different forms of speed endurance training affect performance in events lasting roughly 20 to 60 seconds, 1 to 10 minutes, 10 to 60 minutes, and intermittent sports requiring repeated intense bouts.
Key results
- Speed endurance training (SET) improves performance across many event durations (from about 20 seconds up to about 60 minutes) and improves repeated sprint and intermittent test performance in team-sport contexts.
- Performance improvements often occur even when total training volume is reduced substantially, meaning SET can be a time-efficient, low-volume way to drive adaptation in trained athletes.
- In well-trained athletes, gains frequently happen without increases in V̇O2-max, suggesting the mechanism is often not “more aerobic ceiling,” but better efficiency and better tolerance of fatigue-related disturbances.
- The review repeatedly points to adaptations that improve the muscle’s ability to handle ionic shifts and acidity during intense work (for example, changes related to sodium-potassium pump subunits, H+ transport, buffering capacity, and other fatigue-resistance factors).
- The review notes that more is not always better: in some contexts, a lower dose of SET can improve performance as much as a higher dose, and extremely high volumes may be unnecessary for major gains.
Authors' conclusions: Trained athletes can benefit from dedicated blocks of speed endurance training, either alone or combined with aerobic training and power or resistance training. Improvements are broad (short, middle, and many longer efforts), and they often appear even when overall training volume is reduced.
Connecting the dots: strength training vs speed endurance training
These papers are looking at different slices of the same performance pie.
The Chopadiya & Upadhyay study is basically a “strength room intervention” and asks: can lifting-based training make you faster over a short sprint? Their answer is yes, both bodybuilding-style and Olympic lifting-style training improved 50-yard speed compared with doing nothing extra.
The Bangsbo et al review is about “high-intensity running or cycling intervals” that are so hard they sit above the intensity that typically elicits V̇O2-max. The point of that training is not just speed, but the ability to sustain near-max outputs or repeat them with less drop-off. Their summary is also yes, SET improves performance in trained athletes across many time domains, often without increasing V̇O2-max.
From a coaching standpoint, you can treat this as a two-lever system:
- The weight room lever (strength training, hypertrophy where appropriate, and power development) can raise the ceiling for force and power, which is closely linked to acceleration and sprint performance.
- The speed endurance lever (SET) can raise your ability to express that power repeatedly and tolerate the “burn” and mechanical fatigue that normally force you to slow down.
If you only pull one lever, you get some gains. If you pull both, strategically and with good recovery, you often get a better transfer to athletic performance.
Synthesis: where the studies agree, where they differ, and what the total evidence suggests
Where they agree
- Speed and performance are trainable in already active people. Both papers point in the same direction: targeted training changes speed-related outcomes, not just general fitness.
- High-quality training does not have to mean high volume. The Chopadiya & Upadhyay intervention ran for 12 weeks, but the key is that structured training changed outcomes. The review goes further and emphasizes that SET can improve performance even when total volume is reduced, which is a big deal for exercise recovery and injury management.
- Different methods can produce similar improvements. In the sprint study, bodybuilding and weightlifting both improved speed. In the review, multiple flavors of SET (longer rests vs shorter rests, combined with aerobic or power work) often produce improvements.
Where they differ
- What they measure: The sprint study measures a straight-line short sprint (50-yard dash). The review spans a wide range: short sprints, middle-distance time domains, longer time trials, and intermittent tests like repeated sprints and Yo-Yo style performance.
- What they can explain: The sprint study shows an effect but provides limited detail on exactly what changed physiologically. The review is built to discuss mechanisms (economy, buffering, ion handling), but it is summarizing many studies rather than testing one specific protocol head-to-head.
- Specificity: Olympic lifts are more power-specific than classic hypertrophy work in theory, but in that sprint study, neither approach clearly beat the other. In the review, sport specificity matters because many SET interventions are done with running or cycling, which may not perfectly match every sport’s demands.
Evidence-based conclusions
- 1.Structured lifting-based training can improve short sprint performance over 12 weeks, and in the available study, bodybuilding and weightlifting both helped compared with no special training.
- 2.Speed endurance training reliably improves performance in trained athletes across efforts lasting roughly 20 seconds to 60 minutes, and it also improves repeated-intense performance important for team sports.
- 3.In well-trained athletes, performance gains from SET often happen without increases in V̇O2-max, implying that better economy and better fatigue tolerance (especially during intense bouts) are likely major drivers.
- 4.You can often get meaningful improvements with reduced total training volume when SET is introduced, which makes SET a useful tool for time efficiency and for managing overall fatigue.
- 5.More SET is not automatically better, and the review suggests that modest doses can be enough for large gains, which supports a “minimum effective dose” approach for better recovery and consistency.
What this means for your training
Below are practical recommendations that map directly to what these papers support. Think of them as building blocks you can plug into a plan, rather than a single rigid program.
1) Use the weight room to raise sprint capacity, then express it on the field
Evidence link: The sprint study shows that 12 weeks of structured strength-oriented training improved 50-yard dash time, whether the program looked more like bodybuilding or weightlifting.
Action:
- Train lower-body strength 2 to 3 days per week in a progressive way for 8 to 12 weeks.
- If you need more muscle mass (hypertrophy) for your sport or position, bodybuilding-style accessory work can be a valid tool, not a distraction.
- If you are already strong but need more “snap,” prioritize power-focused lifting (fast intent on submaximal loads, jumps, throws, and, if you have the skill, Olympic lift derivatives).
- Keep at least one weekly session that includes real sprinting or acceleration work so the strength gains transfer to sprint mechanics.
2) Add speed endurance training in blocks, not as random suffering
Evidence link: The review supports SET as a potent intervention for trained athletes across many performance durations, even with reduced volume.
Action:
- Use SET in 3 to 6 week blocks when you want a sharp performance boost.
- Pick one primary SET style based on your sport: If your sport demands short, hard bursts with lots of recovery (many field sports), use “production-style” intervals: hard efforts around 20 to 40 seconds with longer rests. If your sport demands repeated bouts with incomplete recovery, use “maintenance-style” intervals: repeated hard bouts with shorter rests designed to accumulate fatigue.
- If your sport demands short, hard bursts with lots of recovery (many field sports), use “production-style” intervals: hard efforts around 20 to 40 seconds with longer rests.
- If your sport demands repeated bouts with incomplete recovery, use “maintenance-style” intervals: repeated hard bouts with shorter rests designed to accumulate fatigue.
- Start with 1 session per week if you are new to SET, then progress to 2 sessions per week if recovery is good.
3) Reduce total volume when intensity goes up, treat recovery as part of the plan
Evidence link: A major theme in the review is improved performance despite large reductions in training volume, which is basically an exercise recovery strategy baked into the training design.
Action:
- When you introduce SET, cut some “grey-zone” volume (moderate hard steady work that piles fatigue).
- Keep easy days truly easy. The intensity days are already doing the heavy lifting.
- Watch the warning signs: rising resting soreness, sleep disruption, declining sprint times, and irritability are all signs you need to pull back.
4) Combine modalities intelligently: strength training plus SET can be complementary
Evidence link: The review includes multiple examples where SET combined with aerobic intervals or power/resistance work improves performance, and the sprint study shows lifting alone can help speed.
Action:
- A simple weekly template that respects recovery might look like: Day 1: Strength training (heavy + some explosive intent) Day 3: SET session Day 5: Strength training (moderate volume + unilateral and posterior chain focus) Optional Day 6: Sprint technique and short accelerations (low volume)
- Day 1: Strength training (heavy + some explosive intent)
- Day 3: SET session
- Day 5: Strength training (moderate volume + unilateral and posterior chain focus)
- Optional Day 6: Sprint technique and short accelerations (low volume)
- Avoid stacking your hardest lower-body lifting and your hardest SET session back-to-back, unless you are highly trained and very confident in your recovery.
5) Test what you train, and pick tests that match your sport
Evidence link: The sprint study used a 50-yard dash, and the review summarizes improvements in time trials and intermittent tests.
Action:
- If you are a field sport athlete: track 10 m and 30 m sprints (acceleration and speed), plus a repeated sprint test or an intermittent fitness test that matches your sport.
- If you are an endurance athlete: track a short intense test (30 seconds to 4 minutes) plus your key race-distance time trial.
- Re-test every 3 to 6 weeks during a block. If performance is improving but you feel destroyed, you are probably exceeding the minimum effective dose.
6) Be honest about what we do not know yet
Evidence link: The sprint study does not give enough detail to say exactly why one lifting approach might be better for a specific athlete, and the review notes that not all tests are sport-specific.
Action:
- Use the evidence as a starting point, then individualize.
- If Olympic lifts irritate your shoulders or wrists, you can build power with jumps, trap bar pulls, and med ball throws.
- If SET makes you feel constantly “flat,” reduce frequency, increase rest intervals, or shorten the block.