Usain Bolt made winning his place in the men’s 200m final look easy today.

Read about the Mens 200m final here!

He is now the reigning Olympic champion over 100m and holds both world and Olympic 100m records with a time of 9.69 seconds. Bolt is also the world junior record holder in the 200 metres (19.93 seconds), and Jamaican national record holder in the 200m (19.67 seconds). His name and achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname “Lightning Bolt”.

Usain Bolt’s Sprint Workouts

Bolt uses a combination of plyometric training and weight training to build functional strength. The core exercises for improving performance over 100m and 200m are:

• Weighted Lunges with heavy dumbbells
• Weighted Squats
• Bunny Hops / box jumps
• Frog Leaps

Lunges and squats are the core weight training exercises to build strength. Ideally perform with free weights, and go heavy. Set of 8-12 reps are ideal. The bunny hops and frog leaps build explosive strength. See our plyometric workout for boxers article for more on plyometric training.

Usain Bolt’s Diet and Nutrition

Bolt maintains his 6ft 4in, 13st 8lb pound frame in peak condition with a simple diet. Also, he is one of the few professional athletes who does not take supplements. He admits to taking vitamin C, but nothing else. Instead, Bolt opts for a high-energy diet to maintain his engine, ensuring that each of his six daily meals contain 60% protein, 30% carbs and 10% fats. Sprinters should consume one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight to build and maintain muscle. So at approx. 14-stone, Bolt needs to consume 196 grams of muscle-building protein every day. He alleges to achieve this by eatign a lot of chicken fillets. On the day that he beat the world 100m record, he described his preparation as:

“I woke around 11am and decided to watch some TV and had some nuggets.” - Usain Bolt

Personal bests

Date	Event	Venue	Time (seconds)
16 August 2008	100 metres	Beijing, China	9.69
13 July 2008	200 metres	Athens, Greece	19.67 – National Record
5 May 2007	400 metres	Kingston, Jamaica	45.28

Sprinting Drills and Sprint Workouts