How to Build a Strong Finishing Kick
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Track fans watching the World Athletic Championships that took place in Tokyo last week witnessed one of the best all-time finishing kicks ever when Cole Hocker pulled out all the stops in the final 400 to win the men’s 5,000 meters.
Hocker unleashed a dazzling 52.62-second last lap, moving from 12th place to the front of the pack, then zooming ahead to win the race in 12:58, becoming only the third American to win a “global” 5,000 behind Bernard Lagat and Bob Schul. Watching the race, it was hard not to get inspired and ask yourself: how do I develop the best finishing kick I can?
First off, let’s assume that you’re in race shape and training consistently so that your base speed is strong enough to carry you though a 5K, 10K or half-marathon and still have something left to dip into to accelerate in that last stretch.
The key for the finishing kick is building muscle recruitment. You can build more muscle recruitment by doing several all-out sprints of say, 50–100 meters, along with short, fast hill repeats once a week. Counterintuitively, these sprints should be done before your regular workout, not after.
Another tool in the kick toolbox is plyometrics such as single-leg hops and split-squat jumps. Throw those in a few times a week.
Once you build the sprints and plyometrics into your program, you can start tailoring some of your workouts to help your kick. A great example of this is running up to five three-minute reps at 5K pace, jogging for 30 seconds after each, then exploding for 30 seconds at sprint speed. Rest two minutes between each of the reps.
Another more difficult kick builder is 800 reverse ladders. You’ll divide the 800s into three speeds: run the first 400 at your 10K pace; the next 300 meters at 5K pace and the last 100 at your mile pace. It’s a challenging workout but try running up to six of them with a three minute walk break between each.
And finally, a super simple workout is to practice finishing the last 100 meters or so of your tempo runs in a sprint. This simulates racing.
On race day, make the decision ahead of time that you’re going to kick, and if possible, note the point on the course. That way you can visualize a fast finish! And while you may not win a World Athletics Championship race, you may just outkick your rivals!
Upcoming races: Saturday, October 4 at 8:00 a.m., the Oh My Guad! 5K Beer Run at Guadalupe Brewing Company in New Braunfels. Saturday, October 4 at 7:30 a.m., the Cheers to Oktoberfest 5K/10K/13.1 at Richard Moya Park in Austin. Saturday, October 11 at 8:00 a.m., the Good Life Taylor 5K at Bull Branch Park in Taylor.
September 25, 2025