The fastest man of all time, Usain Bolt, changed the sprinting world forever by clocking the 100 meters in 9.58 seconds.  But that legendary speed was not luck, but built on a demanding six-day-a-week training regimen and a surprisingly flexible diet.

During his prime, all Bolt did was train: “I am supposed to be at the gym at 10, but that’s when I get up.” He still holds the world record, despite having retired from the sport years ago. And here's all that he did.

Usain Bolt's Training Program

During his prime, Usain Bolt trained six days a week, 11 months a year. He used to go to the gym for 90 minutes every day, doing endurance and strength training to increase his speed and agility.

Warm-Up / Core

• Leg Raises – 3 sets, 30 sec rest
• Side Sweeps – 3 sets, 30 sec rest
• Reverse Crunches – 3 sets, 30 sec rest
• Side Plank Clams – 3 sets, 30 sec rest
• Bunny Hops – 5 sets × 20 reps
• Box Jumps – 4 sets × 8 reps
• Bounding – 3 sets × 10 reps
• Cable Knee Drives – 3 sets × 10 reps
• Hanging Leg Raises – 3 sets × 10 reps

Workout 1

• Box Jump + Medicine Ball Slam – 4 × 5
• Good Mornings – 4 × 8
• Barbell Lunges – 3 × 10
• Sled Push – 3 × 20
• Barbell Landmine Exercise – 3 × 20

Workout 2

• Power Clean – 5 × 3
• Explosive Barbell Step-Ups – 4 × 6–8
• Romanian Deadlift – 4 × 10
• Sled Drag – 3 × 20
• Barbell Ab Rollouts – 3 × 10

Usain Bolt's Nutrition Plans

His entire day plan looked like:

10 AM – Wake Up
10:15 AM – Small Egg Sandwich, Green Bananas
11 AM – Weight-Lifting
1 PM – Lunch: Pasta, Corned Beef, or Fish
3 PM – Track Exercises
6 PM – Large Dinner: Broccoli, Yams, Chicken, Pork or other meat, Jamaican Dumplings, Rice
8 PM – Spend time with friends, play video games, go out on the town
12 AM – Sleep

The fastest man in the world followed a fixed diet, but not without still relishing fast food. “At first I ate a box of 20 for lunch, then another for dinner. The next day I had two boxes for breakfast, one for lunch, and then another couple in the evening.”

He further added, “I even grabbed some fries and an apple pie to go with it… Man, I should have gotten a gold medal for all that chowing down.”

Given that, what are your thoughts about Usain Bolt?

Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Joyita Das