Fencing Strength
Mahmoud Elsayed is the former epee junior world champion and the number one ranked junior in the 2024/25 season. His speed and agility session offers a clear model for how elite fencers structure their fencing workouts away from the strip.
Why Sprint Training Matters for Fencers
A 2023 study by Hagiwara et al. found that repeated sprint training significantly increased explosive power in elite fencers. Speed is not merely a byproduct of fencing — it is a trainable quality that must be directly targeted in order to develop.
Sprinting also builds stronger hamstrings through the eccentric demands of the sprint cycle, and teaches the nervous system to recruit muscle fibres more rapidly. For a sport defined by explosive first-step speed and deceptive changes of pace, this has direct performance implications.
Session Breakdown
Warm-Up — Dynamic Mobility
- Hamstring sweeps — 2 × 5 reps each side
- Hip openers — 2 × 5 each side
- Lateral lunge shuffles — 2 × 5 each side
The warm-up maps directly to the movement demands of fencing: hamstring mobility for lunge range, hip mobility for lateral movement, and dynamic groin preparation. These are not arbitrary warm-up exercises.
Running Mechanics
- A-Skips — 3 × 10–15 metres
- B-Skips — 3 × 10–15 metres
Skipping drills reinforce sprint mechanics — specifically, high knee lift and powerful ground contact. They are the bridge between general warm-up and maximum-speed sprint work.
Sprints
- Easy warm-up sprints — 2–3 × 10–15 metres
- Working sprints — 20 × 15 metres with walk-back recovery
Twenty repetitions of 15-metre sprints is a demanding protocol. The energy system demands evolve across the set: early reps draw on the ATP-CP (alactic) system for maximum explosive output; later reps recruit the anaerobic glycolytic pathway; the final reps develop aerobic buffering capacity. The protocol trains multiple energy systems in a single session — but the explosive quality of early reps is where most of the speed adaptation occurs.
Reactive Drills
- Ball catch drill with lunge — 3–4 × 4–6 catches
- Blaze pod drills — 3–4 × 60–90 seconds
Reactive drills are best placed before sprinting in a session structure, not after. Performing reaction-based movements while still physically and neurologically fresh maintains the quality of decision-making and movement response that makes the drill useful for sport transfer.
Cooldown
- Lateral hurdle step overs — 2–3 × 4–5 hurdles
- Hamstring static stretch — 2–3 × 20–30 seconds each
- Calf static stretch — 2–3 × 20–30 seconds each
Recommended Session Order
Based on Elsayed’s structure, one modification produces a better result: move the reactive fencing drills earlier in the session — ideally before the main sprint block — so that technique quality is high when sport-specific skills are being trained.
| Block | Exercises |
|---|---|
| Mobility warm-up | Hamstring sweeps, hip openers, lateral lunge shuffles |
| Mechanics | A-Skips, B-Skips |
| Reactive / sport-specific | Ball catch drill with lunge, Blaze pod drills |
| Sprint warm-up | Easy sprints × 10–15m |
| Main sprint work | 20 × 15m with walk-back recovery |
| Cooldown | Lateral hurdle step overs, static stretches |
The Takeaway
This is a complete speed and agility session that fencers at any competitive level can adapt. The core principles are consistent with the research: develop sprint mechanics first, train maximum speed with full recovery, and integrate sport-specific reactive elements while fresh. The combination of these elements — not any single one in isolation — is what builds the kind of explosive first-step capability that wins bouts at the national and international level.
Related: Contrast Training: How an Olympic Fencer Builds Explosive Power — the gym-based power training that pairs with sprint sessions like Elsayed’s. Four Training Lessons from the World’s #1 Ranked Epee Fencer — how Sera Song structures the strength sessions that support speed work.
Sprint training is Day 3 of the Explosiveness fencing training program at Fencing Strength — structured with the same principles Elsayed applies, progressed across 12 weeks alongside plyometrics and strength work.