Sprinting is one of my favorite forms of conditioning, or just training in general. I have written on this topic before, but I felt it was important to revisit it and give you some awesome sprint workouts you can do to supplement your strength training.
Why Sprints?
First, a little background: Why do we pick sprint training over any type of conditioning? There are countless reasons, but here’s what it comes down to:
– Sprints are the most basic and athletic movement you can perform
– Sprints use every single muscle in your body with a huge focus on the core
– Sprints can be scaled up or down, depending on your current fitness level (do whatever is a sprint for YOU)
– They take less than 20 minutes to perform
– They fire up your metabolism to burn calories not only during the training session, but for up to 36 hours after
– They make you feel powerful, strong and confident
– Sprints can be done outside, which gives you a potent boost of Vitamin D (a built in mood-enhancer!)
Sprints fall under the category of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). The goal of HIIT is to elevate your heart rate to improve conditioning, but to also mobilize fat cells in the body and create some metabolic disturbance, which, when combined with good nutrition, leads to fat loss.
Don’t Coast, Go Fast!
I want you rock these training sessions with intensity and focus on building a hard body that can work hard at the same time. Here is the analogy I want you to think about when you attack your sprint sessions. You want to be a fast car going from 0 to 60mph and then back down to 0 for a rest. Don’t coast at 40mph the whole time, or you won’t get the superwoman results.
3 Sprint Workouts
Below are three of my favorite sprint workouts. You can mix and match these, if you like.
Workout #1
:20/:10 Tabata Sprints x 8
Tabata training is :20 work followed by :10 rest, always completing 8 rounds (4 total minutes). This is an intense protocol. If you are just starting out, you can do a :10 sprint with a :20 rest for the 8 sets.
Workout #2
Hill Sprints (40-50 yards) x 8-10 sets (60 second rest at the bottom of the
hill)
Workout #3
Every Minute on the Minute (EMOTM) = 60 yard sprint
Sprint for 60 yards and then whatever time that took you, the remainder of that minute is
rest. (Ex: 10 second sprint means 50 seconds of rest). At the top of the next minute,
repeat that process. x 10 sets
NOTE: Sprinting on a soft surface—grass, track or sand—will help you to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on your joints and the tibial muscles (front of the shins). However, that is not always possible. If you need to do sprints on a treadmill, I recommend putting the incline up to 2-3% to lessen the pounding/pressure on the joints and shins.
Example Training Schedule
If you are training with weights three times per week, supplement with two sprint workouts. Perform these sprint workouts on opposite days from your full body strength training. Here’s a sample schedule:
M- strength
T- OFF
W- strength
Th- sprints
F- strength
Sat- OFF
Sun- sprints
Give these sprint workouts a try and leave a comment below with any questions, or let me know how it’s going for you.