Fitness is vital if you want to stay healthy. Not saying it is all you have to do to stay healthy, as there are several other ways to stay healthy, but that’s not the conversation for today.
In this post, we’re going to be looking at ways to add sprint workouts to your exercise routine.
Sprint workouts can help burn calories faster and increase cardiovascular and muscular endurance. In this article, we will be talking about the best sprint workouts you can add to your exercise routine.
In general, sprint workouts are essential to fitness goals as they help to burn fat, and increase endurance, especially if you will be lifting weights. The good thing about this routine is how easy it is to integrate into your existing exercise routine.
You can easily adjust them according to the amount of time, your degree of fitness, the intensity, and the room you have for training.
The following are the different types of sprints that you can add to your exercise routine:
7 sprint workouts to blast fat, build muscle and get fitter
- Beginner sprint workouts
Majorly this sprint is for beginners. The idea behind this type of sprint is for you to start slowly and give yourself enough rest time in between workouts so that your body has time to adjust to the increased intensity.
But you will also have to repeat this for your body muscles to adapt to the new workouts. You can start this sprint by using the following guidelines.
Guideline
To get started, you will need to carry out a light warmup. Maybe you can start with a speed walk or a slow jog to help build momentum for your muscles.
After the light jog, you can increase your speed and sprint for 30-seconds.
You will have to give yourself some time to recover after every sprint. After every recovery, you will have to repeat the same routine over and over again, maybe 6-8 times. Afterward, you could decide to go further, depending on your level of endurance.
- The Fastest Sprint Workout
This sprint type will help improve your nervous system, acceleration, top speed, and limb movement. It requires extremely high intensity while also taking breaks between sprints.
To achieve this, you will have to follow this guideline.
Guideline
Remember we said you must run for 30 seconds for the beginner’s sprint. Well, for this particular sprint, you will be required to do a 45-second run since it requires more intensity. Then you will follow that up with a 60-second recovery time per sprint.
- Hill sprint
This is another type of sprint you can add to your exercise routine. This form of sprint helps to improve instinctive speed and strength. You might require a treadmill or the use of pavement to carry out this sprint.
Be aware that this particular sprint must be performed gradually because it places more stress on your body than a flat-ground sprint.
To achieve this, you will need the following guidelines:
Guideline
Since you will be running on a treadmill or pavement, each of them will require different procedures. For the pavement sprint, you would have to run up for 30-seconds and then walk back down while recovering. You can use 2-3 minutes to recover since you are running up.
For the treadmill, you have to increase the speed and run on it for 30-seconds. Then reduce the rate to enable you to walk on it while you recover for 2-3 minutes.
- Descending Sprint Workout
This is a kind of sprint workout that involves a gradual speed increase. Generally speaking, during this routine, you will race faster as you move down the set.
Guideline
You will have to make a 60-second sprint, then recover for another 60-second. In this first instance, you will be giving 75% of your maximum efforts.
Afterward, you will have to make a 40-second sprint, after which you will recover for 60 seconds. Then, you will give 85% of your maximum effort.
Next, you will follow that up with a 20-second sprint, increasing your efforts to 95%.
You will do a 2-minute light jog after each sprint. You can repeat this particular sprint about 3-5 times or more.
- Endurance Sprint Workout
This sprint form generally focuses on giving your body the ability to run for more extended periods. It gives you the edge to handle longer-length runs(marathons) and training.
It is very different from the other sprints, as this particular one lasts longer.
Then a 60-seconds of recovery can be in the form of a walk or jog. This particular sprint requires 75% of your maximum efforts when being carried out. You can repeat this sprint three times.
- Power Sprint Workout
This is another sprint that you can add to your exercise routine. The sprint requires you to run the length of 200m while also building your endurance level. It also requires total effort to carry out the sprint.
You can do a 200m recovery speed walk or jog between sets.
- Pyramid-Style Sprint Workout
Pyramid-style sprint exercises increase your speed before bringing you back to the beginning. Since no interval is a direct repetition, this sprint workout helps keep the body on its toes. Additionally, because the recoveries last twice as long as the workout, you are constantly feeling prepared for the following period.
To achieve this particular sprint, you can follow these guidelines:
Guideline
- One, you can start with a 30-sec sprint and then have a one-minute recovery which can be in the form of a walk or job.
- You can then decide to increase the sprint to 45-seconds and then recover for 90-seconds which can be done in the form of a walk or job.
- Lastly, a one-minute sprint can be made with a two-minute recovery. This recovery period can be in the form of a walk or sprint.
- You can do this four times.
Adding this sprint workout to your fitness routine will give you more exercise options and help you burn more calories faster.
Why add sprint workouts to your fitness routine
There are also pretty several benefits of carrying out this sprint workout, and they include the following:
- Efficiency
Performing a sprint workout can help you benefit from high-intensity interval training. This benefit includes burning calories faster due to the high intensity that comes with sprinting.
It also helps you save more time while it also helps to increase your overall cardiovascular fitness. It helps to improve your blood cholesterol levels and allows control and prevents high blood pressure.
- Improves athletic performance in skilled or trained athletes
Athletes like footballers, basketballers and other athletes can benefit from adding a sprint workout to their routine. It helps build their endurance level to run for longer hours and improve their anaerobic performance.
Adding this to training will enable them to run faster and catch up with opponents or competitors.
- It helps preserve muscle mass
Performing a sprint helps to preserve muscle mass. The body is generally made of two muscle types: type 1 and type 2. The type 1 muscles are used during exercises and sprints. This muscle type performs different functions in the body.
The type 2 fibers help to improve muscle definition. That is why sprint training can assist in maintaining lean muscle mass.
You also must note that the type 2 muscles reduce as you age. That is why you must constantly build strength to keep it in shape.
Also, performing a sprint workout can make the skeleton of the body stronger. It will also protect you from osteoporosis and also give you balance and coordination.
- Reduces stress
Sprint can help reduce stress levels in any individual. Performing a sprint will trigger the brain to release endorphins that help during the workout.
It also keeps the body calm during training. That is why after every sprint workout, stress hormones tend to disappear from your body as the Endorphins are being pumped into the body during a workout. This also gives you more confidence.
- It improves Metabolism
Performing a sprint workout can help to improve metabolism as you tend to burn calories faster. Sprinting burns more calories per minute than jogging, but the average individual can only maintain a sprint for up to 30 seconds.
Before now, it was believed that making a sprint would not result in a reduction of calories, except if one performs longer physical training. But a study shows that achieving a sprint will help increase the energy burn rate long after a person finish exercising.
Sprint workout isn’t just about the calories your body burns during exercise, but also those it uses to recover afterward.
- It helps to improve your glucose level
According to recent studies, sprinting can help to improve glucose levels through the height intensity as it helps to send signals to your body Cells during exercises.
- You can perform the exercise anywhere
The good thing about sprint workouts is that you do not require the use of any equipment except maybe the treadmill. Aside from that, you are good to go. You can perform the exercises in your house, neighborhood, and parks. You don’t need to get a gym membership to achieve this exercise. You can even do the sprint workout in limited spaces, depending on your availability.
Precautions to consider when performing a sprint workout
You will need to consider certain things before performing a sprint: this is to reduce any form of injury to oneself or the people around you.
- Firstly, before a sprint workout, you will have to do some warm and stretching before running. This prepares your muscles for intensity afterward and avoids muscle tears and injury.
- Again, if you notice or feel any discomfort while running, you might need to stop and get assistance from a doctor or trainer, especially for athletes.
- If you are going to perform your sprint outside, try to avoid using headphones or playing songs loudly to make it easy for you to listen to car horns and other things happening in your environment.
- Make your sprints during the day, especially in the morning. This is for you to be able to notice objects correctly and also people in general.
- Have a balance during training and try not to be too tough. This will protect you from injuries in the muscle. Neglecting signs of injury when training may worsen the situation later on.
- Recovery is also as important as the sprint or exercise itself. Take time to relax your muscles and recharge to go again. Additionally, try as much as possible to recover well.
- You don’t have to completely give up sugar or adhere to some insanely restrictive diet to improve your health and resilience. It would help if you made an effort to eat healthfully most of the time. Keep your diet healthy 80% of the time, but don’t let the 20% of the time you treat ruin your general good nutrition practices.
- Try to reduce your alcohol intake and also reduce your fat in meals
- Get enough sleep after every sprint workout. Try to sleep for as long as 8 hours after every workout session. This will help you regain your energy faster.
- Before your exercise begins, perform a number of half sprints with an intensity that starts around 50% and gradually increases until it reaches 80% in the final. Of all, these are all merely approximations. Just build your intensity up to almost full. For the first few sprint workouts, beginners might want to ease down on the power while acclimating.
- You can choose hill sprints over flat sprints if you have a history of hamstring pulls, knee problems, or other lower body ailments.
- To prevent injury, don’t sprint after doing heavy deadlifts. Avoid running a sprint on consecutive days. Additionally, it would help if you didn’t go for a sprint workout after a restless night.
- Lastly, don’t run on the treadmill. Some people can do this, but it can be hazardous, much riskier than sprinting out on firm ground. For starters, it alters the hamstring’s kinematics and raises the possibility of strains. The second reason is that pushing yourself to your limits on a treadmill will be more challenging without overshooting, losing balance, or holding back.