Sprint Workouts - 4 Reasons You Should Run in Your Workouts

If you loved playing tag as a kid, this one is for you.

Running has numerous health benefits, but if you're only doing long runs or jogging through the park, you might be missing out on something: sprinting.

Sprinting is a high-intensity exercise that involves running over a short distance at your body's top speed in a short period of time. It takes running to the next level with its powerful and explosive movements.

Here are the four biggest reasons to add sprinting to your fitness routine for 2021:

1. Sprint workouts build strength and burn calories

Sprinting is a core principle of all training because it helps build muscle and burn calories. Sprinting causes physical changes that can result in weight loss and muscle development. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) causes maximal force output during the workout, resulting in intracellular "spikes" that trigger skeletal muscle responses. This means that sprinting stimulates proteins needed for muscle growth, resulting in better muscle adaptation compared to moderate continuous intensity training (MICT). The high intensity of sprinting also causes you to burn fat, including hard-to-reach visceral fat.

2. Sprint workouts benefit your health

Sprinting has many physical and mental benefits. Studies have shown that interval training improves cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), improves metabolism, and reduces the risk of conditions like diabetes and stroke. Sprinting has also been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and burn fat even when the body is at rest. Sprinting has a positive impact on your mental health and cognitive performance. In a 2017 study, sprinting was also shown to decrease anxiety and depression.

3. Sprint workouts are fast and time-efficient

To get an effective sprint workout, you only need to work out for 20 - 30 minutes, excluding warm-up. The effectiveness of shorter intensity sprint workouts has been backed by various studies over the past decade. Sprint interval training is associated with aerobic adaptations and health benefits similar to or greater than moderate-intensity continuous training. Plus, you don't need any equipment to do sprints, so you don't have to invest time looking for gyms or equipment. If you're crunched for time, sprinting is the best workout decision you can make because it maximizes your workout in half the time.

“If you are crunched for time then going for sprints is the best workout decision you can ever take. It maximizes your workout in half the time!”

- Jerry Bowyer, Forbes

Jamaican runner Yohan Blake sprinting at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

4. Sprint workouts are fun

Running as fast as you can possibly move is fun. In this modern world, we spend nearly eight hours a day being sedentary, so moving as fast as you can is a great change of pace. When you sprint, your body exerts maximum energy to propel you forward. You generate several Newtons of force to drive yourself forward, making it feel like you're superhuman.

If you're looking to take your fitness routine to the next level, add sprint workouts to your routine. These high-intensity workouts will help you build strength, burn calories, and improve your physical and mental health. And the best part? You can get all of these benefits in a fast and fun workout that doesn't require any equipment.

Check out this quick Pyramid sprint workout.

Citations:

Bowyer, J. (2017, June 14). Exercise Which Maximizes Neurotransmitters? Retrieved December 28, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jerrybowyer/2017/06/13/exercise-which-maximizes-neurotransmitters

Martin J. Gibala, John A. Hawley, Sprinting Toward Fitness, Cell Metabolism, Volume 25, Issue 5, 2017, Pages 988-990, ISSN 1550-4131, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2017.04.030

Vollaard, Niels B J, and Richard S Metcalfe. “Research into the Health Benefits of Sprint Interval Training Should Focus on Protocols with Fewer and Shorter Sprints.” Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) vol. 47,12 (2017): 2443-2451. doi:10.1007/s40279-017-0727-x