Sprinting is one of the best ways to burn fat and get in shape. It’s also a great way to get your heart rate up and get your body moving.

Sprinting is a form of exercise that requires you to run as fast as possible for short distances, usually 100-200m. Sprinting can be done on a track or field, but it also can be done outside on flat terrain or even up some hills.

Sprinting is a great way to burn calories, tone up muscles and improve cardiovascular health. It also helps you develop speed, agility and explosive power which will help you perform better in other sports.

The following are some of the benefits of sprinting:

Burns calories – Sprinting burns more calories than jogging because it uses more muscle groups than jogging does. Sprinting also increases your metabolism so that you burn more calories even after your workout has finished.

Tones muscles – Sprinting strengthens leg muscles while improving leg power and speed which helps with everyday activities like walking up stairs or running after children! Sprinting also works your glutes (butt) which is one of the most important muscle groups for women who want toned legs and a firm booty!

Sprints Workout For Weight Loss

30-Minute Sprint Workout To Burn Fat & Boost Speed

It’s hard not to feel accomplished when you’re sprinting, even if it’s literally for just a split-second. Sprinting is one of the most intense forms of human movement. Think about it, in less than 10-seconds an Olympic Sprinter can cover a distance of 100-meters (or more). What does this mean? This means that you are outputting some serious energy, power and concentration.

Although a 100-meter sprint doesn’t burn more than a few dozen calories within the 10-seconds or so of actual “work”, it’s an incredible fat-burning stimulus because of its effect on your metabolism after the work is over. While sprinting is anaerobic work (without oxygen), because your work output surpasses your ability to provide oxygen to your muscles, you end up winded for minutes after those 10-seconds. What this means is you’ll be burning calories and fat for hours after your workout, not just during.

Sprinting Requires Power & Focus

Sprinting is a power-based workout. During the sprinting session, you will use all three energy systems (anaerobic, glycolytic, aerobic), with greater emphasis on one or another based on the structure of your sprinting session. The emphasis of your workout will be influenced by how much anaerobic (power) work you do compared with aerobic (oxygen-based) in your current training program.

For example, a power-based athlete will likely be able to achieve high speeds during their intervals, but the duration of their training session may be limited and they’ll need more time to recover between sprints because of a less-developed aerobic system.

On the flip-side, an endurance athlete who does more aerobic training and less power-based training will most likely not be blazing up the track during their sprints, but they’ll be able to recover faster between intervals and endure a longer training session.

Sprinting is incredible, not only because of its fat burning benefits, but because it pushes you towards your absolute physical and mental limits. In order to endure, you have to focus all of your attention on the task-at-hand. It forces you to push through muscular fatigue and oxygen deprivation, which can help you become a more powerful athlete overall.

Sprint Workout Instructions

1. Warm-up

Before you dive into your sprint workout, it’s critical to perform a thorough warm-up. This will help you prepare mentally and physically for your training session, while also decreasing your risk of injury.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to warming up for a sprint workout:

1. Low-Intensity Cardio: Break a sweat by jumping rope or jogging for about 4-5 minutes.

2. Sprint-Specific Drills: Perform a series of lunges (walking or stationary), skips (front skip, side ski, power skip), and leg swings (front/back and side-to-side). This should take another 4-5 minutes, and should definitely get you to break a sweat.

3. Plyometrics and Accelerations: Perform some light plyometrics (such as skater hops, squat jacks, and high knees) and some 10-, 20-, or 30-meter accelerations for 4-5 more minutes. Your emphasis here is on activating your muscles and honing your reaction time so you can generate speed quickly and safely when it’s time to sprint. You don’t want to do anything too fatiguing, otherwise you’ll compromise the quality of your sprint intervals.

Now that you’ve spent about 15-minutes warming up your body, you’re ready to sprint!

2. Workout

Cool-down: Jog ½-mile and finish with some easy stretching.

Best Sprint Workouts to Burn Calories and Increase Your Speed and Fitness

If you want an efficient way to burn calories, increase your cardiovascular and muscular endurance, and take your physical fitness to the next level, then consider adding sprints and intervals to your workout routine.

Sprint workouts are a great addition to a cardio or resistance training session. You can customize them based on time, fitness level, intensity, and the space you have available for exercise.

To help get you started, here are some tips and examples of beginner and intermediate to advanced level sprint workouts.

Beginner sprint workouts

When it comes to adding sprint workouts to your fitness routine, a general rule of thumb is to take it slow.

In other words, don’t add too much, too soon. You want to allow your body time to adapt to the higher intensity and give yourself adequate rest time between workouts.

With that in mind, certified fitness trainer, Emily Fayette of SHRED Fitness, shares these tips for designing a beginner sprint workout.

• Always start with a warmup. “Start with dynamic stretches, speed walking, or a light jog to prepare your muscles for the work that is about to happen,” explains Fayette.
• Grow your workout. Start with shorter sprint segments, followed by double the duration in recovery, or more if needed. For example, sprint 30 seconds at 80 percent of your max effort followed by 60 to 120 seconds of recovery, which could include complete rest, brisk walk, or light jog.
• Allow time for recovery. “Don’t just pull the plug after a tough workout — or any workout. Take time to jog or walk and stretch while your heart rate is coming down,” she adds.

Sample beginner routine

1. Warmup: Warm up your body for five minutes with walking, light jogging, or dynamic stretches.
2. Sprint: Take your first sprint at a moderate pace, about 50 to 60 percent of your maximum effort. Sprint for 30 seconds.
3. Active recovery: Slow down your speed or walk for 60 to 120 seconds.
4. Sprint: Sprint for 30 seconds at 70 percent maximum effort.
5. Active recovery: Slow down your speed or walk for 60 to 120 seconds.
6. Sprint: Sprint for 30 seconds at 80 percent maximum effort.
7. Active recovery: Slow down your speed or walk for 60 to 120 seconds.
8. Continue this pattern for 20 minutes with the sprint at 80 percent maximum effort.

Next-level sprint workouts

Whether you’ve mastered the beginner sprints, or you already have experience with these types of workouts, increasing the intensity by manipulating the time is an effective way of taking your sprint workouts to the next level.

Once you’re ready to advance your sprint workouts, Fayette suggests altering the duration of the sprint and lowering the recovery time.

“For example, go back to the beginner workout of 30 seconds at 80 percent of your max effort followed by 60 to 120 seconds of recovery, you can bump the sprint time to 45 seconds, with a 60- to 120-second recovery, or 30 seconds of sprints with 60 to 90 seconds of recovery,” she explains.

Sample next-level routine with an increase in speed intervals

• Warmup: Warm up for five minutes with walking, light jogging, or dynamic stretches.
• Sprint: 45 seconds at 80 percent of your maximum effort.
• Active recovery: Slow down your speed or walk for 60 to 120 seconds.
• Repeat this pattern for 20 to 30 minutes.

Sample next-level routine with a decrease in active recovery time

• Warmup: Warm up for five minutes with walking, light jogging, or dynamic stretches.
• Sprint: 30 seconds at 80 percent of your maximum effort.
• Active recovery: Slow down your speed or walk for 60 to 90 seconds.
• Repeat this pattern for 20 to 30 minutes.

Benefits of sprint workouts

If you’re still not sure about adding sprint intervals to your exercise routine, consider some of these key benefits:

Efficiency

Adding sprints to any workout helps you benefit from high-intensity interval training or HIIT. This type of workout pairs more intense intervals with a low-to moderate-intensity recovery period.

Not only does this save time and boost your cardiovascular fitness, but according to a study in Biology of SportTrusted Source, performing a HIIT workout can burn more calories than a steady-state workout.

Improves athletic performance in skilled or trained athletes

Including sprint intervals in your overall fitness routine can help boost athletic performance.

According to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning ResearchTrusted Source, trained runners were able to improve both endurance and anaerobic performance after two weeks of sprint interval training.

Preserves muscle mass

Your body is made up of type I and type II muscle fibers.

You recruit type I, or slow-twitch, muscle fibers when running distances or doing longer bouts of cardio.

Type II, or fast-twitch, muscle fibers are what you use when doing sprints.

According to the American Council on Exercise, it’s the type II fibers that enhance muscle definition and gives your legs a lean appearance. Plus, since type II fibers atrophy as you age, performing sprint intervals can help preserve lean muscle mass often lost with age.

Boosts your power

Since sprint training requires quick bursts of energy in an anaerobic state, Fayette says you’ll experience a boost to your strength and speed.

Increases anaerobic threshold

When you increase your anaerobic threshold as you do with sprint training, Fayette points out that this allows your body to work harder for a longer duration of time.

Precautions to consider

Just like any exercise, there are certain precautions you need to consider before trying a sprint workout.

According to Mayo Clinic, higher intensity, ballistic style workouts like sprint intervals on the track or treadmill aren’t appropriate for people with a musculoskeletal injury, a poor musculoskeletal foundation, or improper movement patterns.

That said, people with these conditions may be able to still benefit from low-impact sprints by exercising on an indoor bicycle, elliptical trainer, or running in the pool.

Running sprints on a track provides a softer surface than hitting the pavement. If you have a quality track nearby, consider doing sprints there.

Some fitness facilities have indoor tracks you can use. Regardless of the terrain, make sure you have supportive running shoes to perform sprints.

Additionally, anyone with heart-related problems should talk with their doctor before trying sprints.

Plus, those new to exercise might benefit from working with a trainer to design a sprint program. The trainer can customize a routine that fits your level and point out any mistakes you’re making with your technique.

Takeaway

Incorporating sprints into your exercise routine is an efficient and effective way to train your anaerobic system, burn calories, and improve the lean muscle mass in your legs.

Since these types of workouts are very demanding, you should only perform sprint intervals two to three days a week.

If you feel pain or discomfort, have difficulty breathing, or feel faint, stop what you’re doing. Talk to your doctor if these symptoms continue to happen.