Sprinting - my new love

During one of my running club days we planned to only do sprints. We warmed up a bit by jogging a few rounds around the track and then we did very short sprints and my focus was just catching up with the fastest.  It was like short race, each sprints was not more than 20 seconds long and then walk back and repeat.  Just 10 sprints and my legs were already feeling the effect.

Personally I have always focused a lot on my lower body exercise so most of the times even if my lower body gets tired my muscles usually do not get as sore as my upper body, even after my RPM class or my weight training I am usually alright the next day (I know some of you will suggest I need to lift more weights but currently because my upper body is not very strong I can’t lift heavier weights) so imagine my surprise when the day following my sprint my leg muscles were actually sore.

I was so happy because I really did not expect it, I am regular with interval training on the treadmill. Usually I do 1 minute sprint intervals but these 20 seconds intervals outside were a lot more intense. I noticed 20 seconds was enough to slow me down that’s how intense each sprint.

Personally I have really fallen in love with sprinting, each time I sprint I feel very strong I think there's something about pushing my limits that makes me feel powerful and good

Benefits of adding a sprint session to your training

1. Burns more calories : sprinting burns calories during and even after the workout 
2. Helps in making muscles stronger: sprinting is considered similar to weight training because the body is supposed to produce short bursts of energy. 
3.  Increases endurance strength and cardiovascular fitness: because every time you sprint you push your limits it increases you ability. It also increases  the capacity of the body to store oxygen and increases your cardiovascular fitness

Sprints are short and very intense; they cannot be compared to just running at a higher speed. During my 20 second sprints I can’t even think. I have started to include sprint sessions once a week. Do you sprint? If not give it a try I can guarantee you will see the benefits fast. As usual I hope you found this post useful

 

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Tanvee

I would  like to point out I'm no fitness expert these are things I picked up along the way of my weight loss journey by surfing the internet and going for fitness classes.