How do you incorporate sprints into your workout routine?
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I started sprinting after learning that it can boost growth hormone and testosterone levels.
As someone who typically focuses on weight training, trying sprints has been a humbling experience. As a beginner, I do 5 sets of 20-second sprints with 1 minute of rest in between.
One thing I haven't quite figured out yet is how to integrate them properly into my PPL routine. Some days I sprint before entering the gym, while on other days, I do it after leaving the gym. I've noticed how sprinting first can impact my compound lifts and vice versa.
How do you guys do it?
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@oliveoil I sprint on off days from gym 1-2 times a week. My perceived effort for sprints is anywhere from 85% to 100% so they tend to be super taxing. Sprinting on my off days I can focus on the sprints and not worry about it impacting my lifts too much.
I'm sprinting a variety of distances from 10 Y all the way up to 110 Y utilizing different starting positions; half kneeling, sideways, laying on your back, jumping from height, normal sprint start, rolling into sprint. You want to build power out of a variety of positions
If I'm feeling tired or the first few sets don't feel powerful I keep the sets low (3). Sometimes sprint days feel great and I feel powerful I will set up timers and sprint sets until I fall below 6% of a number I think is my fastest, you can just guess the time or go off feel. This could be 10 - 15 sets depending on the day/distance. Rest periods are 3-5 minutes especially if I'm sprinting more than 50 Y.
Where I live it's flat af but uphill/downhill sprints are probably good and really fun.
After sprints I'll do hamstring/groin/foot isos, they feel great and immediately help me recover and build isometric strength. As a kid I had an awkward gait and wasn't very fast which lead me to neglect any sprint work but this training structure has helped me improve speed/power and now my gait feels very smooth.
Sprinting is anabolic keep doing it
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@oliveoil I do it on off days. Sprinting is incredibly taxing on CNS so be mindful. Leave a set in the tank. Keep shoulders and face relaxed while sprinting. I like to do just 10-30m sprints.
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@oliveoil just do jumps as high as possible
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I agree sprinting is anabolic... I hate seeing people jogging down the road but killing a few sprints a week is great imo. i just do about 5, 300M once a week for time. I rest as long as I feel like in-between.
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Sprinting is extremely anabolic and can help with muscle composition. But many of you are missing the point on the purpose of adding sprints to your regimen.
The point of sprinting is to activate the CNS, as sprinting is the only physical movement that activates 100% of the muscles in your body, and it is therefore the most CNS activating activity you can do.
I would not recommend sprinting more than 2-3 times a week, as consistent taxing of your nervous system can actually make you slower and weaker, as a suppressed NS will make you less explosive, and have worse reaction speed.
To achieve positive effects of sprinting, you only need to sprint a few times at maximum effort to achieve the desired effect. 5 300M sprints are far too long and not any better than jogging for cardio. Do short, explosive sprints and rest 6 seconds for every yard that you sprint. This may feel like you are being lazy, but remember, the purpose of sprinting should be to activate your nervous system, not to do cardio.
I would look up a program to add to your training, and start with as little as 6 10yd sprints with a minute of rest in between.
This is why you should also do Upper and Lower splits so you can rest your NS in between days where you sprint/legs to achieve the desired effect fro CNS activation. -
@periander345 Great advice, I shouldve specified my goal each sprint is about 300M but I rarely make it that far. I just try and sprint all out to 300M. Usually fall short of that. I like to see the distance at which I have to slow down. But I think 5 explosive sprints is fine and not too much for me
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I’ll do a few micro sprints (1-3 seconds of max exertion) sprinkled in a couple times a week after a workout. Sprints are a really intense eccentric exercise so best to limit them if you’re already lifting.
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@sphenoid I think if done properly they concentric. I think most people are unable to sprint because their movement patterns and compensations make sprinting stressful.
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@periander345 Yes sprints are for just piquing your nervous system and motor units, they don’t need as much of a stimulus as many people think. Doing long sprints, especially multiple, will end up being catabolic. If you do very very short sprints they end up feeling really good, while longer sprints just completely destroy you.
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@thebodyelectric_ Any running will end up being eccentric by nature, the faster you go the more deceleration required with each step. That’s why I do the micro sprints where I’m focusing on the initial acceleration which is more concentric while avoiding too much of the eccentric that occurs while up to speed. Bad form will make it infinitely worse though so most people may not benefit from sprints altogether.
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@sphenoid I'm not following the bit about deceleration required with each step. Are you talking about when slowing down? I think all of these issues are context dependent and sprinting and moving reflexively is generative given the right context. Most people just can't do it reflexively and strain when they run.
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@thebodyelectric_ The quadriceps and hamstrings work eccentrically during running to provide control, if not you would crumple to the ground after propelling yourself forward and trying to plant with the opposite leg. This is not an issue when you have good mechanics, which most people don't unfortunately or when you are mindful not to abuse it. Otherwise yes sprinting is profoundly stimulating to the system.
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I think that is a mischaracterization and have noticed it in the literature as well. Lengthening through reciprocal inhibition, what happens when someone sprints well, is different than an eccentric contraction. See Peat's comments on eccentric contractions: The brain’s role in protecting against injury by stress, when it sees a course of action, has a parallel in the differences between concentric (positive, muscle shortening) and eccentric (negative, lengthening under tension) exercise, and also with the differences between innervated and denervated muscles. In eccentric exercise and denervation, less oxygen is used and less carbon dioxide is produced, while lactic acid increases, displacing carbon dioxide, and more fat is oxidized. Prolonged stress similarly decreases carbon dioxide and increases lactate, while increasing the use of fat.”
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@thebodyelectric_ What are your thoughts on isometric contraction? Is it similarly stressful as eccentric contraction or is it a middle ground between concentric and eccentric?
She Peat on my noosphere till I generate energy.
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@thebodyelectric_ There's definitely negative work that goes on during running, especially in the hamstrings, that's one of the reasons for hamstring injuries from sprinting and a huge determining factor in sprint speed is the ability to maintain hamstring stiffness and absorb energy. I guess it would be closer to an isometric but it is still stressful. Damage is usually a result of metabolic issues and is dictated by the oxidative capacity of the muscle, meaning that stress such as longer durations of sprinting this would increase.
Schache, A. G., Brown, N. A., & Pandy, M. G. (2015). Modulation of work and power by the human lower-limb joints with increasing steady-state locomotion speed. The Journal of experimental biology, 218(Pt 15), 2472–2481. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.119156
Schache, A. G., Blanch, P. D., Dorn, T. W., Brown, N. A., Rosemond, D., & Pandy, M. G. (2011). Effect of running speed on lower limb joint kinetics. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 43(7), 1260–1271. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3182084929 -
@CheesedToPeatYou I don't think isometrics are stressful hardly at all other than the metabolic cost. They're essentially concentric against an unmovable object and increase muscle fiber recruitment. Great Peaty tool.
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@sphenoid Sure, but the injuries are more a result of lack of proper preparation/inadequate environment than they are about inherent flaws in our design and nature. I think "Why Zebras don't get ulcers" was a good example of this. Even the pro athletes can't run without injuring themselves these days. See the Super Bowl last night where a guy blew his Achilles running onto the field. The weight room/training regimens and the culture are all highly maladaptive.
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When I played rugby at uni in the off Season I would tape off 20-30 yards.
Sprint as hard as possible
Rest until I caught my breath
Then repeat until I couldn't do 100%
If it isn't max effort you aren't sprinting but anything below all out just pack it in. If you shoot for 3-5 bouts in the beginning you should be good to progress distance or bouts -
@mangala Can you expand on the positions you start in?
