Despite the advancements in fitness tech and methodology, somehow the idea of walking for an hour or two on a treadmill has survived.
Recent studies show that the traditional idea of low-intensity cardiovascular workouts for weight loss are okay, but there’s a better way: H.I.I.T.
What is H.I.I.T.?
High-intensity interval training is a type of cardiovascular workout that is short in duration but high in intensity.
While a traditional cardio workout takes an hour or longer, HIIT workouts only take around 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Full disclosure: this is going to be a tough 15 minutes. Be prepared to be covered in sweat and breathing heavily afterward.
One type of HIIT that can dramatically increase fat burning, endurance, and speed is a sprint workout.
Sprints: Your New Workout Buddy
Sprints are mistakenly thought of as running faster than normal. That’s not a bad start but it’s not the whole story.
Sprints involve all-out effort for a short period of time. Unlike long distance running where you maintain a steady pace for 30 minutes or more, sprints last less than a minute.
Looking at sprints as a percentage: you’ll use 100% of your ability and effort. Compare that to cross country running where you’ll only use about 50% to 60% of your speed.
Benefits of Sprint Workouts
Here are a few of the benefits of sprints you can look forward to:
Leaner Body Composition: Sprint workouts have been shown to promote a higher level of fat loss when compared to endurance-focused counterparts. In other words, sprinters have a leaner physique than endurance runners. [1]
Better Performance: Sprint workouts can dramatically increase your athletic performance, especially if the sport or activity requires all-out effort for an extended period of time. A great example would be the CrossFit games. [2]
Faster Results: Sprint workouts have been shown to provide faster results. You’ll see changes in your composition, endurance, and overall health faster than you would if you adopted a traditional low-intensity cardio workout. [2]
Sprint Workouts for Weight Loss
Ready to add sprint workouts to your current program? Here are a few sprint workouts for weight loss that you can perform on your assigned cardiovascular days.
It’s essential that you perform a proper warm-up and stretch before each of these workouts. If you have prior ankle or knee issues, we would highly recommend suiting up with a pair of knee sleeves.
50:10 Sprints
This is a great beginner-friendly sprint workout. The only thing you’ll need for this is a stopwatch or an alarm on your phone.
For every minute, you’ll jog at a comfortable pace for 50 seconds then sprint for the remaining 10 seconds.
It’s important to understand that sprinting doesn’t mean increasing your speed a little bit. When those 50 seconds are finished, you need to launch into a sprint will all-out effort.
Even though it’s only 10 seconds, you should be breathing heavy and looking forward to those 50 seconds of a comfortable jog.
Repeat this 50:10 split for up to 10 minutes.
Hill Sprints
Much like the idea above, hill workouts focus on a pattern of a light jog followed by maximum effort.
Find a hill without traffic or much activity. Be sure to perform a thorough warm-up and dynamic stretching session because the angle of the running activity is going to be different than flat ground running. You can’t dive into a workout like this without prepping your body, especially your ankles, shins, and calves beforehand. As mentioned above, suit up with knee sleeves to promote performance and protect yourself.
Start at the top of the hill, slowly jog down. If you have prior knee issues, walk down the hill.
Once you reach the bottom, turn around and sprint back up. Continue this pattern of walking down the hill and sprinting up.
Repeat for up to 10 sets.
Check out our article on hill workouts for more ways to challenge yourself.
Track Sprints
If you have access to a track, then you’ll love this sprint workout.
Just like with the hill sprints, you’ll alternate from sprinting to jogging. Begin with a few laps around the track at a comfortable jogging pace.
When you’re warmed up, begin to sprint the straightaways and walk or lightly jog the roundabouts. Circling the entire track counts as one set. Repeat this for up to 10 sets.
Coupled Sprint
This workout involves pairing sprints with one compound movement such as squats, push-ups, pull-ups, or lunges.
Sprint for 5 to 10 seconds, depending on your ability. Then immediately perform 5 to 10 repetitions of a compound movement of your choice. Repeat for up to 10 sets. Be sure to switch that exercise each workout. Here are a few examples of exercises you can use:
COUPLED SPRINT WORKOUT #1
- 5-second sprint
- 5 bodyweight squats
COUPLED SPRINT WORKOUT #2
- 7-second sprint
- 7 bodyweight lunges
COUPLED SPRINT WORKOUT #3
- 10-second sprint
- 10 push-ups
COUPLED SPRINT WORKOUT #4
- 5-second sprint
- 5 pull-ups
COUPLED SPRINT WORKOUT #5
- 5-second sprint
- 5 burpees
Do You Use Sprint Workouts for Weight Loss?
Have a video of yourself crushing one of the workouts listed above? Tag us on Instagram so we can share!
References
- Vucetic, Vlatko & Matkovic, Branka & Sentija, Davor. (2008). Morphological differences of elite Croatian track-and-field athletes. Collegium antropologicum. 32. 863-8.
- Nalcakan GR. The Effects of Sprint Interval vs. Continuous Endurance Training on Physiological And Metabolic Adaptations in Young Healthy Adults. J Hum Kinet. 2014;44:97-109. Published 2014 Dec 30. doi:10.2478/hukin-2014-0115.
