Full speed ahead: Sprint your way to better health

Some important takeaways:

• Sprinting is one of the most efficient ways to get fit quickly. It’s particularly effective at burning fat, helping reduce your risk for conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
• Sprinting boosts your health and is a quick way to major fitness gains, but to reduce your chances of injury, it’s important to ease your way in.
• A well-rounded approach to exercise is the most effective and sustainable way to boost your fitness.

Sprinting improves fast-twitch muscle fibers, which help us do things like move quickly, lift heavy things, and jump.

When it’s time to buckle down and get fit, hitting the gym to lift weights may be your go-to. But what about adding some sprinting to the mix? A study from 2014 shows that a single bout of sprint interval training (SIT) may be related to significant fat loss, and just a few sessions of sprinting improves both anaerobic and aerobic performance.

Running at max speed (or maybe just close to it) is not only a time-efficient way to exercise but may also reduce your risk for developing certain health conditions.

Let’s dive into the benefits of this short but sweet exercise that really delivers.

Finding motivation: Why should I sprint?

We get it — when your life is busy and you’re not exactly bursting with energy, sprinting may not sound so appealing.

You might also be worried about injuring yourself, which is fair. It’s true that putting too much stress on your body all at once can be a one-way ticket to injury, but you can say the same of any sport, even weightlifting. You can absolutely work sprinting into your fitness regimen in a way that reduces your risk of injury. Plus, adding sprinting to your fitness routine may even help you get stronger and prevent you from injuring yourself down the line.

Sprinting improves fast-twitch muscle fibers

Fast-twitch muscle fibers are muscles responsible for short and powerful movements. Athletes like sprinters and powerlifters all make good use of these muscle fibers, but just because you’re not an elite athlete doesn’t mean you should coast through life without training yours.

Fast-twitch muscles help us do things like move quickly, lift heavy things, and jump, which are all pretty important in your workouts and everyday life.

Sprinting engages big muscle groups

Muscle mass tends to decline as you get older, but keeping your muscles active can help minimize that loss. One way sprinting helps is by engaging several large muscle groups, like the hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves. When you’re sprinting, these muscles work together to propel your body forward and increase speed.

Sprinting helps reduce body fat

Having more body fat is associated with conditions like heart disease and diabetes. But sprinting may help prevent that. In one study, researchers observed that people burned more fat after just four weeks of sprint training. Another perk is that sprinting can be very time effective. In the study, one group of people did sprint interval training for 10 minutes a week, while another group of people did 4.5 hours of endurance training per week, yet both groups experienced similar rates of fat-burning.

Sprinting keeps your bones strong

Adding sprinting into your workout routine enhances bone health and improves bone mineral density. Sprinting promotes bone health in a few ways, including strengthening the muscles supporting your bones and increasing the mechanical load on your bones, which could increase bone density. The mechanical stress of sprinting also helps stimulate the release of testosterone and other hormones that strengthen your bones.

How can I get started?

Listen up, because this is really important. To avoid hurting yourself, start slow. No matter how intense or committed you may be, you don’t want to go from 0 to 100 with any new exercise, including sprinting.

Consider dynamic stretching, which can help you slowly warm up your muscles through gentle repetitive motions that promote circulation and muscle lengthening.

When you’re on a jog, try speeding up for 30-second intervals and slowing back down to your regular pace.

You can also try running at a slight incline, to prepare your leg muscles for the burst of speed needed during sprinting.

Dr. Cam’s Health Hack

Sprinting is an amazing workout, but a well-rounded approach to exercise is the most effective and sustainable way to boost your fitness. Here’s what Dr. Cam recommends if you want to get fit quickly:

“Low intensity: Walk 1,000 steps 8x/ day, as breaks between work meetings

Medium intensity: Strength train 3-5 times a week. 12-20+ sets to near failure/ body part/ week.

High intensity: Sprint/sport once a week at 80% of max speed to prevent injury.”

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