Sprinting

Happy Halloween! While candy can be enjoyed in moderation, the real key is to incorporate high intensity exercise to utilize the excess glycogen stores you may be building up today. Some athletes even swear by eating a piece of candy before performance to increase blood sugar levels and obtain a high energy spike just before a race or workout session. I would suggest selecting more nutrient dense carbohydrates that are easy to digest, but for the sake of Halloween let’s focus on a great way to burn off that excess energy, no matter what form you consumed it in.

Running is the epitome of cardiovascular strength, and is the most participated in sports for novices and athletes alike.  Running is the go to activity to lose weight and to challenge one’s self.  How often do we hear people in the gym or at the office bragging about the miles they ran over the weekend, or how many races they are doing this season? Don’t get me wrong…long distance running is great and expends a lot of energy, running a marathon can burn anywhere from 2,822-3,593kcal according to Cleveland Clinic Center for Consumer Health. But long distance running can actually be very damaging to the body, and lead to weight gain. Often excessive cardio increases stress hormone secretion while suppressing human growth hormone and testosterone. Some studies even indicate elevated stress hormones can result in insulin resistance. Long distance runners often tend to have low muscle mass and higher body fat stores, in order to naturally compensate for the large energy needs required during prolonged runs.

Sprinting benefits heart health just as much as long distance endurance training according to a research study posted in the American Journal of Physiology. Sprinting allows the body to quickly engage the cardiovascular system and increase strength, without placing prolonged stress on the heart. Sprinting is also very effective in weight loss and weight maintenance. Sprinters tend to be lean, muscular, and low in body fat. Sprinters tend to naturally secrete more human growth hormone and testosterone.

Sprinting is very effective in burning calories fast, especially depleting glycogen stores which help us to burn fat for fuel. Since it is a high intensity exercise, you are pushed to your anaerobic threshold, allowing large amounts of oxygen to be consumed, and the heart rate is increased significantly. This allows more calories to be burned in a shorter amount of time than lower intensity exercise, and allows more calories to be burned throughout the day as recovery takes place.

Pushing your anaerobic threshold allows you to increases your cardiovascular strength and will make you faster as your progress through your training. This is why sprinting is so important not only for people looking to lose weight, but also people training for marathons, races, or looking to improve long distance times.

Sprinting in intervals involves short bursts of sprints followed by a resting period, then repeated. Interval training can be really fun and creative depending on your running goals. Some people will run 200m, rest, 400m, rest, 800m, rest, 400m, rest, 200m. Others might run 100m as fast as they can, and then walk 100m before repeating. On a treadmill you can even sprint for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds-1 minute, and repeat 5-10times. The combinations are endless and really open to a lot of creative routines.

Just as in strength training, it is important to vary your workouts and allow time to rest and recover. It is still appropriate to engage in sustained cardiovascular exercise throughout the week to accomplish your health and performance goals. Often people find it helpful to incorporate springing several times per week and/or on lifting days, in addition to lower impact cardiovascular exercise such as bike riding or using the elliptical for 30 minutes 2-3 times per week as well. Remember to work at your fitness level and seek professional guidance to ensure proper form and technique.  

This week I would like to suggest a pre and post workout snack to help us perform at our optimal level and refuel for tomorrow's exercise.

Pre workout: 100-200kcal 1 hour to 30 minutes before exercising

Graham crackers and applesauce

Post workout snack: 3:1 carbs to protein

Whole grain English muffin with egg and low fat cheese

Remember this workout plan and snack is only a suggestion and may not be appropriate for all populations, especially people who are pregnant, suffer from previous injuries, or other special circumstances. Please consult a medical doctor prior to making lifestyle changes.

Research study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18434437?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrezPubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum