Why you should add some sprints into your workout

NEW YORK – When was the last time you sprinted? A full-blown, all-out sprint.

For many people, it has been a while. Possibly even as far back as high school.

In nearly every town in the United States, you can find a 5km, 10km, half-marathon or full marathon to run.

But it is far less likely that you will find an organised track meet to run a 100m, 200m or 400m dash.

One reason many adults avoid sprinting is that the thought of past injuries – or possible future ones – can be frightening. Another is that sprinting is hard, often leaving you doubled over gasping for air.

But hard is the idea. Sprinting puts an enormous amount of stress on the physical system, which – when done safely – makes people stronger, more resilient and more fit.

Put simply, sprinting is running at or near your top speed. “It is one of the movements that gives the biggest bang for buck,” says Mr Matt Sanderson, a director at fitness brand Soflete.

Sprinting helps build and maintain fast-twitch muscle fibres. Maintaining these fibres can help prevent slips and falls, which are the leading cause of injury among older people.

Because sprinting engages so many muscles, “it’s going to do a better job of helping maintain your muscle mass and avoid muscle loss as you age”, says Professor Christopher Lundstrom, a lecturer in kinesiology at the University of Minnesota who studies sports and exercise science.

Several small studies suggest that sprinting is even better at maintaining and building bone density than endurance running.

However, running flat out should be undertaken only after a thorough warm-up, regardless of your fitness level, as it can cause muscle pulls and strains as well as major injuries, like Achilles’ tears.

If you have any concerns about injuries or health issues, talk with your doctor first.

If you have a larger body and are concerned about stress on your joints or bones, Mr Sanderson recommends starting with lower-impact exercises such as sled pushes to build up strength and develop conditioning before trying to sprint.

“Spend some time preparing your tissues,” he says. “Jumping rope, even jumping or bouncing in a swimming pool.”

Lastly, remember that “top speed” is a relative term.

If you ran a 12-second 100m dash several decades ago, adjust your expectations.

Every athlete is different, but here are a few general tips for sprinting safely.

Start slow

Even though the ultimate goal is to go fast, it is important to start slow. Running a 100m dash right away is probably a bad idea.

“If you haven’t sprinted recently, maybe go and run slightly faster than you’re used to,” Prof Lundstrom says.

Then go “a little bit harder and gradually getting up to a full sprint”.

Roll up the intensity

Experts suggest “rolling sprints” during a standard jog to work into running at top speed. As you jog, pick a point to begin increasing the intensity of your running every 10m or so until you reach an effort where speaking would be hard. From there, decrease every 10m until you are back to your regular jogging pace.

If you are not a jogger, you can do rolling sprints as a stand-alone workout, repeating each sprint a handful of times.

Set a baseline

Once you start sprinting, the first thing you should do is set a benchmark time over a certain distance. This is less about bragging rights and more about having a tool to structure later workouts.

Start with a distance between 40m and 60m long. Simply work into a sprint and note your best time.

Use your threshold

Once you have a benchmark time, use it to plan your workouts. One easy routine, Mr Sanderson says, is to run repeated sprints at your chosen distance, trying to keep your efforts within a certain range of your benchmark time. He calls that range a “percentage threshold”.

Thresholds vary, but for someone with a high fitness level, 5 per cent is good. Others may aim for 10 per cent.

If it takes you seven seconds to sprint 40m, a 10 per cent threshold is 7.4 seconds. So keep repeating that sprint – with a few minutes of easy walking in between – until you run slower than about eight seconds, then stop your workout.

At first, the number of sprints that you can run may be low. But as you gain strength and speed, your ability to maintain speed will grow.

Stay off-track, at first

While you may be tempted to lace up your old spikes and head to a track, Mr Sanderson is against starting on a rubberised surface, as the bouncy track could increase the chance for injury.

“Your performance will probably go up,” he says. “But it’s asking more of your Achilles and calf.”

He recommends starting sprint work on turf or natural grass. From there, you can graduate to pavement and, finally, the rubberised track you may remember from school. NYTIMES