Hi Christian
I have just started sprints again .
What are the benefits of doing super short sprints for
body recomp ? Fat loss? Power strength ect
They are 5 sec in duration with around 3 -5 minutes active recovery. Volume is low at the moment total of 5 sprints. I am Just interested in what they are working towards
Thanks in advance
I can’t speak for CT. Don’t have his experience or smarts.
But for me, sprinting a couple times a week is a good way to end a strength phase workout or do a lighter workout to balance more intense ones. It is too short in duration to interfere with muscle strength and growth like long cardio. It seems to help burn fat. It feels good and primes me to eat a little smarter. It is low risk provided you stretch your hamstrings well and work hard, but not quite maximally so. Increasing from super short to short (most under 20s) with the occasional longer one (with fewer METs) seems to help with energy and endurance too.
I agree, with an asterisk.
Sprinting, especially top-speed sprinting, is a high-skill movement requiring a lot of coordination, especially in terms of the contraction-relaxation of the muscles involved.
Poor contraction-relaxation cycles can very easily lead to muscle pulls (even elite sprinters with solid sprinting mechanics get them fairly often)… basically sprinting “stiff”.
Lifters tend to sprint stiff and sprinting right after a workout can lead to being even stiffer.
I used to have a bobsleigh guy sprint after his weight lifting and he would often pull a hamstring or adductor. Even if we moved the sprinting to a second session later in the day it still happened.
If we did the sprinting first or on a separate day, there were no issues.
The lifting will increase muscle tone through increased neural activation which lasts a for a few hours after a session
The higher the sprinting intensity is, the more likely an injury is to occur in someone who doesn’t have the technical efficiency to run relaxed even at top speeds.
Sprinting IS a very beneficial activity. But there is a progression to be able to sprint as safely as possible. For one thing, you should only go as fast as you can while spriting relaxed.
An analogy I could give you is that you would not have someone max out on the squat until they have excellent technique and have gradually learned to handle heavier and heavier weights.
Because we’ve all been sprinting since we were kids, we (wrongfully) believe that we all sprint with good enough mechanics to do all-out sprinting safely.
So that is around 30-40 meters depending on your speed.
First, what do you mean by “active recovery”? The 3-5 minutes of rest is adequate for top-speed work. But if the “active” part creates even a small amount of fatigue, it will be detrimental.
I would honestly not expect any fat loss from 5 sec sprints. It uses only the phosphagens system, which is really far from utilizing fat for fuel. And the caloric expenditure will not be high enough to lead to a significant deficit.
From a physical capacities standpoint, 5 sec/30-40 meters sprints work primarily acceleration.
0-10 m = starting strength
10-30m = acceleration
30-60m = top speed
60-100m = speed maintenance
Over 100m = specific speed endurance
From a less specific angle, you will improve power production potential.
You will also get an improvement in central nervous system efficiency: becoming better at sending a strong excitatory drive to the muscles. Which will make strength and even hypertrophy work more effective in the future.
Active recovery is walking slowly backdown the hill and just wondering back and forth untill rest limit is up.
Would the time of the sprint still have the same outcome if i were sprinting up a hill?
If so what is the minimal duration i could use for fat loss ?
Tia
Well, it increases caloric expenditure a bit. But it’s not going to be a huge fat-burning tool. People have this wrongful belief that because sprinters are lean, then sprinting will make you lean. It’s more that being lean helps them run faster so they make sure not to gain weight and that they are genetically leaner individuals with faster metabolisms and higher insulin sensitivity.
Playing basketball won’t make you taller either.
I’ve had success in the past utilizing 400m “sprints” for fat loss purposes. 200m might have a noticeable impact.
So we are talking 50-90 seconds, roughly.
I used these articles as a guide (this and its sequel). I find sprinting best after a leg workout when hamstrings are already well stretched, do several further stretches in any case, and do not go more than 80-90%.
Might be worth pointing out sprints in a Canadian winter or for someone training professional athletes aren’t the same as doing them in a standard commercial gym. There you are talking treadmills or ellipticals, and one can control the speed and make them safer for the hamstrings by adding gradient (“sprinting” uphill).
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