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Are you looking to increase your speed? Look no further than a sprint workout. Sprinting burns calories, engages different muscles, boosts fitness, improves running form, and makes you an overall better athlete. So what is exactly is a sprint workout, and how can you add it into your training?
What is a Sprint Workout?
“Most sprint workouts are no more than 20 to 60 seconds long or 50 to 200 meters—unless you’re a track star and can run a 400 in under 60 seconds,” says Meghan Kennihan, a USATF- and RRCA-certified running coach.
As for quantity, you should perform sprints four times or more and alternate in rest periods that are longer than at least a minute, according to Danny Mackey, head coach of the Brooks Beasts, one of America’s most dominant middle-distance track teams. For example, two and a half to three minutes after a 20-second sprint is enough time for your body to restore energy, he adds.
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Sprints fall under the larger training umbrella of speedwork. “Any running that’s faster than your jogging or steady-state pace is considered speedwork,” says Kennihan. “That can be half marathon pace runs, tempo runs, track repeats, or fartleks.”
But a sprint is an all-out effort compared to those other types of workouts. “Sprints fall on the lower-volume, higher-intensity range,” says Mackey.
When the effort level is lower during speedwork like half marathon pace miles or track repeats, you don’t need as much recovery.
“When doing sprints, you want full recovery before starting your next interval because you’ll be going at your max speed and need all your muscles ready to activate and keep your form from breaking down, which can lead to injury,” says Kennihan.
What are the Benefits of Sprinting Workouts?
Sprinting is a total-body workout, so “it kick starts your metabolism and burns more fat,” says Kennihan. In fact, people who participated in sprint interval training showed a 39.95 percent higher reduction in body fat percentage than those who did HIIT workouts, according to research by RunRepeat.
Speedwork in general is a more anaerobic workout than steady-state running, which trains your body to more efficiently supply oxygen to your muscles. Running as fast as you can engages the fast-twitch muscle fibers that are responsible for explosive movement, says Kennihan.
“Using those muscle fibers also helps in improving your heart function; that hard effort makes your heart pump harder and improves overall blood circulation,” she explains—a benefit that will help your performance at any speed.
Research backs up the idea that sprint workouts will make you a faster runner in general: Sprint interval training helped trail runners run 5.7-percent faster on a 3,000-meter track test, according to a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. While this study was small (just 16 trail runners), it offers promising results for trained athletes.
Sprints also help improve your efficiency and form at every pace. “In order to run faster, people land with their foot underneath their body rather than out in front of them, have a higher back kick, and pump straight and faster—all things that can fall by the wayside during a slower run,” says Kennihan. “You also tend to have shorter ground contact time when sprinting, which is one of the keys to efficiency.”
Finally, sprinting acts as a kind of power training for runners when it engages those fast-twitch muscle fibers. “The acceleration component of sprinting adds exponentially more force and torque on the muscles, which will help you build muscular power,” says Mackey. “Even though the effort is brief, that peak force and torque on the muscle is a vastly greater stimulus on the muscle than during an easy run.” You’ll feel a major difference after a six-mile easy run and a workout of, say, 6 x 150 meters—which is only 900 meters of total work.
Because sprinting is so hard on the muscles, you should really only do a true sprint workout once a week; that allows you to give your max effort without overdoing it, and gives you plenty of time to recover. Try one of these four sprint workouts below—two for beginners and two for advanced runners—and you’ll soon see your overall pace improve.
How to use these workouts: The easiest place to perform sprints is on a track or treadmill where you can easily control the distance, but you can also do these workouts on your local running route if you have a running watch that measures distance or time. Perform your workout of choice just once per week. Be sure to warm up and cool down before and after each to prevent injury.
Beginner Sprint Workouts
Workout 1
Don’t be afraid to walk the 60-second recovery in between intervals. “You want to make sure your heart rate is all the way back down to your easy run heart rate before sprinting again,” says Kennihan.
- Warm up for 30 to 45 minutes with light, easy cardio and dynamic drills
- Sprint 20 to 30 seconds
- Recover by walking for 60 seconds
- Repeat 4 to 6 times
- Cool down
Workout 2
“When you’re all-out sprinting, make sure to be aware of your form and stay in control of your body,” says Mackey. “Try and get a video of yourself on your phone, and watch how your coordination and power begin to evolve over time.”
- Warm up for 15 to 20 minutes with light, easy cardio and dynamic drills
- Sprint 150 meters or 0.1 mile (about 20 to 30 seconds)
- Jog or walk 400 to 600 meters (or 3 minutes) between sprints
- Repeat 5 to 7 times
- Cool down
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Advanced Sprint Workouts
Workout 1
“You should be able to sustain your pace for each interval,” says Kennihan. “You shouldn’t be fading by the fourth or sixth rep—consistency is key.” Use that extra 200 meters for more recovery time if you need it.
- Warm up for 15 to 20 minutes with light, easy cardio and dynamic drills
- Sprint 400 meters
- Recover for 200 to 400 meters by walking or jogging
- Repeat 4 to 6 times
- Cool down
Workout 2
Since you’re going uphill, you’re getting the double whammy of speed and incline training. “You’ll discover muscles you forgot about (which is great!),” says Mackey. Make sure to warm up and cool down!
- Warm up for 15 to 20 minutes with light, easy cardio and dynamic drills
- Sprint uphill for 30 to 40 meters (about 6 to 10 seconds)
- Walk downhill and stand for a total of 90 seconds between intervals
- Repeat 8 to 12 times
- Cool down
