A quick sprint

Hope everyone is gaining a lot of insight from marksdailyapple.com – 30 day transformation.

Just back from a quick sprint at the local playground. No artificial running track or anything. 8 minutes of sheer DELIGHT.

8 rounds x 100 mts Sprint @ 90% max effort.

One round is an all out 100 mts Sprint followed by either a 60% effort run or walk(towards the last few rounds)back to the starting blocks.

Please note that this is not part of the formal exercise that I do. The formal exercise is only STRENGTH TRAINING. This is an activity that gives expression to my genes. It is embedded in our genes to sprint, but we never give expression to this. In addition to not giving proper stimulus for our genes to express themselves, we also bring about factors that suppress our genes from expressing themselves in the best possible manner.

Modern research also supports this supposedly primal behavior of ours, in having a profound effect on overall fitness and weight loss than a medium paced jog, which not only takes a lot of time, but also puts more impact stress on the joints. Sprints not only increase metabolism, but also bring about  improved insulin sensitivity, as the local stores of glycogen from the muscles is utilized for the high intensity sprint and creates an environment that would aid more absorption of glycogen (glucose) into the muscles, than shunt it towards fat storage.

To see the profound benefits of sprinting, take a look at the bodies of sprinters and compare the same with long distance runners. Sprinters are always more leaner and muscular(meaner) whereas the long distance runners are always thin and do not carry the muscular look of their sprinting counterparts.

Introducing sprinting into your lifestyle requires a significant fitness base, that needs muscle strength and flexibility, which can be achieved only by proper resistance training. Start your sprints gently and over a period gradually increase the speed and intensity of your sprints over time. Do only one sprint session a week.

You can also chose to do these all out bursts on a stationery cycle. Running is great, but also comes with the risk of injury if you do not have the required practice or muscle strength. Be safe, be smart and don’t injure yourself in pursuit of excessive fitness.

Karthik