![\"Sprinter](\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/02090206\/sprinting-tips-600-form.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nWhen was the last time you really had to sprint? Heart pumping, legs burning, and going as fast as you possibly could?<\/p>\n
If you can\u2019t remember, then you\u2019re missing out on one of the best tools to challenge your body and improve body composition. Sprinting is arguably one of the most essential training tools for athletic performance.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re going to work sprints into your routine, you need to consider the best ways to approach them to maximize their use and to protect yourself. When you do, you\u2019ll see improvements in your body\u2019s ability to perform.<\/p>\n
Sprinting carries over to every sport because of the power, strength, and speed benefits. \u201cBecause it\u2019s super explosive, it\u2019s activating practically every muscle in the human body,\u201d says\u00a0Mike Young, Ph.D., director of Athletic Lab, which focuses on speed development and athletic performance. \u201cNot too much in the fitness world involves every muscle group acting as aggressively as you see in sprinting,\u201d Young says.<\/p>\n
Beyond sports performance, the benefits of sprinting carry over to the body\u2019s physical qualities, Young says.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get the benefit from the high intensity through body composition and lean mass \u2014 more athletic glutes, hamstrings, and quads,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is why you see elite sprinters look the way they do \u2014 really lean and muscular. Some of that simply comes from the act of sprinting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sprinting is an intense, high-impact exercise. To protect your body and get the most out of your sprints, follow these tips.<\/p>\n
When you do start sprinting, start with a quick warm-up like high knees and lunges to get your body loose and primed to sprint. Then start with the basic movement, acclimating your tissues, muscles, and even bones to the intensity, Rooney says. Even sprinting in place can be a good starting point as your body gets used to the movement.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to wake up the nervous system that accesses the\u00a0big muscle fibers\u00a0\u2014 the big motor. When you do that, you can work that musculature,\u201d Rooney says.<\/p>\n
If the last time you sprinted was in high school gym class, don\u2019t go right out and do 100-yarders. You just want to start with moving fast again, says\u00a0Martin Rooney, CSCS, founder of Training for Warriors.<\/p>\n
That could be taking quick steps through a speed ladder or doing paces slightly faster than would feel comfortable. While there\u2019s no \u201cperfect\u201d distance to sprint, aim for 30 yards or so when you\u2019re first starting out.<\/p>\n
You should work on mobility \u2014 through stretching and dynamic movements like lunges that improve your range of motion \u2014 so you lower your risk of injury.<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019re at a higher body weight than you should be, dialing in your nutrition and losing weight will improve your ability to sprint, Rooney says.<\/p>\n
If you want to make sure you\u2019re experiencing all of the benefits sprinting, here are four tips to help you do it the right way.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The fastest body is the most efficient body, meaning you\u2019re not wasting energy with body parts in the wrong place. While it may seem that running fast is just, well, running fast, then you\u2019re not making the most of your effort.<\/p>\n
Your anatomical checklist for great sprinting technique:<\/p>\n
Good sprinting form is about how you accelerate through the run. \u201cThe physics of running has not changed: If you run in a world governed by physics, you don\u2019t get to top speed without acceleration,\u201d Young says.<\/p>\n
That means your first steps are big, long strides \u2014 not the short, choppy ones you see some people doing \u2014 with big, swinging arms. When you take short steps, you can\u2019t generate a lot of force, because there\u2019s less contact time with the ground.<\/p>\n
Having great stride length means longer contact time with the ground \u2014 and more force to propel the body forward, Young says.<\/p>\n
When most people hear the word \u201csprint,\u201d they think \u201call-out.\u201d That doesn\u2019t have to be the case, Rooney says. You can aim for 70 or 80 percent of max effort in your workouts \u2014 and play with combinations of different distances and intensities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we say sprint, it doesn\u2019t mean it has to be like a tiger is chasing you,\u201d Rooney says.<\/p>\n
![\"Athlete](\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/02090214\/sprinting-tips-600-strength.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n
The glutes and hamstrings \u2014 and all the muscles in your posterior chain \u2014 serve as your engine for speed, Young says. Deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, glute-ham raises, and steps-ups are great for strengthening those muscles to help with sprinting performance. Any single-leg exercises will also be helpful, Young says.<\/p>\n
And there are few better movements that train power and speed than plyometrics, which help build explosiveness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When was the last time you really had to sprint? Heart pumping, legs burning, and going as fast as you possibly could? If you can\u2019t remember, then you\u2019re missing out on one of the best tools to challenge your body and improve body composition. Sprinting is arguably one of the most essential training tools for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[164,17,112,34],"class_list":["post-3962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fitness","tag-cardio","tag-fitness","tag-lower-body","tag-strength-training"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3964,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3962\/revisions\/3964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}