Sprinting can deliver the benefits of an hour-long workout in just a few minutes. 

Unlike steady-state running, Sprinting is explosive running at 90-100 percent effort. It is a high-intensity training method performed in a short period of time that recruits the fast-twitch fibres in the muscles, allowing them to work more intensely than during regular running.

It basically means a quick burst with maximum speed and effort. 

Benefits of sprinting in individual performance 

Sprinting helps in improving athletic overall performance by making an individual.

• Faster: Sprinting helps reach one’s top speed. According to a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, sprinting improves aerobic capacity and endurance, even in untrained individuals. 
• Stronger: According to a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 6 sessions of sprint training increase peak power by 2.4 percent and mean power by almost 2.8 percent. This shows that sprinting helps build strength by developing fast-twitch muscle fibers.
• Run longer: Not only does this but it also helps build endurance by improving the lactate threshold in the body. The above study found that sprint-trained players have a 42% higher tendency to sustain high-intensity workouts.

Apart from enhancing the individual’s athletic performance, it also provides several other benefits, such as burning fat.

Sprint training helps in burning fat

A review published in Run Repeat found that sprinting burns 39 percent more fat than an HIIT workout in less than 61 percent of the time. When compared to moderate level training, sprinting destroys fat at an even higher rate, almost 90 percent in less than 70% time.  

While comparing a distance runner and a sprinter, the distance runner looks leaner, but the sprinter contains less fat. Because sprint-interval training helps burn fat at the cellular level and improves mitochondrial efficiency, it enhances fat burning. 

Sprinting boosts hormones

Sprint training improves the production of human growth hormone and testosterone. 

HGH supports cell regeneration and enhances calorie burning by converting the body's fuel from carbs to fats. 

Testosterone helps with muscle development and also supports cognitive processes and an individual’s metabolic health. This training also helps activate the body’s fight-or-flight response by increasing cortisol and adrenaline secretion, ultimately decreasing stress and enhancing mood. 

Even a short sprint session can deliver meaningful results when done consistently. So, have you ever tried sprinting or sprint interval training?

Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Joyita Das