When trying to find an effective way to lose fat, build muscle mass, and increase endurance, sprinting is one of the best exercises you can use.
It is an effective exercise to prime your body to lose fat and get fitter.
Sprinting is the action of running at a very fast pace for a short distance. However, sprints can also be high-intensity bursts of swimming or cycling.
It is recommended that you should be sprinting at least once a week.
There are numerous benefits of sprinting once a week. Here are ten of them.
BENEFITS OF SPRINTING ONCE A WEEK
1. HELPS WITH QUICK BURNING OF FAT
Weight loss is about losing fat and building or gaining muscle.
Research found that a single sprinting session can increase your body’s capacity to burn fat. The study had ten healthy males in their 20s. Each participant took sprinting trials.
Their oxygen consumption, blood pressure, and respiratory exchange ratio were recorded two hours into recovery.
Further studies have also shown that sprinting burns fat more than endurance running.
Sprinters tend to have lower body fat percentages than endurance runners.
Another study found that sprinting primes your body for more fat burning during other exercises.
2. INCREASES STRENGTH
Sprinting is an anabolic workout. This means that increases muscle mass and strength.
A study found that sprinting increased a hormone that boosts muscle growth in men and women.
In this study, the participants were asked to do three 30 second sprint intervals on stationary bikes with 20 minutes of rest between each sprint.
The study even further uncovered that protein synthesis was up by 22% in women and 43% in men.
This shows that one of the benefits of sprinting once a week is increased lean mass.
3. BOOSTS ENERGY
Your body needs the energy to function. This energy comes from your cells. There is a part of the cell called the mitochondria which is the energy factory of your body.
Studies have shown that sprinting leads to your body making more mitochondria.
If you are healthy, you will have numerous mitochondria. Some diseases are characterized by malfunctioning mitochondria like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
In yet another study, the scientists found that repeated sprints showed signs of increased mitochondria production.
4. LOWER RISK OF DISEASE
Physical activity such as sprinting can help your health.
Studies have shown that consistent physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, or developing neurological diseases.
Research shows that sprinting is also safe for people with coronary heart disease.
Additionally, sprinting can help people living with diabetes. Research shows that sprint training improves insulin sensitivity.
Further studies show that one of the benefits of sprinting once a week is that it can help people with type 2 diabetes. This is because it improves glucose control and improves their metabolic health.
5. INCREASES WORKOUT EFFICIENCY
Adding sprints to your workout helps boost your cardiovascular fitness.
Another one of the benefits of sprinting once a week is burning more calories than a steady workout.
A study in Biology of Sport shows that for overweight people, sprints help burn more calories.
6. REDUCES THE EFFECTS OF AGEING
Because sprinting helps build muscle, it can help you stave off the muscle-wasting effects of aging.
People have different types of muscles in the body. They are classified as fast-twitch and slow-twitch.
Fast-twitch muscles help you move more powerfully. However, they experience fatigue more than slow-twitch muscles which help you with posture and endurance.
Sprinting trains fast-twitch muscles and the skeleton. It is a weight-bearing exercise; therefore, it can help your balance and coordination and prevent osteoporosis.
- REDUCES STRESS
All forms of exercise help reduce stress and relieve tension.
Evidence has shown that exercise releases endorphin. This is also known as the happy hormone. They are a type of neurotransmitter that helps relieve pain and stress.
Exercise helps balance your body’s levels of stress hormones like adrenalin which would be released if you sprinted.
Sprinting can positively affect the serotonin levels in your brain. Raising your serotonin boosts your mood and helps improve activities like sleep which can be affected by depression.
One of the benefits of sprinting once a week is managing your mental health.
Focusing on your body’s physical movements can help distract from upsetting thoughts.
8. IMPROVES METABOLISM
Sprinting burns more calories per second than running. However, you can only maintain a sprint for about 30 seconds.
After a sprint, the body depletes its anaerobic stores which are the amounts of energy that come from the breakdown of glucose.
Your body must then rely on aerobic stores which are amounts of energy from the combustion of carbohydrates.
Aerobic sources of energy can’t sustain the same high levels of effort.
Sprinting increases the rate of energy burn even after you have finished exercising. It doesn’t just burn calories but also uses them to recover.
This is noticeable due to oxygen debt which is the excessive consumption of oxygen post-exercise.
Sprinting forces your body to adapt to build more muscle therefore increasing your rate of metabolism.
9. HIGHLY CONVENIENT
Another one of the benefits of sprinting once a week is that it doesn’t need any special equipment or lots of space.
You can do it indoors or in the limited space of a parking lot.
Doing sprints uphill is also great for your joints.
10. IMPROVED ENDURANCE
Studies show that sprinting helps athletes build endurance after weeks of sprint interval training.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SEE RESULTS FROM SPRINTING?
Due to the nature of sprinting, you activate your muscles more than any other form of exercise.
To see proper changes, you need to combine sprinting with other forms of training and a balanced diet. If you don’t consume enough calories your body will burn muscle instead of fat reserves.
You also need to make sure that you burn more calories than you take in.
It is almost impossible to determine how much weight you can lose after a workout because it will be determined by your body type, weight, age, and history.
Some trainers estimate that you can lose about 0.2kg a week if you have a weekly workout routine and sprint two to three times a week.
CONCLUSION
Sprinting is an amazing way to lose weight or increase your levels of fitness.
It is an integral part of high-intensity interval training workouts.
While it is highly effective and burns more calories than steady-state training such as jogging, it can be very difficult. It is much harder work as it requires all your muscles to be engaged.
Sprinting has its own HIIT category known as sprint interval training which studies show is preferable for losing body fat.
However, it is important to realize that high-intensity ballistic workouts aren’t appropriate for people with muscular injuries.
But they can experience the benefits of sprinting by doing low impact sprints like running in the pool.
If you feel at all faint or fatigued, have difficulty breathing, or feel pain during a sprint you should stop. You should also see a doctor if it keeps happening.
Sprinting can also be done using an elliptical, stationary bike, and treadmill.
Incorporating sprints into your weekly workout is an effective way to train your body, burn calories, and improve your body’s lean muscle mass.
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