Sprinting for Weight Loss

Sprinting can be an important part of your weight loss routine. Interval training raises your metabolism and burns fat faster than low intensity workouts. Here's how you can take avantage of sprints to help lose weight.

Why Interval Training Helps You Lose Weight

Running as fast as you can, or sprinting, makes you breathe harder, so it increases the amount of oxygen in your blood. This helps your body detoxify. It strengthens your muscles and raises your metabolism and heart rate. Performing short sprints at intervals throughout the day raises your heart rate more effectively than low intensity training, and can ultimately help you lose more weight than would low intensity training alone.

Interval training burns calories while adding muscle and enhancing cardiovascular endurance. It combines aerobic (endurance building) and anaerobic (muscle building) exercises into the same workout session.

How to Lose Weight with Sprints

Before beginning an interval training session using sprints, you need to warm up (just as you do for any form of exercise). Run at a gentle pace for about five minutes until your heart's beating faster and you feel warm and limber.

Once you've warmed up, you're ready for an interval of sprinting. Whether you're running on a road, a track or a treadmill, break into a sprint. Run as fast as you feel you can. You won't be able to keep up this speed for very long, but that's okay; that's the point.

When you've sprinted as long as you can, without overexerting yourself, slow down again. Jog at a gentle pace or walk briskly. You want your heart rate and breathing to slow down somewhat, but not to return to normal. The idea is to maintain a pace that you can sustain for a longer period, but that nevertheless requires some amount of exertion.

Repeat this process for about half an hour. At first, your sprints will be much shorter than your rest periods, but as you practice, you'll be able to run fast for longer periods of time.

Other Benefits of Interval Training

There are several reasons why interval training might be a good choice for your weight loss needs. For one, it's a time saver. Unlike low intensity workouts, you only need to interval train with sprinting for 30 minutes at a time, three to five times a week, to lose substantial amounts of weight. Low intensity workouts take much longer.

Interval training with sprinting can help you make a lot of fitness progress, even if you're already following a low intensity program or a weight training program. When you reach a plateau in your fitness regime, interval training can help you push beyond it.

Interval training is fun, especially if you like sprinting. Working in high and low intensity cycles makes the time fly by, and you'll be done with your workout before you even know you've started. It's also easy, and doesn't require any special equipment. You can even interval train by jogging and sprinting in place if the weather is bad.

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