Cardio: Sprinting
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heart rate zones, make sure if you're going to use them you find out your maximum. It also drops every year.
There is an estimate that is used to gage your maximum which is 220 minus your age.
That didn't work for me at all. My maximum was 200 plus even when I was 42!
Joe Friel has some great charts where you can transfer your personal zones over to cycling and swimming.
Another good way to do it is to find your lactate threshold with a personal trainer and go from there.(zone 4 up).
Bear in mind these rates can also vary from day to day. Mine get affected by weight, fitness, hydration, ageing, caffeine and tiredness. I don't use my heart rate monitor after a couple of years, as I've learned to use to the perceived rate of exertion instead. I also found a treadmill at the gym that had a heart rate monitor in sync with mine so I knew it was correct.
I read that endurance athletes spend 80% of their time in zones 1-3 and 20% of their time in 4-5. I'll try and find the article, it was in Matt Fitzgeralds book Racing Weight. Interesting.
I do my sprinting before I lift weights. I like to run my glycogen stores out, then activate growth hormone in my lifting. I've tried the other way too, but I always do legs on the same day and let them recover for a day after.0 -
The key is to go hard as you can, rest, then go hard again. Do that for 10-15 minutes, and you're done. Your total training time will be around 30 minutes when you include a thorough warm up (you can look up sprinting drills online).
Also, you stated you want to do 100's. There is no need to do that. Stick with 30-50 yards. Sprint as fast as you can, walk back, and repeat 5-6 times. Do this 2-3 times a week, then either add a sprint or reduce the rest intervals (i.e jog back instead of walking back, or time your rest intervals, as in, you reduce the rest period from 45 seconds to 40 seconds).
Remember, you aren't doing sprints to be a faster sprinter, that is an entirely different program. Keep it simple. Go hard, rest, then go at it again.
Example -
Week 1 - Sprint 3 times a week
6 x 40 with walk back rest
Week 2 - Sprint 3 times a week
6 x 50 with walk back rest
Week 3- Sprint 3 times a week
Same as Week 2, but reduce the rest intervals by 5 seconds
Week 4 - Sprint 3 times a week
7 x 50 - Keep rest intervals the same as week 3
Week 5 - Sprint 3 times a week
Ladder sprints (these are BRUTAL)
Sprint 30 yards, walk back to the start line, sprint 50 yards, walk back to the start line, sprint 70 yards, walk back to the start line. Rest 2-3 minutes. Repeat this 2 more times.
Week 6 - Sprint 3 times a week
Same as Week 5, except jog back to the start line instead of walking.
Hope this helps!! good luck!!0 -
Wow this was awesome information thank you! Okay so my goal as you probably already read is to do cardio so that I burn fat, but I also want to do the most "anabolic" cardio work out possible and I read that sprints are somewhat more anabolic than long endurance type of exercises. I see that Zone 2 is optimal. Now for how long do I want to maintain that Zone 2 for during my work out. Ideally I want to spring, jog, sprint, etc...my heart rate would change by doing that, right? So do I aim to just keep it at that 134-147 for the lets say 30 minutes of my cardio work out? I just want to make sure I understand this correctly as it applies to what I'm doing and my goals. Thanks for your explanations! Its very helpful.
Sorry for the delay in responding, I have a lot of down time during the day but not much at night. Also I'm glad other people are starting to chime in, you'll get better advice from more people. Finally, this is the part of the thread where I point out that my advice is free, so you can't get very mad if you don't like it.
I'm a cyclist. We don't think in terms of muscle, stuff that's important to us is: How fast to do a 40 km time trial? How much elevation gain can I do in an hour? How much power can I put out over 20 minutes? What is my watts/kilograms ratio? I can get better at this stuff by having stronger legs, by losing weight, by getting into a more aerodynamic position, or some combination of all of them; as long as I'm faster, that's what matters. I've done a lot of research into how to meet my goals, but they're not 100 % aligned with yours. Also I don't run that much so I'm assuming the cardio stuff is mostly the same but I'll probably get it wrong. So take the rest of this post with a grain of salt but I'll try to go into the reasons behind stuff.
First, I think you're going to get the biggest (muscle) gains when you sprint, which is going to be zone 4 or 5. But you should still do most of your cardio training in zone 2, and here's why:
(1) On the bike, leg strength isn't what limits you. It's aerobic capacity, the limit is your aerobic endurance. Most people can leg press way more than how hard they push down on the pedals. (Of course, we have gears on the bike. So I can move the burden from my legs to my CV system. When I run it also feels like it's my heart and lungs that limit how long and how fast I can go, but I'm not a good runner so I could be getting this wrong.) The zone 2 stuff improves your aerobic capacity (builds heart and diaphragm muscle), which raises your overall limit for cycling and I assume for running.
(2) You can't. Seriously, your body just won't have it. You go out and sprint, you get tired, you're forced to slow down.
(3) You actually burn more calories this way. Sure, a sprint will burn more calories than running slowly for those same 30 seconds. But, over the course of an hour (or however long you have for running), keeping a steady moderate pace will burn more than sprinting, then stopping to recover until you can sprint again.
I can't tell you how long to spend in each zone ... well, I could, but I don't know enough about you or your overall training load, so I'd get it wrong. And then you'd want your money back for this post. I can tell you what I do, though.
Most days after work, I go out and ride for about an hour. I try to mostly be in zone 2. I have a few hills on my ride; some days I go real slow and stay in Z2, other days I say "screw it" and charge up, then try to spend the rest of my time in Z2. As long as the overall workout was mostly pretty moderate, I'm happy with it. On weekends, I usually spend one day doing a long ride, and then the other day I'll go hiking with my girlfriend. But, once a week, I do hill repeats. I try to alternate: short, punchy hills, everything I've got; longer, steeper hills, at the highest intensity I can sustain for the workout. Day after hill repeats is either a rest day or a very low key recovery ride where I keep my heart rate at/below 100 bpm and my power at/below 100 watts. The hill repeats are my Z4/Z5 training, and they're definitely paying dividends. I took my bike out to the mountains on Saturday and had an easier time than I expected. The rest of it is mostly Z2 (although sometimes I get a little carried away and push too hard).
EDIT: A lot of exercise software has charts like this. This one is from a ride I did the previous Saturday, I drove my bike to farm country and did a long scenic ride. I'd call this a "zone 2" ride even though I didn't spend the entire time there. I could have done a better job if my goal was purely to nail a workout, but going fast is fun. The point is don't stress too much about staying in too narrow a range, if you're in the right ballpark you're still going to improve.
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I'd suggest that cardio can be done for several reasons, and the OP stated the one he's interested in.
A level that makes it like lifting - where the benefits are elevated metabolism for repair work for muscles later that allows for extra fat burn, and retaining the muscles.
One post above gave the right recipe for that purpose.
All out sprint for time rather than distance - like 15 - 30 sec.
Recover walking for 45 - 90 sec.
Repeat for 10 intervals.
As you get better, the speed will go up, but since it's based on perceived effort, you always go as hard as you can.
Just like lifting, 8-12 reps, you merely increase the weight when it gets easy.
Just like lifting with sets, except reps has a slight breather in there before next one where interval is constant. Even the same including the warmup and cooldown that helps avoid injury.
HR zones don't matter when going as hard as possible, do they in lifting?
Walk for recovery - that allows the next interval at max to be faster max then if you jogged.
This type of workout is not for the purpose of burning more calories, as it won't compared to a higher intensity steady-state cardio effort.
This type of workout is not for the purpose of increasing endurance ability, at it won't compared to a lower intensity steady-state cardio effort.
This type of workout is not for health improvements, though that'll be a side effect anyway.
I'd still suggest that if it's truly not for the other reasons for doing cardio, just expend the time and energy on more and better lifting program.
Just like so many do no cardio with their lifting, except what's needed for warmup.
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I'd suggest that cardio can be done for several reasons, and the OP stated the one he's interested in.
A level that makes it like lifting - where the benefits are elevated metabolism for repair work for muscles later that allows for extra fat burn, and retaining the muscles.
One post above gave the right recipe for that purpose.
All out sprint for time rather than distance - like 15 - 30 sec.
Recover walking for 45 - 90 sec.
Repeat for 10 intervals.
As you get better, the speed will go up, but since it's based on perceived effort, you always go as hard as you can.
Just like lifting, 8-12 reps, you merely increase the weight when it gets easy.
Just like lifting with sets, except reps has a slight breather in there before next one where interval is constant. Even the same including the warmup and cooldown that helps avoid injury.
HR zones don't matter when going as hard as possible, do they in lifting?
Walk for recovery - that allows the next interval at max to be faster max then if you jogged.
This type of workout is not for the purpose of burning more calories, as it won't compared to a higher intensity steady-state cardio effort.
This type of workout is not for the purpose of increasing endurance ability, at it won't compared to a lower intensity steady-state cardio effort.
This type of workout is not for health improvements, though that'll be a side effect anyway.
I'd still suggest that if it's truly not for the other reasons for doing cardio, just expend the time and energy on more and better lifting program.
Just like so many do no cardio with their lifting, except what's needed for warmup.
@Heybales you give yet another great explanation of answering an OP's question! Great job..
I second all of the "zone" stuff is not necessary for what the OP is looking for in his cardio work!0 -
I'd suggest that cardio can be done for several reasons, and the OP stated the one he's interested in.
...HR zones don't matter when going as hard as possible, do they in lifting?
To be fair, he stated several reasons: wanting to burn fat, to build muscle, and to run faster. How he prioritizes these is up to him. The OP said he's new to cardio, but he seems like a bright guy. He got lots of good information which will help him figure how to to meet his goals. (Teach a man to fish...)
An HRM and zones aren't strictly necessary, but are useful. "Going as hard as possible" is great, but it isn't possible to do this all the time. The only way to do a run that's only sprinting is to end it after 30 seconds, and that's not likely to achieve anybody's goals.0 -
When you lift an amount of weight to almost failure on last rep in set - you go back after a rest and do another set usually - sometimes 4 more sets are possible depending on your program.
Sprint intervals are no different - yes it's short - that's the point, and the whole reason for the effect gained.
The 3 things you list he wants are all going to be handled by HIIT sprint intervals - no priority needed as they will all be obtained at same time.
Now I would only do hill sprints or HIIT routine 1 x weekly at max, because for my program it's exactly the same reason - and 2 of the 3 won't be obtained by any other regime nearly as well if at all.
But I have different goals, I do want endurance, and enhanced fat-burning during the cardio.
Possible goals for only wanting to sprint 30 sec at a time all out. Then repeat after a rest.
http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/HIITvsET.html
Both groups progressed in intensity. At the conclusion of the study, the HIIT group lost over 3 times as much subcutaneous fat as the ET group despite expending less than half as many calories. For every calorie expended during HIIT, there was a nine fold loss of subcutaneous body fat, as compared to the ET group.
http://www.exrx.net/ExInfo/HIIT.html
Hughes et al (2004) demonstrated 6 sessions of SIT over a 2 week period increased muscle oxidative capacity and altered muscle glycogen metabolism in recreationally active young men. SIT decreased the time required to complete a fixed amount of work (10.4%), increased resting muscle glycogen by 53%, and appeared to decrease reliance on non-oxidative energy metabolism. SIT consisted of 4 to 7 "all out" 30 second Wingate tests, separated by 4 minutes of recovery.
So actually, sprinting to 30 seconds, rest, repeat - is likely to achieve many people's goals.
Not everyone wants to do a half marathon or marathon or century ride or whatever. For some it's all about fat loss for reason for the workout.
That may change if they come to love it, but there's nothing inherently dangerous with his goal and the method to reach it if proper warmup and cooldown are used, and it's not done too frequently.
I have concerns with it messing up a good lifting program though, depending on when done.0 -
Nice article on starting sprinting:
http://ericcressey.com/so-you-want-to-start-sprinting0 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Nice article on starting sprinting:
http://ericcressey.com/so-you-want-to-start-sprinting
I'm glad this article mentions pavement. I had thought about it when I first responded, but often we just work where we can. I have a knack for turning my ankles when I run on the grass, but I should really force myself to do it more to strengthen all those stabilizer muscles.
I know I don't have as much knowledge as some of the other commenters but I feel validated that the article also recommends hills.
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Continue biting away at it. It will get easier the more you do it. Shorten your distance until you master it and then start increasing the distance.
Simple and to the point. And correct.
When I make my basketball team condition, we do sprints 99% of the time. I pick a number to start and we increase it over the course of the season each practice. We also do timed sprints every once in a while (it's called 17's). My teams are always in good shape. My 5 (center) can play a whole game by the end of the season, running rim to rim.
If she can do it, you can too! Good luck!0 -
Continue biting away at it. It will get easier the more you do it. Shorten your distance until you master it and then start increasing the distance.
Simple and to the point. And correct.
When I make my basketball team condition, we do sprints 99% of the time. I pick a number to start and we increase it over the course of the season each practice. We also do timed sprints every once in a while (it's called 17's). My teams are always in good shape. My 5 (center) can play a whole game by the end of the season, running rim to rim.
If she can do it, you can too! Good luck!
Hey can you give me some more details on this routine you do? I'm new to this. Thanks!!
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