The weather is getting nicer, so get off the treadmill, Stair Master, stationary bike and elliptical trainer and get outside where you can actually move the human body the way it’s meant to move. If your goal is to get in great shape so that you can give yourself the chance to look your best, give this sprinting/running routine a try.
Sprinting and agility drills can help you get into better, functional shape than performing any other kind of running drills. However, if you’ve spent a winter working out on cardiovascular equipment or have never really sprinted properly before, you can’t just go out on the first nice spring day and go 100%; you won’t get much out of the workout and could hurt yourself, to boot.
Follow this simple, but effective program and you will be taking a positive step towards turning yourself into a lean, mean, sprinting machine. From a preparation standpoint, jog a lap, do some stretching and perform 4 or 5 30-yard stride outs. Stride outs are a running drill where you utilize a slightly exaggerated running stride – it’s a sub-maximal speed sprint where you put a little extra bounce in your step.
I call this workout, “The 120-Yard Run.” It’s about as simple as you can get. Run 120-yards in 20-seconds and rest for 60-seconds and repeat pattern 5 times the first week, 7 times the second week and 8 times the third week. This is a variation of a routine that I use to condition the teams I work with and is a very effective way to improve your fitness level.
When mixed with a shuttle-run and shorter distance sprint workout, “The 120-Yard Run” will get you in top shape quicker than any other kind of running routine. And you will be functionally fit, as well. “The 120-Yard Run” is just a part of an overall, sprint/shuttle run/agility program that will do much more to improve your conditioning in a fraction of the time it takes to complete a traditional, low-intensity/high-volume aerobic workout.
Sprinting also puts much less stress on your joints and connective tissue because you are literally taking a fraction of the strides in a sprint workout that are required to complete a jogging/distance running workout. Running produces impact forces on your body equal to three times your body weight, and a jogger will take upwards of 120 strides per minute. If you do the math – body weight x strides taken/per minute x total minutes – you will find jogging puts an astronomical amount of potentially damaging stress on the body.
Over the next few weeks, as we enter spring and – hopefully – great weather, I will post details about the other elements in this program so you can get a head start on getting into great shape as we head into the summer.
first, looks like you’ve got an incomplete thought…where you begin to describe what astride-out is, you never finish the thought…sentance ends with “utilize”.
second, you explained how sprint training puts less stress on the body than distance work. The question is: is there any benefit (for someone who doesn’t aspire to marathons) in doing any distance work at all? in toher words, i’ve being doing a hour on the treadmill 4 to 5 times a week. should i bag that? and just do sprints and hiit work?
Cat
Thanks for the heads up…My sprinting ability is better than my cutting and pasting skiils! As for your question, stay tuned…