Sprinting for Cardio

Someone was telling me, that sprinting is a more effective way of burning fat and leaning instead of steady running or jogging, plus it takes less time? Anyone have experience with one of these programs and if so what does it consist of.

And example would be 4-6 x 400m runs (so not a sprint but as fast as possible) separated by say 90 seconds (this depends upon fitness of course).

They are a disgustingly effective way to get into condition and, yes are great for burning fat in fact one of the best methods out there, but there are loads:

rowing sprints
cycle intervals
barbell complexes

They all demand a huge amount of work, give you some time to recover a little and then it all starts again.

Of course make sure your running form is good before going hell for leather.

This is an example i like to show clients to show the benefits of doing intervals(sprints, walking) over sscv.

                                    workout 1            workout 2
Duration                          1 hr                        1 hr
Intensity average            70%                      60%
                                  (variable 55-85)      (constant)
Total calories burned      600                         400
% fat burned                   40%                        50%
Total fat kcals burned    240                           200

Workout 1 is the intervals (1 min sprint-1 min rest), workout 2 is the sscv.
So basically with intervals you can burn the same amount of fat in less time

You can usually structure your intervals to repeat around 8 times. For me i also do intervals at my local rugby pitch, sprinting from one end to the other,then walking back. Repeated 8 times.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/steady-state-versus-interval-training-getting-to-the-point-part-1.html
 
 
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/steady-state-versus-interval-training-getting-to-the-point-part-2.html
 
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/stead-state-versus-intervals-finally-a-conclusion.html

Some good points in the articles there buzzer, but also some not so good points. Good read tho!

cheers,which points do you think not so good.

Well a few things that stood out about what he said was,when doing intervals, after a few weeks its non beneficial. But i think its common sense to say that, after a few weeks of doing any training(not just intervals) your going to hit a plateau, so adjusments will need to be made.
The point underneath about what is the person supposed to do for the 46 weeks in the rest of the year.Well again refering to other training, would you stick to the same weights routine 4 a whole year? no. just as you wouldnt with intervals, so not a very strong argument there.
The point about Lance Armstrong only imroving his efficiency by 1% a year.This is quite imressive actual seeing that he is at the top of his game!But is not a good point to be made to the average gym user, because its more than likely the average gym user is going to imrove by more than 1%(dependant on training, diet etc).
I quote "the total calorie burn during a longer steady state bout will be in excess of whatever occurs from interval training".This statement is a bit pointless, because he doesnt give an example of how long the sscv session is or the interval session. So its a bit of common sense really if ran an 1hr of sscv and 20mins of intervals im obviously going burn more fat kcals on the sscv!

Few more points i could add but dont want to bore you!

aim to warm up for 10mins and then if on a treadmill proceed to do or try 6 to start ..sprint at i usally do around 15-17kmh on treadmill, depends on your fitness level , to start with maybe just each interval for 20/30sec and then 1/3min recovery either walk or jog at say 10 then same again aim for six and build up to 10+ ..play around with speeds and recovery time etc.. it should hurt and you may feel sick but the results are good not just in body compasion but increase in vo2 max and higher level of fitness. allow plenty of recovery after this type of session and rehydrate well ..should aim to take around 30/40min total.
Good luck

Thanks guys, I'll give it a go. My friend telling me about also made a good point. You ever look at long distant runners, usually very skinny. Sprinters are usually jacked, legs like horses. 

hi , interval training is great for getting fit quicker and theres lots of diffrent types try hill reps hill no more than 200metres and sprint up jog down you'll be hanging  by about 8 reps football pitch sprints the same if you want to improve your run times try running one mile as hard as you can rest 2mins then try and beat it  do it 5 times, i would only recommend interval training once a week/no more than twice it takes alot out of your heart and lungs so you need to let them recover,hope this helps .... 

Kiddigital


Thanks guys, I'll give it a go. My friend telling me about also made a good point. You ever look at long distant runners, usually very skinny. Sprinters are usually jacked, legs like horses. 

most people make that comparison,and its a poor comparison TBH,sprinters all do weights,and although some marathon runners do some weights they really dont need to,because lugging a lot of muscle around 26 miles isnt a good idea.

I am by no means an expert but I beleive that it is best to vary the type of cardio that you are doing.

In the next month or so I will be trying this http://www.tmuscle.com/readArticle.do?id=1499282 routine while dieting.  It looks good as it explains how different cardio types work, as well as recommending/explaining sprints.