Question: Will sprinting get me more shredded than standard cardio?—GERRY S., APEX, NC
Answer: When have you ever seen a top college or world-class sprinter who wasn’t ripped? Sprinting is one of the best cardiovascular workouts you can do efficiency-wise when it comes to fat loss. It’s one of the few forms of conditioning that will burn lots of fat within a short amount of time. Instead of doing slow steady-state cardio for one hour, you can sprint for 30 minutes and burn the same amount of calories or more. One of the biggest benefits of sprinting is the resulting high EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), aka, the “afterburn” effect, meaning the ability to burn calories after the workout is over. Research has shown that high-intensity interval training produces much higher EPOC than steady-state cardio because of the intensity of the workout, even when duration is significantly shorter. In other words, the higher the intensity, the higher the EPOC effect.
In addition to maximizing fat burning, sprinting also builds and preserves lean muscle by increasing growth hormone levels and specifically targeting the fast-twitch fibers. Plus, sprinting improves athleticism and even saves time from a workout perspective.
Speed Up: You can jog for an hour, or you can sprint and burn way more fat in way less time.
If you’re still not convinced, try out the following sprint workout for a month or two and send us a tweet (@muscle_fitness) to let us know if you’re leaner than you were before.
