Sprinting vs Jogging; How Sprinting Wins Every Time

Kevin Kohan, PES, Sport Nutrition Specialist, Certified Gym Jones Instructor • July 31, 2019

Benefits of Sprinting

In ancient times, sprinting was a way of life and a staple in training protocols. As time moved on, we began to favor dialing down the intensity/speed and increasing the distance/endurance.

Jogging originated in the mid-17th century and became progressively more popular during the 1960’s and 70’s.

Jogging gained notoriety when ‘Boxers’ made it a staple training routines leading up to fights and from there it quickly worked its way into other athletes and weekend warriors alike.


The trend to use long steady-state runs to train for sports and to get in shape is still the most used on a regular basis to this day. I think everyone by now knows that, yes it is true you will improve cardiovascular fitness from jogging, but you will be conditioned to run long and slow. But this doesn’t necessarily mean you will get in SHAPE.

The problem is that most sports fall in the middle between strength and endurance ; if we only train the endurance end of the spectrum, then the burst of speed and quickness may not be there when you need it most.


Sprint training not only increases your speed, Power, and preparation for the physical demands of sports and military preparation, but it can also have metabolic advantages when trained properly.


Bottom line, if you want to get fast then you must sprint. Concentrate on training the energy systems needed for sport/life; this means most of us will be better off doing less 7-mile jogs and more interval-workouts.


In a recent study in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition, Exercise and Metabolism, researchers found that 2-minute sprint interval sessions done just 3 times a week for 6 weeks elicited the same fat loss effects as a session of 30 minutes of endurance exercise.


If fat torching is the goal for your training routine, then it is more EFFICIENT to move FASTER in less time to get the same affect of longer cardio sessions.

I think it is time to bring it back to the basics and call upon the strengths of the athletes of the Ancient world where sprinting was KING. It is time to start sprinting in order to achieve greatness like the athletes and soldiers of Ancient Greece.

Setting up your Sprint Program

When setting up your sprint programs it is important to ease into it if you are not familiar to this type of training. If your muscles haven’t been trained properly and if the muscles are not used to this type of training it is very easy to pull a hip flexor or hamstring muscle.


Sprinting too much too soon may cause aches in the hips, knees and ankles. Most of the time I will do my sprints on grass or a turf field to minimize the pounding of my joints.


In my TRAINING TIP TUESDAYpost yesterday we ran you through a dynamic warm up and basic sprint routine.


Perform a dynamic warm up consisting of mobility exercises, skips and light runs will warm the body up and minimize injuries. The sprints do not have to be 100 percent of your maximum running speed.

* Do 2 sets of each;

- squat with rotation

- toe touches + quad stretch

- Knee hug Lunge + reach

- high knees

- butt kicks

- dude shuffles

- Carioca

- jump squats

- striders (50-75% sprint speed working on mechanics)

THEN:

Basic HIT FIT Sprint Routine

In this routine you will start with the longest distance and move down to shorter distances. As the distances decrease, your speed in the runs will increase (I put percentages of running speed for the distances in the chart).

I prefer either a walk or light jog of the same distance for your recovery.

A1. 200 meters – 3 rounds @70-75% – walk what you ran for rest

B1. 100 meters – 6 rounds @80-85% – walk what you ran for rest

C1. 50 meters – 3 rounds @100% – walk what you ran for rest


Many times I either build my speed up during the runs or adjust my effort in accordance to the distance; the shorter the distance the faster I run.

Lastly, where recovery is concerned it is best to only perform sprint workouts 1-2 times a week with a few days rest in-between sessions. The sessions themselves should not be too long on time or distance.

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