Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Kiel DiGiovanni, Co-founder
FACT CHECKED
Being big and strong isn't everything – you should strive to have some athleticism. Athleticism is simply a term referring to the ability to move and control body movement quickly and powerfully. The best way for strength athletes and bodybuilders to improve this is by adding sprint workouts to their training.
Sprinting is the most fundamental expression of human strength and athleticism, yet it's absent from many lifters' programs. That's why this article will lay out several sprint workouts that anyone can add to their training program today for an instant boost in speed and agility.
So, What Is Sprinting?
Sprinting is running at maximal speeds for a short distance, generally defined as 400m or less at an elite level. For the general public, this distance will be much shorter depending on the fitness level.
Think about it. Sprinting requires you to run at your top speed, so going too far will naturally require you to slow down.
With that said, most sprint workouts will consist of runs less than 60 seconds or 200m.
13 Best Sprint Workouts
So now that you're convinced you should add sprint training to your exercise programming, we will lay out 13 different sprint workouts.
We divided these into different variations of sprint training.
- General Sprint Training
- Sprint Interval Training
- Hill Sprints
- Resisted Sprints
- Fat Burning Sprints
- Fartleks
Also, remember that you can use these exact workouts or simply use them for inspiration. You can alter any of them to meet your needs.
Sprint Training Workouts
These workouts will include sprint workouts that don't necessarily fit in the other types of workouts. Using these can be a bit more fun and can be used to switch things up.
1. Sprint Training Workout A
Place 6 cones in a line 10 meters apart. The 6th cone should be 50 meters from the first cone.
- Sprint to the 1st cone
- Walk back
- Sprint to the 2nd cone
- Walk back
- Repeat
2. Sprint Workout B
This workout will use rolling starts. It involves starting with a jog and then breaking out into a full sprint.
- Jog for 30 seconds
- Break into a sprint for 30 seconds
- Walk back to the start
- Repeat 5 times
3. Sprint Workout C
This sprint workout involves ramping up over your distance. Ideally, you will have 200 meters to run.
- Sprint 0-40 meters at 60%
- Sprint 40-80 meters at 70%
- Sprint 80-120 meters at 80%
- Sprint 120-160 meters at 90%
- Sprint 160-200 meters at Max Effort
Sprint Interval Training Workouts
Sprint interval training, also known as SIT, is your classic form of sprint training. It consists of alternating work intervals with rest intervals.
During the work interval, you run at maximal intensity and then rest for the prescribed rest interval. This is then repeated for the prescribed workout.
4. Sprint Interval Training Workout A
- Sprint 1:00
- Walk 3:00
- Repeat 5 times
5. Sprint Interval Training Workout B
- Sprint 50 meters
- Rest 1:00
- Repeat 10 times
Hill Sprints Workouts
Hill sprints are brutal workouts. As the name implies, it consists of sprinting uphill.
You can use a treadmill on an incline if you don't live in an area with appropriate hills.
Concerning the workouts, you can use the same basic principles found with sprint interval training.
6. Hill Sprint Workout A
- Sprint up a hill for 20 seconds
- Walk or jog for 1:00
- Repeat until you sprint 500 meters
7. Hill Sprint Workout B (Treadmill)
- :20 Sprint
- 1:00 Walk
- Increase Incline :20 Sprint
- :20 Sprint
- Increase Incline :20 Sprint
- Repeat the process until you can't sprint the 20 seconds
- Reverse the process until you hit flat again.
Resisted Sprints Workouts
Resisted sprints involve sprinting while towing a sled or parachute. Either one requires more force production from the sprinter's legs.
Now, concerning top-end speed, research is inconclusive on whether resisted sprints can actually increase maximal speed.
However, where resisted sprinting can benefit you is in terms of acceleration. Going from a dead stop to maximum speed requires significant force production.
Using a sled or parachute weighs down the body, requiring more strength and power in your initial strides.
Imagine you weigh 80kg and use a 20kg sled. This would mean your legs must produce power to propel 100kg. At first, this would slow your acceleration down, but after training, you would be able to pull harder and faster. You then go back to sprinting with just your body weight or 80kg. Your legs, which have been to maximize sprinting speed with 100kg, now need to sprint but 20kg lighter, at least theoretically.
When using resisted sprinting, it's important not to use too heavy of a load or train too much.
8. Resisted Sprint Workout A
This workout includes short sprints to focus on acceleration
- Sprint for 10 seconds
- Rest 1:00
- Repeat 10 times
9. Resisted Sprint Workout B
- Sprint until you hit a maximal speed
- Recovery walk 1:00
- Repeat Process X 5-10
Fat Burning Sprints Workouts
Remember, if you want to use sprint workouts for sprinting, all you need to do is use sprint intervals with a similar work-to-rest ratio, such as 1:1. You could try to use a work interval that's longer than rest, but these will be very tough and should be used by more advanced athletes.
10. Fat Burning Sprint Workout A
- Sprint:30
- Recovery Walk:30
- Repeat 5-10 times
11. Fat Burning Sprint Workout B
- Sprint for 20 seconds
- Recovery Walk 40 second
- Repeat 5-10 times
12. Fat Burning Sprint Workout C
This workout uses a Tabata format. The only difference is you'll walk or jog during the rest intervals.
- Sprint 10 seconds
- Walk/Jog 20 seconds
- Repeat 8-10 times
Fartleks
Fartlek, Swedish for "speed play," refers to an unstructured form of running that consists of a runner alternating speed during a longer run.
13. Fartlek Workout
- 500m @ 60%
- 100m @ 85%
- 200m @ 60%
- 500m @ 70%
- 100m @ 90%
- 500m @ 50%
- 1000m @ 75%
- 50m @ 95%
And so on. There's literally no structure and no rules. Some people will make a playlist, put it on shuffle, and then run according to the music.
Others may use landmarks. For example, they see a sign and sprint to it, then slow back down. If they run on a road with light traffic, they may run at a higher pace until they see a car—whatever you want.
To be clear, this is not specific to sprinting, but you can easily alter some of the variables to optimize it for speed.
Regardless, these are great to use as an alternative to an endurance run.
Note: As fartleks don't have structure, it's impossible to give you a workout as it would then have structure and no longer be a fartlek. It's the nature of the beast.
With that said, let's say you need to do a 30-minute long slow run or a 5k. Do so, but intersperse bursts of speed throughout.
Implementing Sprint Workouts
How you implement sprint workouts depends on your goal and their intended use.
Regardless, these are high-intensity workouts, so you must ensure you allow plenty of rest between sessions. Generally, the rule is to allow 2-3 days of rest between workouts.
For most people, this means 2 sprint sessions during a week.
If you are running a full sprint session, ideally you are able to do this on its own day. However, if you perform on the same day as resistance training, try to separate the sprint workout from the weight training.
There's also another option.
If you are simply adding sprint workouts to your training for general benefits (i.e. you're not overly concerned with maximizing sprint speeds), you could simply add some short sessions post-workout.
We listed some of these above for you, but it's 5-10 minutes in intervals. These are short and can easily be added to the end of your training session.
Sprinting For Beginners
Sprinting can be intimidating for new beginners, but it doesn't need to be.
When just starting out, don't be concerned about "not doing enough." Run a few sprints at 80% effort with some intervals just to get into the groove.
After this, you use the same basic components of progressive overload. Increase the intensity and volume slowly over time.
That said, initially, you should be concerned with increasing some volume at lower intensities before you start using max speeds.
Again, this is similar to lifting. When first starting to deadlift, you don't immediately go out and immediately max out! Instead, you (should) use very light weights to practice form and build some foundational strength.
4 Benefits Of Sprint Workouts
Sprinting forces your body to push itself to its limits, inevitably producing many awesome benefits.
1. Improve VO2 Max
VO2 max, or maximal oxygen consumption, is the highest amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise. A higher VO2 max basically means that your body can perform more work with the same amount of oxygen.
Ultimately, this means your heart and lungs don't have to work as hard.
VO2 max is generally regarded as the ultimate indicator of fitness, meaning that anything that increases is a plus.
2. Burn Off Calories
This probably comes as no surprise, but running at maximal speeds during sprint interval training burns a ton of calories in a short amount of time. We will tell you that a lot of the information out there greatly exaggerates this benefit, but that doesn't make it untrue.
There are many factors to consider, but research suggests you can burn 200-300 calories in 20-30 minutes.¹
Alterations in this number depend on your work-to-rest ratio during sprint training.
When training to maximize top speed, interval training uses a longer rest period to ensure maximum effort. This is similar to resting longer when lifting heavy loads. You may sprint for 30 seconds, then rest for 3 minutes. This obviously lengthens the time of training while minimizing work, resulting in fewer calories.
Therefore, if burning calories is your main priority with sprint training, use a ratio with similar ratios to maximize the amount of work you do in a given time limit.
3. Improve Body Composition
Not only will you burn calories, but there's evidence that sprint interval training promotes the burning of fat for fuel while preserving more muscle mass.²
Depending on your fitness level, you can even put on muscle mass!
This preservation and potential growth of your muscles is due to the high-intensity nature of sprinting. Just like lifting weights, sprinting requires high levels of force from the muscles, which stimulates this growth.
4. Increase Performance
Sprinting is the most basic human performance variable and is crucial for any sort of sport. Being able to run at and maintain top speeds is one of the best indicators of athletic ability and is the equivalent of your maximal lifts.
Further, a relationship between lower body strength and sprint speeds has been found – increasing strength results in faster top speeds.
At the same time, resisted sprint training has also been found to increase lower body strength and power, demonstrating a transfer in improvements.
Alternatives To Sprint Training
Sprinting can be highly demanding on your body. Some people can't run, perhaps due to poor fitness or knee injuries.
Don't worry!
Technically, sprinting can refer to any form of locomotion, such as:
- Cycling
- Swimming
- Skating
Therefore, you could apply these same principles to a mode of exercise you like. Cycling is an awesome choice as it's easy on the knees, and many people find exerting maximal efforts to be easier.
Start Running Faster Today
Just as getting stronger is always a good idea, so is running faster. Sprinting faster demonstrates improvements in your biomechanics, muscular strength, power production, heart and lung strength, and overall cardiovascular function. If you want to become more athletic and improve conditioning, add sprints to your workout today.
Now that you're equipped with the workouts, check out our post How To Sprint Faster to boost your max speed.
References
- Sevits, Kyle J., et al. “Total Daily Energy Expenditure Is Increased Following a Single Bout of Sprint Interval Training.” Physiological Reports, vol. 1, no. 5, Oct. 2013, https://doi.org/10.1002/phy2.131.
- Hazell, Tom J., et al. “Running Sprint Interval Training Induces Fat Loss in Women.” Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, vol. 39, no. 8, Aug. 2014, pp. 944–950, https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2013-0503.
Garett Reid
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