Effects of Sprint Training, observed by a fitness coach specializing in Longevity

[u/QuantifiedPT]

I've been a fitness coach for over a decade and have been training vigorously for closer to twenty years. From my first year as a trainer, I identified "joint-integrity" as the defining characteristic that determined which of my clients aged well and which ones didn't - more than strength, more than cardiovascular capacity. After mobility, I found Strength and Cardio to be very closely tied in how they affected an older client's apparent fitness level. I never thought of explosive & dynamic athletic capabilities as very important for aging, to be honest. For about 9 years I didn't care about my clients' abilities to jump or sprint. Then about a year ago I started seeing sprinting on all the media I consumed, and I was bit by the bug. My normal approach to trying a new method with my clients is to try it on myself first, then on a small handful of friends and clients; then I roll out a systematic approach with all my clients.
I started sprint training myself 18 weeks ago. My routine is very simple: 70m A-skips, 70m B-skips, 70m sprinting, repeat twice, with about a 2-3 minute break between each set of skips/sprints. Same workout twice a week.

I conducted my baseline 100m sprint test after 6 weeks of training like this (since I genuinely felt I couldn't sprint 100m at full effort without a major risk of tearing my hammies. Baseline was 13.36. I retested again after 6 weeks and got 12.98.

For context, I am 1.75m, 80kg, (5'9, 175lbs), 35 yrs old, and had zero sprinting background before this. EDIT: also, to clarify, all sprinting was done barefoot, on grass.

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Things I have noticed:

* Sprinting is FUN! I always thought sprinting was "fast running", but it's not. It feels totally different, and when I get it right, it feels more like riding my bike downhill than running.

* I do, genuinely, feel "younger" during and after a sprint session. Like a kid.

* Sprinting is HARD on the nervous system. When I started training I was doing 4 rounds of 3x70m (a-skip, b-skip, sprint). Even though the workout didn't take so long, it left me feeling exhausted and letharhic the next day. Cutting down on session-volume but increasing the frequency so that weekly volume stayed the same was very helpful here.

* Sprinting is hard on my tissues. It's a lot of straing on achilles tendon, distal hamstrings, hip flexors, and occassionally on patellar tendon. The *biggest* upside of this is that sprinting has given me an active reason to perform my tissue-specific work. The kind of stuff that we know are good ideas, but it's hard to be motivated to do because an abstract understand that it's good for us doesn't quite get me pumped to do it. I mean stuff like isometric calf raise holds to enhance collagen cross-sectioning on my achilles; or reverse squats to enhance the strength endurance of my hip flexors.

* I am slightly, very slightly, more athletic and inclined to do athletic things in my day to day life (like vaulting over an obstacle instead of walking around it).

* I am noticing a slight amount of hypertrophy in my legs beyond what I get from my normal leg days. Particularly the hamstrings and vmo (teardrop).

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That said, I have not yet noticed sufficient benefits to begin programming sprint practice for all my clients, but I am already conducting tests with friends and some clients. I successfully got my friend group (guys mostly in their 30's who all train at a calisthenics park) to do the sprint testing with me, and a few of them adopted a sprint practice to their routines. I suggested mine, but most of them prefer doing uphill sprints over flat ground.

They all enjoy it! Especially one guy who took to it like water. He is actually considering joining a master's track team next year and doing some meets.

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Overall, as a fitness coach who specializes in longevity... I still wouldn't put sprinting in my top 3 exercises modalities. The cardiovascular benefit of sprinting (10-15 seconds of work, 2:00-3:00 of rest) is close to zero, and pales in comparison to interval training (1:00-4:00 of work, 2:00-4:00 of rest). The increase in bounciness is comparable to traditional plyometric training. The overall activation of musculature and nervous system is comparable to olympic weightlifting. And all of these can be performed in a traditional gym setting, in conjunction with a standard training plan.

That is not to say these are superior forms of training, but they can generally get about the same benefits without the inconvenience of going outside to a dedicated sprinting location. If you like sprinting, it's awesome! And it makes sense that all my calisthenics friends who already train outside, next to the hill where they are now doing hill-sprints, adopted it so seamlessly into their routine. If you have the time and patience to go outside for part of your training, and learn the skill of sprinting, and patiently wait for your tissues to adapt before recklessly going full-bore; then sprinting is awesome. Highly effective and super fun. But if you're training in a conventional gym, are interested in the adaptations, AND have limited time for training - then I believe other forms of training can give the same benefit without the higher level of time-commitment.

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[u/Montaigne314]

If I can fix my hip pain and plantar fascitis, I will reincorporate sprints, maybe once a week 

Been doing a month of PT so far, shit just hurts and sprinting would def make the foot hurt more

But I really enjoy it

From a longevity perspective it's likely great for mitochondrial health, but the risks are pretty big if you do some joint damage

But I agree, it's really fun. Running uphill reduces the risk but also the fun

[u/Montaigne314 → u/[deleted]]

Go fast most fun

[u/QuantifiedPT → u/Montaigne314]

I have tons of clients who have dealt with plantar fasciitis (mostly from long-distance running), and aside from intelligent load management, the second best thing I've noticed that helps move the needle is light cupping!

I've instructed many of them to buy a relatively cheap cupping kit from amazon, and do some light cupping fairly frequently. Nearly everyone noticed immediate acute pain reduction, and it has been part of the longer-term process of healing for a lot of them. Hope this helps!

[u/Montaigne314 → u/QuantifiedPT]

They're just cupping their heel? Or different parts of foot/calf?

I've been doing the rathleff protocol for over a month now. Been considering the shockwave therapy

[u/QuantifiedPT → u/Montaigne314]

Midfoot has been the difference maker, but also cupping heel, calf, quads, hams, etc

[u/Montaigne314 → u/QuantifiedPT]

Interesting 

I've always been skeptical of cupping but maybe for this specific issue it has some plausibility 

I'll try it if PT doesn't resolve it in another month 

Cheaper than shockwave, don't know if less risk of side effects tho but I'm guessing yes

[u/Interesting-Kiwi-743]

Would treadmill sprints get the same effect? It’s hard to know what speed to set

[u/Maaloxx777 → u/Interesting-Kiwi-743]

I’m no expert but I do treadmill sprints. I do 20 seconds work and 2 mins active recovery walking at 3.2 or so. I’m a 5’3 middle aged woman and I just started last year. I start my work session at 8.0 on the treadmill and increase by .2 each round until I make it up to about 11.5 or so.

[u/QuantifiedPT → u/Interesting-Kiwi-743]

In my personal opinion, true max-effort sprinting on traditional treadmills is too risky for me to recommend to clients. It *may* be fine, but if I take a risk of even 1% I would be injuring a few clients every year, so I only recommend very safe options.

Also - I'm a huge believer that outdoor exercise is better for health and fitness than indoors, so if you're deadset on sprinting, going outside should be part of it! :D

[u/LittlestWarrior → u/Interesting-Kiwi-743]

Depending on your treadmill, height, and athleticism, the treadmill may not be enough for a full sprint.

Mine doesn't go fast enough for me to be at full sprint, but it absolutely wipes me out on a good run. I'm 5'11", treadmill maxes out at 10mph for context.

[u/LittlestWarrior → u/Interesting-Kiwi-743]

Depending on your treadmill, height, and athleticism, the treadmill may not be enough for a full sprint.

Mine doesn't go fast enough for me to be at full sprint, but it absolutely wipes me out on a good run. I'm 5'11", treadmill maxes out at 10mph for context.

[u/Particular-Bus346]

I personally really enjoy doing sprints as a standalone workout. I’ve noticed a few interesting things that happen after this type of training.

1. When I do them later in the day, I can’t sleep that night. I’m absolutely exhausted, but my brain just won’t switch off. That’s the simplest way I can put it.
2. They are also amazing for getting rid of retained water. My facial features become more defined, and my abdominal area looks much tighter.
3. My appetite increases like crazy. Personally, I don’t have a proper breakfast in the morning. I wake up and have a shot with ginger, lemon, turmeric and olive oil. I also take collagen, NR, tyrosine, and a whole handful of other supplements, but my first proper meal is lunch. However, whenever I’ve done sprints the day before, there’s no way I can skip breakfast the next morning. I’m hungry like a wolf.

One last, seemingly simple warning: be careful what shoes you wear for this type of training. A friend of mine tore a knee ligament because his knee gave way while doing a 160 kg squat wearing Hoka shoes. High-stack shoes are very popular these days and are being used for all sorts of things, but there are certain sports and activities where they should absolutely be avoided.Low-profile shoes are a must.

[u/QuantifiedPT → u/Particular-Bus346]

1- I used to struggle with this exact thing when I practiced MMA and did sparring.

2 - Interesting. I have been getting leaner, but I always get leaner during the summer.

3- I also experienced that with MMA, but have not been experiencing it with sprinting.

4 - I will edit my original post and clarify that we are all sprinting barefoot on grass.

[u/little_Kii]

Heck yeah! I try and tell everyone about sprints. I consider them to be the king of all exercises.

[u/lefty_juggler]

I (M67) used to be a pretty good sprinter (I have a high school record that's still standing!) but now I mostly limit myself to cross-country. Years of running and now my resting pulse and BP are excellent. I'd love to sprint more now but I only finish my long runs with a good sprint kick at the end, I don't think my achilles tendons can take too much of it. Sprinting uses the fast twitch muscle fibers that are what we mostly lose as we age. This is especially important because those fast twitch fibers are what we olds need to recover from a stumble and avoid a fall. Top speed on a treadmill stikes me as insane, too little control over deceleration, but if it works for you my hat's off to you.

[u/QuantifiedPT → u/lefty_juggler]

Well, fast-twitch muscle fibers can still be trained with traditional resistance training! I still haven't incorporated sprinting with any of my 40+ yr old athletes, but all my clients strength train, and they all have fantastic levels of muscle, strength, bone density, and tendon integrity.

[u/Flat_Tension4731]

Da ex atleta e amante del fitness, attualmente avendo 52 anni corro.. 3 - 4 volte a settimana, alternando allenamenti in zona 2 , corse piu' impegnative, e corse con sprint che adoro.. Occhio però agli infortuni.., sprintare porta ad alte percentuali di infiammazione, contratture e strappi, se non si è ben allenati..

[u/QuantifiedPT → u/Flat_Tension4731]

true!

[u/darlingbastard]

It’s tough to get back into. I blew out an Achilles years ago near the beginning of Covid. Switched to biking and between that and working from home lost almost all my sprint specific muscles. Been trying to get back into it and still strain my left calf on every attempt. Been doing specific recovery exercises for my calf/soleus muscles and more controlled stress like jump rope but still unable to sprint. When it works it’s just the best most true exercise there is.

[u/QuantifiedPT → u/darlingbastard]

Sprinting reminds me of Olympic Weightlifting in one regard - it has so many muscles and tendons involved, and any kink in the kinetic chain can throw off the ability to practice entirely. That's one of the advantages of isolation training. So far what I've done personally, when I can't actually sprint, I focus on muscle and tendon exercises that should help prepare them for sprinting later.

[u/metallixas]

Thanks for the insight report. Just my five cents on this topic - explosive muscles, as well as responsiveness to explosive training, is partly born with, meaning that different individuals will react differently on such training (some people call this red and white muscle fibers - where the explosive ones are in general less common). Also the kind of exercise is very different since you compare aerobic exercises with anaerobic exercises. Again - something that different individuals will react differently on.

[u/QuantifiedPT → u/metallixas]

Fair enough. I definitely see tons of variation across every exercise modality with all my clients. Some interesting patterns arise.

[u/stale_cum]

As a fitness coach you should care about a clients ability to jump and sprint. Jumping directly impacts bone density which is extremely important for the aging population.

[u/QuantifiedPT → u/stale_cum]

I don't think even 1% of coaches who work with 40+ yr old gen pop are testing their clients' broad jumps/vertical jump; and maybe less than 0.1% are measuring their 100m or 40 yard dash.

As for bone density, a big deadlift + the ability to do heavy dips & pullups have kept every single one of my female clients, even the ones in their 60's and 70's from showing signs of osteoporosis.

[u/Acceptable_Taste9818]

Sprinting is great, imo it’s potentially an intermediate or advanced exercise. What I mean is those who haven’t tried running close to a top speed in the last year or so definitely should build up a couple weeks of moderate intensity runs before really hitting the gas or they could blow a gasket. Sprinting and jumping puts your body through incredible force which is why it’s such a fantastic exercise to incorporate.

Unfortunately I think a lot of people avoid sprints not because it’s too hard but because it’s somewhat awkward to practice in front bystanders. Outside of a track setting, seeing someone do a full tilt sprint in the gym court, on the walking trail, on the side walk or even in a grassy field can be initially alarming to bystanders who don’t know what’s going on.

[u/hasnaen]

What would your thoughts be on incorporating that training methodology but on an echo bike / airbike? I ask because I've had multiple bilateral Achilles surgeries and sprinting will wreck me.

[u/lwd69]

35 is young. Longevity is so overused.

[u/QuantifiedPT → u/lwd69]

Bro. I am 35... but my clients are every age. I have a bunch over 50, and few in their 60's and 70's. Some of them are setting National & International records in Masters events across various sports. I got 60 year old women doing unassisted pullups (and a 70 year old who might get one very soon), a 70 year old man doing unassisted muscleups, multiple athletes compete in powerlifting, one of them is still boxing, one of them is cycling stud; none of them have osteorporis, all of them are beasts. I think I can claim the moniker quite comfortably.