How Sprinting Changes Your Body (Once Per Week Is Sufficient)

Sprinting is often thought of as a pursuit of the young, but it can bring particularly important health benefits in later life:

And… Go!

Sprinting once per week can drastically improve health and fitness as we age. Specifically, it offers benefits some of which are unique to sprinting:

• Enhances range of motion and resilience.
• Burns 200 kcal in 2.5 minutes
• Boosts daily calorie burn by up to 950 kcal*
• Reduces cognitive decline and supports brain health.
• Builds bone density, especially in the tibia, but everywhere upwards from the tibia too.

*this is specific to sprinting, be it a running sprint or other kind of sprint (e.g. cycling, swimming, etc), and is a topic we’ve explored a lot in the category of high-intensity interval training (HIIT). In short, HIIT “confuses” the heart in a good way, which results in a sustained metabolic increase to meet the perceived needs (i.e. the body thinks “we might have to suddenly sprint again any minute, so let’s stay ready for that”), instead of the post-exercise metabolic compensatory slump that occurs after longer exercise sessions (e.g. endurance training). Note that if you sprint, once, that’s basically just a single interval of HIIT, and has the same benefits as such. Of course, if you do more intervals, you’ll get more benefits, but the point is that one interval is already doing your body good.

For more on all of this plus illustrative examples, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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How To Do HIIT (Without Wrecking Your Body)

Take care!