Most people in this generation would not even remotely get the title mentioned above and I think very few today can even reference it. So let's have a little fun with this one shall we? I grew up on Stand Up Comedy from George Carlin to Robin Williams, Sam Kinison, Andrew Dice Clay & Eddie Murphy but the one that took them all was the legendary Richard Pryor. The title above is actually a line from what I call Pryor's Magnum Opus when he performed in Long Beach, California way back in 1979. If you ever need a laugh, this is about as epically awesome as it gets. This line is part of a bit he does about a trip to Africa or something of that sorts.
Now why in the blue hell would I be referencing Stand Up Comedy when it's supposed to be about fitness? Well, for one, that comedy show is one of the funniest you'll ever hear and it's the one show that made Richard not just a legend, but a mega star in the comedy world. Now onto number two...It's pretty damn funny the way he expresses the idea of being chased by the fastest cat in all the land. Ok, I've had my fun and I hope you did too.
The cheetah is the ultimate symbol for Sprint Training. Think about how lean yet explosive this wildcat is and what it has to do to catch its prey. If you ever watched one in slow motion, it almost looks like it's flying because if you slow it down enough, you may find when it gets to top speed at 70 miles an hour, it spends actually more time in the air than on its feet. That's really freaking incredible to watch. Plus, unless you know how to outsmart it, if you're chased down by a cheetah, it really is your ass that's going down.
Now how long does a cheetah run to catch food? Even at the highest speeds it can go, it's no more than a few seconds and most likely it'll be the only time of the day it'll go that hard because even in the Serengeti, it can get pretty damn hot and an overheating wildcat can be fatal, even deadly. So it ends up either eating or going hungry and sleeping about 80-90% of the day, maybe even more.
Sprint Training is hard whether you wish to believe it or not. You're literally taking off at the fastest your body can manage and you have to have incredible balance and coordination not to mention some crazy strong tendons and ligaments because without those things, you would be falling on your face and getting some nasty bruises, scrapes and scars. When it comes to Hill Sprints, you're not going to get as fast as you would on flat land but it also becomes something just like resistance training. You're not just being explosive, you're targeting every muscle in your body and when you're huffing and puffing, you're also generating greater levels of natural HGH than you would in a typical training session.
Whether on land or on a hill, when you run hard, run as if you're going after a gazelle or if you need to run for your life to live and fight another day. When you rest, you can lollygag for a bit just walking back or going down the hill but once you reach that starting point again, take off like the Flash man. Be like the cheetah and visualize taking something down with a vengeance. There's no mercy in this Dojo.
How many do you do and how long? For the most part, you don't need to do more than 10 for 10-15 seconds for a full on sprint. If you're reaching 20 seconds to a minute, you're going to start slowing down to the point where it'll feel like a jog more than a sprint. Your top speed whether you're a Usain Bolt or just the average guy, 10-15 seconds will most likely be the peak. When you start out, depending on your fitness level, 4-5 should be more than enough for a few weeks and than you can add one for another few weeks and so on and so forth. Sometimes just climbing the hill is something you can start with if you can't sprint yet, build up to it. Remember, a cheetah cub isn't born racing out of its mother like Michael Johnson at the '96 Olympics. It learns and mimics and even play in order to understand what it takes to survive.
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