Certain aspects of training can be hard as hell and you do the best of what your body allows you. Even with a strong mind, your body is quite capable of more than we give credit but there's always a limit that reaches maximum. In Sprint Training, no matter who you are, your top speed only lasts mere seconds. In those seconds however, you are training your body to tackle fat like Kevin Greene took down quarterbacks; hard, fast and with ferocious intensity.
Sprints separate the men from the boys and turns them into lean, mean fighting machines nearly as fast as the Flash. You can have your life flash before your eyes and still see what it would be like to go so hard that you are fighting for your life at the same time. Sprints are primal, intense and full of benefits that we often ignore because of the various things that it does or doesn't do. In simple terms, Sprint Training gives off Warrior Vibes.
For 10 seconds at a time, you can imagine many things to make this as intense as it's meant to be: Chasing down somebody, running from an animal, racing your shadow, being a character, being a real life superhuman or whatever you choose to do, make it so you're creating the fastest version of yourself. Those 10 seconds can determine the ability to burn off fat at a rate that's almost unbelievable to comprehend. Now imagine working those 10 seconds multiple times and rest 2-3x as long in order to recover. It's Strength Training in its simplest form; no complicated things to do, no machines, no gym noise, nothing but you and the ground.
Hill Sprints however make fat burning the ultimate workout that ground sprints doesn't get passed. Even by mere inches, Hills make your ground work better and you take on a whole new meaning to the words "Mental Toughness." This past Thursday and yesterday, I took on a Hill nearby the house and went as hard as my body allowed me for 10 Sprints at 10 seconds at a time. I wasn't always my fastest, but went hard as I possibly could and made each sprint and my recovery count. It's that time of year where flowers bloom, the weather gets warmer and the days are longer. It's time to hit the Hill to really make the most of what you want to achieve in having a lean physique fast.
Like the Nazis standing and getting melted by an ancient and powerful box, your fat won't stand a chance with Hill Sprinting. Like always, pay attention to form but at the same time, pay attention to your intentions as well. This isn't some climb up a hill and going for a hike, you're going to work at the hardest you can possibly make it for those few seconds of training. Intensity is the key and your will to go hard as if your life depended on it. 100 seconds is all of the time it takes to induce the largest amount of Growth Hormone and Testosterone possible. Be able to breathe better, sleep better, eat more and feel that urge of sexual energy that every guy wants to feel.
Training this way is only needed 2-3x a week and it's best to start off with a small number of sets and seconds if you haven't done them in a while. 4x8-10 seconds would be a good starting point, that's a max of 40 seconds of work. Each month, add one sprint and a few seconds to progressively get more out of it. Max sprints IMO shouldn't be more than 20-30 seconds and on most days, 10-15 is more than enough. Max amount of Sprints shouldn't be more than 10 because you're training merely to get leaner and stronger, you're not trying to match Walter Payton who did so many damn sprints it's a miracle his legs didn't fall off his body. At full speed may not be more than a few seconds and probably no more than 10. It's very difficult if not impossible to stay at 100% speed for 30 seconds.
To build a program on Hill Sprints, check out Josh Bryant's 6-Week Sprint Training Guide to get you started. Also check out his Speed Training book.
Be fast, run hard and keep being amazingly awesome.
