Last Updated on January 24, 2022 by Martin
Are sprints for weight loss a good idea when trying to lose weight and improve your health?
To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume.
You usually do that by lowering your calorie intake when having your meals and exercising frequently.
One way to burn calories, carbs, and fat is by sprinting. They can be a shortcut to burn some calories quickly in a short period.
But how effective is that really when you look at your diet overall? Will these short boosts of burning calories cause you to eat more later? Is it more effective than jogging or walking?
Or is sprinting for weight loss the way forward when you want to lose fat?
In this article, we will look at sprints for losing weight. We will look at how effective they may be when you want to drop pounds of fat.
What are Sprints, and Why Can They Be a Good Way to Lose Weight?
Sprints are a high-intensity form of cardio that can help you burn calories and body fat quickly.
They are aerobic and anaerobic exercises, which means they don’t require oxygen. It is why they are such an effective way to burn calories and fat.
Anaerobic exercises activate the fast-twitch muscles needed to make quick bursts of energy.
When you sprint, your body relies on its own stored energy sources, such as glycogen, to provide the fuel needed to sprint. And because running is such a high-intensity exercise, it causes your body to release more stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline.
These hormones play a crucial role in helping you to burn a higher number of calories and fat.
Because sprinting is such a high-intensity form of cardio, sprints can also help you build leg and abdominal muscles. It means that sprinting not only enables you to burn fat from your midsection but can also strengthen your abdominal muscles.
How Sprinting Can Help You Burn More Calories
Sprinting can help you burn as much as 200 calories in just 20 minutes. They are a good form of cardio if you are looking to burn a lot of energy in a short period.
However, sprints are very hard on your knees, joints, and lower back.
So, if you have a history of knee issues or sprinting doesn’t agree with you, it is better to avoid sprints as they may cause more harm than good.
Sprinting may also lose your breath and cause you to become tired quickly. Those sprints can also leave your legs and abdomen sore, which means you may not want to sprint the next day again.
Also, sprinting may not be the correct form of cardio for you if you feel discomfort during or after.
• Also, check out our article Does Running Burn Belly Fat?
What If Sprint Interval Training Is Too Hard on You?
Sprinting is hard on you, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be effective for weight loss.
Sprinting can be an excellent way to burn calories and lose weight quickly if you sprint correctly and not overdo it.
But, if you are sprinting incorrectly or are sprinting too much, it can be very harmful to your body and may not be effective for weight loss at all.
Sprinting should only be done if you feel comfortable doing it and if it doesn’t cause any pain or discomfort.
If sprinting is something you are interested in doing for weight loss, make sure to consult with a doctor or physician.
The Health Benefits of Sprinting for Weight Loss
When it comes to sprinting for weight loss, you should know a few key health benefits.
Sprinting can help you burn a lot of energy in a short period. In just 20 minutes, you can burn as many as 200 calories. This makes sprinting an effective way to lose weight quickly.
Sprinting can also help you build muscle. When you sprint, your body relies on its own stored energy sources, such as glycogen, to provide the fuel needed to sprint.
This causes your body to release more stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones play a crucial role in helping your body burn more calories and fat.
Additionally, sprinting can help you improve your overall health, fitness level, immune system, and other benefits.
• Are you having problems getting started running? Perhaps this article, 18 Tips on increasing your stamina as you age, can help you out!
The Disadvantages
Sprinting to help you burn body fat does have a few disadvantages that you should be aware of.
Sprinting can be hard on your body and may not suit everyone. If sprinting doesn’t agree with you, it can be very harmful to your body and may not be effective for weight loss at all. Additionally, sprinting can leave you breathless and tired and cause you to become sore the next day.
Sprinting can also be dangerous if you sprint incorrectly or too much. Doing it incorrectly or too much can cause more harm than good and may not be effective for weight loss.
Sprinting can also make you eat too many calories. When sprinting, your body releases stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones help your body to burn more energy and fat.
However, they can also cause you to become hungry and eat more food than you usually would.
So, if sprinting is something you are interested in doing for weight loss, make sure to monitor your food intake closely to make sure you are not eating more than you should be.
Additionally, try to sprint for a shorter period to don’t eat too many calories.
How to Sprint to Burn Fat the Most
To get the best fat burning out of your sprinting, you shouldn’t only rely on doing a sprint interval workout. You must combine your sprint interval training with frequent walking and jogging to get the best results.
That way, you keep an excellent endurance where you can steadily burn some body fat without depleting the glycogen levels in your muscles.
Often the best fat burn happens over a longer duration where you sneak the body fat off instead of using high-intensity interval training.
However, if you keep doing the same long duration moderate intensity, your metabolism and body fat burn will start to stall, and you will stop losing weight.
Therefore, the best solution is to combine high-intensity interval training with moderate-intensity continuous training.
• Also, read Walking to Lose Weight 8 Top Benefits
Different Ways to Use Sprint Interval Training in Your Workouts
Let’s take some closer looks at how you can use high-intensity interval training in your workouts.
Using this approach, you will improve your body composition and health and lower your body fat percentage.
Sprints for Weight Loss Doing the HIIT Protocol
The HIIT protocol is excellent on days when you don’t want to spend too much or have less time working out.
For example, do this protocol in a timeframe of twenty minutes or less. Either after a workout or just by itself.
How to Do This Form of High-Intensity Interval Training
Start a warm-up walk for around 5 minutes to get your leg muscles warm.
After that, you make your first sprint for as long as you can, followed by a period of walking to get your heart rate down.
Repeat the cycle.
The goal is to make eight sprints for as long as you can, within 20 minutes.
You can extend the time or make more sprints when you can do that.
This sprint form within the HIIT group of workouts is a great way to burn fat without starting to burn lean muscle mass.
At the same time, it will also give you some cardiovascular benefits, help you to avoid getting heart disease, and lower blood pressure.
Endurance Walking with Elements of HIIT Sprints
Here your focus is to walk for at least 30 minutes or up to an hour if you have the time.
The goal here is endurance and to get some steps under your belt, so you all together can reach a daily step count of at least 10.000 steps.
How to Do This Moderate Intensity Continuous Training
While walking, you do between 4 and 8 quick bursts sprints to get your heart rate up during your cardio workout.
Whether you should make 4 or 8 sprints depends on how much energy you have left after a weightlifting routine.
Just Do the Walking at Moderate Intensity
Finally, you can also have a workout day to stick to walking. Using a treadmill, you can set it to incline to get your heart rate up without getting too tired.
Just walking could be great if you did a HIIT protocol routine the day before.
This form of cardio training can be great for abdominal fat reduction and if your focus is to build lean muscle mass.
Setting Up Your Fitness Exercise Routine
As I said earlier, the best approach is to mix things up. Have days where you do cardio workouts within the HIIT group. Combine them with days where you make it easier by just doing walks or jogging over a more extended period.
This cardio exercise protocol is excellent for those who want to do muscle building and remove abdominal visceral fat, so your six-pack shows.
Weight training combined with high-intensity anaerobic exercise and moderate-intensity aerobic fitness. This is the way forward if you want to obtain lean body mass.
Remember Your Diet
For sure, doing a sprint interval exercise in your workout can give you some good results with your weight loss and health.
But don’t forget to get the right nutrition that suits your fitness goals.
It is impossible to get your body fat down if you eat unhealthily and too many calories.
Therefore, make sure that your fitness program is a good combination of sprints, moderate-intensity cardio, strength training, proper nutrition, and rest.
Is Sprint Interval Training Better Than the Moderate Intensity Walking Exercise?
Is it better to do spring interval training for fat loss than moderate cardio workouts like walking or jogging?
High-intensity sprint interval training gives you several benefits for fat burn, fitness, and exercise.
But they are not a must-do in your workout if you don’t like to exercise at a high intensity.
If you keep your overall intensity moderate, strength training, jogging, and walking can be just as great burners and can boost your metabolism differently but as good.
Difference Between Sprint Interval Training and Moderate Intensity Continuous Training?
When it comes to sprinting for weight loss, the main benefit is that you will get your heart rate up and boost your metabolism to elevate for the coming hours.
When doing anaerobic exercises like sprints, you require fast access to energy such as glucose and glycogen. It means your body fat burn will not be as high.
When you do moderate exercises like jogging or walking, your metabolism will stay elevated but not as high as sprinting for the coming hours.
Instead, you will burn more fat during your exercise routine than sprinting.
Remember Periods of Rest for Recovery
Periods of high or moderate-intensity exercise must always be followed by periods of rest and recovery.
Having rest days is essential for the recovery of your body, muscles, and nerves.
So, if you are having a week with four days of exercise, make sure to get plenty of rest in between for recovery.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Also, remember to get plenty of sleep for health, exercise, rest, and recovery. That way, you will be ready for your next fitness workout the following day.
Avoid Over-Training
Over-training is terrible for your health and can slow down and even reverse the results you are getting from your HIIT workouts.
So, remember, a period of rest for recovery is vital to your progression and getting some good results.
FAQ: When It Comes to Sprinting, and Weight Loss,
let’s a quick FAQ so we can eliminate some of the questions you might have regarding sprinting and fat loss.
Q: How many sprints should I make to burn body fat?
A: If you do a workout in the HIIT group category, you should aim to make at least five sprints when you are starting. From here, you should work yourself up to do at least eight or more.
Q: What is the best approach to better shape using sprint intervals?
A: The best approach combines sprint intervals with moderate workouts such as strength training, jogging, and walking.
It will give you a good combination of getting your heart rate up and lowering your fat percentage.
Q: Are Sprint intervals better than jogging?
A: I will say that combining is the best approach to improving your health and getting in shape.
Whether you will burn fat depends on your health, fitness routine, and eating.
Q: Can runners do the keto diet?
A: You should not do any high-intensity workouts at the beginning of your keto diet.
This is because you need to push your body into ketosis before you start to burn any fat and lose weight.
When running, you will need some fast energy that you usually get from carbohydrates. Starting to consume carbs at the beginning of your keto diet will make it harder to reach ketosis.
Therefore, wait until you have reached ketosis before you get started to run on your keto diet.
To get in ketosis faster, you can grab yourself a keto free trial bottle.
Also, check out this article on how to get into ketosis in less than 24 hours.
Sprint Training for Fat Loss – Putting It All Together
Sprints for weight loss are an effective way to get the most out of sprinting and HIIT workouts. You can burn more fat, boost your metabolism, and build lean muscle mass with sprint intervals if you use them in moderation.
To get the best results in health, workout, and fitness, combining high-intensity interval training with moderate-intensity continuous training is best. That way, you will get the best of both worlds.
Always remember that sprints should be followed by periods of rest and recovery so you don’t overtrain or injure yourself after an intense workout routine.
Suppose sprint intervals sound too intimidating for you. In that case, other alternatives such as jogging or walking can provide similar benefits to losing body fat and boosting your metabolism during exercise routines.
Get Faster and Better Results Using a Fat Burner
One thing is making sprints for fat loss; another is getting started using a fat burner to optimize your results. Here PhenGold can be an excellent choice because it will optimize your fat burn metabolism and raise your energy levels.
Overall, it means that you will be able to do your workouts and sprint at a higher intensity, giving you better results in the end.
The post Sprints for Weight Loss How to Do Them for Optimal Fat Loss appeared first on FatBurner Journal.
