One of the quickest ways you can burn fat off your body but, still maintain your muscle is by doing hill sprints. Not only is this one of the most effective ways to burn calories, it takes a lot less time than most any other version of cardio. Compare 45 minutes on a stationary bike with a mere 15-20 minutes of solid hill sprints. Remember, efficient training is all about getting the most bang for your buck and hill sprints offer just that. Besides, take a look at the body of a marathon runner and an Olympic sprinter. Which one would you rather look like? Thought so.
Hill sprints can be put on the top shelf of exercises for me along side kettlebells and as always, I'm not without my reasons. First and foremost is safety. Here is an excerpt from top strength coach, Charles Staley. “Due to the inclined surface, maximum limb speed cannot be attained and thus serves as a safety barrier for your precious hamstrings! However, in the process, your posterior-chain muscles (low-back, glutes, hamstrings and calves) get an incredible strengthening effect!” In other words you don't have to worry as much about pulling muscles or hyperextending anything as you would with flat-surface sprinting and you get a tight back side. That's win, win.
Another reason like I touched on before is that you get an incredible workout in minimal time. In the time it would take you to really start burning some calories on the elliptical, you'd be finished with your hill sprints and have produced a metabolism-exploding effect all day. Very efficient.
Now, hill sprints are not without costs. Because you are working at an all out speed, you have to make sure that you are warmed up and can handle the stress. A heart rate monitor is a great addition to hill sprints. They will be available in the M-Store coming very soon! You always want to make sure that you cool down as well because of the intensity of the workout. Here is a sample, get-started plan:
Five minute warmup with dynamic movements (squats, lunges, pushups, side lunges, etc)
25 yard hill-jog up 2x
25 yard hill-sprint up, walk down-repeat 3x-rest 15 seconds between sprints
35 yard hill-sprint up, walk down-repeat 3x-rest 15 seconds between sprints
45 yard hill-sprint up, walk down-repeat 3x-rest 15 seconds between sprints
50 yard hill-sprint up, walk down-repeat 2x-rest 30 seconds
Cool Down-walk around to get your heart rate down and follow that up with a nice stretch.
This is just a sample so if it is too hard or too easy, vary the distances, rest periods, and number of sprints.
Hill Sprints offer a powerful, calorie-burning, time-saving workout. Try hill sprints for a month 2-3x a week and I guarantee you will see some major results. Remember, this is an intense, hard workout but not without reward. You will be stronger, faster, and leaner not to mention with a little extra time on your hands. Now, that's smart training!
Train Hard, Train Efficiently,
Marcus
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