sprint intervals

[tinamb]

Hi ladies,

I am wanting to start putting sprint intervals into my work out and am wondering if anyone can give me an idea of one of there rotations where they put sprint intervals in. I also would like to know what your intervals are, if you don't mind.

I would like to know how long you sprint at what speed and how many days you put your intervals in?

Thank you so much in advance

 

[FiddleFit]

Tina,

Have you checked out Cathe's rotations, under the rotation forum? I think it was July, August, or September 2004's rotation where she put a lot of sprint intervals in the rotation, with suggested times and recovery periods.

Sandra

 

[tinamb]

yes you where right! It was september but it was only one interval in week 2.

Is that all I should be doing is one sprint interval a month?

 

[starlight6]

I do them a lot...just throw them in when I feel like it. I figure my body is as confused as I am! LOL
I tend to do jump rope for sprints...sometimes with a real rope, but sometimes I just go through the motions.
I also like to do "skates" as I like to throw in some lateral moves. Sometimes I'll do some ice-breakers or power jacks. Pretty much anything I think of! I go until I can't go anymore then rejoin whatever workout I'm doing.

Ruth

 

[FiddleFit]

Hmmm, hmm, hm. Nope, there's another rotation that had much more frequent sprints. Maybe it's an older one. I'll flip through my printed rotations and see which one it is.

Back in a while,
Sandra

 

[hounddogs]

I coach high school girls' soccer and we sprint a lot. When you're first starting out you might want to be conservative and keep your work to rest ratio about 1-4. That means you sprint whatever distance you're going to sprint, time it, and then rest four times that long before doing your next one. Start with sets of five if you're really green. Start with one w/o per week and don't exceed three.

Eventually you'll want to get your work to rest ratio to 1-2.5 or 1-3, doing sets of ten or fifteen before changing distances. The total length of the workout shouldn't really exceed 40-45 minutes. That will give your body plenty to chew on. Elite track athletes get much more grueling than that, however.

Before sprinting a very thorough warm-up should be performed including a long slow jog and some dynamic stretches for the hip flexors/extensors, calves, quads, and hamstrings. You should never sprint 100%, but top out at about 95%. This is a psychological awareness that helps prevent injury.

I'm starting to ramble...can you tell it's my off-season? PM me if I can be of any more help.

--Ann

 

[FiddleFit]

Hi Tina,

Back again. The rotation I was referring to is Cathe's September 2003. It has a few more sprint workouts throughout the rotation. As well, I came across a post that she wrote in the Ask Cathe forum to answer a question. At the very end of the post she outlines a specific 56 minute interval running workout. I've pasted it here:

Cathe's post:
"Both Circuit Training and Interval Training are great.
I would do CT two three times per week and IT one time per week for three weeks.
Then I would do CT two times per week and IT two times per week (with three days between IT days, you can do other workouts in those three days just not another IT workout) for two weeks.

Keep alternating this pattern.

Now here is one more "magical" ingredient to bust through your plateau. If you do not run, throw this in the mix. Here is how. This workout will replace one of your planned IT workouts.

Also, before you throw it in the mix as an IT workout, do the following to acclimate your body first (so you don't get injured). You can do this acclimation workout right along with your scheduled CT and IT workouts. If you feel like it is too much then cut back on one of your CT workouts during the acclimation phase.

ACCLIMATION PHASE:
Week one and two: Walk at a fast pace for 20 minutes on non-consecutive days two times per week. Stretch your shins, calves, and thigh muscles thoroughly afterwards. This will help ward off shin splints.

Week three and four: Walk at a fast pace for 10 minutes and then go into a light jog for 10 minutes (walking fast at any time you can't continue to run). Do this two non-consecutive times per week. Stretch your shins, calves, and thigh muscles thoroughly afterwards.

After this period you are ready to do a "running IT" workout that will replace one of your originally planned IT workouts. This running IT workout goes like this: (total workout time, approx 56 minutes)

....5 minute normal to fast paced walk.
....5 minute fast paced walk.
....1 minute of a light jog immediately followed by one minute of a fast recovery walk (do this 1 to 1 cycle 6 times).
....15 second sprint (running as fast as you can for 15 seconds)immediately followed by a 45 second walk (do this 6 times)
....30 second sprint followed by a one minute fast recovery walk (do this 4 times)
... 5 minute light paced jog
....5 minute fast walk
....5 minute normal paced walk
....5 to 7 minute stretch really focusing on the shins (gently bend top of foot down in the direction of your arch), the calves (gently pulling the foot back toward the shins), and your classic hamstring, inner thigh, and quad stretch."

Hope this helps,
Sandra

 

[Mckmain]

Tina...what I do is quite similar to what Ann suggested. Say I am running 5 miles....I warm-up about 10 minutes at a light jog, then push hard for 90 seconds, then jog for 3 minutes, and then repeat that until I have like 5 minutes left in my run....I have also done that with my Nordic track, but only 4 or 5 total intervals. I wouldn't even attempt it more than once or twice a week........Carole

 

[CathydsRNA]

I now routinely throw intervals into my workouts 2-3x/week. Each interval is about 90-120s and I make certain I am in my anaerobic range using a heart rate monitor. I incorporate about 5 intervals into my workouts and it took me about 1-1.5 months to build up to this level of interval training. This has really helped my cardiovascular conditioning and I swear this is what helped me break a weight plateau a while back.