How To Better Rest Time Between Sets Of Sprints?

[solidj55]

I am going to start doing windsprints in the evening three days per week to try and prepare myself to cut. I will be switching them to first thing in the morning on an empty stomach once I get my rest time down between each sprint. I am not yet to the point to where I can sprint and only rest 30sec to a minute in between. I did them for the first time about two weeks ago just to see how it felt I can tell you that it takes me about 4-5 minutes to get my breathing back to a rate that I could actually talk to someone. I ran my first one(100meters) and walked for exactly 1 minute and ran another 100meters. I then walked for another 1minute and couldnt even force myself to do another one so I walked longer. I waited another minute, still not breathing well, and ran a third 100meter sprint. I walked for about a minute then I stopped and puked in the grass LOL and got a drink of water. I then ran two more sprints resting for about 5 minutes in between each one. Any ideas on how to get my endurance up for these. Ive been jogging a little and doing some other stuff to get my cardio up but when I ran a sprint this weekend I still didnt see a great improvement. I was thinking about starting with 5 minutes in between each sprint and just decreasing about 30 seconds each week until I get to about a minute or so in between each one. What do you guys think?

 

[Vortexx]

interval training on stairclimber

 

[solidj55]

Thanks for the reply but how do you do it??? I hate to sound like a dumbass newbie but basically I am. I am not new to lifting but Ive been a powerlifter for so long that Im not familiar with all this interval this and that. I always trained for powerlifting and back in the day football.

 

[spatts]

solidj, if I can add a couple things. I have been sprinting all my life, and still do HIIT sprints. You have to treat it more like a weight training day. It burns glycogen rather than the fatty acid typical of cardio...it's more anabolic than catabolic. This is why many sprinters are quite muscular. Doing it on an empty stomach is like doing heavy legs on an empty stomach. It doesn't make sense, and it's dangerous. I do them in the evening after eating, and then stick to straight protein and fibrous carbs after. It's GREAT to add at night for cutting, because you burn off any possibly stored carbs before bed, and still spare muscle by the nature of sprinting.

As for intervals, when I do them, I walk the curves and sprint the straight aways, or do that with 200's, or do jog/stride/sprints for 100, then walk back to the 100m line and do it again. If you're doing it indoors, I will go from like 9-10MPH to 2-3...maybe a minute or more sprinting and then back down. I really don't pay attntion to time, I listen to my body. I sprint until I can't sprint anymore, and then I walk until I'm breathing at a pace where I can talk again, then I start sprinting again. Same for any piece of equipment.

 

[solidj55]

Thanks spatterson, I have read several posts where you talked about your competitive sprinting days but my "Male Ego" wouldnt allow me to ask a woman what to do LOL, Im just kidding. I too run on an outdoor track or indoor track, I cant sprint on machines its just not normal for me. Thanks for the suggestions I will definetly do it like you said. I am extremely glad you said not to do it first thing in the morning because I hate getting up early to exercise before work and school anyway. So you still think its effective for cutting in the pm? I am doing a 30/30/30 type diet right now by the way. How long should I wait until after eating before doing the the sprints and how long after the sprints should I wait to eat? One more question and Ill stop bothering you, should I do them on non lifting days or on lifting days? I lift on a Mon, Wed, Fri routine most of the time. Sorry for so many ?'s. Thanks again for the response. By the way if thats your ass in the avatar WOW!!!

 

[solidj55]

Sorry one more question, since you dont worry about time between sprints and mainly focus on getting your breathing back to a decent rate, I was wondering if I should keep moving, walking, jogging, etc or if its cool to just stand there lol.

 

[spatts]

I can't sprint on treadmills either...I'd fall off. My gait is too long and too wide, and I'd probably ruin the belt.

I would start of by doing them in the PM on your non training days. They will rip up your muscles similar to a weight workout, and you don't want to do that twice a day. I also wouldn't do it if you legs are sore from a previous leg day. When I first started cutting, I added AM empty stomach cardio 3x a week...then later as I slowed down in fat loss, I added it to every morning. Then when I slowed down in fat loss again, I added sprints on my non training days in the evening. Then as a last resort, every evening. For me there is REALLY something about burning off all those extra cals/CHOs at the end of the day that makes it happen. It's just not a good idea to break out all th stops at once. Well, for ME anyway...guys are probably different.

The best thing I can tell you to do, is to do active recovery. You can do it with bands, or if you don't have/can't buy bands, use really light weight. You will be bordering on "overtraining" but you can combat that by "over recovering."

Getting fresh blood and oxygen back into the muscles at a couple points during the day will allow you to build strength, heal faster, and it won't rerip the fibers your body is working hard to heal/grow. You can work the muscles more often without creating an overly catabolic and counterproductive environment.

How long before sprinting for eating will be individual. I would say 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I cycle my carbs, so I'm never "runnin on empty."

When is your show?

Yes. That would be my tush.

 

[spatts]

Sorry one more question, since you dont worry about time between sprints and mainly focus on getting your breathing back to a decent rate, I was wondering if I should keep moving, walking, jogging, etc or if its cool to just stand there lol.

YES. Keep walking. another thing I do is try to "trick my heart." When i'm in a full sprint, I am breathing in for 4 strides (or so) and out for 4 strides. It controls the breathing, help avoid a side ache, and when I get done, I'm not breating as fast because I was breathing for a walk/jog and not a sprint. Does that make sense?

 

[solidj55]

Thanks Spatts, I really appreciate the advice. I will definetly do what you said.

As for the show, I dont have one, Im not a bodybuilder. I am actually a powerlifter. I am just coming off of a lower back injury that put me out of commision for about 6 weeks. I got a little chubby during that time and I want to cut my bodyfat down. I am also going to the beach in August and want to look half way decent. I figured since it will be about 8-10 months before I do another power meet (probably bench press only for me from now on) I would go ahead and concentrate on my appearance for the summer time. Im really not too awful bad off just worse that Ive ever been. I am 5'5" 190lbs and about 14%BF I just want to get down to about 8-10% again where Im usually at. I guess Im a pretty boy powerlifter ha ha.

 

[spatts]

Is your back totally recouped? The reason I ask, perhaps it's just my conditioning, but my back gets ALOT more sore from sprinting than my legs do. Especially my upper back and rear delts from pumping my arms. It's a total body workout!

 

[solidj55]

Yea my back is totally healed as far as I know. My injury was in the lower back right in my waist line above my big ghetto ass lol.
The things that I notice that get sore when I sprint are my hamstrings, calves, and a little upper back. My quads get a little sore but not too bad and my obliques also get very sore. My lower back seems to be ok after sprints, knock on wood. I think for me the worst part of it is the damn shin splints I get. But Im "Raw Ass Tough" so I can work through it LOL.

 

[spatts]

I used to have shin splints so bad that I'd dose up on Anaprox and ANSAID the day of a race, just to get through it. I fixed it by building up my anterior tibialis. According to the doc, my calves were SO much heavier than the ant.tib that it was actually rotating my tibs around the bone. Use ankle weights wrapped around your feet and write the alphabet in the air with your toes. Just sitting on the couch or whatever.

Do you pronate when you run? Are your shoes in need of replacement? All good causes for shin splints...

 

[b fold the truth]

I suggest resting at least 3 months between sprinting sessions...that is what I do

B True

 

[Hannibal]

I suggest resting at least 3 months between sprinting sessions...that is what I do

B True

No kidding...I would rather play on the mats the high jumpers land on....or better yet in the long jump pit.

 

[solidj55]

Spatterson-my shoes are cool and Im not sure about my feet supinating.

Bfold and Hannibal-I agree with you guys I too would rather wait about three months in between sprints and during that three months play on the mats or in the sand. I laughed my ass off when I read those replies

 

[b fold the truth]

Spatterson-my shoes are cool and Im not sure about my feet supinating.

Bfold and Hannibal-I agree with you guys I too would rather wait about three months in between sprints and during that three months play on the mats or in the sand. I laughed my ass off when I read those replies

What? Was someone trying to be funny? I either go with the Olympic cycle: 6 months on and 3 1/2 years off or the menstrual cycle: 2-5 days on and 20-25 days off.

B True

 

[coolcolj]

Here's what I did

when I started intervals, I didn't sprint, I jogged for a few weeks.

So I would jog 50 metres, then walked for a min or however long it took me to walk to the other side of the football field.
As time went by, I increased the speed until eventually I could go flat out.

Just like in weights, use progressive resistance.


nobody squats 1 rep maxes on their first day of traiing, and neotehr should you when it comes to Hitt

 

[solidj55]

Thanks for all the info everyone it is greatly appreciated.

Bfold-I like the menstual cycle idea lol.

 

[Lestat]

As an ex-competative runner let me give you my advice.. and as always it works differently for everyone.

The time in between your sprints is almost as important as the sprints themselves.

for you I would suggest 200m sprints (half a lap) with 90 seconds recoverty time. This is not going to help you build a ton of speed, however it will accomplish your fat burning goal. Try and get in 12-15 200m sprints since you are just starting out.

You want to make sure you get your heart rate up (which the sprints will do) but that it does not drop during your recovery. Usually active recovery (jogging) is the best, go as slow as possible... try to force yourself to go super slow.

I would sprint 200, jog 100 (make sure it takes 90 seconds).. then repeat. The 100 spring 100 recovery is not bad either, howerever I think the longer run will ultimately help you reach your goal better.

Brian

 

[solidj55]

Thanks Lestat27 for the advice Ill keep that in mind. I will have to work on my endurance for sprints and work up to that point.

 

[solidj55]

Im thinking of my routine overal to be like this:

Monday: am-1hr walk on empty stomach pm-lift
Tuesday: am-1hr walk on empty stomach pm-sprints
Wednesday: am-1hr walk on empty stomach pm-lift
Thursday: am-1hr walk on empty stomach pm-sprints
Friday: am-1 hr walk on empty stomach pm-lift

My lifting routine is:

Monday-Chest shoulders and tris
Wednesday-Back and biceps
Friday-Legs and lower back

I do two or three exercises for chest, back, and legs. I do two sets for each exercise. I do one exercise for biceps and triceps and two sets for each of them. I also do crunches everytime after I lift. Doesnt sound like much but it works for me. The one hour walk will be on a track at a moderate pace. My sprints will probably start out at running 8x100m sprints but probably will not be all out sprints until I work up to it. I will rest until I can breath closely to normal in between each one. I will hopefully work up to running 8-12 200m sprints with about 1-2 minutes between each one. I am also thinking about doing a 20 minute walk right after my lifting on Mon/Wed/Fri at about 3mph on the treadmill just to help speed things up. What do you guys think?

 

[solidj55]

I guess what I should have asked after I read my post is do you guys think this will be over training? By the way I will be changing my diet to about 100-150g of Carbs per day, 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight and making up the rest of my calories with good fats.

 

[spatts]

I think under recovering is a bigger problem than over training. Throw in some active recovery work, get your glutamine, and you should be good to go!

...and if you're "on" I wouldn't worry about it at all. Still have to watch for CNS fatigue though. Just listen to your bod.

 

[solidj55]

Thanks Spatts, No I am not "On" I am ALWAYS clean. How much Glutamine do you suggest to take and Ive always heard that you shouldnt take when your ingesting protien, is that true? What are some signs of CNS fatigue? I know what over training feels like, lack of motivation, constant tiredness, constant soreness, cant think strait, etc etc. but I dont know exactly what CNS fatigue is like. As far as my lifting goes I seem to recover well but I dont know about how well I will recover from sprinting twice a week and walking everyday. I know that "back in the day" when I played football we constantly sprinted and I was always ok but that was about 4-5 years ago. What kind of active recovery work do you suggest?

 

[spatts]

Hm...I'm not sure on the Glutamine without knowing your weight. Project weighs around 180-185 and we started him at 1g per day, but he recovers quickly anyway. I take 1g, and I flux between 170-180, sometimes more.

CNS fatigue, similar but more serious. Fatigued, get sick easy, etc... I have an active recovery thread on this forum. Just search for a thread clled "Active Recovery...How to" by spatterson.

 

[solidj55]

Cool, Ill do a search for active recovery. Thanks again.

 

[solidj55]

I DID MY SPRINTS THE FIRST TIME YESTERDAY AND ALL WENT WELL. I DID 8X100M SPRINTS WALKING IN BETWEEN EACH ONE FOR A MINUTE. I ONLY RAN AT ABOUT 3/4 SPEED THOUGH SO I WILL HAVE TO WORK UP TO FULL SPEED AND THEN I AS I IMPROVE THAT I WILL BE ABLE TO ADD MORE SPRINTS TO EACH SESSION. I AM SORE AS HELL IN MY ABS, OBLIQUES, AND HAMSTRINGS. THANKS FOR THE ADVICE EVERYONE, TIME TO RECOUP AND GET READY TO DO IT AGAIN TOMORROW.

 

[Lestat]

crap. i started a new thread instead of replying.. here is what I said:

Don't do hard running days back to back. As a new runner you need at least 2 days between "hard" days.

Good job on the sprints.. You said you took a minute recovery, I would make it 90seconds, but jog don't walk.

Brian

 

[Lestat]

test

this is a test

 

[7figureman]

Lestat27, advocating 12-15 200m sprints to a beginner who is most likely out of shape is idiotic and irresponsible. Solidj55, treat sprinting like your weight training sessions. Stick to the 100m sprints and take as much time as needed until your heart rate returns to a reasonable level. Concentrate on form and power. Initially start with 1 to 3 all out sprints, add 1 every couple of sessions, remember listen to your body. Take one to two days between sprinting sessions, again listen to your body. You have to ease into sprinting or you will end up injuring yourself.