Don't Just Run: Sprint!

If you've been doing long, slow cardio, such as jogging, cycling, or swimming, for awhile without losing much weight or becoming much leaner even though you keep increasing your workouts, there is a simple explanation: too much cardio actually makes you fat. Excessive cardio increases stress hormones and down regulates the hormones, such as growth hormone and testosterone, that preserve muscle. In additon, elevated stress hormones make you insulin resistant, which leads to overeating as well as to eating foods that contribute to insulin resistance, such as sugars and starches.

Despite their appearance, many joggers and cyclists are not really lean. They may be slender because they have little muscle mass, but their body fat percentages are often surprisingly high.. In contrast, sprinters are lean and muscular with low body fat percentages. They have high human growth hormone (HGH) and testosterone levels--good for both females and males. Think back to the last track meet you saw. Who would you rather look like: the sprinters or the distance runners?

Benefits of Sprinting

1) Sprinting will reduce body fat and strengthen you far more than long, slow cardio because sprinting requires maximal recruitment of muscle. After about 8 seconds, sprinting sends acid signals to the muscles, which activates the fast twitch fibers. Fast-twitch fibers are thicker than slow twitch fibers, and it is fast twitch fibers that grow in size when activated by the right training.

2) Sprinting naturally increases human growth hormone. Human growth hormone increases muscle mass, thickens and adds flexibility to the skin, enhances the immune system, promotes weight loss through fat redistribution and loss, and increases stamina.

3) Sprinting strengthens your cardiovascular system with brief bursts of high intensity followed by long periods of recovery. You strengthen your skeletal muscles by doing heavy, low-repetition sets with long recoveries. You should strengthen your heart the same way. Sprinting doesn't cause the continuous stress on the heart that long, slow cardio does.

4) Sprint workouts are short and a lot more fun than long, boring cardio workouts.

The Definition of Sprinting

Based on the misleading articles and workouts I've seen posted all over the web, I'd better define what sprinting is. Sprinting is not just running faster than a jog. You cannot "sprint" for 30-60 second or even more with an equal recovery for 6-10 repetitions as some fitness "experts" advise. This is an anaerobic or interval workout. It's far better for you than plodding along the road or on a treadmill, but it's not sprinting and won't give you the benefits mentioned above. Sprint means "to race or move at full speed." Think playing tag or running to first base after a hit. Sprint workouts feature short, high-intensity repetitions and long, easy recoveries.

Where to Do a Sprint Workout

A track is the best place to do sprints because it's marked (in meters), and its surface is ideal for sprinting. A grass or dirt surface is next best; however, check your course for gopher holes and such before starting your sprints. Twisting an ankle will end your sprint workouts for awhile. The one place not to do your sprint workout is on concrete. Your back will thank you.

How to Do a Sprint Workout

Start your workout by warming up for about 5 minutes. Measure out a course from 50-100 yards (or meters) long. Remember that you need to sprint at least 8 seconds before your body sends the signals that produce human growth homone. Do 5-10 repetitions. The total distance of your sprints should not exceed 400-800 yards or meters. Between repetitions, walk slowly at least twice the distance that you ran. This should take from 1-2 minutes. Don't jog to "keep your heart rate up." You need to recover so that each repetition can be run at close to full speed. No matter what workout you planned, if you reach a point where you can't sprint because of fatigue, quit. Jogging to "finish" the workout won't do you any good since intensity is the objective, not volume.

If you're out of your teens and haven't been sprinting for a year or more, you will probably not be able to sprint at full speed right away. You should allow yourself at least a week for every decade you've lived to build up to full speed sprinting. In other words, if you're 40 and haven't been doing any sprinting in the past year, allow at least 4 weeks of gradually increasing the speed of your sprints before trying to go full speed in your workout. Even then, it doesn't hurt to hold back a little on the first repetition or two of each session.

How Often to Do a Sprint Workout

If you're running, cycling, swimming, etc. in addition to sprinting, limit your sprint workouts to twice a week with at least 48-72 hours between. If you're not doing anything else but strength training, you can go to 3 times a week if you want.

Sprinting is a natural and valuable human activity. If you think back to when you were a kid, how many times did you jog for miles? Almost never, right? On the other hand, you probably sprinted nearly every day on the playground, the athletic field, or just down the street. If you want to maintain a youthful body, you have to continue to do the things that youthful bodies naturally do. Sprinting is one of those things.

There is a common misconception that people are born with speed, but speed is like intelligence; it is invisible until developed. An amazing new book called Developing Killer Speed reveals how you can decrease your forty yard dash By .4 seconds in 2 weeks! To discover the simple formula that can increase your speed and decrease your times, click here.

Regular Fitness and Exercise

Fitness and exercise are very popular and important phrases of today’s world. However, how much attention we pay to our fitness and how much hours we do exercise in a week. NOT MUCH. For us our life is job, money and home, but if forgets only fitness allow us to live happily without any disease. Still we don’t care about it and do what we like.

Those who are suffering from obesity and type two diabetes, Fitness and exercise is the best option for them. If you are overweight, and especially if you are obese, or if you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, then listen to your doctor and begin a regular fitness and exercise program. You’ll be glad you did. Many people have marveled at the way being over weight has become an American way of life, and wondered what caused it. Many point to sedentary lifestyles, working in front of computers, and watching too much television. In addition, many Americans eat diets high in fat and carbohydrates. Whatever the root causes fitness and exercise can be a major part of the cure for this problem.


Fitness word is use for everyone whether it is a man, a woman, or a child. Everyone has to be fit and for good fitness, you may have to do exercise regularly. If your child is lacking in fitness and exercise think about enrolling your child in an after school sports program of some sort. Soccer is a popular fitness and exercise method, and in the proper season so is hockey, softball, baseball, lacrosse, football, tennis, and even golf. Many parents find that their children enjoy swimming and as one of the best methods of fitness and exercise in the world, swimming should be encouraged. This can be simple playing or exercising in the water, or formal swimming laps in an Olympic sized pool. Both methods of fitness and exercise are great.

One of the benefits of fitness and exercise, as any physician will tell you, it that fitness and exercise help control blood sugar. A diabetic who takes medication daily may find that less medication is needed with a regular fitness and exercise program. Many diabetics who stay with fitness and exercise programs find that they are able to quit the medication and get their diabetes under control in a totally natural way.

Exercise and Fitness: 5 Outdoor Tips on Walking to Slimness

Feeling like that you need to loose a few pounds, and you never want to find them again? But you don’t like an exercise regime of push ups and abdominal crunches. Well take into consideration a fitness exercise routine of walking. In the past it was man kinds only form of transportation. So take a peek at 5 tips on how to walk, and what physical benefits you’ll get with an exercise fitness plan.

You’ll need to prepare to train your mind to stick with a new fitness and exercise program. If you’re looking to loose weight then you’ll need a good surface to travel on. You’ll also need to have some reliable shoes, and a reasonable distance of walking area. By taking on an exercise program for fitness, the pounds will melt away. Remember though people loose weight in different amounts, and at different places on their body. Check out these tips on how to walk for your exercise fitness routine.

1. Burn calories by slow walking. Walking slow for an exercise fitness plan causes your body to drag because of gravity. The dragging affect helps you loose weight.
2. After you loose, the desired weight that you want you can maintain it, or graduate to a fast high intensity walk. Muscle mass will take the place of the saggy skin through toning. You’ll begin to see the affects of what fitness through exercise can do.
3. By making yourself participate in an exercise fitness course daily, and drinking lots of water your kidneys will flush out any bacteria. Also the heart will pump at a more efficient rate.
4. Circulation to the lower leg extremities and feet with an exercise plan for fitness will improve. Whether you do a slow calorie burn walk, or one that has a quick upbeat walk. This benefit is really crucial especially for those with any disease that affects the feet.
5. Skin tone will benefit with weight loss through your fitness exercise course of attack for a healthy lifestyle.


Learning to stick with a routine is probably the hardest part. It takes a lot of commitment to learn a new lifestyle of fitness. Exercise has a lot of benefits and with patience and a go get them attitude – you’ll loose those pounds and never find them again. And won't that be nice.

The Prison Workout: A Total Body Exercise Routine

Some prison inmates have nothing but a sink, a toilet, their bed, and a few square feet of space at their disposal. They need an exercise routine that can be done in a confined space without equipment. The "Prison Workout," which was nicknamed by some people who saw prisoners without access to weights doing it, is designed to develop strength, endurance, speed, agility, and balance. It also produces gains in muscle, losses in body fat, and plenty of stamina. It is a total body and cardio workout.

The Prison Workout consists of one classic exercise, the "burpee." This exercise works your chest, arms, front deltoids, thighs and abs. The burpee is a six-count exercise:

1) Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your hands raised over your head. Then squat down and place your palms on the floor by your feet.

2) Kick both of your legs back so that you're in push-up position.

3) Bend your elbows and lower your body until your chest touches the floor.

4) Push yourself back up.

5) At the end of the push-up, quickly pull both knees into your chest while keeping your hands on the floor. You're jumping back into the squat position of step one.

6) Stand straight up by straightening your legs and throwing your hands in the air over your head. You're now in the position that you started in. You can make the burpee more advanced and increase the explosive power in your legs by jumping into the air as you stand up.

The Prison Workout is done in descending sets. For example, begin by doing 20 burpees without stopping. Rest 30 seconds, and then do 19 burpees without stopping. Rest 30 seconds and do 18 burpees. Continue doing descending sets until you get down to a final set of 1 burpee. That makes a total of 210 burpees.

For most people, 20 sets will be too much to start with. In that case, pick a lower number of sets like 15 or 10 or even fewer for your first workout. Then add a set every 1-2 weeks until you reach your goal. In prison, doing 20 descending sets without stopping is the minimum to be considered a "man." If you can do 25 sets, you're considered to be pretty tough, and, if you can do 30 sets, you're considered a "stud." If you're doing other exercises in addition to this workout, do your burpee workout 3 times per week on cardio days.

If some of you who've read this far are thinking to yourselves, "This Prison Workout is too easy. I'm looking for a man's workout," try one of these advanced variations of the basic burpee.

1) If you have access to pull-up bars, at step 6, jump up and do a pull-up. That will add 210 or more pull-ups to the workout.

2) Place dumbbells on the floor. Use the dumbbells as push-up bars for steps 1-5. At step 6, clean the dumbbells to your shoulders, press them overhead, and then set them back down for the next repetition. In other words, add an overhead press to each burpee. Be sure to use the solid, hexagonal dumbbells rather than the adjustable kind.

By itself, the Prison Workout will strip fat from your body, add muscle, and build stamina. Alternate it with a weight training routine, and you may be mistaken for a Greek god, or, at least, for an ex-convict.

For a free mini course on how to simultaneously improve strength and conditioning while burning fat, click here. Read my review of the two best bodyweight exercise courses you can choose.

The Top 5 Ways Exercise Will Get You Laid

When it comes to getting laid, it pays to be fit. The more fit you are the better your sex life will be. With the physical similarities between working out and getting laid, you will see why.

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Fitness and Exercise : 3 Reasons to Sweat It

If you wonder, what the benefits are to a regular exercise fitness routine then think a total body fitness that includes mental too. Exercising is what most people dread to do. It seems a chore, or at the least an aggravation. However, read about some of the real benefits of doing the chore of having an exercise fitness program that you can follow to enjoy a healthier, happier and a more productive life. In the long run you won’t regret following a healthy exercise fitness routine.

The following list is only a few of the health benefits that you’ll gain by using an exercise program for your fitness needs. Remember though if you’ve got special health needs or concerns talk with your doctor before starting any exercise schedule. Fitness is the goal, not complicating or making worse any preexisting conditions.

1. Heart Performance. The heart is a muscle and if it isn’t properly maintained through exercise, it’ll become sluggish and useless. The heart pumps needed oxygenated blood cells for the circulatory system. This aids the liver, spleen, and kidneys to easily clean the blood and prevent infection. Exercise for the heart will keep its arteries and veins clean, and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.

2. Muscle Tone. Suppleness of the major and minor muscles is improved when an exercise fitness plan is used daily. By strengthening the legs and stomach, the back receives support to do the heavy lifting, bending and turning. Greater flexibility is gained too in all three areas. A good exercise program of fitness only gets getting muscle tone.

3. Mental Stimulation. The brain is mentally stimulated when exercising. Because the body is made up of chemical components, exercise invigorates the brain by making it produce more. There are feel good endorphins that give you a natural emotional state of happiness and well-being. Mental depression is helped when with combined with medication. In fact at times a fitness exercise routine is all that is needed to combat depression.

As you can read these three reasons to sweat it is enough reason begin and follow a fitness exercise program. Other benefits are numerous too such as joint flexibility, and improvement for any eye conditions that you have. Consider too that you can ward off by slowing down the affects of any future problems that may develop with your eyes. You never know when diabetes can hit, and because the eyes contain tiny blood vessels, diseases like diabetes affect your eyesight.

Your Fitness Factor

A healthy body is what most people are striving for. We are inundated constantly with images of slender, toned people. Be it on television or on a billboard as we’re driving down the street. Fitness isn’t all about the weight that the scale says or the dress or trouser size you wear. Fitness is about how healthy you are.

Exercise is vital in the quest for body fitness. Many people join a gym for the convenience of having all the equipment they feel they need to work out. There are machines there to strengthen and tone every muscle in your body. With the onset of personal trainers, the process can be almost effortless. In that case, the exerciser is given a prescribed routine of exercise that will help them achieve the fitness level and body weight that they desire.

Fitness and exercise aren’t restricted to the confines of a gym. Any type of movement can be considered exercise. By taking those movements, a step further a person can work towards their own personal fitness goal. For a person who lives in an apartment building, the decision of whether to take the stairs or the elevator might seem inconsequential, but those steps up to their floor everyday equal a leg workout. Choosing to hike it up the flight of steps gives not only the legs a chance to stretch, but it also gives the heart a chance to beat faster. By choosing this every day, the body would begin to respond in a positive way.

The same can be said for walking as opposed to driving. Often when a destination is close people feel inclined to get in their car and drive there and then drive the route back. Lacing up a pair of walking shoes and heading out the door on foot is considered exercise and the benefits aren’t only restricted to the gasoline that will be saved. The entire body will feel the results and if that walk is taken several times a week, perhaps even daily, the fitness level of that person increases.

Exercise can occur in almost every environment. It’s up to the health-conscious person to grab those moments and seize them. By mowing the lawn, the legs and arms are being worked out. Carrying the laundry is akin to lifting lightweights and chasing a toddler eventually equals a few laps around the running track. Paying attention to these same details and using them to their fitness advantage will result in so many health benefits.