Sprint to Freedom

Break out of traditional cardio. Some bodybuilders swear by their 5 days-a-week, 45 minutes of cardio that keeps the fat off their sculpted bodies. True, this form of cardio does help them because they want to do low-resistance cardio to keep from burning muscle. For the rest of us who want to burn fat and build muscle, sprinting is the way to go. Not only does it help us reach our fitness goals efficiently, but also quicker, meaning we can spend less time at the gym.

Science News also reports interesting information related to our bodies and sprinting. A group of Scottish researches found that sprinting exercises completed every couple of days cuts your risk of diabetes. A group of 16 males were studied after doing intense exercise over a period of time and found that regular workouts lead to a decrease in risk of cardiovascular disease and type-two diabetes. Some participants were not able to stick to the program of every two days, but even those who did just a couple of short workouts showed a significant descrease in risks.

Try this 20-minute sprint work-out on any cardio machine or even on the pavement:

Warmup for two minutes at a low resistance. Move into :30 sec. of high resistance at 90% effort, followed by a minute of low resistance. Continue this pattern and finish with two minutes of low-resistance recovery.

Advanced: Start with :30 of high resistance at 80% effort, next move to 90%, next to 100%, and then repeat.