Sprint running: Pros and Cons

**Dr. Sleepless** · Posted On: 9/26/2006 9:03pm

I'm not an expert runner, nor am I even close to being a competitive runner. I am a guy who did the 100m dash back in middleschool/highschool pretty decently. I think the fastest time I ever ran in the 100m dash was mid to high 11's and I averaged low 12's to high 11's. Once I hit 10.99, but I think it might've been a timing fluke or something. But hey, it "happened" and then I quit running in the end of my freshman year to focus more on TKD.

Sprint running and what it does for you:

From what I've experienced, I have always liked sprint running because it really gave me a great cardio workout. Not only that I could do it multiple times without killing myself of energy. Sprint running I think can help you as a martial artist over long distance as the kind of action you're doing is similar to what you do in a fight, you burst out with all your might for short spurts of speed, and this is true for sprint running.

I think it's also because I'm lazy and I don't like to run for long periods of time.

What it doesn't do for you:

It SSSSSSCREWS up your knees and ankles and spine like no other if you don't get proper instruction on how to run. A lot of people run flat-footed, stomping their feet into the ground flat. From what I have been taught (You can correct me if I'm wrong) was to run (this is for sprinting purposes) on the balls of your feet. I think from what I can tell, there are a lot of differing schools of thought on this. I see a lot of people who do the traditional heel to toe method and seem to do alright, but the faster people I see run on the balls of their feet... like ninjas. ;) But the people to run like lumbering, mouth-breathing sloths, they try this sport and usually tear up their parts.

Anyway, discuss away.

**Teh El Macho** · Posted On: 9/26/2006 9:25pm

Yes, it can screw you up if you run flat-footed. I do sprints regularly, and I love'em... but I tend to run flat-footed :(

It takes a lot of effort to sprint properly. If I'm just running, I have no problem, though. So what I do is that I first warm up running 1-2 miles or so, and then I sprint and walk the same distance.

At first it was killing me, but I more or less got a method to run on the balls of my foot. I lean my torso forward a bit, and that seems to help land my feet properly. I seem to be getting less and less shin splins as well.

It not only gives you good cardio; it helps increase your anaerobic capacity, and I'm cutting down my cardio exercise time by maybe 30% with the sprints. You burn a lot more calories with sprints, too.

**Dr. Sleepless** · Posted On: 9/26/2006 9:38pm

I know what you mean. Running on your toes is difficult, even though it's what I've always done, if I'm going too fast then I'll almost trip on myself. I love sprinting and am going to try to do it regularly again, maybe I can get back to 11's.

**War Wizard** · Posted On: 9/26/2006 9:55pm

I remember a fews years back Nike tried to market a sprinting shoe that compensated for people running flat footed, but it failed with male consumers because it looked like a cross between a running shoe and a pair of stripper shoes.

**Severe** · Posted On: 9/27/2006 2:50am

I hate running on the flat. I prefer doing hill sprints. More intensity (which sux) but your exercise is over quicker. The increased intensity is awesome for oxygen uptake and though it never really gets easier, the duration of output is extended and recovery is faster (edit: over the long term), and in fighting this is an awesome advantage.

**Teh El Macho** · Posted On: 9/27/2006 8:40am

Yeah, uphill is best for flat-footed folks like me.

I love the pavement, and I try to run/sprint as often as possible, but again, given my flat feet, eventually my lower back and shins can't take it. So I switch to the threadmill.

In the threadmill, I put a really high inclination, and I can just run and sprint until the cows. I'm pretty much aware that running and sprinting on a threadmill will never recruit the leg muscles the same way pavement does... BUT I'm not looking to be an olympic sprinter.

For the purposes of cardio and anaerobic capacity, the threadmill works well. A good balance of road and threadmill is good to keep lower back pain and shin splins at bay :)

Speaking of running shoes that look like strippers shoes (ohh, I love it when chicks wear them... specially with nothing else), have you guys seen these?

http://www.jumpusa.com/p14.htm?qts=g...k=jump%20shoes

http://www.performbetter.com/detail....tegoryID_E_315

Pricey, but the concept is sound. I saw bball players back in college swearing for these puppies. Though they were originally designed for increasing vertical jumps, I could see them helping landing on the front of the foot rather than all flat out.

**nomamao** · Posted On: 9/27/2006 11:32am

try 400-800 meter "sprints," to really get in top shape for fighting.

Nothing beats that, unless you are fighting.

**TehDeadlyDimMak** · Posted On: 9/27/2006 2:26pm

Personally I do sprints on football/soccer fields in order to lessen the impact.

I stay away from treadmills for the same reasons El Macho has already pointed out. Why run on a treadmill when you can get more benefits from running outside? The ability to watch TV while you run is not an excuse.

**Nid** · Posted On: 9/27/2006 3:28pm

1: Aust J Sci Med Sport. 1996 Sep;28(3):69-75. Links
Musculoskeletal injuries in track and field: incidence, distribution and risk factors.Bennell KL, Crossley K.
School of Physiotherapy, University of Melbourne, Australia.

This study evaluated the incidence, distribution and types of musculoskeletal injuries sustained by 95 track and field athletes in a 12 month period using a retrospective cohort design, and analysed selected training, anthropometric, menstrual and clinical biomechanical risk factors. Overall, 72 athletes sustained 130 injuries giving an athlete incidence rate of 76% and an injury exposure rate of 3.9 per 1000 training hours. The majority of injuries were overuse in nature and approximately one-third of all injuries were recurrent. The risk of injury was not influenced by gender or event group. The most common sites of injury were the leg (28%), thigh (22%) and knee (16%) with the most common diagnoses being stress fractures (21%) and hamstring strains (14%). Injury patterns varied between event groups with middle-distance and distance runners sustaining more overuse injuries, and sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and multi event athletes more acute injuries (p < 0.05). Increasing age, greater overall flexibility and a greater prevalence of menstrual disturbances were associated with a greater likelihood of injury. The results of this study show that track and field athletes are at high risk for musculoskeletal injury and that it may be possible to identify those who are more likely to sustain an injury.

PMID: 8937661 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Over a period of three years 829 cases of greater than or equal to 16-year-old athlete exertion injuries and syndromes were collected. There were 75 women and 754 men in the series. About 90% of the athletes had been training regularly for more than two years, and 75% of them trained 6 times a week or more. Approximately 52% of the injuries occurred in track and field athletics, about 17% in ball events, 13.6% in skiing, 7.4% in orienteering, and 4.7% in power events. Other sports were associated with fewer exertion injuries. 28.7% of the conditions occurred in the knee, 17% in the ankle, foot and heel, 14.8% in the leg, 8.2% in the back and trunk, 8.1% in the thigh, 7.4% in the achilles tendon. The rest were in the shoulder, neck and upper extremities. In 92% of the patients conservative treatment and rest were used. Only 8% of the cases were treated surgically.

PMID: 28065 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

**Phrost** · Posted On: 9/27/2006 3:33pm

I do sprints up the hill in my backyard... probably 40 meters. If you do the heel-toe thing, you get more of a workout. And since you're not worried about speed as much as working out, it's great.