The number one reason I hear why people don’t incorporate fitness into their day is “time”.  Now let’s get real, I believe that anyone can find that time if they really make it a priority.  But I get it.  Between work, kids, golf, etc. it can be challenging to make the time.  If I asked you to find 60 minutes in a day only 3 days per week, you could probably do that.  What about 45 minutes?  30 minutes?  I think we are just kidding ourselves if we say we can’t find 30 minutes in a day to devote to our health and fitness.  You don’t need to spend hours and hours each week to get the benefits of exercise.  Sprint Interval Training (SIT) is a type of training that can produce amazing results and can be done with little to no equipment right at home, in as little as 30 minutes. 

Interval training has been proven to reduce body fat, increase cardiovascular capacity, and increase speed and power.  Incorporating Sprint Interval Training can help you accomplish your cardiovascular needs while enhancing your ability to produce more speed and power at the same time.  With most training plans you are either working on one or the other, which is what makes SIT so effective. 

A lot of you may have heard of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  SIT is basically the next step up.  The biggest difference is SIT has longer recoveries in between exercises so that you can go 100% on the next set.  SIT involves short bursts of 90-100% effort followed by full recovery, generally a 1:2 - 4 work:rest ratio (ex: 30sec exercise followed by a 1-2 minute rest).  The other great benefit to SIT is just about anyone can do it.  We’ve had golfers as young 13 and as old as 83 go through our SIT workouts.  The hardest part about SIT workouts is that you have to go at a maximal effort in order to get the benefits. You really need to push yourself as hard as you possibly can.

Principles:

1. Intervals should not exceed 60 seconds, “all-out effort”
1. Can do mini-intervals to get close to 60 seconds if not able to do full 60s
2. Ex: 4x15 seconds with mini-recovery (5-10sec) inbetween
2. Rest should be 2-4x the “all-out” interval
1. 60 sec “all-out” exercise should have 2-4 minutes before the next “all-out”
2. This does not mean you are just sitting there doing nothing.  You can incorporate mobility, balance, stability exercises during the recovery period.
3. Ex: 60s sprint - 15s transition - 60s mobility - 15s transition - 60s stability - 15s transition - 60s mobility - 15s transition - 60s sprint = 4 minutes between sprints

Sample Workout

1. Dynamic WarmUp - 10-15 Minutes
2. Sprint Intervals - Each exercise is 30-60s depending on your fitness level with 15s transition in between. Repeat the cycle 2-4 times for a 30-60 minute workout.
1. Frog Squat Jumps (sprint)
2. Stork Turns (mobility)
3. PushUps (strength)
4. Cat Camels (mobility)
5. Shuttle Run (sprint)
6. Standing Walk (active rest)
7. Plank Up/Downs (strength/endurance)
8. Open Books (mobility)