What are some intense exercises for sprint fitness that don't repetitively stress the body too much?

July 10, 2009 11:05 AM

What are some intense exercises for sprint fitness that one or two people can do in a room, that don't repetitively stress the body too much?

Hi.

I'm looking for something myself and my training partner can do that's a maximum intensity, interval training workout for sprint fitness. You know, the kind of thing that makes you feel a bit sick. We're in a room, not a gym so not much equipment.

Something like the prison workout would be good, but I find with this it's difficult to maintain good form when you're getting fatigued and also the number of reps of the same movement is pretty high, which can lead to potential repetitive stress and overworking the front of body.

Thanks.

posted by Not Supplied to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

Your statements seem a bit contradictory, repetitive stress and overworking is what leads to adaptation and hypertrophy. You just need to know when to draw the line. When you form starts to slip, take a breather and go right back in. If your form doesn't recover it's time for rest. There are quite a few books out there on body weight conditioning only, that requires nothing but your body. Take a look at Ross Enemait's stuff, or google P90x.

HTH.
posted by aeighty at 11:38 AM on July 10, 2009

Tabata - short, intense interval training will be good with increasing your endurance and cardio health.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tabata
posted by mahke at 11:50 AM on July 10, 2009

Or, perhaps a clickable link :)

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tabata
posted by mahke at 11:51 AM on July 10, 2009

Yup, definitely tabatas. And Crossfit-style bodyweight workouts.
posted by rlef98 at 12:01 PM on July 10, 2009

Combine the tabata protocol with weighted jump squats. (scroll down.)
posted by aquafortis at 12:11 PM on July 10, 2009

Aeighty has the right of it. Overworking is how you improve. I was about to suggest burpees and squat thrusts but that's what the prison workout is.

I find with this it's difficult to maintain good form when you're getting fatigued

form is critically important if you have 250lbs of weight on your back. It's not so important if you're doing body-weight exercises. I heard a retort once that was something like "you ever get in or out of a car? that's an off-balance one-legged squat with significant torque on your knee and back"
posted by anti social order at 1:42 PM on July 10, 2009

To add to aeighty's post, it sounds like Ross's book Never Gymless would be a good fit for you. It's a book about bringing high-quality, intense training to people with little-no gym equipment. Ross is a good guy, and the forums at his site are really helpful. The Strength and Conditioning forum at his site has a workout of the week, (with archives) most of which are in the low-equipment/high intensity vein.

I've never read Never Gymless, but it gets good reviews. I do have Infinite Intensity, and I like it a lot.

Also, it's Ross Enamait. Not Enemait.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 3:35 PM on July 10, 2009

Tabatas with full squats, single leg squats, step ups and the lunge variants should provide considerable variety.

Trained and elite runners have similiar stride frequencies to untrained people running, they generally achieve superior speed by increased the stride length. Jump squats are usually suggested for decreasing the stance phase, or time the food spends on the ground. They're not a good choice for intervals as fatigue increases injury risk and decreases the ability to recruit the stretch shortening cycle, which is what this exercise targets.
posted by zentrification at 7:40 PM on July 10, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the links. They all look pretty good.

FWIW now, I don't agree if you say repetitive bodyweight exercises are ok. A lot of people who exercise have bad trigger points in their muscles that are tightening them, reducing strength and lexibility and causing problems. If you're lucky you might not show major problems for years, but if your body's a certain type or if it catches up with you you can bugger it right up. Especially if you sit in chairs, use computers etc.

Obviously you have to push yourself to adapt, but I'd rather do 5 reps of squats with weight, and keep the other stuff non repetitive.
posted by Not Supplied at 9:36 AM on July 11, 2009