Winning formulas: use your top speed to get in top shape

Men's Fitness, Oct, 2004 by Robert dos Remedios

Sometimes going all-out is a waste--like buying a wedding gift for your ex-girlfriend. But when it comes to your cardio workout, it's the fastest way to get in game shape. I should know. The college football team I train has won 90% of its contests over the past four years, a feat that's largely due to my players' being in superior physical condition. In fact, we feel there's no better-conditioned football team in the entire country--at any level. The reason: They use the high-intensity sprint intervals you'll find below.

THE WORKOUTS

Choose one drill per session and perform a total of three to four workouts per week. Notice that each method has a work-to-rest ratio, designated as "Work: Rest." Work refers to the duration of your sprint, while Rest refers to the amount of time you take between sprints. For instance, if you perform a 100-yard sprint with a work-to-rest ratio of 1:2, you'll time the duration of your sprint (work), then rest twice that time between sprints. So if the sprint takes you 14 seconds, you'll rest 28 seconds before performing your next sprint. Count each sprint as one rep.

SPRINT LADDER

How to do it: Starting at the top of the chart (page 132), perform two repetitions at each rung of the "ladder." So you'll do one 100-yard sprint, rest for the recommended duration, and repeat one time. Then move on to the 80-yard sprint and continue the process until you've completed two repetitions of the 10-yard sprint. That's one ladder. Each week, add two reps to the bottom rung, progressively. So in your second week, after you've completed all rungs of the ladder, you'll then do two additional reps of the 10-yard sprint; in your third week, you'll complete the ladder and then add two more reps of the 10-yard sprint and two reps of the 20-yard sprint, and so on. Continue adding two reps to each succeeding rung of the ladder every week. After seven weeks, you'll be doing four reps for each rung of the ladder.

Distance    Reps   Work : Rest

100 yards     2        1:2
80 yards      2       1:2-3
60 yards      2       1:3-4
40 yards      2        1:4
20 yards      2        1:5
10 yards      2        1:6

VARIABLE-REST TRAINING

How to do it: Perform each of the sprints using their respective work-to-rest ratios. Note that the amount of rest you get varies as you progress through the workout. Run as hard as you can on each repetition and focus on relaxing your body completely between sprints to help you recover.

Distance    Reps   Work : Rest

20 yards      4        1:6
20 yards      2        1:3
20 yards      4        1:5
20 yards      2        1:3

REPEATS

How to do it: Each time you perform this drill, use just one of the three different "repeat" methods below.

Each will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Progress by adding an additional repetition each session.

Repeat 100s: Sprint 100 yards in a straight line. Do 8-10 repetitions, using a 1:2 work-to-rest ratio.

Repeat "Gassers": Sprint 50 yards out, touch the ground, and sprint back 50 yards to your starting point. Do 8-10 reps, using a 1:2 work-to-rest ratio.

Repeat Full Gassers: Perform them the same as the gassers, but run down and back two times, so that you're sprinting twice the distance (200 total yards). Do five repetitions back and forth, using a 1:2 work-to-rest ratio.

Robert dos Remedios, C.S.C.S., is the director of strength, speed, and conditioning at the College of the Canyons.