Introduction
Whenever I talk to someone about Sprinting/Sprint training, I often find that they do not ‘get’ the difference when it comes to running vs sprinting.
Often I get the impression that they have a particular image in their mind: someone putting on their running shoes and going out onto the street for an evening run, however, instead of pacing themselves, they run at a very high intensity.
In some sense, this is correct. After all, sprinting is just high intensity running. However, it’s also very much incorrect.
Sprinting is different from running in the fact that sprinting is all about running in the most ideal conditions possible. Let me explain.
Quality over Quantity
When elite sprinters run in the 100m finals of the Olympics, there are no second races, they do not run in a fatigued state, and every millisecond counts. Sprinting is all about having the perfect amount of rest, the perfect amount of preparation, the perfect surface, the perfect footwear – in other words, the ideal conditions – and then seeing what the absolute limits of your body are.
Therefore, to be able to raise the ceiling of what your body is capable of, you must train in these conditions. You must train in ideal conditions. It’s all about quality over quantity.
This is why in sprint training you run short distances, and you recover for long periods of time in between reps. A common rule is that, if you feel as though you’re not ready to give at least 90-95% on your next rep, then it’s better to just stop the training.
Putting on your running shoes and ‘sprinting’ for 20 seconds, followed by 20 seconds of rest, following by another 20 seconds of sprinting on repeat might be a good HIIT workout, but it certainly won’t make you faster.
To give a rough idea, a common rule of thumb is that for every 10m you sprint, you should need at least 1min of rest. For example, if you do a 30m sprint, then you should rest for at least 3mins before completing your next rep.
Sprinting on a Running Track
Many people are shocked to hear that a typical sprint training session may only have a total volume of 300m, can take over 1.5hrs to complete, and will leaving you feeling fried afterwards.
I say ‘fried’ instead of exhausted because the type of fatigue felt is certainly not one of gasping for air; rather, it is a unique neuromuscular fatigue that is perhaps best described as the feeling that your body is not ‘switched on’.
Some of you may be familiar with the term DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), or the intense muscles soreness felt the day after exercising after taking a long break. I would describe the sprinting equivalent as feeling as though your body is in a state of shock after having recently been tasered.
I attribute this largely due to the surface that sprinting is done on, as well as the footwear used. The most intense form of sprint training is done on a running track with ‘spikes’. Spikes are running shoes with sharp metal spikes coming out of the sole of the shoe that allow for maximum traction with the running track.
Sprinting with spikes on a running track is a completely different stimulus compared to ‘regular’ sprinting. The unique material that running tracks are made of, combined with the near perfect traction achieved whilst using running spikes mean that sprinting on a track is a completely different compared to, say, running on a footpath with flat running shoes.
Because of this, sprinting on a track with spikes allows you to work your neuromuscular system unlike anything else. Therefore, if you’re looking to get faster, investing in a pair of sprinting spikes and heading down to your local running track is the best thing you can do to get started.
Try – after a proper warm up – running a couple 100m reps with ~10mins rest in between each rep, and see you how feel the next day. I can guarantee it will feel completely different than if you ran the same volume just running as fast as you can on a footpath with flat running shoes.
Sprinting on a running track with sprinting spikes is a completely unique stimulus
Join the SprintElite Community
Are you a sprinter or athlete looking to improve your performance?
If so, consider joining SprintElite, the ultimate toolbox for athletes. Inside SprintElite you will find expert athlete training programs, personalized support and coaching, athlete exercise guides, access to the latest cutting-edge sprinting tech, and much more. Plus, you can compare yourself to a database of over 20,000 athletes. Click the link below to learn more about SprintElite, the ultimate athlete community.
Running vs Sprinting: Conclusion
When it comes to running vs sprinting, these two types of training are very different. Sprint training involves running very short distances (relative to ‘running’) under ideal conditions. This is achieved by running on a running track with sprint spikes and ensuring that long rest times are taken in between reps to prevent large drops in intensity. Sprint training is not running at say 85% for 20 seconds, resting for 30 seconds, and then running again, as this type of training will not raise the ceiling of what speeds your body can produce.
‘Regular’ running is primarily good for improving your cardiovascular fitness, whereas sprint training (as described here) is good for improving your explosivity and power output abilities, as well as serving as a full body workout.
Of course, as with everything, there are some exceptions to what I have outlined here, but I hope I have cleared up any misconceptions about what constitutes sprint training and how it varies from simply ‘running’.
If you want to know more of the specifics of sprint training, you can check out some of the other articles listed on this website. For example, check out this article where I go over what I believe to be the best exercise for improving your acceleration speed (hint: it involves sprinting). You can also check out my Instagram post here which provides a summarized version of the article.
