On the internet, I saw a statistic that said 95% of adults older than 30 years will never sprint for the rest their lives.
These numbers may be made-up, but they capture what I have noticed anecdotally. There aren't a lot of adults sprinting. If I think back over the last decade, I've not done much sprinting.
I have done burpees and bodyweight exercises, as well as HIIT on an assault bicycle to raise my heart rate for conditioning. But I rarely run as fast as I am capable of. I have sprinted a few times in ultimate frisbee or flag football games with my boys, but that is about it.
Last time I did a wind sprint as part of an exercise was in 2016. This was the first time I had run at full speed in many years. What was the result? I developed a terrible tendonitis of my right hamstring, which prevented me from deadlifting and squatting for a little over a month. It also made sitting uncomfortable. Seven years after the injury, it still bothers.
After reading the statistic that only a small percentage of adults sprint past age 30, I was inspired to find a way to sprint again without getting injured. I want to sprint at full-speed at 75 years old (even if that's the same speed as my slow jog now).
Why?
Sprinting is a sport I enjoy. Sprinting is required in some of the games I play, including basketball, flag football and ultimate frisbee. I want to be in a position to play these games for my children and my grandchildren.
Sprinting is another physical skill that may save my life someday. I want to have the ability to sprint as fast as I can when my life is on the line without fear of blowing my knees.
Sprinting is an excellent workout. It's easy to do anywhere and is great for anaerobic training. Sprinting also helps to strengthen your lower leg muscles and tendons. This will increase your endurance.
Matt Tometz, the Assistant Director of Olympic Sports Performance, Northwestern University, helped me to get back into sprinting.
Here's a guide for sprinting as an adult.
Why you get injured when you sprint
You may have suffered an injury if you tried sprinting after a long break. Even elite athletes can suffer injuries when sprinting.
Sprinting is an activity that involves high impact and high strain. Sprinting involves contracting your legs repeatedly and with great force. You're putting yourself at risk of a strain or injury if your muscles and tendons are not strong enough to withstand the repeated, forceful contractions.
Matt said, "Think about a sprint like a max one rep deadlift." Matt told me, "You wouldn't attempt to deadlift 405 pounds until you had trained yourself up to that level. You would only hurt yourself if your first attempt at deadlifting was 405 pounds. Sprinting is the same."
Prepare Your Body for Sprinting
How do we prepare our bodies to sprint?
Matt suggests warming up with a combination of plyometrics as well as sprints at a reduced intensity.
Plyometrics. Matt has his athletes perform ankle jumps during their warm-up. He says that jumping and doing plyos will help prepare your hamstrings and tendons for the intense force and tension you'll experience when sprinting.
Matt suggests the following plyo workout: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Jump off the ground while keeping your knees straight. As you lift your feet off the floor, flex your legs and raise your toes as high as you can. Just before landing, extend your ankles and forcefully push your balls of feet into the earth. Jump immediately again.
Do ten repetitions per set of two. Matt explained that the goal was to be explosive and bouncy.
Other plyometrics exercises that you can do to prepare yourself for sprinting are power skipping and alternate leg bounding.
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