Running is Stupid

I don't even know why people go for long runs anymore? They're boring, painful, and you can get more bang for your buck by doing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) or "sprint work" than you can from long runs.  Okay, so obviously I'm incredibly biased against running and it's mostly because I'm not good at am jealous of those that are.  However, I wasn't completely exaggerating when I said you can get more out of your workouts utilizing HIIT than from long/slow runs.  When you go out for a long run, you will burn ~400-500 calories an hour and you can improve your cardiovascular system (i.e. increased blood volume, decreased RHR, increased metabolic enzymes, improve aerobic capacity).  But that's really all your doing is burning some calories and improving one area of fitness, endurance.  Long distance running can also result in a decrease in power, speed and compromise your ability to increase muscle mass.

 

Now, when you go out and work on interval training you are going to experience a whole smorgasbord of benefits.  Sprint work/interval training can give you similar improvements in cardiovascular performance as long-distance running (not quite to the same extent), as well as several other benefits, including: increased power, improved training tolerance at high intensities, maintain muscle strength and size, and a higher calorie expenditure throughout the day (EPOC).

Specificity of Sport
Depending on what your goals are, you should adjust your HIIT accordingly. For example, if you are training for football with the average play lasting  5-7 sec with 25-35 sec of rest in between plays, you should train in a similar manner and perform sprints in the range of 5 to 7 sec of all out effort.  On the other hand, if you are looking to increase your 800m time then you should train with longer duration sprints. By employing different sprinting strategies, you will utilize different energy systems and make improvements in certain areas.  It all depends on what speeds you want to improve at. Train with a purpose! If you are just looking to improve general fitness than I would suggest doing a little bit of everything and mixing it up.


Work to Rest Ratios
When performing interval work, obviously it's not possible to just sprint non-stop for 30 min and call it a day which is why it's call INTERVAL work.  In other words, you split up the bouts of running with intermittent rest periods.  Like I mentioned before, it all depends on what your goals are. Below is a table that lists examples of work to rest ratios and what energy systems they are using.

Work to Rest Ratio	Work(s)	Rest(s)	Purpose/Event	Intensity
1:12-1:20	5-10	60-200	Short-Term/Explosive (football, Shot put)	90-100%
1:3-1:5	15-30	45-150	Short-Term (100-200m sprint, hockey)	75-90%
1:3-1:4	60-180	180-720	Long Sprints (400m, 800m, Basketball)	30-75%
1:1-1:3	>180	>180	1600m	20-35%

In conclusion, I recommend HIIT training to people. Not only will you receive a lot of the same benefits as long-distance running, it also takes less time, increases calorie expenditure throughout the day, improves power/sprinting endurance and won't diminish gains in muscle mass. So get out there and sprint!