Sprinting kicks my butt. LOL page

[Hedonist]

I mean that in a good way. I've read that if you do sprints hard enough to blast your super-fast twitch fibers, you can only do it two or three times a week. Hard to believe that four minutes of anything could do that. But a set of sprints leaves me tired (good tired) for a couple days. I do it as part of a 45 minute water aerobics session, but the rest of the session isn't that demanding. Of course, I am old and have a bit of heart trouble.

[zoebird]

yeah. it's amazing how it works. it's why i just sprint home M-F. it's about a 2-3 minute sprint uphill, and i'm knackered that night and sleep well, but feel better the next day. since my work/life is so physical, it works better for me than one sprint day.

[CKATTO71]

I did sprints for the first time today. I wanted to do the sprint, walk, sprint, walk thing for 15 minutes but I wasn't prepared for the cold and had to stop because of frozen hands, ears, and lungs... I still got in about 5 good sprints across a soccer field before giving in to the cold though. Not bad for the first time I guess.

[Tee]

How many yards do you sprint each time? ^^^

[Hedonist]

How many yards do you sprint each time? ^^^

Who? I sprint in place in the water. 8 x 30 seconds with 90 sec. rest. I push it until my tongue is hanging out.

[NutMeg]

I love sprinting! I think it is my favorite way of exercising.

[Kyle C.]

Hedonist, the rest of those 45 mins may not seem like they're taxing you, but I'm willing to bet your fatigue is associated with the combination of your high level of sprint exertion and the long amount of low-level exertion from the water aerobics. Not to mention older bodies with heart conditions don't recover quite as fast as they would like to.

Can you move the sprints to a workout of their own and keep the water aerobics separate and see how that feels?

Also a note about "lasting the fast twitch fibers": sprinting in place can tire you out but it's not really sprinting. You are mainly using your hip flexors, whereas true sprinting relies much more heavily on the posterior chain. I doubt you are getting the level fast twitch activation you are looking for, since your PC is less involved and the water is slowing your movement down.