Everyone knows how busy this time of year is. There are decorations to put up, gifts to purchase, parties and events to attend, along with the regular daily schedule of work and family responsibilities. For me, when life gets rushed and I can’t fit it all in, the first thing to go always seems to be my workout routine! The crazy thing is that this is the time when we really need the exercise routine, both to keep our life in balance, and to burn those extra calories that we may be taking in over the Holidays.

This is the time of year when remembering the Sprint 8 Workout really makes sense! If you have 20 minutes, 3 times per week, you can get a great workout in a short period of time, and experience some great benefits.

The Sprint 8 Workout, developed by exercise physiologist Phil Campbell, consists of a 3 minute warm-up followed by 8 segments of anaerobic exercise lasting 30 seconds followed by 90 seconds of active recovery, and then a cool down after the 8 segments. That 20 minutes is a short, but definitely not an easy workout! The 30 second sprints need to be so hard that you get really winded and want to stop after 10 or 15 seconds, but hang on for 30 seconds before ending the sprint.

Of course anyone beginning this type of high-intensity workout needs to do so with approval from a physician, and with a slow, progressive buildup period. Individuals beginning this workout may start out by doing only 2 or 3 sprint segments and gradually working up to the 8 segment, 20 minute workout.

At HealthStyles Exercise Equipment, we feature Vision treadmills, exercise bikes and ellipticals that have a pre-set Sprint 8 program built in to their programming, but Sprint 8 workouts can be also done on any other piece of cardiovascular equipment.

For more information on the benefits of the Sprint 8 Workout and the research behind it, take a look at the attached video featuring Phil Campbell.

So don’t give up your workout during this busy season, just abbreviate it to fit your life right now. A Sprint 8 workout is a great way to do this, and once you get back to a more normal workout schedule, you will want to incorporate the Sprint 8 workout as part of your overall routine as a way to add intensity and interval training to your cardio workout!

Jeanne Sheriff, owner

Healthstyles Exercise Equipment