Today is a short one, I didn’t feel like writing, I’m still upset about the crappy weather we have been having in NYC this week! SOME SUNLIGHT NOW!!!!!
Well, this post was written by Jason Ferrugia who has produced some of the strongest, toughest athletes on the planet. When he speaks, all coaches listen! Pay attention –
Summer’s just around the corner. T-shirts will be coming off and bathing suits will be going on in just a few weeks. So I know that a lot of you are thinking of ways to get lean in a hurry. What you don’t want to do, however, is sacrifice any of your hard earned size or strength; right?
So how do you get ripped for summer, improve your athleticism for games of beach volleyball and football, while staying big and strong at the same time? Simple… you sprint. Flat ground sprints, hill sprints, sprints with a sled and sprints while pushing a Prowler.
Don’t waste your time jogging or doing any other traditional forms of slow, boring cardio. That will sap your strength and eat away muscle tissue. Just look at skinny, flabby, weak marathon runners for proof. Would you rather look like that or like a jacked and ripped Olympic sprinter?
Hugh Jackman was just on the radio recently talking about how he got in shape for Wolverine. He was discussing how he did sprints because he knew that jogging was bad news. Hugh told the interviewer, “Jogging wastes your muscles, you gotta run sprints.” While Hugh doesn’t have any degrees in exercise science he most certainly got shredded and is proof that sprinting is where it’s at.
For most of you I would recommend hill sprints, sprints with a sled or sprints with a Prowler. That’s because if you aren’t used to sprinting, doing so on flat ground can be quite tough on you and the risk of injury will be significantly higher. With the other methods the injury risk is essentially eliminated.
Start out with two sprint workouts per week. These should begin with a 10-15 minute dynamic warm up and you should ease into your first few sprints before you start letting it all hang out. Your total workout shouldn’t take more than 30-40 minutes, tops. These workouts can be done as a second session on lower body workout days, either 4-6 hours before lifting or 4-6 hours after lifting, or any other day of the week. It’s really up to you. Probably the only day I wouldn’t recommend sprinting would be the day right before an intense squat workout. But if that is your only option I wouldn’t get overly concerned. Eventually your body will adapt. The important thing is that you get it done.
Don’t wait till tomorrow. Get outside and start sprinting today. You will be at a pool party or on the beach before you know it. And you will regret what you didn’t do.
I totally agree with Jason, go find a hill and run it about 8-12 times. This will save your muscles and make fat disappear into thin air. Just get it done!
Stay strong,
Joey
