Are you a bodybuilder looking to add a bit of tightness to your frame as the upcoming contest looms closer and closer? Are you looking for ways to tighter up your legs, abs, and other muscle groups? If so, you may want to consider adding sprints to your routine in the last 4 to 6 weeks before a show. Let’s look at some of the reasons why these may be beneficial.

Muscle group development

Sprints build up a great of muscle groups in the body. The legs have to pump very quickly, which brings out detail in the hamstrings, calves, and quadriceps. The back and chest will be contracted as the flexed arms pump your upper body. Additionally, the abdominals (upper, lower, and serratus) receive a workout in a manner which just cannot be provided by any other cardio or ab training. To hit the muscles from a new angle, sprints are very helpful.

Cardiovascular health

You can use all the elliptical, stair stepper, and stationary biking that you want. However, none of them will deliver the intense level of lung-bursting action that you will receive from sprints. If you want to make your lungs expand and draw a great deal of oxygen to the body, use sprints twice weekly in addition to your regular cardiovascular exercise.

Fat loss

Any increase in metabolism will lead to burning of more calories. Assuming you have all your diet, training, and rest ducks in a row, this will lead to a reduction in your body weight. Meaning, you will burn some body fat, making you appear tighter (and yes, even larger) onstage.

Posing

It takes a certain amount of balance and control to walk around the room at 240 pounds. It takes a bit more style to control that much weight while running at full velocity. After you’ve run 8 or 12 of the 40-yard dash varieties, you’ll feel much lighter on your toes, and you may even be able to implement a few new moves on the stage. At the very least, you’ll build up some stabilizer muscles and place yourself in a much firmer standing position for the show.

Keep a very close eye upon your diet as you add sprints to your regimen. Sprints are some pretty tough exercises, and you are going to burn a great deal of calories when you complete them. This will help you to get in shape if you’re lagging, but also might burn up muscle if used more than twice per week. Consider them to be a metabolic bump that adds some muscle as well.

Sprints can be a bit dangerous, particularly for bodybuilders with reduced fat and water in their joints. If you are in the final week of your diet phase and have begun to manipulate your water levels, you may want to back off of them. When you are running, select a grass or inside track surface. Concrete will lead your knee joints to take quite a beating. Above all, remember that you are not a runner. Rather, you are a bodybuilding using running – sprints in particular – to improve your physique.

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