Getting started on the wellness floor can be confusing if you haven't established what you want to get out of your workout. Maybe you want to get your heart rate up. Maybe you'd like to lose some weight. Maybe you've been wanting to build up endurance for your first 5K. And, maybe, you're not sure where to start.
Enter Sprint 8.
You can visit any Y, any time the doors are open and count on Sprint 8. All you need is a Matrix machine.
To share about the benefits of this simple and effective workout, we teamed up with Clarksville Area YMCA Wellness Director, Jay Bailey, who is a fierce advocate for the program and has seen its positive results.
"It'll change your life," Jay says.
What is Sprint 8
Sprint 8 is a 20-minute high-intensity interval cardio program that is designed to get maximum results in minimum time. You'll start with a three-minute warm-up, followed by 30-second sprints and 90-second active recovery periods. As you near the 20-minute mark, you'll finish with a 2.5-minute cool down.
Why you should try it
"Burning fat, building muscle, gaining strength, building endurance and growing stamina are a couple of benefits from doing the Sprint 8 program," Jay says. "It’s a total body workout. You continue to burn calories after finishing a workout through the rest of the day, and it only takes a short amount of time—just 20 minutes—to complete."
Need a visual? Watch this short video about Sprint 8.
Who it benefits
Everyone can tackle a Sprint 8 workout because there are different levels to choose from: beginner, intermediate, advanced, elite, and custom. In each level, a user can choose from five different workouts; the first is easiest, and the last is hardest. Once you've mastered the highest workout on a level, Jay says, it's time to progress. "When it starts getting easy, we recommend that you either move up to a different program within that level, or move up to a different level altogether."
Seeing the results
Walk into the Clarksville Y and you'll find a handful of staff members ready to talk about how the Sprint 8 program changed their workout routine. According to Jay, it started with a group of full-time staff who took on the Sprint 8 challenge as part of the insurance incentive.
"It changed the game for us because it's helped build relationships between our staff and members," he says. Several staffers lost significant pounds and are singing Sprint 8 praises to anyone who asks about it.
How often you should do it
It's recommended that you do the Sprint 8 program a minimum of three times a week. With a twenty-minute time stamp, three instances of Sprint 8 would equal just an hour weekly. But don't let that seemingly short time frame fool you; you'll get a heart-racing, sweat-inducing workout.
Get started
You can find the Sprint 8 program automatically built into most of our Matrix machines on the wellness floor: treadmills, ascent trainers, and cycling bikes. The only one you won't find Sprint 8 on is the Matrix stair-stepper. Once you've logged into the machine (or started as a guest), you'll see a "Sprint 8" button on the bottom of the screen. Tap it, and then press the green arrow button to continue. If you've logged into the machine and downloaded our new app, the workout (and your calorie burn) will automatically track.
Let's get sprinting!