You have heard of HIIT training, but have you heard of SIT training- sprint interval training? Today we are going to talk about SIT training, what it is, why it's beneficial and how you can add it into your current training protocol.

It might be easier to first explain what HIIT training is since this is a type of training most people are familiar with. Why are we starting with what HIIT training is? Because S.I.T. training is HIIT training taken to the next level.

HIIT training is high intensity interval training. This is training intervals done at submaximal capacity. Think 85-90% effort held for 30s up to a few minutes combined with short rest periods for recovery. HIIT training can be performed with body weight exercises, running and even exercises with weights, such as kettlebell swings or goblet squats. The focus with HIIT training is cardiovascular fitness, muscle endurance and even fat burning.

S.I.T., on the other hand, focuses more on developing anaerobic power and speed. These are intervals done at an all-out maximum effort with intervals of complete rest or complete recovery between. Maximum effort is typically performed for 10-30 seconds with rest/ recovery efforts typically lasting 2-4 minutes to allow for a complete recovery before attempting the next interval. Because of the effort required in these intervals, it is typical to train SIT intervals with mainly sprinting.

Sprint interval training is an approach to training mostly seen by advanced athletes. Athletes with a higher training age have the physiological and neurological adaptations that occur over time with consistent training working in their favor. They understand what it's like to redline, to push to maximum capacity and go into the pain cave. Athletes who are newer to sport and training will have a harder time not only mentally but also physiologically getting their body to get to a true maximum effort place. Because of this, SIT training is a more advanced training technique.

The most commonly used methods of training SIT are cycling, rowing and running. This is because the ability to go as fast as possible, as quickly as possible is much greater than exercises with dumbbells or barbells. The latter has to take into account cycling time, technique and skill. Something like running, rowing or cycling is often a low skill, high return on effort movement so the ability to reach maximum effort outputs is greater.

The rest and recovery intervals are necessary to be able to fully recover and perform at maximum capacity for the next interval. For most athletes a complete rest or light recovery period of 2-4 minutes is adequate to be able to fully recover for the next effort.

It would be hard to find an athlete, especially a competitive athlete at that, who wouldn’t benefit from this type of training. Ranging from team sports like football and basketball to sprinter and rowers and even CrossFit athletes would find the benefits from SIT training to be impactful for improvements.

General Benefits

If you are looking to build strength, endurance, power and speed in a short amount of time, SIT training might be the solution. This workout style helps athletes break past barriers both mental and physical which allows them to reach the next level of performance. More on the mental in a minute, but let's unpack the physical and physiological benefits of SIT training.

VO2 max is a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use during intense exercise. This is one of the basic measures of cardiovascular efficiency. The better your body gets at using oxygen, the fitter you are and become.

In order to be fast, explosive and powerful, your body needs to be able to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible, specifically fast twitch muscle fibers. SIT training allows you to become more efficient over time with doing just that.

Unless you are an endurance athlete or have a lot of time you are able to dedicate to the gym, not only quick but also efficient and effective workouts are necessary for the improvements you seek. SIT training is not time demanding. The workouts are typically short in nature and ideal for athletes looking to get a challenging workout without eating up a lot of their time.

While SIT training offers many sport improvement benefits, there are metabolic benefits worth noting as well. Because these intervals are so intense, the body will continue to work even after the physical activity itself is over. This is beneficial when chasing body change and fat loss.

On a cellular level, high intensity fitness like SIT training has also been shown to help improve insulin sensitivity. When the body works at such a high capacity, the body absorbs any glucose found in the bloodstream. This, over time, improves blood sugar regulation. The hormonal response is also worth noting. As you are training these short yet high intensity efforts, you will temporarily spike adrenaline. This adrenaline spike encourages muscles to take up any glucose available into the muscles and therefore reduces the glucose found in the bloodstream.

How can SIT training impact the mental component of training? As mentioned above, SIT training requires training age to be a bit higher. A newbie likely would have a harder time hitting the pain cave and hitting the effort required for this type of training. That means a seasoned athlete knows how to go hard. The harder you go, the harder it hurts. What do you do when it starts to hurt, when it starts to get hard? Training the mental component of discomfort is important in training for sport improvements. Being able to improve your mental game, the self-talk that arises when things get tough, is an added benefit of SIT training. Testing out how you approach and work through challenging training sessions can transfer over to the mental toughness needed on the field, track, weight room or wherever your sport takes you.

Key Considerations

Due to the nature of sprint interval training, there are a few things to take into consideration when adding this type of training into your training regimen.

Warmups are key. Because you will be working at maximum effort levels, going into an effort without the proper warm up, both cardiovascular and physically, can be a detriment to the training session. First, without a proper warm up you are at a great risk of injury. Secondly, if you don't touch on warming up aerobically the chances of you getting more winded than normal is higher. Prepare your body, your lungs and your mind for this type of training. Consider doing a basic 5-10 minute easy cardiovascular warm up, like a jog, row or bike. Then from there hit max effort for very short bursts, maybe 10-12 seconds before fully recovering. Do this 2-3 times prior to the actual working sets and you will find risk of injury lower and your body will be much more primed to get the most out of your training.

When adding SIT training into your protocol, its encouraged to not do back to back days of this. While the recovery between efforts is important, allowing your body enough time to recover between sessions is equally as important. Because you are trying to work at maximum capacity, you want to allow not only your body to physically recover from these workouts but also your central nervous system will likely be pretty taxed from this training. Because of this, consider spreading SIT training days apart and hitting them no more than 2-3 times a week overall.

Pay attention to your form when performing SIT training. It is easy to go out and run or sit on a bike and move along. But as you start pushing the limits on pace and efforts, it would be easy for the form to get sloppy. Similar to how you would want to ensure proper form on weight bearing exercises like deadlifts and back squats, the movement of choice for SIT training should be approached no differently. Don't allow sloppy running form or improper mechanics while cycling or running be the limiting factor to you seeing improvements. Make sure form stays dialed even as you get tired, especially as you get tired.

Ways to Get Better at Sprint Intervals

Like any sport, if you want to get better at it you need to do more of it. With sprint intervals, in order to get better, you simply need to do them. Getting to that maximum level of effort quicker and being able to mentally withstand the pain that comes from that level of physical effort comes with exposure. The more obvious way to get better at sprint interval training is to train this way. But there are some less obvious ways as well.

Form

Depending on how you choose to attack sprint interval training, you will want to refine your form and work out any improper technique or mechanics you can. The more refined your technique and movement patterns are, the more efficient you will be and hitting max effort will not only look but likely feel much different.

Strength

Strength training can make a good athlete great. When working on being able to safely reach maximum level efforts necessary to properly execute SIT training, a focus on strength is recommended. More strength often means greater power output. The more powerful you are, the greater effort you can put towards your intervals.

Compound movements like back squats and cleans help with absolute and dynamic strength. Due to the short nature of SIT intervals, getting to top end speed as quickly as possible is important. More strength, achieved through squats and cleans, allows you this to happen. Dynamic movements like cleans also improve power output and explosiveness. Again, both helpful when trying to reach maximum level efforts in a very short period of time.

Unilateral strength training is also helpful. The focus on unilateral movements can help prevent injury and improve or even fix any imbalances that are present. Things like single leg hops and squats will contribute to SIT workouts being more productive towards overall improvements, over time.

Dynamic Trunk Control

It is never a bad idea to have a strong center. Dynamic trunk control is something that will benefit any sport, athlete and goal and it's not different here, when trying to get the most out of your SIT training. Again, since SIT training is such a short interval, being able to reach that maximum level of effort as quickly as possible means your body needs to work as one cohesive unit. Yes, there are neuromuscular components to that but making sure your trunk is strong will contribute to being able to go from 0 to 100 as efficiently and safely as possible.

Training anti rotation, dynamic and even static exercises to help ensure you are strong from the center out will help SIT training be more effective.

Mobility

Spending 10-12 minutes on mobility will help training in general. Making sure hips, knees and ankles are primed and ready to go is essential and beneficial as a proper warm up for SIT intervals. Similar to how strength training can make SIT training more efficient and effective, being a mobile athlete does the same.

If you want to get faster, fitter and arguably healthier, sprint interval training might be something to consider adding to your training regimen. The physical, metabolic and performance benefits speak for themselves. If you are looking for more support in your training, check out the Peak Strength app.