Sprint! Dash outdoors for best workout of your life

By Wayne Caparas

Does a perfect lower body exist?
Or should I ask...If there really is a such thing as the perfect leg and rear combo, what would this package look like and how would one go about acquiring it? Most would agree that skin tone is the first and most telling impression. Not only does naturally glowing skin (over the entire body) indicate good health through nutrition, but it will also reveal in a most unattractive fashion any excess in body fat storage. You probably know that aside from water, fat is the main ingredient between your skin and your muscle--and if you have too much of it on your legs or rear--it shows through your skin. Of that you can be sure. You may be able to avoid looking at it in the mirror, but it is still there--oh yeah--and it’s coming back tomorrow with backup; unless of course you are bold enough to read this article and start looking back...over your shoulder at the mirror, of course.

It’s in there
Most of what you don’t like about your legs and behind can be readily and naturally reversed. Through the proper fusion of educated nutrition, an effective exercise regimen, and occasional incorporation of some of the recently refined professional spa treatments; your potential best is a short road away--if you maintain the proper mental attitude to free you from some of your bad habits of the past. After all, isn’t it worth it? Picture yourself with the total package below the belt: finely sculpted, long flowing lines and supple curves in all the right places; smooth, seamless transitions between major muscles groups--just enough “show” to prove that they are distinctly alive and ready to go if called upon; healthy heart shaped calf muscles; long sweeping quadriceps; lean, curvaceous, and tightly wound hamstrings reaching up to a round, firm, and smooth set of glutes (your bum Ma’am); and all wrapped up in smooth,, radiant skin holding just the right ingredients. If invited (it doesn’t just buffalo it’s way into your life), unnecessary flaws in this area will become your greatest obstacles in your quest for a sexy lower body. And, it’s not just your legs we’re talking about, there are many more beautiful legs in the world than there are beautiful tushes. As a matter of fact it is the skin that covers your glutes that attracts the most fat. Large stores on the backside of your body are clear signs of improper nutrition and an ineffective training regimen. The precise balance is different for everyone, but there are
common approaches that work for all, no matter how genetically disadvantaged one may be.

Who wears short shorts?
There is no doubt that some of the most beautiful bodies I have ever seen belong to fitness models--most have appeared in Oxygen. But have you noticed that many of these buff models presently credit (or have in the past) their stunning lower bodz to “cutting edge weight lifting and/or cross training on the ‘fad buster’” (or what ever they’re calling the newest miracle machine) combined with a diet supplemented with the newest formula of “brand X bio-engineered nutritional products”. Now before I get the supplement companies up in arms (and big arms they are) let me qualify my weak satire with a whole hearted endorsement of proper diet and nutritional supplementation as the sole foundation for good health, longevity, and physical excellence. My beef isn’t with them. It’s the first half of my prior statement that deserves sarcasm, as the age of endorsements and info-mercials have turned many of our favorite role models into, well, may I say...used car salesmen? Now they don’t actually lie, but they don’t tell you all the truth either; I think it’s time we consider a new vehicle.

They don’t really look like that
Remember the revelation when you first discovered that all those “cover girl” super models and their flawless complexions, bee stung lips, and glamorous tresses of shiny hair didn’t really look that good before all the cosmetic augmentation and photographic air brushing? Hopefully it was an enlightenment that delivered you from a lot of envy, self doubt, and unnecessary purchases of over priced make-up and skin care products. Truth in advertising is kind of a contradiction in terms. I believe a similar revelation is in store for you--and it should change your training program forever.

I hold great respect for fitness models. They are without a doubt the forerunners to the super models of the future. Not the bulky muscular ones; nor the over tanned/over plasticized ones; but the fresh, natural, long and lean women who have achieved just the right measure of grace and feminine strength. I believe they are the sexiest, most illuminated women on earth. In fact, I am so magnetized by them that I trekked from Miami to Maui to Manhattan in my own quest for the holy grail of female fitness secrets. One of them so dazzled me that I traveled even greater lengths to win her as my Bride. Hey, I’m a journalist, and someone has to take the tough jobs--it might as well be me. Thanks to the unabashed sincerity of the top fitness models I interviewed over a four year period (none of which had their major sponsors in the room to censor us), I have discovered more than we could print in a year; so I will start with the revolutionary proclamation that is near and dear to me. Ready? Okay here we go. Weight lifting is not only over-rated, but where lower body sculpting (perfection of legs and glutes) is concerned, it is ultimately detrimental to long term maintenance of great legs. Yes, all the fitness models work out with weights...sometimes...and Lord knows they have been photographed performing every weight lifting exercise known to man, but some are sorry they ever started--while others visit the gym strictly for photo opportunities. Of the twenty or so top fitness models I interviewed, only Brandy Carrier, Laurie Donnelley, and Kim Peterson found their way to fitness fame in a gym. The rest already had or were well on their way to having awesome legs years before they ever touched a weight. Mia Finnegan was a gymnast/dancer. MaDonna Grimes and Vicki Plarr were dancer/choreographers. Many of the others also studied some form of dance while most were athletes in sports that require graceful movements and/or great foot speed. Amy Fadhli and Monica Brandt for example, spent a lot of time running with their horses, playing sports, and were basically Tom boys at heart.
Whatever the case, a common thread ran through each of these elite women’s early success, and in this article we will teach you the secret weapon you can employ to join their ranks. But there is also a common goal that runs through their destinies and it may surprise you--each is trying to lose some of the muscle mass that has cut into both their feminine lines and their marketability as mainstream models. You see, not until these women “grew out of” or began trading off the athletic endeavors of their youth for weight lifting, did having too much muscle become a problem. So if you’ve noticed some of them slimming down over the past year, they’ve either quit lifting or they’ve gone back to their roots, or both. What about their common thread and the secret weapon I promised you? You may have seen in the third issue of Oxygen that Monica Brandt gingerly approached this topic with truth. If you paid close attention, she hinted at her personal secret to an impressive lower body--the same secret she shared when I spoke with her last year--and it wasn’t weight lifting. Monica was a sprinter in high school, and clearly attributes her gorgeous legs to her love for sprinting (not to be confused with running); whether it be along side her horses across an open meadow, or along side thoroughbreds of the human kind in athletic competition. Whether they knew it or not, each woman was cultivating the same fundamental athletic skills in their respective paths to sexy legs; and sprint training is the simplest, most accessible, and most effective form of exercise you could possibly add to your regimen. Hence I submit the following suggestions for your approval. If you want to develop sexy legs that will last you a lifetime, either start studying dance or gymnastics for four hours a day, six days a week; or become a full time athlete involved in a speed and agility oriented sport; or learn to sprint with proper form for 45 minutes a day, four days per week. Keep in mind that the first two choices offer high rates of injury and poor accessibility. Not sold yet? Read on and you will be.

Designer Genes
Throughout the 80’s and early 90’s I was a big proponent of the gym craze, as I zealously pushed weight lifting on women of all ages. Having been a sprinter in high school and college, I continued to sprint train in my personal little vacuum--that is until a mixed regimen of heavy weight lifting, football, and basketball blew out my knee. Meanwhile, the reality that triggered my shift in teaching was not simply a reaction to this devastating injury, nor was it based on emotion or preference, but instead it was grounded in scientific fact. I had finally realized that we simply were not built to be “beasts of burden”. If, however, the majority of our physical activities involves weight loaded exertion, we are such adaptable creatures that not only will we survive in this role, but our bodies will eventually take on the characteristics--both anatomically and aesthetically--necessary to thrive under such stress. So if your goal is to become an ox or Clydesdale horse among our species, keep loading on the weights and you will grow to be thick and powerful...for a while. In actuality humans--especially those of the fairer sex--were genetically designed not to serve as work horses but to develop ever increasing intellect and stealth to out-wit or elude predators. These skills do not require extreme power--but do call for ingenuity, agility, swift foot speed, jumping abilities, and climbing strength. The simple fact that we have evolved to dominate our once horrifying predators is proof of this anthropological theory. So the obvious conclusion is that the optimal development of the human body as designed would result from engaging in training activities that enhance quickness and the combined skills that coalesce as grace. Thus we arrive at two important truisms: Species most effectively optimize physical perfection by pursuing activities for which their bodies were genetically designed; and Humans were designed to run swiftly and to do so gracefully. So whether you are ready for this revolution or not, you might as well get used to it--weight training is greatly inferior to sprint training where the pursuit of physical excellence is concerned--and isn’t this the very concern that lead you to read Oxygen?

Monkey See Monkey Do
Before the masses accepts this training revelation as more than just alternative or extreme exercise, an obvious question must be resolved. If sprint training is “all that”, why do fitness enthusiasts and strength training experts alike promote the “gym” as the premier training venue to develop lower body muscles? The controversial answer cuts through many of the contradictions seen in the modern socio-economic environment, and is most easily seen in the arenas of sport and fitness. Although times are a’changin’, this is still a man’s world, and for reasons as shallow and primeval as physical superiority, 99.9% of the men in the western civilization would prefer to be bigger, stronger, taller, grow more hair on their heads, and all that other “testosterone related” stuff. We may not admit it, but it’s true. The reason men push these attributes on women is mostly due to ignorance. We monkeys teach what we know best. We also like to see the opposite sex hanging out in the same jungle, so we push our interests on you to keep you within our grasp. Think about it. And on the more highly evolved end of the male rationale spectrum you will find the all mighty dollar. About 90% of the gyms and health clubs are owned by men, and approximately 95% of the information you receive--whether it be from a fitness magazine or the major news media--is passed on by companies owned and controlled by men. If Oxygen didn’t have a woman as it’s “genuine” editor (as opposed to a “puppet” editor) you may have had to wait for the book to come out before you heard any of this. Should you still train in the Gym? Absolutely, if you do so to supplement your sprinting--or dance if you choose this discipline. There’s a lot more to health clubs than just leg irons, and they will always offer convenience during in-climate weather. Good health clubs also serve as practical venues for rehabilitation training (if you know exactly what you are doing) while recovering from an injury. And for those of us who have grown to love the upper body “pump”, it’s hard to replace a good lat pull machine to create the illusion of a smaller waist. Then there are those of you who thrive in the well promoted social environment available in most health clubs; I know how you feel--the camaraderie is cool--But don’t get the wrong idea. Sprint training can, will be, and already is in several cities a widely enjoyed, highly social form of exercise. In some towns “sprint clubs” have popped onto the scene. Ironically these clubs are usually developed by advanced sports medicine experts working out of health clubs. The one I train with whenever I get back to Charleston, S.C. has more than 20 members on any given day--most of whom are women. It was created by star trainer Stacey Dove (pretty name for a guy), who also boasts NFL Pro Bowl’ers Robert Porcher and the fastest “white boy” in the league, Green Bay Packer Travis Jervey as members of his club. Stacey stresses that sprint training is supreme in that “each participant will develop his or her legs to their own natural potential, to the ‘purest extreme’ and not an inch beyond.” When a trainer, sports medicine expert, or Orthopedic Dr. in Charleston--man or woman--needs fitness advice or rehab for an injury, they go to Stacey...if they can afford him. We’re from the same school of thought.

The pro’s and con’s of Sprinting
The only draw backs to sprint training are that you are subject to the weather (which is just as much a positive), and that you’ve got to know what you are doing--which is true of any form of exercise, so let’s get on to the positives.

So get all those negative images and preconceptions you have about “distance running” and the effect such exercise has on one’s physique out of your mind. You’ve seen the Olympics. Sprinters are the ones who prance around on the balls of their feet like thoroughbreds, exhibit graceful athletic prowess, and thrill the world with heart pounding drama. You know, the Michael Johnsons, the Carl Lewises, and the Florence Joyners (Flo-Jos) on the track. Although these are among the most extreme athletes (they must train three times as hard as we do), you must admit, they are beautifully and symmetrically muscular from head to toe, and even the men have almost feminine lines in their graceful physiques. The natural, well built skill players you see in the NFL are also sprinters. Distance runners on the other hand are those heroic, gaunt, lanky athletes our hearts go out to as they incessantly “jog” round and round or across endless miles of roadway, pounding their heels with each stride until they collapse with exhaustion and stress. No offense to these athletes, but I don’t do that, and neither do any of the top fitness models. Oddly there is a well established community of jogging (they call it running) enthusiasts world wide--partly because anyone can do it and there is relatively no technical knowledge necessary. Most of the enthusiasm however is due to the big bucks involved in jogging shoes and attire. There’s that dollar again. Furthermore, another of the advantages sprinting has over running is the safety issue. There is virtually no risk of major injury in sprinting, while runners suffer from a variety of ailments and hundreds are severely injured and killed every year by motorists or criminals, as most of these joggers need many miles of road to “enjoy” their workout. Hmm. Meanwhile, back on the safety of the farm, all sprinters need is a 60 or more meter stretch of level ground, preferably of turf, well packed dirt or the firmest sand of a beach, and you’re ready to start. You can also run on pavement, but you must have excellent running shoes if this is your only available ground, while a professional sprinting track with a composite surface will always get your juices flowing. Now feast your eyes on this bullet list of the major advantages of sprint training.

· It naturally reduces muscle size where you are too big
· It naturally increases muscle size where you are too thin
· It builds and sculpts lower body muscles to reach genetic perfection
· It eliminates a-symmetry or imbalance in size between legs
· The learning process is fun, the workouts are a blast
· It offers cardiovascular benefits beyond any other form of body sculpting
· Since proper form disallows heel impact, it is safer to your joints than jogging
· It is the only workout that employs or involves nearly every muscle in the body
· It offers a fresh air alternative to health club training
· Just 45 minutes four times a week will kick your butt!
· It can be done every day and the variety of routines are endless
· It is uniquely energizing, exhilarating, and mind cleansing
· It is the only body shaping routine that enhances all elements of grace and athletic ability, so if you do play sports, get ready to double the quality of your game. The elements of grace include:
flexibility, coordination, balance, agility, rhythm, mental focus, foot speed, hand speed, jumping ability, strength, confidence, etc.
· The competitive and technically challenging elements enhance your motivation
· No special equipment is necessary
· There are no membership fees!

The Simplicity of Proper Technique
You are going to love this! There’s a reason Monica adores sprinting, and please don’t get intimidated--sprinting is for everyone--no matter your age or your shape. One of the beauties of this program is that it is nearly impossible to go beyond your abilities, so “improving at your own pace” is a built in benefit. As with any form of strenuous exercise, please check with your physician before you begin our program, especially if you have a history of serious joint injuries. Our demonstrations are being performed by two successful models and athletes, Vicki Plarr who learned the program in a single day this January, and my wife Candace Caparas, who has been sprinting with me since 1994. Candace has developed impressive technique, and has been a top 10 overall finisher in both the Galaxy event and the LifeQuest Triple Crown. Vicki absolutely loves the workout. She has been following the program religiously, and she has quickly developed gazelle like grace--which was clearly accentuated by her experience as a dancer. Vicki has built exquisite legs for herself. Some of you may think these two women should try to carry more muscle, but I would disagree. You tell me. Keep in mind that Vicki’s “20 year old” body just turned 40 in world years.

You may recall her interview in the last issue of Oxygen--she has learned how to defy time. Together, my crack journalistic team (which also includes fellow crusader for truth and renowned photojournalist Bobby Plarr) will concisely break down the precise components of correct sprinting technique. You’re gonna love it. The benefits are so evident that everyone who learns proper sprinting technique sticks with the program for life. Be a pioneer and join the revolution now Here’s how to start.

Warm Up/Stretching
We will often cover these topics at Oxygen, so I won’t belabor the importance and benefits here. Just follow this concise regimen and you can’t go wrong. It may sound like a lot as I walk you through it, but remember, this will become a 45 minute workout once you get the hang of it. Be patient--the payoff is well worth it. Warm up by lightly shaking out your limbs, bouncing on your toes, and just prancing around--ten to twenty meters at a time--for about two to five minutes. As soon as you feel loose go through a total body stretching routine. Once you realize the broad ranging benefits of this segment of the program alone, it should become a twice a day practice--something you should do before any form of exercise--and often just for the sheer pleasure of it. Consider it sprinter’s yoga.

General Rules of stretching
Never bounce during a stretch. Mentally “focus in” directly to the muscle group being stretched and slowly increase the stretch range until you feel the muscles release. I’ll say it again--never bounce--but consistently hold the stretch for periods of 15 to 60 seconds. I feel good after 30. Remember to clear your head to bridge that “mind-body gap” to the specified muscle group. Breathe rhythmically, and enjoy the increased circulation of your life’s blood. Look to future issues of Oxygen for more detailed articles on the best stretching routines. Until then, if you don’t know one, ask a certified trainer to teach you one, or pick up one of the popular books that teach and diagram dozens of different stretches. The hurdler stretch (hamstrings), the butterfly stretch (groin), and the standing quad stretch (quadriceps) as shown, are among the most critical to enlist each workout.

The Technique Drills
In everything you do, whether it be dance, water skiing, playing a musical instrument, or in this case sprinting, the development of proper form and technique are essential to reaching your full potential. The mental techniques of focus and relaxation are the most important, as they will free you to quickly learn the key physical “building blocks”. The best way to learn skilled sprinting technique is to employ the following series of drills that are actually the first half of our work out. You will perform a specified number and distance of sets for each drill. They are time proven and very popular among competitive sprinters and skill players in most speed sports. In my life, I was blessed with two significant teachers who directly (and indirectly by my own observation) taught me how to perfect my form and greatly improve my speed and physical development. First was my big brother Rally Caparas. Growing up with one of the one of the fastest men on earth was bound to impact my technique. I would watch his every move, and though these subtleties came natural to him, it took a lot of repetition for me to get down pat. Rally was a natural born “speed merchant”. By the time he began playing Major College Football he had developed world class speed, and was by most accounts the fastest cornerback in the country. Not a bad role model for a kid with an affinity for speed. My second and most gifted teacher, former All American and All-Pro wide receiver Jerry Butler, had also risen to become one of the fastest men in the world, but in contrast to Rally who was born with impeccable form, Jerry--like me--had to develop it. So knowing my desire to reach his level as a speedster, Jerry took the time to teach me all of his secrets. The following drills are based on the regimen he taught me one life changing summer. He personally created several of these, and certainly mastered each, as not only did Jerry become a football star, but was also named the Rookie of the Year, and the fastest man in the NFL in 1981. Were it not for a career ending knee injury, he would today be as well known as Jerry Rice. Rally also lost his professional career to a serious football injury, so please be careful playing contact sports, or you too may suffer a serious set back in achieving your goals no matter how fast you get or fit you become. Each of these drills focus on a specific set of proper sprinting techniques, and once mentally and physically tied together through visualization and proper rhythm, you will be sprinting near your maximum speed within a week, and boy will your butt know it.
Aside from the mental elements, there are two core conditions that will hold true for the drills and the final product of sprinting. First, proper, rhythmic breathing is essential. Increased oxygen consumption is of vital importance during any strenuous exercise, and after your first full sprint, you’ll quickly realize that this definitely applies to our program! Second, heel impact must be eliminated during each exercise. The contact of your heel to the ground will not only slow you down, but will also lead to impact related injuries. Only by staying on the balls of your feet can you fully employ the set of powerhouse muscles, ligaments, and tendons that endow your feet and lower calves.

Again, please don’t let any of this detailed information intimidate you. Sprinting is nothing more than running fast on the balls of your feet. We simply want to give you every opportunity to achieve the results you desire for your lower body as soon as possible. So enjoy these technique drills, they’re without a doubt more fun than squats and will make you look a whole lot more feminine!

Arm swings
This drill establishes proper upper body movement. Although every muscle is employed, few are under great stress. As Candace demonstrates, you will stand erect on the balls of your feet, and your face and neck muscles should maintain a loose, centered stasis over your torso--at no time should they tighten up or strain. This may be the toughest technique to master, as most of us have learned to make some pretty ugly faces when we are exercising; but as you learn this critical element of relaxation, make sure to practice it in all of your sports and other forms of training. Clenching your teeth and scrunching up your face does absolutely nothing for your strength or speed, but it will add some stress and premature wrinkles to your face. Back to the drill. Other than auxiliary use of your pectorals and back muscles, the only major muscles in your upper body that are fully employed while sprinting are your shoulders. Your arms should maintain a 90 degree angle at the elbow. If this angle ever opens or closes, you are fighting yourself. Your arms should swing solely through your shoulders, your forward hand should swing or “reach” up to eye level, and your back swing hand should reach no further than your butt. Although your arms should maintain a fixed 90 degree angle, they too, along with your hands, should remain very loose and relaxed. As you alternately swing your arms, your elbows should find a fluid groove in which to travel, never flailing outward on the back swing nor inward on the forward swing. Meanwhile, as your right arm swings forward, you will tip up on your left toe--bending slightly at the left knee--and vice-versa on the return swing. Remember to breathe rhythmically and keep your heels off the ground. I start with a single set of these, reaching forward at least 20 times with each arm.

Ankle Flips
Start this drill with arm swings. While maintaining a slight, fixed bend in both knees, employ those powerful foot and calf muscles to alternately propel you upward as if your legs were like two slightly flexed pogo-sticks. Once you establish a equal hop from foot to foot (never allowing your knees to get involved in the upward propulsion) and have established proper arm swing, gently lean forward. This slight leaning of your torso should be all it takes to tell your “flippers” to move you forward. If you are performing this drill correctly, your feet should maintain a less than shoulder width spread, and the lead foot should never reach so far forward that it’s heel passes the trailing foot’s toe. Sounds complicated, but like all of these drills it’s a cinch once you do it. Vicki’s demonstration shots should clarify the technique for you. I generally perform 4 sets of these, “flipping” 10 meters per set.

High Knees
Once again begin with the arm swing drill. As soon as you are set, begin to run in place (never hit your heels!), gradually raising your knees in a piston action to the highest comfortable range that does not cause your torso to lean back. Once you have developed a quick, rhythmic pattern of movement, gently lean forward just as you did during the ankle flips drill. Gravity alone should pull you into a forward path of movement. Do not stride forward and do not allow your heels to strike the ground! Keep your arm swing and relaxation in check. I also perform 4 sets of high knees, 10 meters per set.

Overstrides
You will need a little more space for these next two drills. Lightly run for about 10 meters, with proper arm swing and no heel impact. After the 10 meters accelerate your stride, but maximize the stride length or reach of each leg. Move with optimal speed, gliding across your path with grace. To check your form, your head should travel along a fixed line--height is not the goal in this drill--maximum stride length is your goal. Vicki’s form in the demonstration is exact. I perform 4 sets of overstrides, 20 meters (after the 10 meter start up) per set.

Boundies
Start with the same techniques employed in overstrides, but instead of maximizing stride length, boundies are performed to maximize stride height or air time. These are sort of a cross between overstrides and high knees, as the bounding movements adapted by gazelles are our goal. Vicki’s demonstration shots are probably more revealing here than for any of the other drills, as you should almost feel like you are freeze framing, or “profiling” in mid air between each stride. Move with speed, but remember height is our goal in this drill. In my opinion, this is the most difficult drill, although Vicki picked it up faster than several of the other drills. I think dancers have an advantage in learning this one, as they have spent a lot of time learning to leap from stride to stride. If you have weak knees, or are presently recovering from a lower body joint injury, you may want to pass on this one. Just as with the overstrides, I perform 4 sets, 20 meters per set.

Flight Manifest
These five drills, once tied together, involve the 10 fundamental building blocks to sound sprinting technique. In essence, the drills should have taught you each point of the following checklist. Know it like a pilot knows his flight plan, and you will reach your desired destination.

1. Breath into a clear state of mental focus, and visualize yourself as light and graceful
2. Maintain a relaxed face, upper body, and hands
3. Achieve swift paralleled pendulum action as your arms reach and swing through your shoulders--maintain a fluid 90 degree angle
4. as you reach, tie in quick--piston like knee lift in rhythmic unison
5. Match this rhythm with your breathing, and inhale with depth
6. Feel explosive forward propulsion springing from the balls of your feet (toes)
7. maintain slight forward body lean
8. maximize stride length
9. optimize air time--spend your time gracefully stroking the ground with the balls of your feet, not pounding the ground with them
10. maintain straight line form, and always run beyond a marked finishing point or line

The first time you feel it all come together will be an incredibly exhilarating experience for you. When you see and feel the immediate results, you will become a sprinter for life. As a beginner, you will gradually feel it all blend together--and you will also notice your relative deviation from each item on the checklist. As time goes on, you will begin to mentally connect with each basic component while you are sprinting, until the day when your subconscious takes over and you begin to focus on nothing more than some metaphysical point in space well beyond the finish line--then who knows--maybe you’ll be ready for the Olympic trials. That is, once you learn to start your sprint with the same explosive grace.

Starts
This, the last drill to master, is critical for competitive athletes--but even if you are sprint training just for the fun and fitness, you will need to learn proper starts if you are ever to reach your full physical potential. Until you begin to monitor or numerically “quantify” your progress--just as we do in the gym with the weights--you will never learn to break through thresholds on to greater possibilities. So you will obviously want to start timing your sprints with a stopwatch or the chronograph function on your sport watch. There is nothing in athletics more rewarding than surpassing your own personal best, except maybe exceeding your partners’! Look Carefully at Candace’s form in the demonstration shot. Note carefully where her hands and feet are in relation to each other. Whichever hand feels most comfortable in the down position should be coordinated with the opposite foot; which should start just slightly ahead of the other. Your up hand should already be set back in the 90 degree angle--ready to swiftly swing forward at the start. In Olympic sprinting, starter blocks are available. These allow for a start position with both hands down. If you don’t have a set of starter blocks (and who does?) we recommend a single hand start similar to that employed by football players. The general key is to raise your hips so to place the majority of your body weight on your start hand, thus preparing your legs to propel your body forward, not upward--so you are basically jumping out of the start position at about a 30 degree angle to the ground. This start technique maximizes your initial speed, establishes proper forward lean, and ensures that you don’t lose valuable tenths of seconds spinning your wheels. Keep your head down and eyes up for the first few strides, then shift into over drive--utilizing all of the technical elements learned in the prior drills.

Sprint Sets
Your first few workouts are going to be intriguing no matter how many left feet you have. The simple fact remains--sprinting is what our bodies were designed to do--and once you sprint, your body will compensate you with a pump--soreness--results cycle greater than anything else you have ever experienced. The actual sprints are really the simple part, it’s honing your technique that takes a little time, so be patient. When you factor in the different sprint distances (40, 100, 200, 300, and 400 meters) the variety of possible workout combinations is virtually limitless, but I generally stick to 5 or 6 different variations. As a beginner, I found that the most comfortable distance to sprint was 100 meters. It is a relatively short sprint, but lengthy enough to measure my ability to hold proper form through the finish. To meet the criteria for point number 10 on our checklist, you should shoot for an imaginary finish line about 10 meters past the actual; this will help you maintain good form for the entire distance and thus minimize your times. By the way, 13.5 seconds is a fast 100 meters for a woman, and 12 seconds is great for a man. The world record is just under 10 seconds. Once you establish your personal best, you should attempt to complete each sprint (set) within 110% of this time (I won’t apologize for throwing some simple math at you. After all, you are among the enlightened). For a minimal sprint, 40 meters is a long enough distance to challenge your muscles, but it is harder to develop excellent technique when the finish line is so close to the start. I mix up the distances for variety and actually enjoy them all. Once you exceed 100 meters you will probably be running on a track. For this reason I have grown to prefer running 200 meter dashes--they challenge body heart and lungs while throwing in a single curve on the track for variety (30 seconds is a good target for most women). You will learn to love leaning into those turns. 400 meter sprints are grueling but hit your butt better than the shorter sprints. You’ve got to be in great shape if you plan on maintaining good form for one of these. I like running 400’s on a long level beach with slightly hardened sand. If you are fortunate enough to get a gentle wind at your back, you will find sprinting on the beach to be one of the most spiritual experiences your mind can share with your body. The venues you use will obviously dictate the distances you choose. Candace likes to run 12 sets of 40’s, or 8 sets or 100’s, or 4 sets of 200’s. She also likes to “pyramid” her distances. After each sprint, walk and breathe your way back to the start line. Do not lie down, sit down, or bend over at the waist during the workout; just keep walking and breathing until you are ready for the next sprint. Whatever combination you choose just employ the techniques you learn in the drills, and in time, you will see and feel the flight.

Sprinting Hills
If you have access to a steep hill or grassy embankment of at least 20 meters, you have probably the best sprint “training tool” available. Not only is sprinting up hill more demanding on your muscles, heart, and lungs, but the effect of gravity against such an incline will force you into better form. If you had never read this article but had begun running banks (steep hills) anyway, you eventually would have developed most of these proper techniques by default. If you can’t find a suitable incline, running bleachers are a reasonable facsimile, but nothing compares to a smooth grassy climb. So if you are struggling with your form, or if you want to go more extreme with your sprint training, head for the hills!

And in the end...
It can be said that the only part of a workout that is more important than the warm-up and pre-stretching segment would have to be the warm-down and post-stretching segment. Don’t be mistaken--this is not just P.R. for sensible prevention, it is the truth--so let it set you free...from injuries, from soreness, from slow healing, from sluggish results, and from the chance of missing a meditative ten minutes that would also promote improved circulation--blood flow to expedite the critical replenishment of spent oxygen, minerals, and nutrients throughout your body while flushing out lactic acid, toxins, and all that other baggage you don’t want hanging around. That’s it! You can do it, and you should do it, so go do it! But first be sure to share this article with all of your friends and family--women and men, the young and the not so young. You know the truth, and it is now your responsibility to share it with everyone you care about. Besides, you will want a few partners to learn with, and no revolution will ever be won alone! Stay in touch, and let me know how you are progressing or if you have any questions. We have a video and training book in the works, so we will be sure to let you know when they are available. Until then, stay on your toes and get plenty of Oxygen!

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