Not sure I will be sprinting but I love to walk, cycle and dance. Maybe you’d enjoy trying though while it’s still warm weather.
Three ways to train like an Olympic sprinter
By Mark Bailey, HEALTH WRITER
London-based sprinter Imani-Lara Lansiquot, who was part of Team GB’s 4×100m relay team, follows a high-intensity workout regime of sprints, strength circuits and core exercises. Here, she shares three tips to maximising the effectiveness of her training plan:
1. Focus on healthy fuel
“In the morning I stick to oats with berries and honey or a banana,” she explains. “After training I’ll have a protein shake or a protein bar. Lunch is when I have the majority of my carbs. It will usually be pasta or rice with some chicken or fish and lots of green leafy veg like spinach. Dinner is more protein-based, so chicken or fish will be the star of the show, but I’ll have a reduced amount of carbs, and as many colours of veg as I can get on the plate.”
2. Muscle up against injury
Lansiquot performs classic weightlifting exercises like power cleans to boost her strength. “I do lots of traditional big lifts but I also do loads of conditioning work,” she explains. “Conditioning might be long sets of calf raises on a machine. I used to get injured a lot so I needed to get stronger. I started to do quarter squats, Sumo deadlifts (with a wider stance than traditional deadlifts, to protect your back and recruit more of your gluteal muscles) and step-ups onto a 30cm box. It helped me to feel stronger and avoid injuries.”
3. Mix up your sprint intervals
Lansiquot completes nine workouts a week, often performing a track session and a gym session on the same day. Her key fitness sessions involve high-intensity sprint intervals
“We’ll have days that are more focused towards 60m sprints, which are a bit more explosive and skill-based, and we’ll have days based more on 100m and 200m sprints,” she explains. “A lot of the sprints are lactic-based – very hard and very tiring on the muscles – but they help me to maintain my fitness and my skill even when I’m fatigued.”
The secret to performing high-quality sprint intervals, whether in the park or on an athletics track, is variety. “We have a different technical element every day, so there’s never a day that’s super-general,” she says. Mixing up your sprint distances, reps and rest times will constantly challenge your body to adapt and sharpen your cardiovascular fitness.