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Since having my second baby, I’ve been slowly getting back into running — but this season of life looks a lot different than it did in my 20s. Between two kids, work, and just trying to keep everything afloat, long runs aren’t always realistic. That’s where sprint workouts have become one of my favorite tools. Sprinting gives you a way to get stronger, fitter, and leaner — all in a short amount of time — and the benefits go far beyond just saving time.
Now that I’m also navigating perimenopause, I’ve seen firsthand how helpful sprinting is for women as our hormones start to shift. Sprint intervals support muscle, metabolism, hormones, and even bone health — all of which become more important (and harder to manage) in your 30s, 40s, and beyond.
I have a full section about the benefits of sprinting for women, especially when approaching perimenopause so be sure to check that out below the 10 tips.
10+ Benefits of Sprinting
Most runners and athletes are used to adding speed workouts into their training. Maybe you’ve even added in tempo runs or fartleks to your weekly workouts here or there. However, one of the best forms of exercise that gets breezed by most frequently is all-out sprinting. But distance runners often make the mistake of skipping sprinting. Sprinting is an intense cardio exercise (but short!) that can make you faster and stronger, help with weight loss by burning fat, and has tons of other physiological and health benefits. So, what are the benefits? Let’s talk about it.
1. Allows your heart muscles to grow stronger
One of the major benefits of sprinting is heart health and improved blood pressure and improved blood cholesterol levels. The Type II muscles, which are also called fast-twitch muscle fibers, are built during sprints, and they improve your heart function. The effort you put into your muscles while you sprint makes your heart pump harder (which, as you can imagine, makes your blood circulation better). This strengthens your heart, which is a major benefit you get from sprinting. When you go on an easy run, you’re working your slow-twitch muscles, so focusing on improving both will make you a stronger runner overall, as well as increase your range of motion.
Heart disease is more common in younger/healthier people than you may realize, so it’s very important to be taking good care of your heart health, even as a healthy runner! (Function Health is one of the tools I use to keep tabs of my heart health.)
2. Builds strength
Believe it or not, sprinting helps you build muscle mass like strength training does. That’s because it’s an anaerobic exercise. With sprinting, you get more bang for your buck since sprinting works dozens of muscles simultaneously, whereas weight training is typically focused on one part of your body at a time. As you sprint (and lift weights) you’re fighting osteoporosis and working on your balance/coordination. Here are all the muscles running works – think glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves.
3. Builds endurance
As you sprint, you’re naturally building endurance by training your body to utilize energy faster. Sprinting pushes your power and muscle endurance to the max which actually helps build higher VO2 max and increase endurance. And if you want to run longer, you obviously need endurance!
Sprinting naturally builds up a runner’s endurance because it trains the body to utilize more energy, faster.
4. Increases speed
While it’s obvious that sprinting IS an increase in your running speed, it’s slightly less obvious that you’ll actually become a faster runner over time by adding in sprints to your workouts. Sprints require quick energy and over time, this makes your body more efficient at storing glycogen in your muscles. Like I mentioned above, since sprinting is an anaerobic exercise, you’re breaking down muscles, building them back up, and training your body to process lactic acid build-up a little faster each time. And, over time, as your body gets used to sprinting, you increase your tolerance for the pain or soreness that you can experience after a hard sprint. Just make sure you plan for recovery days if you add sprinting to your training.
Just like adding distance and longer duration to your training over time, speed work also builds on itself to make you faster overall.
5. Reduces stress
Sprinting isn’t alone in doing this, but it’s a quick way to get that feel-good runner’s high that a long run also brings. Running in general helps reduce stress by circulating more blood to the part of your brain that responds to stress. Running also releases endorphins which gives you the post-run high. The stress hormones in your body, like adrenaline and cortisol, drop after sprinting, which also helps reduce stress, so sprinting promotes good mental health along with physical health.
And since sprinting gets your more bang for your buck, you’ll feel these effects after just 15 minutes of sprinting vs. it taking a longer amount of slower running to get those endorphins flowing. Both are great, but sprints are a quick way to get that stress relief if you’re pressed for time. When I’m dealing with anxiety, sprinting helps a lot (in addition to taking CBD regularly).
6. Improves metabolism
Another major benefit of springing is that it burns more calories in less time, and increases your metabolic rate for days after your workout. This is called EPOC — excess post exercise oxygen consumption (or as some know it as “afterburn”) — which means you keep burning calories even after your workout is over.
Studies show that high-intensity interval training (HIIT or sprinting) results in significantly better fat loss (even that pesky, stubborn visceral fat in the belly) and overall health benefits than moderately intense activities such as jogging (source). So if you want to lose fat with running, do sprints!
7. Improves body composition
Obviously running in general helps reduce body fat; however, steady exercise without variation can actually be ineffective for reducing body fat stores. Sprinting is super effective at improving weight loss because of its intense, diverse nature. And while you’ll see your body composition change on the outside as a result of sprinting, your body will also grow stronger as a whole. Your hips will get a new range of motion, your hamstrings will work in a different way, you’ll engage your abs and torso differently, and you’ll start to notice that your body is better suited for running conditions with this variation in training.
8. Takes less time with the same benefits
A great benefit to sprinting is how fast (pun intended) it is to get a workout in. Most steady runs are likely 30-45 minutes on an average day, but sprinting can take about 20 minutes, start to finish, WITH recovery built in! Warm up for 10 minutes. Then, sprint for 1 minute, recover for 2, and repeat 5 times. This is called sprint interval training, and you’ll be huffing and puffing, but it’ll be over before you know it.
9. Improves insulin sensitivity
Sprinting can deplete glycogen stores in muscles, which is a great way to make sure you don’t have too much insulin in your body (which can lead to diabetes). Even though insulin is essential for your body, too much generally results in fat that gets stored, and this can create insulin resistance, which makes it difficult to lose weight. Sprinting is a quick way to reduce those glycogen stores and increase glucose control. Again, using Function Health is a great way to monitor insulin.
10. Builds new mitochondria
Sprinting is one way to make more mitochondria in your body, and the mitochondria (you know, the powerhouse of the cell!) is responsible for extracting energy from nutrients to produce ATP (Adenosine 5′-triphosphate) which is the molecule for storing and transferring energy in cells. The more mitochondria you have, the more power you have available for your brain and body. And the more the better since lots of degenerative diseases are characterized by malfunctioning mitochondria.
Bonus: You can do it anywhere
Like running, you’re able to sprint anywhere, even indoors. In fact, I love to save speed work for the treadmill since it’s possible to be bored on the treadmill if you’re sprinting! I also love running sprints on the track, but don’t be deterred from sprinting if you don’t have a track nearby. Hill sprints are SUPER effective (and fun, especially with friends), and sprints down your street are just as effective!
Why Sprinting Is So Effective for Women
When we think of cardio, most of us default to steady-state workouts — long runs, walks, cycling, etc. And while those all have a place, sprinting taps into a different system that becomes incredibly helpful for women as we get older. Here’s why:
- Supports Muscle Retention: As estrogen declines, women naturally lose muscle over time. Sprinting activates fast-twitch muscle fibers, helping you maintain lean muscle and strength even as hormones shift.
- Boosts Metabolism: Sprint workouts create an “afterburn effect” (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC), meaning you continue burning calories long after the workout is over — helping offset metabolic slowdown.
- Supports Hormone Health: Sprinting improves insulin sensitivity, regulates cortisol, and supports growth hormone production, all of which become more important during perimenopause.
- Protects Bone Density: High-impact movements like sprinting place mechanical load on bones, which helps maintain bone strength as estrogen declines.
- Time-Efficient: With everything women juggle, sprinting delivers serious fitness results in a fraction of the time compared to longer workouts.
- Fat Loss & Body Composition: Without fail, when I’m regularly sprinting — whether while running or doing intervals on the bike — I get leaner. It’s one of the few things that makes a noticeable difference even while navigating perimenopause.
Sprinting and Perimenopause
Since entering perimenopause myself, I’ve noticed how much harder it is to maintain muscle, energy, and body composition compared to even a few years ago. Sprinting has been one of the few things that consistently helps me feel strong, lean, and energized. I still lift heavy 2-3 x a week but sprinting is a nice supplement 1-2 other days.
One of my favorite parts is how quick it is — a few short sprint intervals give me a much bigger bang for my buck than trying to squeeze in long steady runs, especially with everything else I’m juggling right now. And without fail, when I’m regularly sprinting — whether it’s doing intervals during a run or short bursts on the bike — I get leaner. It’s one of the few workouts where I can truly feel and see a difference without overhauling everything else in my routine.
Sprinting supports hormones during perimenopause
Sprinting offers some unique benefits for women in perimenopause. As hormones begin to shift, it can affect everything from metabolism to muscle mass to bone health. Sprinting triggers short bursts of high-intensity effort, which helps improve insulin sensitivity, regulate cortisol levels, and boost growth hormone production — all of which start to fluctuate during this stage of life. Because estrogen naturally declines, maintaining muscle becomes harder, but sprinting recruits fast-twitch muscle fibers and supports lean muscle retention.
It also helps counteract the metabolic slowdown that many women experience in their 40s, thanks to the afterburn effect, which keeps your body burning calories even after the workout is done. In addition, the high-impact nature of sprinting provides mechanical load on bones, which is crucial for maintaining bone density as we age.
Even if you’re not a “runner,” sprinting doesn’t have to mean full-on track sprints. You can do it on a treadmill, stationary bike, rower, or even short uphill runs. The key is short bursts of high effort followed by full recovery — that’s where the benefits happen.
I also put together the best tips for how to get back into running postpartum in this post.
How to Start Sprinting (Safely)
If you’re new to sprinting — especially after pregnancy or during perimenopause — start slow:
- Warm up thoroughly.
- Begin with short intervals (ex: 10-20 seconds) with plenty of rest between.
- Start 1-2x per week and build from there.
- Use a hill or bike for lower-impact options.
As always, listen to your body. Sprinting is intense but should feel powerful, not punishing.
A simple but effective workout is below:
- 5 minute warm-up with easy jogging
- 15-30 all out running
- Recover for 60-90 seconds (either by walking or very slow running)
- Repeat until you hit 20 minutes total.
Final Thoughts
Sprinting isn’t just for athletes — it’s one of the most effective ways for women to stay strong, lean, and healthy, especially as we enter perimenopause. It doesn’t require hours at the gym or long runs. Just a few short, focused workouts can make a big difference — and I’ve personally seen that every time I work sprint intervals into my routine. If you need some motivation, get yourself some cute running clothes- here’s what I love to wear running!
